Testing home comforts

By: Chris | April 13th, 2007

So after an ugly draw on the road at Columbus, do things get any easier at home? Judging from our second half collapse, question marks were raised in camp this week about the durability of NYRB Captain Claudio Reyna. On opening day, his fragile body was put to the test by frigid field conditions and clumsy tackles flying in from left and right. But rather than an opposing boot, the most telling verdict came from an unlikely source: teammate Dane Richards.

A collective gasp rose from fans and players alike as Richards clattered Reyna to the floor. And despite eventually returning to the match, Reyna was clearly shaken. Word out of camp this week, is that Reyna has resumed full training and is in line for a start on Saturday. But after watching his best “gangster” limp and imprecise passing, opponents must have been lickng their chops.

“I thought in the first half we gave Claudio a lot of space and time and when you give a good player time and space, he’ll show you exactly how good he is,” Columbus coach Sigi Schmid said. “In the second half I thought we did a much better job, we talked about the nearest guy getting to him sooner, making him play it to somebody else. In the second half he had far less of an impact on the game.”

Exhibiting a clear reliance on his problematic right side, Reyna’s training is based largely around balance and isolated strengthening exercises to rebalance his posture. But during matches, his over reliance on this injury ravaged side will only worsen on field turf surfaces where planting and passing are particularly difficult. Interestingly enough, this could be a possible explanation from Reyna’s tendency to slow down play– rather than attacking opponents (and potential tackles) As for Reyna’s current injury, an inability to plant to foot results in and from ankle inflexibility. While Reyna will likely start on Saturday, don’t expect him to burst in to space or challenge fully for headers meaning slow play from midfield, or an early substitution.

Two players set to benefit from injury are Clint Mathis and Dane Richards. Despite an indifferent performance on opening day, Richards will assume the role of starter on the left flank following injury to incumbent Markus Schopp. Due in part to Reyna’s injury, Bruce could well favor a more direct approach with crosses coming in from Richards and VDB to the head of Mathis and Dema running up from midfield.

Despite the temptation to utilize the speed of fullbacks Wynne and Dunivant in a 4-4-2, Bruce seems adamant on sticking with the 4-4-2– and in particular John Wolynick. This week linked to yet another aging forward, he is clearly seeking a veteran goalscoring solution to mold young Jozy Altidore. But while Edmundo, Salas, and Angel may know how to stick the ball away, this wont come from hard running or dropping back to find the ball.

Wolynick was admittedly off form in Columbus, but his graft and hard running remain factors which are independent of form. Currently the only forward with the gas to go 90 minutes, he looks set to remain deployed in a withdrawn role to support whoever is brought in. After last week, this looks most likely to be Clint either up top, who, given his fitness, is more likely to camp out in front of goal than attack from midfield.

Either scenario may depend highly on how closely the FC Dallas duo of Carlos Ruiz and Kenny Cooper pressure our defense. After Marvel Wynne’s shaky display in Columbus, look for either Stammler or Dema to hang back to help alleviate the pressure on our back line.

I will actually be there on the sidelines stoically guarding against potential injury (woohoo), so feel free to drop down and say hi if you can get through the crowd of fans (who I will be restraining from the players)