Right, are we ready for this all-important match tonight? If the departure from that time mode where daylight is by some means saved (perhaps we can release it sometime on a particularly dim day) hasn't got you in a strange, awful loop, at least, right? At any rate, that's of little consequence today. We've got the Galaxy ahead of us (though quite what that implies, I'm not certain.)
On with the match preview, though. I'm still collecting my thoughts (I've collected plenty of nerves about the match) so it'll take a more notey form at some parts.
You know what's a bit odd? There's been seriously no banter between our fans and the Galaxy fans. Now, I know, I'm making a dangerous assumption that Galaxy fans do, in fact, exist and are not simply paid actors by the MLS (I keed, I keed.) Perhaps it's the difference when two sides are in strong positions, but you'd expect a bit more mud-slinging than we've seen. That's the difference between a genuine rivalry and an on-the-pitch rivalry, isn't it? We do have that on-the-pitch stuff down. That much is certain.
Tactically speaking, this game will be won in the midfield. I have no doubt about that. While some might describe the lynch-pin to the Galaxy side as David Beckham, I have my doubts — but it's been well documented that the Galaxy have done better when he's done well. He's been given a more free role by Arena, and he'll often drop into a deep-lying playmaker role (one, really, without too much defensive responsibility to speak of) instead of simply playing on the right wing. Now, he's not the sort of player that fits into a rigid 4-4-2 setup, so that's a move that was sort of inevitable, and it means that we've got to pay a bit more attention to his positioning. I'd send Will Johnson on a mission tonight, letting him mark Beckham to death.
I'd also hand a start to Ned Grabavoy. I know he can have that late-game impact we all love, but safety is the name of the game, and Ned brings that in the midfield. He's a man who'll hassle and harry his opponent, and while Andy's capable of that, it's not exactly his natural game, and he's prone to run out of fuel late in the match, and that leaves us defensively suspect. With Will and Ned in those vaguely box-to-box roles, we'll also need Kyle at his best, stopping counterattacks and unleashing our own.
We'll also need Javi (he's fit, right?) to be moving into good positions offensively. His positioning is perhaps his most overlooked attribute, because it's really quite easy to ignore — and that's why it works so well. But it's the thing that makes him so incredibly dangerous. Can you imagine Fabian Espindola with a brilliant sense of positioning? He'd be through on goal every 30 seconds, scoring goal after goal with his dazzling runs.
We'll also need Saborio to be prepared to play a bit an unnatural position: More dropping deep, more false nine action, and he'll need to be ready to jump on counterattacking opportunities. Espindola, too, will sometimes need to push into a more forward role to accommodate Saborio dropping — giving us a man to hassle the final defender, but likewise giving us more opportunity to win headers in the center of the park.
And the defense — oh, the defense! That's going to be essential, as it always is. We clearly won't be in the same situation we were in at the Clink, which is reassuring: The Galaxy rarely, if ever, send a mob of people toward goal, as they seem to prefer a more calculated approach. Now, that doesn't mean it'll pay off, and if we're on our game, it won't. Period. Simple.
But at this point, we know what we need to do. It's the story of our season, isn't it? Do what we need to do and it'll all work out right. So what are we waiting for?
Come on you Claret and Cobalt!
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