Just watched Chivas take it to Houston. They took away the circulation from Houston by dropping thier lines to presure in the midfield. They wre extremely physical and matched Houston's game of whack for whack. This seemed to take some of their players out of rythm. However, they allowed DeRo to run free. Two goals that don't happen if they man mark him out of the game. Again and predictably, you see the same strategy on corner kicks we have discussed on previous posts. (Even Wynalda diagramed it before the kick was taken) Every one runs to the near post on the corner kick to suck coverage out of the way - then someone makes a looping far post run w/ a defender chasing. The Chivas had Claudio Suarez stationed at that far post in a kind of hybrid zonal/mark. I think that the suggestions give us our best chance.
It also helped that they played a man up for 60 minutes. Maybe Clarke's strategy should include forcing Ricardo Clark to throw some punches before the first half ends.
Exactly. I know you are saying it tounge in cheek, and I was trying to put it diplomatically - but to take them down, we need a card fest. Game #1 we will have a lot more depth at our disposal than they have. We should use the kindling wood liberally. Crack them early and often. The guy I would like to get rid of early in the game/series by hack or bait is Robinson. As for Chivas, given Bad Bob Bradley's history, I think that he planned for a carding or two.
One more loss before the "Shaking" becomes effective... Like Txgtr said somwhere... the Shaking needs to happen tonight and not on Sat. against Houston....
There's a better than average chance that I'll be shaking my fists at the computer monitor.......does that count?