---------------- Brown ----- Heaps -- Kante -- Llamosa -- Franchino Ralston -- Hernandez -- Cullen -- Noonan ---------- Twellman ---- Moore -----
I will agree with rkupp's line up with one exception. I wouldn't be surprised to see Rusty picked over Heaps or Llamosa.
We are away, so we go more defensively. I would go with: Brown Pierce ----- Llamosa & Kante ------ Franchino Ralston -----Cullen & Hernandez ----Kamler Twellman ---- Moore More offense would just take Cullen out, drop Hernandez and Moore back one and put Harris up front with Twellman.
i would, unless there is an injury. noonan looked good - but i think nicol likes kamler's reliability - don't know who would get the nod.
...................Brown ....Heaps...Kante...Pierce...Joey ....Ralston...Leo...DH...Kamler .......Twellman....Moore I'd like to see Noonan play, and he might sub in, but I don't see Nicol starting a rookie over Kamler in week 1. I don't know that I'd bench Heaps, because we're going to need his confidence to stay up. Rusty looked awfully good in CR, like his old self again, so I'd start him next to Kante. Of course, I'd like to see them replace Leo with our great new attacking mid, but first we need to find one...
...................Brown ....Heaps...Kante...Pierce...Joey ....Ralston...Ngodzo!...DH...Kamler .......Twellman....Moore O.K. - just possibly I'm jumping the gun a little.
------------ Brown ----- Pierce -- Kante -- Llamosa -- Franchino Ralston -- Hernandez -- Cullen -- Noonan ---------- Twellman ---- Moore or Harris( depends on JMM being healthy) -----
Brown Pierce ----- Llamosa & Kante ------ Franchino Ralston -----Joseph & Hernandez ----Noonan Twellman ---- Moore I've heard that Joseph is too good to keep off the field, and since he's played here in the past, I see Leo sitting. He might replace Llamosa. He's bigger and more athletic than Kante!
So what, if anything, do we know about J-M's physical readiness? I think the starting 11 will look a lot like what we put on the field against BU Saturday, with the possible exception of J-M. It's hard to imagine that he won't start in the season opener, if he's ready to go.
I don't expect to see Joseph starting in the midfield anytime soon. In the long run, it would be great if they could plug him into this spot. We definitely need some more athletecism in our midfield. Also, with Twellman, 6'2'' Kante, and 6'3'' Joseph, and either Kamler or Noonan, we'd have plenty of targets in the box for set pieces.