Galaxy vs. Fire Pregame

By: jen | August 19th, 2009

Let’s play armchair manager, shall we?

Sorry folks, no David Beckham or Eddie Lewis tonight due to red cards. This could mean we finally get to see Chris Birchall in a playmaking midfield role. We already know he can shut down players as well as Miglioranzi, but can he put together better offensive play? We have speculated that yes, he can, so hopefully tonight he’ll get to prove it.

So I say Birchall will go in for Beckham. Who will take Eddie Lewis’ spot? I suspect Landon will move to the left and Chris Klein will come in as right half. The line up could look like this:

———————— Ricketts ————————–

DeLaGarza —- Gonzalez —- Berhalter —- Dunivant

———————-Miglioranzi———————–

Klein —————- Birchall —————-Donovan

———– Gordon ————- Kirovski ————–

Now, I just checked the game preview and Kovalenko is listed as probable for tonight. So he’ll likely play instead of Birchall. I think I’d rather see Birchall stay in the midfield, yank Kirovski, and put Donovan up top.

The Fire will play tonight with no Brian McBride and no Gonzalo Segares. However, Cuauhtemoc Blanco should start, providing service to the Fire’s front runners that will be tricky to defend.

Watch the match LIVE on ESPN2 at 6pm Pacific.

Now you predict the line up. Who do you want to see on the field with the absence of Beckham and Lewis?

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soccer goals

So I say Birchall will go in for Beckham. Who will take Eddie Lewis’ spot? I suspect Landon will move to the left and Chris Klein will come in as right half. The line up could look like this:
Laurie

Landon to PSG?!?! Ohmygosh, that would be, like, the best of all possible worlds!
jen

Oh Laurie, that's too funny!
jen

Thomas, I saw that last night on Fox Soccer Report. It still seems to be a rumor that the deal is made. I think it has been confirmed that the two sides are talking.

That would be a nice move for Landon. I'd still rather see him go to a team that might sign him full time.
Thomas

Do you guys know anything about the "Landon to PSG is imminent" articles circling around? Any basis in fact?

Said articles:
http://www.goal.com/en/news/11...
(Look towards the end of that one)
http://www.soccerbyives.net/so...
Laurie

This is absolutely irrelevant, but you need to read it because one of the photos relates to one of your people. Also because it's funny as hell.

http://thebloggess.com/?p=3737
David

Well, I saw the amazing and surprising result, but not the game. What happened?
Dustin

Alright, tough match but should be pretty exciting, I'm visiting my dad so I got a HUGE Flatscreen to watch the game on....Soccer Heaven right now.
Lee

With this three game stretch it's going to be critical
to manage the substitutions and I think we'll see slightly
different line ups for each game.
Glen

It'll be a tough road match tonight. I want to see Birchall in the match and see what he can do along with Donovan up top with Gordon. Jordon or Kirovski can sub in after once again Gordon proving he has nothing to offer- now that I say that he'll get a goal tonight :)
jen

Colin -- ha ha! I like how you think. Not only do I want to see Birchall start, but I LOVE to see Jordan get some time too.

I figure Arena can always sub Kovalenko in for Birchall if Birchall can't go the full 90. That we be good for Kovalenko's injury as well.
Colin

If Birchall IS too slow, put Donovan there, replace Kovalenko with Birchall, and put Jordan up top with Gordon. Let's see how many times the ESPN2 announcers mess up saying Gordon, I mean Jordan, I mean Gordon...
Colin

I think when we have Gordon & Kirovski up top our attack suffers tremendously. They're too slow to get on passes and to make runs, which means that our midfield is working twice as hard and we're constantly playing defense. Here's what I'd like to see for tonight's game (but in reality, what do I know?):

———————— Ricketts ————————–

DeLaGarza —- Gonzalez —- Berhalter —- Dunivant

———————-Kovalenko———————–

Klein —————- Miglioranzi —————-Birchall

———– Gordon ————- Donovan ————–

Birchall is probably too slow to play on the wing like that, now that I mention it. At this point, I'll be happy with any lineup that features Birchall and does NOT feature Kirovski.