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Before we get to the action, I want to give a hearty thanks to Brendan Hannan and Jeff Crandall and the rest of the team for their hard work in getting us live streams of these pre-season matches. They are certainly going above and beyond for the fans, and for that they deserve many kudos. Thanks gentleman!
Also, courtesy of Mr. Crandall, here are some notes to reflect on before the match this morning:
-Those not active today will be Sean Johnson, Arne Friedrich, Corben Bone, Victor Pineda, Kellen Gulley, and Tony Walls (not officially waived yet but will be soon).
-Maicon Santos, Patrick Nyarko, and Paolo Tornaghi will also be missing today.
-It is likely we will see Logan Pause once again start at RB today.
-Frank Klopas touched on the still-rumored-to-happen trade for Dilly Duka. To paraphrase, it may happen and it may not. I would assume if it does happen, it would be sooner rather than later. Although the deal was already expected to have been completed, it would behoove both parties to get the deal done so the player can join camp with his new team and the Crew can get a messy situation behind them.
-Sam Archer has left camp and gone on lone to a club in Iceland by the name of Íþróttabandalag Akraness. Yeah, don't ask me how to say it either. Hopefully Archer will get some playing time there and be able to develop.
-Trialist Ian Joyce left camp Tuesday, so that is one name you can remove from the race for the 3rd GK spot.
-Mystery "Trialist #1" picked up a knock, and he won't play today.
-Yazid Atouba, Rauwshan McKenzie, and Colin Rolfe have made it to phase 2 and will be with the team in Ventura, California. While the first 2 names aren't surprising, it is odd that Rolfe is hanging around given his rather poor outing against FGCU. Here's to hoping he picks it up if he is going to stay in camp.
-Rather than the 3 30 minute periods against FGCU, there will be the traditional 2 45 minute halves against the Crew today.
-That's all I got folks. Any day is great when it starts with Fire action. I look forward to seeing more of some of the youngsters today, as well as Lindpere and Larentowicz bossing the midfield. Let's go Fire!