Like A Kid On Christmas

By: Ian | July 17th, 2008

Look at all these wonderful new players! After suffering through half a season of ugly and, let’s face it, often boring soccer, it’s exciting that there are finally new faces, the long-awaited reinforcements that will help us push towards a playoff spot. Or at least that’s the hope anyway. Biggest of all the signings, of course, is Huckerby. It’s been a long time since I’ve been this excited about a player signing, and that feeling is pretty much universal amongst Quakes fans right now. Then again, it’s also been a long time since we were in such dire need of help. The hype around Huckerby is partially deserved but also partially a sign of the depths we are currently in. Doesn’t matter though, rationality has no place in this Quakes fans’ heart. Bring on our savior and Greatest Man Alive, Darren Huckerby!

Can’t forget that we also added the 37-year old Lima. I don’t think there will be any grandpa jokes in practice because it looks like you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry. Then there’s Scott Sealy. I think I’m more excited about him than other Quakes fans, including my compatriot, Sean. I think he’s definitely an upgrade over Kamara because he can actually finish and has good pace. I could be wrong though, and he could be yet another Glinton-Kirovski-Peguero bust.

Now for the favorite hobby of Quakes fans at the moment, figuring out where our new toys should fit in. Here’s what my lineup would look like if I were manager:

Sealy-Johnson

Huckerby-Lima-Corrales-O’Brien

Guerrero-Garcia-Hernandez-Gray

Cannon

Yes, I would stick with a 4-4-2, as adjusting to a new system would throw the rhythm off, which is already going to be shaky with three new players coming in. I prefer not to waste our savior’s talents, so let’s put him where he likes to play best and is most effective, on the left wing. This puts Guerrero in the left back spot. Sorry Denton, but Guerrero is better defensively AND can fly forward and provide good offensive punch as well. I don’t have much confidence in Cochrane and think Hernandez is better in the middle with Garcia. Gray is an upgrade over Riley at the right back spot in my opinion due to his heart, and he also will not make as many mistakes. Lima and Corrales will be classic Yallop “side-to-side” midfielders, taking turns going forward and defending, as they both have skills in attack and defense. Johnson will win the balls up front, and Sealy will run onto them and finish. Looks good on paper, let’s see how it all works out in real life.