Get out your Richter Scales, the Quakes are in Town!

By: Colman | July 18th, 2008

Another day, another game (or so it seems) for TFC. Tomorrow, cellar-dwellars San Jose pay their first ever visit to BMO Field, in what some fans are calling a must-win game. They cite the fact that we have not won in the past 7 games. Personally, this is an overreaction to me. 2 of those games were meaningless friendlies (Pachuca & Independiente) in which we played with a collection of players nobody had ever heard of (Murphy Wiredu, anyone?). Another was a very hard luck loss in Chicago which can be attributed to a horribly botched call by referee Jorge Gonzales. One was a 2-1 away loss to league-leading New England, in which we were extremely unlucky not to equalize late in the game (Jarrod Smith comes to mind). 2 games were against Vancouver - we were robbed by the referee in the home game (Vancouver was gifted a penalty), and only a Mo Edu mistake in the dying seconds of the game cost us the road win. Finally, we tied 0-0 at home against Kansas City in a game in which our international callups - Edu, Amado Guevara, and Jim Brennan - only had enough strength to play the last 30 minutes. So while many are claiming that this year’s edition of TFC is no better than last year’s, and must win this weekend to prove otherwise, I disagree. However, I wouldn’t mind a win against Ronnie O’Brien, Darren Huckerby, and their friends from Cali. In fact, I expect one.

We are missing Maurice Edu due to suspension after his so-called dive in Chicago. Also, Danny Dichio is still out with a concussion, which seems to be a lot more serious than originally expected. Dichio is off to see a specialist. Dunivant is still out with his broken ankle, but Olivier Tebily may be available to return to action. To quote John Carver earlier in the week: “Olivier has done some straight line running and some agility work,” said Carver. “He looked very good from what I saw. He won’t be in contention against Independiente but he might be ready for the San Jose game on Saturday.”

Expected Lineup is therefore:

Sutton - Brennan, Velez, Marshall, Wynne - Robert, Robinson, Guevara, Ricketts - Smith, Ibrahim

Cunningham deservedly rides the pine, though he is first in line to come on up front. Harmse is probably the first option off the bench in the midfield instead of Tyler Rosenlund, who did little to impress me (or Rob) in his friendly against Independiente.

At the beginning of the season, many fans (including this one) circled tomorrow’s date in the calendar as the return of Ronnie O’Brien, who left due to concerns that he could not stay healthy on Field Turf. Well wouldn’t you know it, but he’s injured, and is listed as questionable for tomorrow’s game with a hamstring strain. The other storyline for tomorrow was Darren Huckerby, who was being discussed as a possible signing as early as March, and last week rejected TFC to head for greener (and more natural) pastures in San Jose. However, according to the Quakes’ coach Frank Yallop, “he’s only trained once in two months, so it’d be a little tough for him to be thrown out there, but hopefully he can be on the bench.” While we miss the “Who Are Ya’s”, those two players are San Jose’s only bright spots, as the Earthquakes are last place in the weak Western Conference. I am confident that their absense makes up for us missing Edu and Dichio.

So while I don’t think the world will end if we do not collect three points tomorrow, we really should be looking at a relatively comfortable (think Colorado game) win. No disrepect to you, San Jose, but you’re TFC 2007. A bad team, with an injured Ronnie O’Brien. Looking for some road points? Not in our house.

My friend Takis (likely in an Olympiacos shirt) and I will be taking in the match from section 108, row 21, seats 9-10. Come find us for a chat!

Postgame tomorrow night - Come on you Reds!