To Sabo, or not to Sabo: That is the question.
Well, it's a question, at least, and one Jason might be asking himself a little bit about tonight's match against Portland. On one hand, there's a chance the striker could make worse his shoulder injury, if he were to fall on it, ram against something big, or some other action.
On another hand, he's just really, really good. I'm inclined to think Jason will once again remain rather non-risky in his machinations, but as usual, you never really know. I don't really much have another hand with which to weigh things, so you're left with only two options. Sorry.
But let's ask ourselves: Who might we play up front if we don't see Saborio? The most like-for-like option is Justin Braun, who is surely raring for a chance to start. The Utah native has seen scant few minutes since arriving, and surely, that must frustrate him. Now, he wasn't playing much at the Impact, but he was playing — he's lost that. Now, I know new systems take time, and I can't particularly blame anybody without more information, but has it really gone according to plan? Or is this more of a long-term move we made?
Anyhow, our best other option is probably Paulo Jr., and having both him and Espindola out there throws a little bit of a wrench in our well-laid plans. Without somebody to bring the ball down in the middle of the park, we need to take a few different approaches: Play low, play fast, play wide, then cut inside. It's not a bad look, but we lack a true pivot when we take this approach. It's not even so much an issue of size but one of style.
Everyone else out there could fit quite squarely into our "best XI" (or best set of eleven players), which we're always eager to see. We'll need to see more forward-pushing action from the midfielders, and importantly, we'll need our full backs making big runs down the flanks. Might there be a case for a rest for Wingert and a start for Mansally? Or perhaps a rest for Beltran, a move of Wingert to the right, and a start for Mansally? Or something else, and a start for Mansally? I don't know.
Anyway, the point is really that we'll need our full backs breaking forward on occasion — preferably not both at once, of course — and pulling defenders wide as a result. Yes, I'm aware our crossing leaves something to be desired, but full backs being up there and swinging them in is for more than simply getting cheap, easy goals. No, when you stretch full backs wide, you make space into which channel-running forwards might play.
You can't really have midfielders pushing forward without full back support — in our system, at least — and you can't really having full backs pushing forward without midfield support. One without the other leads to easy giveaways and ensuing counterattacking opportunities for the opponents. Yuck.
So, yeah: First eleven. Minus Sabo. Plus somebody. (For the record, I'm betting on Paulo, but hoping for Braun.) But perhaps a little rotation might be in order: It is, after all, just Portland, if I might have some famous last words. But then again, these are the games we've got to win, and we've got to win them now and not later. I mean, we can't really win them later, but you know what I mean. Right? Right.
Anyhow, this is the last home match for a month, and I'm determined to enjoy it, so if somebody could score a hat trick, I'd be much pleased.
Thanks, guys.
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