Season 3 – League Match #14
Screamin’ Seamen vs. Ramblers
Date: July 6th, 2003
Venue: The Docks (Chicago, IL)
Attendance: 30,000 (30,000)
Weather: Overcast
It all comes down to this, boys and girls. Today we play host to the Ramblers, with potential automatic relegation to the 5th Division on the line. The situation is pretty simple. If we win today, we guarantee ourselves a relegation match next weekend. If we draw or lose, then our fate will be decided by the results of the match between the 5th place Sweden Heights and 7th place SoccerWussies. A victory by Sweden Heights would guarantee us a relegation match as well, even if we lose.
The Ramblers have a number of good players, but their real star is 30 year old winger Phillip Gallo. He is valued at over $1,000,000, and is capable of putting up ***** performances. Arlen “Headcase” Lucas and Ben McMahon will be stuck to him like glue today (we hope).
Previous Meetings
1/5/2003 – Screamin’ Seamen 2, Ramblers 2
2/23/2003 – Ramblers 1, Screamin’ Seamen 2
4/6/2003 – Ramblers 4, Screamin’ Seamen 0
We’ve played the Ramblers three times previously, and the series is all tied up at 1-1-1. We got the better of them last season, but they spanked us in Detroit back in week 1, 4-nil (which I still suspect was an ill-advised MOTS on their part). Today we hope to take some measure of revenge for the embarrassment back in April.
Formation: 3-5-2
Starters (# start w/ SSFC, *s last time out)
Keeper: #1 Cornelius “Corny” Jernigan (22nd start, **~)
Right Wingback: #5 Arlen “Headcase” Lucas (42nd start, ****)
Central Defender: #2 Chuck Scales (43rd start, ****)
Left Wingback: #22 Tyler Willard (22nd start, ***~)
Right Winger: #3 Ben McMahon (40th start, **)
Inner Midfielder: #4 Pete “The Old Goat” Tomlin (40th start, **~)
Inner Midfielder: #8 Niklas Ivarsson (15th start, ***)
Inner Midfielder: #6 Charlie Bautista (44th start, ***~)
Left Winger: #9 Valentin Rubio (14th start, ***)
Forward: #11 Johannes Henriksson (39th start, **)
Forward: #12 Guido Metman (8th start, **~)
Team Captain: #11 Johannes Henriksson
Set Pieces: #11 Johannes Henriksson
Substitutes
-Keeper: #13 Darryl Read (25 career starts)
-Defender: #17 Mattias Leier (3 career starts)
-Midfielder: #7 Lucian Tere (31 career starts)
-Forward: #15 Forrest “Gump” Tobias (32 career starts)
-Winger: #25 Paul Peralta (15 career starts)
If the Ramblers are one thing, they are predictable. They always rely heavily on Phillip Gallo and a strong left-side attack, so we will be stacking the right side of our defense against them. Arlen Lucas and Ben McMahon will both play defensively along the right side, and should receive some help from Chuck Scales and The Old Goat (our best two-way midfielder).
The real weakness of the Ramblers is that they play an asymmetrical 3-5-2, and never use a wingback on their right side. Obviously, we’ll be attacking heavily on the left, with winger Valentin Rubio and midfielder Charlie Bautista pushing the ball up the pitch at every opportunity.
We have two real advantages today, which give me hope. First off, we are at The Docks, and the players are plenty ticked off about their first ever league-match loss at home two weeks ago to the Croats. I expect a healthy home field advantage today. Our other advantage is height. The Ramblers don’t have any starters that are good header-players, while we have serious height with both Arlen Lucas and Valentin Rubio on the pitch. For this reason, I have decided that Johannes Henriksson will play for us today. He seems to have recovered from his horrible slump, and is the most skilled player we have at corner kicks.
We’re also returning the captain’s armband to Johannes. I’m hoping that will give an additional psychological edge to our players.
Time to put up or shut up.
Match Report
PRE-GAME
Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 30000 at The Docks today.
Screamin' started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Jernigan - Lucas, Scales, Willard - Mcmahon, Ivarsson, Bautista, Tomlin, Rubio - Metman, Henriksson.
Ramblers had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Chugg - Arredondo, Powell, Campos - Sanden, Whittington, Maddox, Holmes, Gallo - Hansson, Barik.
FIRST HALF
Ramblerss Gerhard Sanden got himself booked after a foul.
Ramblers took the lead in the games 13th minute with 0 - 1 after some elegant plays down the middle. Bhima Barik was the scorer.
In the 23rd minute Screamin's Pete Tomlin received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first.
In the 25:th minute the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 2 as Kurt Arredondo finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick.
In the 26:th minute Ramblerss Stefan Hansson received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Niklas Ivarsson the unlucky victim, couldn´t continue the game.
0 - 2 was the half-time score. Ramblers held the ball, with a clear 53 percent possession rate.
SECOND HALF
In the 68:th minute Ramblers put themselves up 0 - 3 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. Scorer was Gus Whittington.
After 70 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for Eric Holmes who increased Ramblers´s lead to 0 - 4.
The structure of the game started to change as Ramblers decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone.
The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Screamin', with an impressive 51 percent possession of the ball.
POST-GAME
The most dominating Screamin' player was without a doubt Arlen Lucas. Johannes Henriksson was a disappointment, however.
Most important Ramblers player was Philip Gallo. Kurt Arredondo on the other hand, had a terrible day.
Final Score: Ramblers 4, Screamin’ Seamen 0
Goals
None
Cards
Tomlin – yellow (1)
Player Ratings
Jernigan: **~
Lucas: ****~
Scales: ****
Willard: ****
McMahon: **
Tomlin: **~
Ivarsson: ** (injured)
Tere: **~ (replaced Ivarsson)
Bautista: ***~
Rubio: ***
Henriksson: **
Metman: **~
Team Match MVP: #5 Arlen Lucas
Team Ratings
Screamin’ Seamen
-Midfield: Solid (7)
-Right Defense: World Class (13)
-Central Defense: Formidable (9)
-Left Defense: Solid (7)
-Right Attack: Inadequate (5)
-Central Attack: Solid (7)
-Left Attack: Outstanding (10)
-Experience: Poor (3)
-NSI: 72
Ramblers
-Midfield: Solid (7)
-Right Defense: Passable (6)
-Central Defense: Formidable (9)
-Left Defense: Outstanding (10)
-Right Attack: Passable (6)
-Central Attack: Excellent (8)
-Left Attack: Outstanding (10)
-Experience: Poor (3)
-NSI: 70
Comments
The perfect finish to a perfectly crappy and frustrating season. All of the advantages belonged to us (head specialty, home field advantage, formation matchups), but the ball and the referees seem to have their own ideas about how the match should go. Looking at the match ratings, I cannot for the life of me understand how we got shelled, 4-nil. Their best attack (outstanding) was lined up against our WORLD CLASS right defense. Our best attack (outstanding left attack) was pitted against their passable right defense, and we didn't have a single good scoring opportunity, despite possession that was practically even. I just don’t get it, and I don’t want to think about it any more. Time to move on.
(grumble) (grumble) (grumble)
To add injury to insult, the injury to Niklas Ivarsson is a considerable one. He has a severe ankle sprain, thanks to a careless tackle by Ramblers’ striker Stefan Hansson, and will almost certainly miss our qualification match next week.
(grumble) (grumble) (grumble)
Series Scores and Final Standings
-Luck was on our side today, as Sweden Heights did us a
huge favor and defeated the SoccerWussies, 2-1.
-Big Reds finished off the season with a bang, crushing the Syracuse Supers, 6-nil.
-Neon Genesis Evangelion played spoiler today, drawing with the Croats in Miami, 2-2, and ruining any hopes the Croats had of automatic promotion.
No. Team W-D-L Goals Pts. NSI
1. Croats in Miami 10-3-1 47-17 33 61
2. Ramblers 8-1-5 36-22 25 70
3. Big Reds 7-3-4 27-18 24 69
4. Neon Genesis Evangelion 7-2-5 35-25 23 68
5. Sweden Heights 6-4-4 27-24 22 67
6. Screamin’ Seamen* 5-2-7 22-22 17 72
7. SoccerWussies 5-1-8 19-34 16 77
8. Syracuse Supers 0-0-14 4-55 0 46
Ramblers, Big Reds, and Neon Genesis Evangelion all shuffled around a bit in the final week, but otherwise the standings remained the same. We owe Sweden Heights a big, wet, sloppy kiss for beating SoccerWussies, allowing us to play a qualification match even though we lost today.
Qualification Week Matchups
Screamin’ Seamen vs. Jedi Mind Tricks (Series V.63)
Sweden Heights vs. Izzy’s Diaper Bombers (V.169)
Miami Redskins SC (Series III.13) vs. Croats in Miami
Neither Sweden Heights nor our club should have much difficulty with next weekend’s qualification matches. Both of our opponents seem to be a little weak, as far as Division V clubs go, and neither has ever put up an NSI rating of 60 or better.
The match between Croats in Miami and Miami Redskins SC should be a good one, as the teams look to be pretty evenly matched. The Croats are capable of putting up the better midfield, but the Redskins have a much better supporting cast, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. Both clubs are capable of putting up an 80 NSI rating. This should be one to watch on Sunday.
Up Next: Malvineros F.C., an Argentinean 4th Division side, has agreed to come to The Docks for an international training match on Wednesday. Stay tuned!