September, up and down as it was, is over now: We saw the worst of us (3-0 against Chicago, 4-1 against D.C.), the best of us (3-0 over New York in the first 30 minutes), the the most elated of us (Javier’s return), and the bunkering mentality functioning properly (1-0 against Sporting KC, 2-1 against Seattle) — what a month, eh? But we’ve got a bigger battle than we faced all month staring us right in the face: the Los Angeles Galaxy, league leaders and overall annoying gits.
That’s not fair. Maybe they’re not all annoying. The idea, though, is an awfully annoying one: We’ll buy a few great players and rely partly on them, partly on some skilled but not spectacular players, and generally do fairly well, but the public will only know about our bright and not-upcoming stars. (Roundabout way of saying that, I suppose. You better be used to that by now.)
At any rate, we’ll be facing off against them in something like 10 hours from my writing this, so let’s go over the lineup and I’ll let you (I’m so kind! Oh...) get on with your day. On the injury front, we’re looking at a “questionable” Nick Rimando with a shoulder problem, but Javier Morales is now listed as “probable” — I never thought I’d see the day! Robbie Russell, no surprise, is doubtful with a hamstring strain.
Of course, the Galaxy have their own injury problems to contend with: Questionable for them are Mike Magee, the glorious (uh...) world-beating superstar (wait, who?) Robbie Keane (Oh. Yeah, he’s not those things.), the man with the crooked teeth (Davey Beckham, king of the wild frontier in his own mind), Mr. Ricketts, Sean Franklin … Yeah.
Right, you get the picture. They’re not full-strength, and neither are we. But you know what? That gives us a hell of a chance tonight — if we can wake up from our two-week nap (or season-long slumber, depending on who you ask), we’ve got a wonderful chance to actually win. Will it mean something substantial? It could help us snag a second-place spot, and if we end up particularly lucky, we’ll have a chance at the Shield. OK, OK. We’re not mathematically out, but if we win it, something seriously strange has happened to the MLS. Now, where did we put those games in hand?
OK, the lineup. At the back, we might see Tim Melia in his first MLS performance for us if Nick isn’t fit. Is that worrying? I don’t know, we haven’t seen much of him. I mean, I’ve seen him warm up, and he’s not so bad, but that’s hardly an in-depth analysis. In front of the keeper, we’ll presumably have Chris Wingert on the right and Chris Schuler on the left, and in the center, the great BORLAVE!
In the middle, we’ll probably see... um... Ned Grabavoy in the Kyle Beckerman spot, though there is a chance that Jason will give Yordany Alvarez another shot. Perhaps he can recapture his debut form. Around that spot, we’ll presumably see Will Johnson and either Ned (if Yordany starts) or Andy Williams. Much depends on who starts at the DM spot. In the tip of the diamond, expect Luis Gil again — he was unfortunate to be hauled off early on, but it’s really the only spot we can sacrifice and still maintain a semblance of our system when a man down.
Up front, perhaps Fabian Espindola and Alvaro Saborio will continue, with Paulo Jr. ready to come on. I’d also hope that we’ll see more Cody Arnoux, but that may be a bit of an ask at this point.
In short (readable, heh) form:
Rimando (maybe)
Wingert - BORLAAAAAVE - Schuler
Grabavoy - Williams - Johnson - Gil
Espindola - Saborio
Let’s get on with it and grab a vital confidence-building win. Come on you Claret and Cobalt!
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