Match Day #2 Preview and Random Thoughts

Match Day #2 Preview and Random Thoughts

            So after the opening in Montreal to start the season, the Fire take on the Philadelphia Union for the first game of the season in front of a possible sell out. The Union are coming off 2 straight losses to start the season, with losses at Portland and at home to Colorado. In these two losses the Union have looked like a team with no real identity. To top off those losses they will be without some key players when they face the “Men in Red”. They will be without Williams(starting mid) and Adu(starting mid) both with the USA U-23 team. Rumor has it that they will also be without the Farfan brothers through injury and “Brotherly Game” out of Philly are reporting that starting center back Danny Califf has not traveled with the team. This bodes well for the Fire to be able to control the game on all fronts. Now to the Fire, they still have the same personnel missing from last week. Johnson still remains with the U-23s, Kinney is still out with injury, and Friedrich who just had his first training session on this week has said he is still a few weeks away from being match fit. So for Saturday’s game this is how I see the Fire lining up:

Tornaghi

Gargan Anibaba Gibbs Segares

Pause Pardo Robayo

Grazzini

Oduro Nyarko

Based off of last week performances this would be the best lineup for the Fire to use so they can secure all 3 points at home. I think that Pappa should have a seat and be used as a sub and here are a couple reasons: 1. He seemed a little lazy last week and had no urgency with the ball. 2. He had the tendency to float into the middle where he caused more damage to the team because he tried to be more like Grazzini. This cannot work when Grazzini is already out there trying to distribute from the middle. I think that Pappa needs a wakeup in order to realize that he needs to fill the wing position instead of floating into the center. I would put Robayo in to see what he can do out on the wing. I’m sure he will bring more energy going from box to box than Pappa does. Other than that I would not change the lineup.

Prediction

            I think that the Fire can control this game for the full 90 minutes if: 1.They feed off the energy that the home crowd is going to bring. 2. They leave two up front at all times. Last week Klopas had decided to take Nyarko and move him back to the midfield and leave Oduro up top by himself. This did not work and provided little to no offense. They did not create anything until Puppo was brought on to partner Oduro. 3. Relax out on the field. Last week the Fire seemed to be a little nervous and at times were making poor decisions with the ball. 4. Grazzini needs to have a little more time with the ball and Pappa needs to stay away from him and create space for him. But hopefully Pappa will be benched and we get to see what Robayo can do. If all of this happens I can see the Fire pulling out the victory, 3-0, with goals from Oduro, Barouch, and Robayo.

Random Thoughts

·         Fabrice Muamba who collapsed on the pitch during Bolton’s FA cup quarterfinal against Spurs has been making some good improvements after his heart had stopped for some time.

·         Arne Friedrich has started to train with the team but won’t be available for a couple weeks. He also revealed that he fell in love with the Chicago skyline before signing his contract with the Fire.

·         Other teams around the league have already began announcing summer friendlies, I personally think that the Fire will probably announce a game against a team from Mexico again. As much as friendlies are a cash grab I would like to see them try to play teams from other countries such as teams from Germany. One of the best times I ever had at a Fire game was when they hosted Hamburg in 2000 I believe it was. Hamburg actually had a good number of supporters come out and it was a good time had by all at the Barnburners 1871 tailgate.

Rest of the League Predictions

Adam’s: Houston and Seattle tie 1-1, TFC over San Jose 2-1, Crew and Impact tie 1-1, Portland over God awful New England 3-0, RSL over CDUSA 2-0, Vancouver over DC 2-1, Colorado over another horrible team NY Redbulls 2-1, SKC over FC Dallas 2-1

Mike has already posted his in another post. Last week I ended up going 5-4 and Mike ended up going 3-6