Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Buckle up, baby!!! *
I'm back, people.
I've spent a long two weeks away from DC, helping, no, trying to help a close family member deal with a host of personal, legal, financial and health-related problems...neat closure and/or a happy ending was elusive, but I did what I could and am certainly glad to be back in the Diamond District.
There's been plenty of goings-on around the local soccer scene and on the DC United front, not to mention the futbol world at large. Several area youth standouts are rising to the top of the nation's recruiting classes -- not only in terms of college recruiting, but professional scouting as well -- the US Men's Olympic squad seems dead-set on flirting with disaster with roster choices as well as qualifying results, and the brave boys from Barcelona seem to have missed their best opportunity to reel in Real Madrid at the top of La Liga standings. Sigh.
But with the long-awaited kickoff to their 2008 campaign taking place in the capital of Jamrock later tonight, United is taking center stage this week. Dave Kasper and Tom Soehn's grand chemistry experiment will get its first public test on a dodgy pitch in Kingston, where long balls and crunching tackles are sure to be flying about in equal measure. Harbour View have a decent squad with some technical ability, but I'd bet dimes to donuts that Moreno, Gallardo, and Fred, just to name the three top targets, are going to get grass on their unis pretty quickly.
Some have speculated that Gallardo may not be quite fit enough to get the start, but I think the only real question in terms of the first XI is the right wing role. There's plenty of good reason to suspect that Tom Soehn will give in to the "play it safe, be defensive" angel sitting on his right shoulder and start Dev McTavish or Dom Mediate in that spot. But based on my weekend conversations with Tino Quaranta, and to a lesser extent, Quavas Kirk, I think Soehn's "don't be a weenie, go for the jugular against this second-rate Caribbean bunch" angel will win out and Quaranta will get the nod.
Despite coming off early with hamstring tightness in last week's preseason match against Chivas USA in Texas, Tino insisted that he was 100% fit and expressed the sentiment that, basically, he hasn't worked his butt off all offseason and done the prodigal son routine just to be a squad player. He wants to start in the right wing role and has been working towards that goal from the get-go this year. If he's as motivated and ready to perform as he sounds, there's no reason why he can't make that spot his own for the next couple of months, if not beyond. Beyond that, I do expect Emilio to be substituted, probably by Niell: Soehn has made clear that the prolific Brazilian reported to preseason with poor fitness levels and Gallardo might give way as well -- to Moose, perhaps?
As for tonight's result, I believe there will be some nerves and a few hiccups on the Black-and-Red side. As such, these would only be disastrous for DC if they took place along the back line, and at an inopportune moment. Realistically, the environment is not going to be that hostile, despite the fact that tickets are priced at the equivalent of a mere US$7.
I played footie in the Caribbean for a couple of years during Peace Corps and while West Indians do their best to be threatening and hostile, they do not typically dig into the Central American bag of tricks that includes bags of urine as projectiles, constant crescendos of boos/whistles and speaker trucks blaring music at the team hotel all night. The bumpy field will disrupt DC's efforts at smooth possession and one-touch passing, yes. But the goals are the same size and the HVFC back line is bound to lose its shape, present big gaps or ditch marking assignments on multiple occasions.
Prediction: 2-1 United, just like the previous meeting in 2004. Goals from Emilio and Niell.
*hat tip to Dave Chappelle
There's been plenty of goings-on around the local soccer scene and on the DC United front, not to mention the futbol world at large. Several area youth standouts are rising to the top of the nation's recruiting classes -- not only in terms of college recruiting, but professional scouting as well -- the US Men's Olympic squad seems dead-set on flirting with disaster with roster choices as well as qualifying results, and the brave boys from Barcelona seem to have missed their best opportunity to reel in Real Madrid at the top of La Liga standings. Sigh.
But with the long-awaited kickoff to their 2008 campaign taking place in the capital of Jamrock later tonight, United is taking center stage this week. Dave Kasper and Tom Soehn's grand chemistry experiment will get its first public test on a dodgy pitch in Kingston, where long balls and crunching tackles are sure to be flying about in equal measure. Harbour View have a decent squad with some technical ability, but I'd bet dimes to donuts that Moreno, Gallardo, and Fred, just to name the three top targets, are going to get grass on their unis pretty quickly.
Some have speculated that Gallardo may not be quite fit enough to get the start, but I think the only real question in terms of the first XI is the right wing role. There's plenty of good reason to suspect that Tom Soehn will give in to the "play it safe, be defensive" angel sitting on his right shoulder and start Dev McTavish or Dom Mediate in that spot. But based on my weekend conversations with Tino Quaranta, and to a lesser extent, Quavas Kirk, I think Soehn's "don't be a weenie, go for the jugular against this second-rate Caribbean bunch" angel will win out and Quaranta will get the nod.
Despite coming off early with hamstring tightness in last week's preseason match against Chivas USA in Texas, Tino insisted that he was 100% fit and expressed the sentiment that, basically, he hasn't worked his butt off all offseason and done the prodigal son routine just to be a squad player. He wants to start in the right wing role and has been working towards that goal from the get-go this year. If he's as motivated and ready to perform as he sounds, there's no reason why he can't make that spot his own for the next couple of months, if not beyond. Beyond that, I do expect Emilio to be substituted, probably by Niell: Soehn has made clear that the prolific Brazilian reported to preseason with poor fitness levels and Gallardo might give way as well -- to Moose, perhaps?
As for tonight's result, I believe there will be some nerves and a few hiccups on the Black-and-Red side. As such, these would only be disastrous for DC if they took place along the back line, and at an inopportune moment. Realistically, the environment is not going to be that hostile, despite the fact that tickets are priced at the equivalent of a mere US$7.
I played footie in the Caribbean for a couple of years during Peace Corps and while West Indians do their best to be threatening and hostile, they do not typically dig into the Central American bag of tricks that includes bags of urine as projectiles, constant crescendos of boos/whistles and speaker trucks blaring music at the team hotel all night. The bumpy field will disrupt DC's efforts at smooth possession and one-touch passing, yes. But the goals are the same size and the HVFC back line is bound to lose its shape, present big gaps or ditch marking assignments on multiple occasions.
Prediction: 2-1 United, just like the previous meeting in 2004. Goals from Emilio and Niell.
*hat tip to Dave Chappelle
Comment posted by Charles Boehm @ 4:23 PM 
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