We may have a hole or two in our squad for this trip — certainly neither of Nick Rimando and Will Johnson have traveled, one due to injury precaution, and one due to a rush of blood to the head on the weekend — but I'm not in the least bit worried. Right, well, OK: I'm a tiny bit worried, but I'm not overwhelmingly worried.
Who is staying home, and who's being allowed to go on this little jaunt across the country? Let's go through that, as we'll be wondering about some of the replacements brought in for the two.
The replacement for Nick Rimando's an easy choice: Kyle Reynish, our second-choice (but not second-rate) goalkeeper for some years now, will be handed the start. No controversy there. There are, inevitably, some doubts about his ability to step up, as will always be the case when you've got somebody like Nick Rimando playing nearly every minute for season after season. Reynish, though, has some real ability in the nets, and I suspect he'll get a chance to show that. If our defensive setup is aware, there shouldn't be many problems — and keep in mind that last time we saw him with the first team, the defense was a bit shaky. He's got good communication skills, and that'll be much to his benefit.
The defensive setup is hard to guess at this point: Jamison Olave and Nat Borchers are in the living room, while Chris Schuler is furiously knocking on the door. With Seattle coming up on Saturday, will there be a chance for the lanky Schuler to get some minutes tonight? I'm not sure, and I'd guess no, but it'll be interesting to see. If the ever-professional Tony Beltran and Chris Wingert are entirely fit and ready, I'd suspect they start, but we do have Terukazu Tanaka on the bench fighting for a place. If we're to rest one of the two, I've got to think that the Fire would be the team to be rested against, but what do I know? I'll spring for a lineup of Olave, Borchers, Beltran and Wingert, but I say so with moderate reservations — not about ability, of course.
In the midfield, there's no questioning that we'll see Kyle Beckerman. The next question for me, though, is who plays in the tip of the diamond midfield: Does Javier Morales get the start, or is he slightly saved for Saturday? If he doesn't start, Luis Gil certainly gets the go-ahead. Considering we have a long(ish) break coming up, perhaps a slight risk will be taken with the fitness of Javi, knowing that he will get a more-than-adequate rest after the Seattle match. I'll spring for Javi.
On the flanks — or, well, as on-the-flanks as our box-to-box players get — I'd suspect we'll see Ned Grabavoy and one of Sebastian Velasquez, Luis Gil, or Jonny Steele. The magic left boot of Jonny Steele might be the perfect antidote to an organized Chicago defense, so I'll make my guess there. In short, I'm suspecting we'll see a midfield of Beckerman, Morales, Steele and Grabavoy. Adventurous, I know.
In attack, Espindola and Saborio will likely be leading the line, with the former only going 60 or so minutes against New England, and with the latter coming into a fine vein of form at current. Saborio, for what it's worth, is inching toward Espindola and Findley's joint record, and if Fabi doesn't score soon, we may very well see a three-way tie for most goals scored for the club. Who'da thunk?
Anyway, the lineup I'm predicting is reasonably obvious: Reynish / Beltran, Bor,lave, Wingert / Beckerman, Grabavoy, Steele, Morales / Saborio, Espiiiindola. However, given that there might be some rotation, I'm expecting I'll get one or two or three of these wrong. Oh, boy.
EDIT: That sound you hear is the sound of tires screeching to a halt. I've been alerted that I missed something (oh, what a world!): Fabian Espindola is staying back to tend to his wife and newborn child, which is nothing but adorable. I've no hard feelings — even though he's screwed up my lineup prediction a bit. So, in place of Espindola in my prediction, insert Paulo Junior. Thanks. (Also, thanks to @clarkcali for alerting me.)
Right, other than that, there's not too much else. I'll end with a little blip from Kyle Beckerman and a link to an interview he did with World Football Daily.
Kyle Beckerman on red cards: "As players, I think we need to do a bit better job to not react so much to some maybe hard challenges, because I think that's what getting some guys thrown out. As players, win or lose, you want to do it in a fair way and with 11 guys on the field."
Listen to Kyle Beckerman on World Football Daily
Come on you Claret and Cobalt!
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