What are we going to do without Ralston on Saturday?

Ah, let's see... forfeit?

 

Well the simplest solution would be to move Heaps up to wing half. The question then becomes who play's right back?

Downing?
Cloutier?

 

I wouldn't want to mess with the defense, especially since Heaps has settled so nicely into the right back spot.

I would say that Llamossa is ready to return to central defense alongside Kante, with Heaps and Franchino outside. That allows Hernandez to move to central midfield with Cullen, giving us 3 pretty decent options on the 2 wings: Kamler, Griffiths, and Cloutier. My preference would be Kamler on the left and Cloutier on the right, with Griffiths coming on for one sometime in the second half.

 

I consulted with The Reverend, a frequent poster on this site, and he says we should attend our chosen house of worship and pray real hard.

 

Please no Downing

Please no Downing. I rather have Kamler and Griffiths to start. Cloutier disappears during the game and that is 50% of the REVs offense that we are talking about.

 

i wouldnt like to mess with the defense either, but did you see how much heaps pushed forward against dallas? id say he did a great job on attacking. im thinking kamler and griffiths on the outside with heaps and hernandez in the middle and cullen, franchino, kante and Llamosa.

hats to adin as well for playing absolutely outstanding the past month.

cheers

 

I think it has to be Heaps, particularly should we go down a goal. Nobody else can come close to Ralston's offensive contribution.

This does leave a big hole at right back, where Jay has been playing well. I'd say Cullen, but I'm not sure he's up to handling Faria.

Brian

P.S. Watch out for Ted Chronopolous next week. He's every bit the good luck charm that Brian Kamler is, but with more talent. And perhaps a score to settle?

 

If Chrono plays, that just about assures NE a victory. The best way the Metros can approach this game is to play a 442 with Faria and Diallo up front, Zaidie Petke Jolley and Akwari in the back, Ramos and Davis on the wings, Williams attacking mid and Jeff Moore to man mark Twellman. Knowing OZ though, he'll probably bench Moore (the better man marker) for Paule, Davis for Chrono, Williams for a can of sardines and Faria and Diallo for Alvarez and Klinger. OZ has to have set the new record for crappiest record for a loaded roster. If he's not fired in the next 3 days, expect NE to roll on through with or without Ralston.

JMac

 

anyone think asad might have been useful to us here?


.....oh the irony if chi, ny/nj, col all win and we miss out on the po's on a tiebreaker to kc.

 

It really all depends on Nicol's strategy. If he wants to go conservative for the first half and to try to weather the storm (Metros will be pressuring like Dallas), he'll keep Heaps in back. Keep in mind however that this kind of strategy sometimes leads to a kind of "self-fulfilling prophecy". The team prepares to defend, and consequently ends up defending - constantly.

The first 20 minutes of the Dalls game showed this kind of philosophy, and the Revs were in some ways lucky to weather the storm.

Also don't forget that, at least earlier in the season, Heaps looked much better at wing half then wing back. Problem is (although he makes at least 3-4 scary mistakes per game) the Revs would miss his presence in the air, experience, and decent speed in the back.

It's kind of a crapshoot.

Whatever happens, I have a feeling that Hernandez and Williams will be big factors in thise game (surprise).

 

Never liked Heaps' ball distribution skills, so here is for hoping that Llamosa is back and that Cloutier can move to right mid where he played so well during our Open Cup run last year. (And here's to hoping that he contributes as much!)