Two days and we’ll be up against our Rocky Mountain foes, but the look of our side isn’t entirely clear yet — so, let’s go through who we know we’ll have, who we might have, and what we might see.
Starting players that are definitely out include Kyle Beckerman with his rush of blood suspension, Will Johnson with a sprained ankle (though he may be ready for the final home match), Tony Beltran (again, he might be ready) and Collen Warner (because you can’t appeal red cards unless they’re given to the wrong person. Sigh.) It also seems that we might be missing Ned Grabavoy, though Kyle Reynish might be back on the bench. Hooray for minor victories, right?
The back remains relatively stable, then, and Robbie Russell may be back in the side. I do like Chris Schuler an awful lot, but he’s no full back, and I’d much rather see Chris Wingert and Robbie Russell helping our natural possession game. The midfield, I suppose, will be a bit more disjointed. I figure we’ll see Yordany Alvarez deep with Luis Gil and Andy Williams in front of him, then Javier Morales in the playmaker role. Again, that’s three ostensibly attacking midfielders, and that’s not exactly how we look best — but, you know, those are the breaks, right? We may also get a peek of Arturo Alvarez, depending on individual fitness levels.
Up front, we’ll have Fabian Espindola and Alvaro Saborio back, so that’s quite nice, though I was starting to look forward to seeing a Paulo Jr. and Cody Arnoux team. That’s of little consequence right now, though, as our first-choice pairing is certainly more dynamic and useful. It’s interesting — I’m always questioning Saborio on the pitch, but he does have a vaguely respectable goalscoring record, and he’s formed a good partnership.
I guess the question, then, is a simple one: How do we play with three attacking midfielders and one defensive? It’s a question about balance, and we clearly aren’t a side that can play with one midfielder doing defensive work. I’m glad, then, that Andy Williams should get a start, because he’s looked defensively effective lately, and Luis Gil can sit deeper and play the neat passing role when necessary. Be warned, it’s easy to slate someone like Gil when they play deeper because you expect the same creative output, but I do think he’ll be asked to stifle his attacking a bit. I don’t think it’s nearly as bad as it looks on paper, as Luis and Andy have been fairly disciplined in their tracking back and defensive positioning in the latter half of the season.
The final question remaining, I think, is whether our side has anything to play for against the Rapids. It is, I hope, an easy answer: Yes. They have their reputations to play for — and it’s about time we started earning ours back. We’re a better side than we look right now, and it’s time we step up and prove that.
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