As I'm sure everyone's aware by now, the Burn will be playing 3 games in a 5 day stretch next week. Since few, if any, Burn players can be expected to play in all 3 games, it's likely that one of the games will feature bench players who rarely get the chance to start. Which game would you pick to rest most of the starters?
Absolutely Colorado.. The USOC match is for $MONEY$ and when you only make $30,000 a year, an extra $5K is a lot of money... that, and, the Metro game is on national TV and in front of a home crowd. there is no debate on this question. peet dallas burn radio
I agree the Burn would want to play well before a home crowd, but national TV a factor? Thursday Night Soccer on ESPN2 doesn't exactly have the glamor of Monday Night Football. And most of the people important to the players -- fellow pros, GM's, relatives, agents, etc -- would probably have the Shootout package and thus would be able to watch almost every Burn game on TV.
New York Colorado is important because they are closer to the Burn in points and are in the West. LA is important because it is for money. New York is the weakest of the three and the last of the three games. This game makes the most sense to rest the players.
Colorado would be good because Stone and Johnson will be coming off the Spain trip and feeling confident and ready. Let's throw them in as early as possible. If they look good, we could give them some time in the Open Cup game as well. I always think home games should be given top priority. The thought of Bussey, Olivares, Morrison, and Behnke all getting big minutes in the same game does concern me though. Throw in Stone and Johnson and you're looking at practically a full reserve side. At least we should see more of O'brien.
You also have to think about Pareja who will miss the Colorado game. And say Kreis picks up a yellow and he'll miss the Metrostars game. That means Pareja will play both against LA and against NY/NJ. I think we should really go for the win Sunday then try hard for the win Tuesday and give the reserves some time Thursday simply because I think we can get the job done at home against a weak Metro team with a majority of reserves. Jefferies is a lot smarter than I use to think he was, he'll know what to do.
Well, whichever game we decide to "rest," what do you think are the odds of seeing a lineup like this? Vallow Bussey Morrison Bonseau Behnke Stone Olivares Broome Vaca Johnson Cerritos At halftime, Morrow subs for Bonseau, Chivas subs for Broome, and O'brien subs for Vaca. By my calculations, this permutation gives the maximum amount of rest to the maximum number of players, or the closest we can come to fielding a reserve team with an 18-man roster. I'm not proposing this lineup, just wondering how serious we are about "resting" the team.
With the 5-man developmental squad (or 4-man or whatever it is), don't you in fact have a 22 or 23 man roster who can play in any of these games? Other teams have played players from their developmental squad (usually before signing them to a full 18-man roster contract).
Right now the Burn have 23 players on their roster counting their replacement backup keeper, Scott Vallow. Two players -- Countess and Gbandi -- are injured for the remainder of the season, leaving a total of 21 players who can suit up. Two of players on the roster -- rookies M/D Matt Behncke and D Lee Morrison -- have each played only 4 minutes total in MLS. And Percy Olivares has looked so shaky in the past that most Burn fans hope he never steps on the field again for us. So that effectively limits the pool of possible Burn starters for the next 3 games to 18.
I guess we don't have the full allotment of 4 developmental players. Even if you throw in Gbandi and Countess, it still doesn't add up to 22. If we were to fill those extra slots, we could certainly use more midfielders. That is our thinnest position in numbers, though not in quality.
My understanding is that P-40 players are considered "developmental" players since they don't count against the 18 man senior roster. The Burn have 3 P-40 players: Ed Johnson, Jordan Stone, and DJ Countess. Matt Behncke is the one true "developmental" player on the Burn. At a salary of $12k/yr (or whatever it is MLS pays these guys), Matt could well have the distinction of being the lowest paid Princeton grad, class of 2002.
Let's pounce (play the starters) on Colorado since their coming off of only 3 days rest. You have to take advantge of a team in that situation. 3 points on the road sounds good to me. Besides, EJ and Stone will not be ready to play in the Rapids game, only being off two day, after playing the U-20 final today. And if we win the Colorado game then pounce on the Metro's since we seem to have their number this year. To me it's all about winning the whole thing and to do that I think we need every advantage and that includes home field advantage though out the playoffs. I think the Open Cup game will be the toughest to win of the three. As much as I would like to win the Open, I think it's better to play the odds and go with the starters in the easier games and the back-ups in LA and hope for the best.
Starters Rest? Despite what we think, the most important game of the three is the Open Cup game because it means $$$. Even if the Coach wanted to play the reserves in the LA game, the starters will demand to play in that game. So, expect the starters to rest in either the Colorado or New York games.
Colorado The Burn will use reserves against Colorado or New York and the starters against the Galaxy. Playoff position is less important at this juncture than the Open Cup to the players. Count on it.
With DC United's win against San Jose, The Burn can move into sole possession of first place in the entire league with a win today (Sunday). That would mean home field advantage throughout the playoffs--including against San Jose. As much as Jeffries would like to win the Open Cup, I think he's focusing on trying to get that home field advantage. He isn't looking forward to playing at Spartan. -Tron
evidence that benchers will start tonight... By STEVE DAVIS / The Dallas Morning News Expect the Burn bench to get a significant workout Sunday in Colorado, where an MLS contest at Invesco Field begins the toughest stretch of games in club history. Following the Burn's game against Colorado on Sunday, the team faces a U.S. Open Cup semifinal in Los Angeles on Tuesday and an MLS match at home against the MetroStars on Thursday. That's three games in five days. "I've been telling them to get to bed early," coach Mike Jeffries said. Jeffries won't divulge exactly how he plans to deploy his players, but he's sure to get the most of his 22-man roster on the trip. Reserves Ronnie O'Brien, Eddie Johnson and Ronald Cerritos, and rookies Carl Bussey and Jordan Stone, are among those sure to get some playing time and possible starts. Complicating matters is the suspension (for yellow card accumulation) of central midfielder Oscar Pareja for Sunday's contest. The Burn has already clinched a playoff spot, doing so Wednesday when the Rapids lost at New England. It's all about positioning now in the chase for first or second in the Western Conference. The club isn't ready to give up the pursuit for first-place San Jose. "It's a hard stretch of games, but we go in thinking there's a way of winning all the games," Jeffries said. Part of the thinking will be to play conservatively, especially on the road against Colorado and soon-to-retire midfield maestro Carlos Valderrama. The Burn is 3-0-1 in its last four meetings with Colorado, which hasn't found a rhythm this season. Dallas may be missing some rhythm Sunday. The team tends to maneuver through midfield a little faster on attack without the 34-year-old Pareja around to hold the ball and slow the pace. That could work against a side that needs to conserve energy. Without Pareja, O'Brien will probably play on the right, with Joselito Vaca shifting into more of a central, playmaker role in the middle. Dallas does get All-Star defender Ryan Suarez back. He missed last week's hard-fought overtime win over Los Angeles with a slight knee injury but trained all week. Suarez's availability gives Jeffries more options because Jorge Rodriguez, who was filling in for Suarez, can play in a number of spots. And All-Star forward Jason Kreis, who has just one goal in his last six games, used last week to mend an ailing groin. Jeffries said he cut back on training time only marginally last week. He didn't want to outsmart himself. "You want guys to train and be pretty sharp," he said. "If you walk through four days [of practice], you feel like you have heavy legs in the game, and it's not too easy." O'Brien is fit enough to last an entire game, Jeffries said, even though the Irish midfielder looked tired after coming in as a sub last week. "It's different when you know you have to play an entire game," Jeffries said. "After he came in [Saturday], he made a lot of runs from one end to the other."
vw's proposed starting lineups for the next 3 games (Mike Jeffries, are you paying attention? ) @ Colorado: ....................Jordan..................... Suarez....Bonseu.....Morrow....Broome ..................Deering......................... O'Brien................................Chivas ...................Vaca......................... ..........Kreis.............Cerritos............. @ LA (Open Cup): ...................Jordan...................... Zarco....Bonseu.....Morrison....Broome ............Deering.......Pareja.............. ............Vaca..........Chivas............. .........Kreis.................Rhine.............. NY/NJ: ...................Jordan......................... Zarco.....Suarez.....Morrow...Behncke .............Stone.....Pareja.................. .............O'Brien....Broome................ .........Cerritos..................EJ............ Any thoughts?
My main man... Personally, I've always been a big fan of Snoop Eddie Ed (what I named Eddie Johnson when he showed up in cornrows at the Cotton Bowl). Now that I'm a G-Man, I'd like to watch Eddie in action once again, even if it's to the eventual clobbering they will suffer at the hands of the Galaxy during the Open Cup. Tommy "it's a G thang" Mack
Well Jeffries rested them in Colorado and let the subs play. Playing a young back line is always trouble, and that probably made the difference. It looks like Jeffries will try to play the starters both for the Open Cup and then a few days later at home. I think that's a bad idea. Dropping points at home is unacceptable when you're fighting for the top seed and home field all through the playoffs. If the starters had played at Colorado they'd be fresh for the game at Dallas, and the Burn may have won both and the Supporters Shield. As it is, we hope they'll win an away game at LA and they will be very tired to defend the home game. I hope the Burn win the other two, but I don't think it was a good choice. I was wrong. I predicted starters in the Colorado game, but it didn't happen. -Tron