Our man Rev brings the Union preview:
The Union (2-6-1), who have
started their inaugural season with eight of their first ten games on
the road, face Kansas City (2-5-3) tonight (7:30PM/Live Well HD) in
their final road game before opening PPL Park June 27th
following
the World Cup break. The Union hope to rebound from Saturday’s 2-1
loss at Chicago.
Speaking of which, I’ve had
a difficult time erasing the disgraceful affront to free-flowing soccer
the Fire employed last week. If MLS Commissioner Don Garber ever wanted
to sabotage his league and make certain that MLS gains zero momentum
following the World Cup then he’d simply make sure the Fire played
on national television each week. Have I mentioned it was a disgrace?
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What can the Union take from
their most recent loss into the game against K.C.? Aside from the
realization
that it’s near impossible to break down ten men who are behind the
ball not a whole lot. Perhaps Peter Nowak changes things up and
reinserts
Roger Torres, who is one of his more creative players, into the starting
lineup. The suggestion is not a knock against Shea Salinas, who has
been excellent in a starting role. I just think with the pace Salinas
brings he’d be a more dynamic and dangerous player coming off the
substitutes bench. Either that or sit down right back Cristian Arrieta,
who has struggled recently, and slide Salinas into that spot as a pacey
player coming forward from the back.
As I mentioned in the last
postgamer I’ve been impressed with the maturation of Chris Seitz.
He’s seemingly bounced back from an awful beginning of the season.
He looked assertive and confident against Chicago, which is nice
considering
how physically imposing he is. His back four needs to eliminate the
one or two devastating lapses they suffer each game.
Offensively the Wizards are
led by Kei Kamara, who leads the squad with five goals. Josh Wolff,
who looks like he should be hanging out at the Peach Pit, gives KC an
attacking presence out of the midfield. While he’s a solid MLS player
I still have no idea how Bruce Arena included him in his World Cup
roster
back in 2006. The KC backline is anchored by Jimmy Conrad, another USMNT
News
veteran. In addition to being a capable defensive presence Conrad has
emerged as a thoughtful and engaging writer for espn.com. Granted, some of his
ideas were a bit off the wall, but it’s nice to see a player take
a genuine and very public interest in the state of affairs of US Soccer.
Assuming they’ve not already
checked out in anticipation of the World Cup break this should be a
very winnable game for the Union. It’d be nice if they ended their
exodus away from Chester by picking up the three points. Perhaps Danny
Mwanga will be the stoppage time hero once again, as he looks to extend
his three game scoring streak. Speaking of Mwanga, he’s done a fine
job of keeping Jack McInereny on the bench. I’d imagine Jack Mac will
get some time in the upcoming friendly at Reading
United A.C. on June 23rd.
Also, it wouldn’t hurt if Alejandro Moreno, who leads the team in
assists with five, opened his goal scoring account.
Finally, the Union will be
rocking their alternate gold shirts for the first time in franchise
history (pictured above).
Union Player Most Likely
to See Red: Fred – who may freak out at just how narrow the pitch
is at CommunityAmerica Ballpark (soccer in a baseball stadium…awesome!)
Final Score
– Union pick up the win 2-1