Ah, match day. The mythical day of the week that sometimes occurs multiple times within the same week. Magical indeed, yeah? Well, at current writing, there's no saying whether or not it's actually match day. Today has a touch of the Schrodingers, what with the storms currently occupying Columbus. Ah, fun, right? Hardly. The quantum state of the match is both alive and dead. Or, you know. Something like that.
But I shall preview regardless, as that's what I do. It's hard, though. If the match doesn't go forward, who should we be mad at? The heavens? The gods? Someone else entirely? It's just hard to blame friendlies, you know, like we did for that Vancouver match (or non-match, as the case may be.) So if the match preview is a bit short, forgive me. Or don't. That's fine, too.
Shall we just run through the lineup then? At the back, I expect we'll see Nick Rimando. Shocker! Breaking news! Something like that! Yes, yes. Our number one goalkeeper starts the match. It's no Supreme Court decision shocker, but you know. (Oh, what am I doing?) In front of him, I think we've got our first question marks. Tony Beltran seems likely to start on the right — or perhaps the left — with Nat Borchers and Chris Wingert in the center. On the left, if Tony stays on the right, perhaps we'll get our first competitive match out of Kenny Mansally. But if he's not there (I don't even know if he's traveled,) I suspect Terukazu Tanaka will start on the right. Perhaps we'll even see our new boy, Kwame Watson Siriboe, on the bench. To be honest, I'm not sure we have much choice, really.
In midfield, we won't see Kyle Beckerman, as he's out with suspension, but we should see one Yordany Alvarez (unless everything has gone rather upside-down and topsy-turvy) in his place. His defensive midfield work might be tested, or maybe it won't be, but that depends largely on Columbus. Let's just hope whatever test he's put up against, he scores well. Alongside him, I suspect we'll see Will Johnson and Jonny Steele on either side — Ned Grabavoy is absent with injury — and up front, one Javier Morales. Or maybe Luis Gil. Or, you know, maybe Sebastian Velasquez. But probably Javi.
But we've got some interesting options from the bench: Sebastian Velasquez and Enzo Martinez have both traveled, with the latter being a little more surprising than the former. It's great for the kid, though, and if all goes well, maybe he'll get a few minutes off the bench. That would be a good, useful experience, right? I'd think so. I'm no coach or man manager, though, so, take that with a giant pinch of salt.
Up front, I expect we'll continue to see Fabian Espindola and Alvaro Saborio out there pushing and pulling and generally jockeying for a goal. It's fun to watch those two at work: Espindola with his darting runs and non-stop work, Saborio with his measured runs and intelligent pulling of play. On the bench, I suspect we'll see Bonfigli and Paulo Junior, and with any luck, they can get some time when we're, you know, not grasping at straws whilst searching for a win.
On that note, wouldn't it be nice to not have to reach the point of desperation where we just throw everything into the mixer? Let's get out there and grab a win. That sounds quite nice.
Right, that's all I've got. I think we'll see the match, but the kickoff time may be changing, so as always, be aware and watch for the latest news. Come on you Claret and Cobalt!
Comments