Real Salt Lake versus San Jose Earthquakes
Courtesy of TyffaneeSue (pictured below at Rice Eccles last June)
(TyffaneeSue is a soccer mom x 4, AYSO referee, and effervescent Quakes fan.)
Following the example of this summer’s action movies, our fave expansion side should be able to pop right back up after last Saturday’s 3-punch knockout and easily cruise to victory on Wednesday.
We only wish, but such are the fantasies that stoke the flickering hopes of beleaguered Earthquakes fans, still in the throes of posttraumatic angst. Current predictions on the Quakes board for the upcoming game range from a nil-all tie (we do have a few optimists among the diehards) to a 0-7 humiliation. Translation: we lack confidence in our team’s ability to score.
Not that we are whining without cause. Our guys have had a tough schedule, with no home games between mid-May and mid-July (last Saturday’s debacle was arguably not a home game) Five starters have been missing due to international call-ups and injuries.
All that said, if our next game has to be on the road, I am glad that we are playing in Salt Lake. Apart from the green concrete pitch and the fact that there’s no alcohol available on site to ease the pain, you folks can probably remember what it’s like to be a first-year expansion team, so I am counting on your kindness and empathy.
Too, we do have some strong individual players, even if that team thing hasn’t quite gelled. We will still be missing forward Kei Kamara (en route to Pretoria to play for Sierra Leone) and incredible defender Nick Garcia, who’s been hobbling around with a sprained knee. Since Kei has scored 2 (of our 9) goals this year and Nick has prevented at least two from getting to the back of the net, their absence presents yet another challenge. But Frank Yallop believes in our team, and in Frank I trust. (If his picture were on the dollar bill, we might all sleep better at night.) Count on Frank and the coaching staff to make the most of the talent on hand.
Most likely to start on top will be Ryan Johnson (2 goals this season) and John Cunliffe (he scored a goal to save us from utter humiliation the last time we visited you), both of whom should play at least 150% better than they did on Saturday. Back in midfield will be Ivan Guerrero (absent with Honduras for the last few games; he rocketed us to a solid victory over the Dynamo with a blistering goal, and boy, did that feel good) and long-timer Ramiro Corrales. Expect to see Ned Grabavoy at attacking mid, as he’s showed up, at least physically, for every game and keep an eye out for adorable Kelly Gray, the midfielder who stepped up last Saturday and blasted four slightly off-center shots, gotta love the guy for trying.
Defenders Ryan Cochrane, Jason Hernandez, and Eric Denton are likely to hold down the backline, along with recent U.C. Santa Cruz grad Adam Smarte, who looked pretty good during his first start last Saturday. And of course, our hero, The Joe, who won’t be giving up those goals so easily this Wednesday.
Players you may or may not see: forward Gavin Glinton (dealing with a hernia, no goals or assists this season but great hair), the newly acquired Jovan Kirovski (probably out with an ankle sprain), Shea Salinas, the speedy, energizer bunny who is likely to be our first man in off the bench and Jamil Roberts, who celebrated his first few minutes of play as a sub last Saturday. Midfielder Joe Vide may make an appearance, and James Riley, coming off a red card, could be invited to shore up the backline or might start over Smarte. Stalwart Ronnie O’Brien skipped the last RSL game to protect a leg that hasn’t been the same since it was injured by one of your more exuberant players, and may well choose to do so again. The match won’t be the same without his laser-focus passing and well-honed sense of strategy, but we need him healthy.
My pessimist’s prediction: 2-0; the team with the XanGo brand prevails. But no one gets hurt. And the lineup on our side:
------------Cannon-----------------
We only wish, but such are the fantasies that stoke the flickering hopes of beleaguered Earthquakes fans, still in the throes of posttraumatic angst. Current predictions on the Quakes board for the upcoming game range from a nil-all tie (we do have a few optimists among the diehards) to a 0-7 humiliation. Translation: we lack confidence in our team’s ability to score.
Not that we are whining without cause. Our guys have had a tough schedule, with no home games between mid-May and mid-July (last Saturday’s debacle was arguably not a home game) Five starters have been missing due to international call-ups and injuries.
All that said, if our next game has to be on the road, I am glad that we are playing in Salt Lake. Apart from the green concrete pitch and the fact that there’s no alcohol available on site to ease the pain, you folks can probably remember what it’s like to be a first-year expansion team, so I am counting on your kindness and empathy.
Too, we do have some strong individual players, even if that team thing hasn’t quite gelled. We will still be missing forward Kei Kamara (en route to Pretoria to play for Sierra Leone) and incredible defender Nick Garcia, who’s been hobbling around with a sprained knee. Since Kei has scored 2 (of our 9) goals this year and Nick has prevented at least two from getting to the back of the net, their absence presents yet another challenge. But Frank Yallop believes in our team, and in Frank I trust. (If his picture were on the dollar bill, we might all sleep better at night.) Count on Frank and the coaching staff to make the most of the talent on hand.
Most likely to start on top will be Ryan Johnson (2 goals this season) and John Cunliffe (he scored a goal to save us from utter humiliation the last time we visited you), both of whom should play at least 150% better than they did on Saturday. Back in midfield will be Ivan Guerrero (absent with Honduras for the last few games; he rocketed us to a solid victory over the Dynamo with a blistering goal, and boy, did that feel good) and long-timer Ramiro Corrales. Expect to see Ned Grabavoy at attacking mid, as he’s showed up, at least physically, for every game and keep an eye out for adorable Kelly Gray, the midfielder who stepped up last Saturday and blasted four slightly off-center shots, gotta love the guy for trying.
Defenders Ryan Cochrane, Jason Hernandez, and Eric Denton are likely to hold down the backline, along with recent U.C. Santa Cruz grad Adam Smarte, who looked pretty good during his first start last Saturday. And of course, our hero, The Joe, who won’t be giving up those goals so easily this Wednesday.
Players you may or may not see: forward Gavin Glinton (dealing with a hernia, no goals or assists this season but great hair), the newly acquired Jovan Kirovski (probably out with an ankle sprain), Shea Salinas, the speedy, energizer bunny who is likely to be our first man in off the bench and Jamil Roberts, who celebrated his first few minutes of play as a sub last Saturday. Midfielder Joe Vide may make an appearance, and James Riley, coming off a red card, could be invited to shore up the backline or might start over Smarte. Stalwart Ronnie O’Brien skipped the last RSL game to protect a leg that hasn’t been the same since it was injured by one of your more exuberant players, and may well choose to do so again. The match won’t be the same without his laser-focus passing and well-honed sense of strategy, but we need him healthy.
My pessimist’s prediction: 2-0; the team with the XanGo brand prevails. But no one gets hurt. And the lineup on our side:
------------Cannon-----------------
Hernandez--Cochrane--Smarte--Denton
Gray--Corrales---Grabavoy---Guerrero
---------Johnson----Cunliffe---------
Since this will be our third visit to your home in six weeks, our team probably seems like family by now. And after they bid farewell to Salt Lake, our boys will be heading east for a Sunday romp with D.C. United. So please, go easy on them.
