Ahhhh another thursday night means another edition of MLS Primetime Thursdays, with this weeks matchup taking place up in Maple Syrup-Ville as the Red Bulls take on Toronto FC. It should be a good matchup as Toronto isn't the example of soccer futility anymore and the Red Bulls have been playing pretty decent the last couple games. The only way to break down this matchup is to assess the teams strengths and weaknesses:Red Bulls Strengths:
Jozy "ridiculous man-child" Altidore - Jozy lives for the spotlight and it wouldn't surprise me to see him go apeshit and roof one in the upper corner on Toronto tonight. That being said, it also helps that the likes of Marco Velez should be marking him............that's like putting Mark Madsen on Lebron James.....successful defending will just not materialize out of that matchup folks.
The return of JPA - If Angel does indeed play tonight, we could see a ritualistic massacre of the Toronto defense if him and the man child get the service they need.................but that's a big if. But just remember what happened last time Angel played in T-Dot:
Red Bulls Weaknesses:
John Conway - Nuff said...................the guy is 18 feet tall and still cant block some easy shots. If he couldn't block a Larentowitz free kick right at him, how is he gonna stop Laurent Roberts rocket launcher on his left foot? And how will he stop any of the class free kicks Amado Guevara can produce?? This point alone could make for an interesting and high scoring game.
The midfield......or lack thereof - The matchup between TFC's suddenly awesome midfield and RBNY's extremely unawesome midfield will probably decide the game tonight. I honestly cant see Claudio Reyna doing much against the buzzsaw in Carl Robinson and the box to box middie in Mo Edu...........I also cant see him doing much because he really hasn't done much during his time in NY except for last game against San Jose but they're an expansion team, so like all of Barry Bonds' home runs when he was 'roided up, that performance from Reyna technically doesn't count.
TFC Strengths:
Bat-Shit Crazy Fans - Say whatever you want when it comes to who have the best fans in the league but in my opinion its not even close, and that makes TFC extremely hard to beat at home. That being said, the one thing I request of TFC fans tonight is that you not start the "this is our house!" chant if you are losing..........especially by alot...........that happened alot last year and it didn't reflect well on your overall intelligence.
Uber Midfield - As stated before in the Red Bulls weaknesses, the disparity between the two midfields is huge and it could help turn this game tonight into a rout of epic proportions. Head Coach John Carver has come in and transformed the midfield into a deadly possession/ triangle passing team, with dangerous skill at every middie position. I wouldn't be surprised if Osorio has to take Reyna out at halftime in order to keep him from being absolutely brutalized for another half, although I hope that Claudio makes me eat my words.
TFC Weaknessess:
Marco "i fuck up alot" Velez - If the RBNY has any smarts at all on their coaching staff, and I'm pretty sure that's what they picked up Osorio for, then they will unleash an all out assault on TFC defender Marco Velez. He is far and away the weakest link on their defense and is prone to unbelievably stupid mistakes at times(example of his shambolic defending).
El Lobo's Temper - With Guevara tearing up the league since returning a couple of weeks ago you gotta figure that hes in for another good game against a less than full strength RBNY team. The one factor is that he may be pressing his game because he will feel like he has something to prove against his old team. That can mean two things: that he either plays out of his mind and pulls a ridiculous goal out of his ass........or that he gets frustrated and lets that famous temper of his take over and take him out of his game. I'm going to lean towards the latter just because I think Osorio will have Stammler shadowing Guevara and that combined with the shitty conditions in the rain tonight will make for an angry Amado.
Prediction:
As much as it pains me to say this, the gulf between the two midfields will be too great for RBNY to overcome and they will be unlucky on a few chances and lose 3-1 with Angel getting a goal in his first game back if he plays. I also predict that there will be another douchebag/asshat Toronto fan who will throw a flare or smoke bomb on the field, damaging the already shitty field turf.
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