1) How do we slow down Greg Hurst?
Greg Hurst has four goals on six shots (all of which were on target) and one assist with two crosses. Even in this small sample size season, it seems unlikely he will keep up his rate of one goal per 62.5 minutes for the whole season, but he will be the hottest player the Union Omaha has faced to date. No player on the Red Wolves has more than one assist, but two players have created four chances each while three other players have created three chances each. As such it should take a team defensive effort to shut down the Red Wolves attack.
League One’s best defense should be up to the challenge though, and as a bonus it looks like we will find out what happens when an unstoppable object meets a brick wall.
2) How does Jay rotate the midfield?
We saw a brand new midfield combo on Saturday night in Tuscon with JP Scearce coming in for Tyler David. The midfield didn’t seem to miss a beat with the rotation of players. Will Jay show us a combination we’ve seen before or rotate players again and give us a new lineup. This game is going to be the first real fitness test for the players and I have no idea what Jay thinks about load management. Hard to see changes on the back line and we’ll talk about player selection in the attack next, but I could see any of six midfielders starting (Devin Boyce, JP Scearce, Tyler David, Sebastian Contreas, Christian Molina, Austin Panchot) in three spots in almost any combination.
Note: I’m unwilling at this time to explore what position Evan Conway is actually playing right now and equally unwilling to speculate on whether we are playing a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. When it becomes an issue we’ll address it.
3) Who generates the offense?
Ethan Vanacore-Decker, Elma Nfor, and Evan Conway memorably combined for the first goal in club history. But did you know that in the 82 minutes they have been on the pitch together, Los Buhos have scored all of their goals? (Ethan has been involved directly in all three. Please consider this the official kickoff of the ‘Uncle Rico for MVP’ campaign.) How long will we get the Triple E offense (spelled offEEEnse) in this game? Does JP finally score from outside the box after forcing amazing saves in each of his last two appearances? Will Juan Mare break out against his old club?
TUNE IN AT 4PM CST TO FIND OUT!
Who Gives A Hoot? 