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A good thing to start the day: The one and only Alvaro Saborio was handed the Goal of the Week award for his stunning strike to open the scoring against Colorado. That strike — and what a strike it was — required so much skill it wasn't particularly funny. Or maybe it was a little funny, but it wasn't, like, massively funny. You know, something like that.
Speaking of things that are just a little bit funny, do take the time to check out the #RSLProblems and #SKCProblems hashtags on Twitter. There's some stuff there that'll make you chuckle, and that's a nice way to go about your day. Chuckling, I mean.
We should have injury updates today, and we'll be hoping for positive news on our injured players and a paucity of negative news on our non-injured players. Or, at least, the players we are pretty sure are without injury at this time. I do know there was a slight injury concern over Sebastian Velasquez, but that was more precautionary than anything, and I think he's good to go.
If he is fit, I'd imagine he gets a start. He's the sort of player that's almost custom-built for this sort of match. We aren't going up against the big boys of the league, nor are we going up against a team that'll park the bus (they'd better not, at least!) As such, a player who can control the ball well, find a pass, and keep possession will be essential. Besides, the story's still just too good, and I'd rather it continues on this path.
What do we know about Sporting KC's injury issues? After scrolling to the Eastern Conference section on the injury list, I see… nothing. Absolutely nothing. And then I've realized they're filed under "K" rather than "S," which I suppose is fair enough, and illustrates that I've had not nearly enough coffee to start the day.
Back to that, though. Out of contention, they've got Eric Kronberg, a goalkeeper (he's played five matches for the club and has been there since 2006), and Cyprian Hedrick, a 2012-drafted midfielder yet to make an appearance for the club. It's certainly nothing like seeing Javier Morales or Ned Grabavoy on the list, that much is certain.
So, unless something has changed since Tuesday — which is quite possible — we'll be facing a fairly healthy side, and they'll probably be able to roll out their first choice XI. Clearly, we won't be able to, but I'm not convinced that we're significantly worse off for it. Don't get me wrong, we're worse off without Javier Morales and Ned Grabavoy on the pitch, but it's nowhere close to a death blow.
In their last match — in which they defeated the LA Galaxy 1-0 — they set out with a formation that you'd either call 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 — regardless, though, they set out roughly with two holding or box-to-box midfielders, an attacking midfielder, two on the flanks and a single striker. Perhaps the fulcrum of their formation is Graham Zusi, who plays in the attacking midfielder spot. One of the keys to the match will no doubt having a fit and ready Kyle Beckerman hassling and harrying him around the pitch.
With Beckerman sent on a mission to harry Zusi, we'd be put in a situation where the Sporting wide players are given a bit more license to roam. This is where things get a bit hairy: We've got two rather attack-minded full backs, who will be vital in pinning back the the opposing full backs, but this leaves the Sporting wide players a bit too open. Perhaps we will instruct our full backs to sit back a bit and watch their attacking wide players, leaving our box-to-box players more responsible for getting forward and attacking the full backs. This is where Javier Morales would really come in handy: He's constantly finding weaknesses in defenses and moving into them, and this creates a rippling effect of tracking back that creates gaps everywhere. Only 18, Luis Gil hasn't yet figured that part out entirely.
The single-striker formation is also a bit tricky: Nat Borchers (just turned 31 today, the big lad) and Jamison Olave will need to have their communicative abilities turned up as high as they'll go. The setting? 11. Or, you know, something like that. At any rate, we wouldn't want Sapong, Kamara, or Bunbury to just burst through a gap in the defense, so maybe they will tighten up a bit and we'll drop our full backs in space. Not literally space as in stars, though — that would be disastrous. I know Tony Beltran's a bit of a wizard, but I seriously doubt he can breathe in space. Chris Wingert, though, could probably fly down without much issue.
Right, more of a responsible match preview tomorrow, but these are some of the tactical keys for me. 'Til tomorrow!
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