Week 4: Kansas City @ TFC preview

By: Sam | April 26th, 2007

Saturday, April 28. BMO Field, Toronto, Ontario.

In a nutshell: It’s the home opener! What’s more, after almost five hours of not scoring, the hometown fans might like to see what the ball looks like when it’s in the back of the other team’s net.

Toronto FC’s records:
Last 5 (includes preseason): 2W-3L-0D 5GF-10GA
This season: 0W-3L-0D 0GF-9GA
Against Kansas City: 0W-1L-0D 0GF-3GA

Kansas City’s records:
Last 5 (includes preseason): 3W-2L-0D 12GF-8GA
This season: 2W-2L-0D 9GF-6GA
Against Toronto FC 1W-0L-0D 3GF-0GA

My lineup:

1 Sutton
16 Wynne - 11 Brennan - 4 Reda - 8 Goldthwaite
7 Welsh - 33 Robinson - 6 Edu
25 Ibrahim - 10 Eskandarian - 20 Lombardo

Kansas City’s lineup:

1 Hartman
14 Jewsbury - 12 Conrad - 3 Garcia - 6 Burciaga
22 Arnaud - 5 Zavagnin - 9 Victorine - 2 Harrington
7 Johnson - 19 Sealy

Analysis:
How much can I stress this? Never enough, it would seem. It’s the home opener. We’d better get a goal. Come on. A fricking goal. And dare I say it… A decent performance all-around? A point? A WIN? We’ll see how far our fans will take us.

You’ll notice that I didn’t toy with the eleven that Sir Mo put on the field yesterday. Except for, you guessed it, Edson “Pretend You’re Invisible” Buddle. I really don’t know what Dichio’s working permit situation is, as well as Ibrahim, who’s been having troubles ever since he signed with us, so I’m voting for a little Lombardo magic up front with Eskandarian. Lombardo’s never played in the MLS, but from what I’ve heard of him he’s quite talented. That said, my mother could fill the spot better than Buddle’s done so far.

Strategy-wise, I think Nagamura and Robinson will have to be more active defensively. Too many times we saw the Wizards lead a counter-attack with six guys to match our back four. Speaking of Nagamura, I doubt I’m the only one who’ll want him to get less excited whenever the ball arrives within five yards of him. He’s been booked in all three games so far.

Other than that, I can’t really say anything. Like I said, we didn’t play that badly last game, Kansas City just did their thing and got luck to go with it. I’m hoping. We. All. Are.

What’s more, we’ll finally get a look at our supporters! I’m sure it’ll be super!

My prediction: I’m hopeless at this, it would seem. Let’s say 2-1 to the Wizards, but gah! 1-1 is also tempting. As for the scorer, look no further than Esky.