well, it appears the weather is a huge influence on this match... at some point on saturday afternoon or late saturday the weather is supposed to break... still the carpet will be slick, so the possession style game becomes even more difficult... solo earns another shot...should see more pressure than NY presented last week, so this is her acid test benson mcveigh tietjen and mitts.. thinks are getting better organized, still the key will be taking sissi out of the game....so makinen must continue to improve... I assume tullock and fair continue to play out on thw wings, a tactic on a slick field which I don't like.. I'd rather get tullock more into the middle where her skill could be better used... I assume Burt pairs with Pichon, and we'll see a lot of long ball, trying to catch either behind the sj defense... on a slick field shoot from outside the box, a wet ball will be difficult to deal with and the quickness or burt and pichon might be converting in to ugly goals... past two matches have shown improved play by the charge, so I expect that trend to continue.... should be a close match, probably settled by an ugly play due to anticipated conditions.
Fair is probable, and you know the three who will be out for us; no other injuries on our side. For the 'Rays, Alagich is out and Kelly Lindsey's grandmother passed away this week so she's been excused from this game. Ref: Jen Bennett. Assistants: Michelle Tubre, Adam Smeltz. 4th Guy: Edward Marco. Paul
Well, the key thing for the Charge will be stopping the Brazilians from making their passes and getting easy shots on goal. Also they must stop Tisha or Sissi making a pass that gets allows the forwards to get behind the defense. Luckily on that front, the field conditions will work in our favor. However, the duo of Burt and Pichon are going to have to step up and secure the points for the Charge. Hoffmann and Makinen are going to have to control the center of the midfield more in this match. I would prefer Tullock in the center but Mark probably won't put her there. Hoffmann felt that she didn't play her best last week. Let's hope her confidence will return this week. Misaki on the wings in stead of Tullock. Move her over into the center and put Mak on the other wing. This would be my starting lineup: Solo/Moore Benson, McVeigh, Tietjen, Mitts Misaki, Hoffmann, Tullock, Makinen Pichon, Burt I still think we should utilize Mary as a midfielder. Move her up to midfield and add Misaki as a third forward.
dennism and I have the same view on how tullock needs to be used, in a central holding role, rather than on the wing.... field conditions should make any possession game far more difficult, more unforced turnovers... so a more direct game would tend to be more successful... I was tinkering with the idea of using Maso de Moya as a target player, and having Pichon make runs off her... in sj krikorian went with a 4-5-1, so there's the possibility he does so again, wanting to control midfield by numbers..5 mids against sj 3 mids... and hope the 3 sj forwards get stranded without much service..
The CyberRays actually play a 4-4-2, but with a diamond midfield so we do sometimes look like a 4-3-3.
yes, sj has 3 players in very aggressive positions to attack... without smith, the charge tend to be better playing a counter style, attacking in transition... so far this year, fair and tullock have been used as wingers, and centrally too much open space has been exploited by the other teams... instead of challenging in midfield, the defense backs up to defend the box... in the past there was better midfield pressure, which was what Monroe did best, and there was less threatful penetration of the box... that's the biggest difference between this team, and the charge teams of the past..
weather report more rain is forecast through saturday morning...then the rain should taper off and end saturday afternoon. the steadiest rain will be late tonight and saturday morning with a period of heavy rain possible
SJ were unlucky that they only scored one goal against PHL. Should have been more like SJ 3-0 PHL. The middle was very soft, allowing Pretinha to penetrate with very little challenge. Four games later, I still see the same problems. Will it be a long day for Solo & the defense? What are the chances of giving up a 4th straight stoppage-time goal?
i'll take that bet.. this is great duck weather... cold, windy, and raining.... skill goes out the window on wet, slick turf... and since the charge have all spring to adjust to a wet, slick turf, they have a huge acclimation factor over sj... playing directly will be the key... and it's a question of whether young legs are better in miserable conditions than old legs...
it was the ability of san jose to pressure the ball and their ability to possess the ball which made the difference... for the 1st 40 minutes, san jose was NOT able to pressure the charge box... so much for being able to see the match... the key for the charge on the 1st 40 minutes was pichon missing hoffmann running unmarked into the box ans beene making a brilliant save on hoffmann... otherwise it would have been 2-0 charge... give sj credit for their defending skill, as in the 2nd half the charge lacked ideas... solo made 3 saves. and the charge defense was NOT the reason the charge lost... the inability to sustain pressure in the sj end was the reason...and the difference was good defending by sj...