MLS Game 3: Fire @ Earthquakes

MLS Game 3: San Jose v. Chicago
The Enemy
Probable lineup (per MLSnet game guide)

————–Glinton———Kamara————-
Guerrero——Corrales——Grabavoy——O’Brien
Hernandez——-Garcia——Cochrane——-Riley
———————Cannon———————

Understand, there’s lots of ways to appreciate the ‘Quakes. I love a strong backside, ifyaknowwhatimsayinanithinkthatyoudo, and this team from Saint Joe has that like Kim Kardashian .

Start with Joe Cannon: Huge, fierce, quick as a cat – he can get excited and stop you on his own. Ryan Cochrane is legit, and has a couple of rings to show for it. And with Nick Garcia, Jason Hernandez, Ivan Guerrero, James Riley and Ramiro Corrales in the probable lineup, goals aren’t going to be plentiful for the opposition.

Unfortunately, there’s this balance thing in soccer, and it looks like the Earthquakes have forgotten it. That’s six defenders I just mentioned in the starting lineup, plus the keeper. Besides that, they’ve got Ronnie O’Brien, who’s continuing a career characterized by incisive crosses to absolutely no one at the back post. Oh! And Ned Grabavoy. gwaoeilslkdmga

Sorry. I don’t like falling asleep while working, but … y’know … Ned Grabavoy ali;ljm’ajm’a l,m;

Damn. Sorry, again.

I commend Frank Yallop for committing to an idea – in this case, the idea is ‘a team is best built from the back’ – but dayum, this team looks like it’s going to put maybe 18, 20 goals in the twine this year. If Kei Kamara and Gavin Glinton are the two men you’re counting on to score goals, and you’re not in the Premier Development League … well, maybe you should take up yoga if you haven’t already. It’s important to keep yourself centered, whatever stressors come your way.

The Good Guys
Probable lineup (per MLSnet game guide)
———–Barrett———Herron————–
——————-Blanco———————
——Mapp————————Rolfe——-
——————–Pause———————
Woolard—–Segares—–Soumare—–Prideaux
——————–Busch———————

Ok, understand, I’m taking the MLSnet game guide lineup thingies as God’s own text. I mean, I have absolutely no standing with the team to know what the heck is going on. I’m just some guy who loves the game and loves the team.

So, having said that, uh, double-U. Tee. Eff?

Segares, our left back for the foreseeable future, is playing in central defense, just a week after shutting down Sainey Nyassi, the Revs winger who has dominated the other two games he played this year. Rookie Daniel Woolard, about whom I know nothing, is in at left back. No mention of the apparently fit-again Señor Wilman Conde, or Dasan Robinson, who continues to creep back toward fitness. Out is Gutierrez, who has been at the least serviceable in the last two games.

Stymied, then, by a mind-blowing paucity of facts, I’m going to fall back on every writer’s safety net, the general strategic overview. Please ignore any odor resulting from the process – I’m certain it’s some farms nearby doing some spring soil enrichment.

The Fire come into this game soaring, fresh off their demolition of the Revs. Their offensive playmakers seem to be connecting at this early stage in the season. The question now is, how reliable is the attack going to be? I don’t care if we score four goals against the ‘Quakes, but we’d damned sure better be creating good chances regularly. I don’t care how many defenders they put in their lineup. The onus is on the Fire to push forward the play from the opening whistle.

Key matchup
Riley v. Mapp on the Fire’s left wing. If Riley can’t shut down Mapp on his own, he cartainly can’t count on any help from Quakes wing Ronnie O’Brien. I’ve got this feeling Mapp’s going to have a huge game.

Keep your eyes on
Are you seriously going to wait for someone besides Blanco to blow your mind? I mean, sometimes the obvious answer is the right one.

Daydream scenario
Fire win 3-0, with goals from Blanco, Rolfe and Segares. The teams trade hugs afterward. The crowd sings ‘Kum-Bah-Yah’ and everyone, everywhere trades shirts.

Nightmare scenario
Blanco, frustrated by something, is red-carded in the 12th minute. Ramiro Corrales scores. Fire outshoot San Jose 18-2 but Joe Cannon makes 15 saves.

Category: Team News