Pregame: The Wizards vs. The Crew

By: Michael | May 4th, 2007

The Skinny:
With another road win under our belt and some spring in our step, the Wizards now come back home to face the draw-laden (yes, for those of you keeping a tally, I have now used “laden” twice on the KCWizards Offside) Columbus Crew in a battle of teams who are looking to leave the basement for the green pastures of Playoffland (Which now looks like it will have vacancy with DC United craping it up).

My Take:
Back to eating home cooking, I see this game as one where the Wizards will have a good amount of positive momentum coming into. The Crew, 1-0-3 on the season, also have some wind at their backs. While Marinelli and Sealy will both be either out or nursing some boo-boos, I say the advantage goes to the Wizards, and on our home turf, this game is ours to win or lose.

The Starting XI:
I say we should keep the whole “winning” thing going, and as such shouldn’t mess too much with the starting XI. For the purpose of making my life happier, I’ll assume we’re looking at a Marinelli start and a Sealy off-the-bench feel-good appearance after awhile out. I don’t know what wise Curt will do, but here would be my choice for the starting XI:

(The three symbols after each player’s name is their role in the past three games… a * is a start, a ^ is a sub out, a + is a substitution in, and a _ is a game on the bench.)

———————–Hartman(***)———————-
Jewsbury(***)–Garcia(***)–Conrad(***)–Burciaga(***)
———————–Zavagnin(***)———————
Victorine(*^*)———-Marinelli(+^^)—–Harrington(*^^)
————Arnaud(***)——Johnson(***)————-

Again, this is assuming Marinelli really is OK… there’s been literally no news since he went out at 16′ in Toronto and chilled his hammy for the rest of the game. If he isn’t, I think Onalfo would move Victorine into the middle, bring Arnaud back to the wing, and start either Pore or Yura up front. He could also simple put Pore where Marinelli starts.

Prediction Time:
My Prediction: KC 2 – 1 Columbus
FIFA ‘03 Prediction: KC 0 – 0 Columbus
It’s official: Watching a 0-0 draw in real life can be boring. Watching a computer vs. computer sim is usually boring. Watching a computer vs. computer sim result in a 0-0 draw is nearly suicide-inducing in boredom. I did get to see an old Tony Meola come off the line on all 6 Columbus corner kicks like a 23 year old, which was funny…

We’ll, that’s all for today’s preview. Enjoy the high noon matchup tomorrow, kiddies!