Rojas and Pietravallo Available v. Galaxy

By: Dave Martinez | July 18th, 2008

Red Bulls Reader gives word that Vinotinto great Jorge Rojas and the Argentine destroyer, Juan Pietravallo, will be eligible for some solid minutes against Beckham and his Galaxy squad. This is excellent news for the team, which has struggled to secure its midfield play since Reyna went down earlier in the season, and hasn’t been able to find the creativity to put the ball in the back of the net either. Rojas and Pietravallo are the answers to both riddles.

So, assuming the new signings will debut this Saturday, here is my guess of what the line up may look like:

———Angel—-Richards——–
————-Rojas—————–
DVB———————–Freeman
——-Pietravallo-Stammler——–
-Goldthwaite–Parke–Boyens——
————Conway—————

———Angel—-Echeverry——-
————-Rojas—————–
DVB———————–Richards
——-Pietravallo-Stammler——–
-Goldthwaite–Parke–Boyens——
————Conway—————

Mendes, who has been playing so well, doesnt deserve yet another trip to the bench – but in a 3-5-2 scheme, he has played best as a destroying central figure, not in his customary defensive spot. Mendes will serve as a back up to Stammler and Pietravallo. One would be tempted to put him in the back line in place of the enigmatic Andrew Boyens, but to take that risk for such a big game in such a critical area of the field would be a bit much.

Speaking of the D, it would seem, at first glance, that it would be our weakness coming into this Saturdays game. But one must look at the two pieces in front of the defense, Pietravallo and Stammler, to get a full picture of the defenses strength. With those two playing destroyer, and a competent Jeff Parke behind them to sweep away any danger, the Galaxy won’t find it a cake walk to find the back of the net, for sure.

Osorio may give Echeverry one more shot up top. Clearly, he is a step or three slow on the ball, and he has sat out practices, along with Angel this week, to recoup. But I feel that an Angel / Richards combination up top, with Rojas feeding the pair, would present a much greater threat to the slow paced Galaxy defenders.

And Freeman > Sassano at the right wing. Lets face it – Freeman has an excellent cross from the right. With the educated Dutch foot of DVB on the Left, and a commanding distributor like Rojas in the center, it would seem to be a recipe for success.

The possible addition of these two players must give people a bit more confidence in the Bulls chances for a victory come this Saturday. Or does it? Share your thoughts.