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- Drink as much of whatever beverage you need to flush East Hartford out of your system. Cucumber water, antifreeze, Guinness, a fiberglass smoothie, vodka and Ovaltine, mustard, or a fat cup of damn good joe. Whatever it takes.
- This New York City FC team looks like it’s gonna go as far as David Villa can carry it. I hope I’m dead-wrong, because even the Guaje can’t do it by himself.
- The Impact will either come out looking catatonic or mad as hell now that their chances of making the playoffs are down to about 10%. We’ll know right away which one it is. But in any event:
- Ignacio Piatti and Blerim Dzemaili will definitely carve up Andrea Pirlo like a turkey. It’s up to Patrick Vieira to keep that from happening with the right squad selection.
- I really, really want to see what Ronald Matarrita is ready to do for this team.
- Is Yangel Herrera more essential to NYCFC winning than Alex Ring? It sounds strange, but while the Ringmaster knows how to clean up plenty of messes for his teammates, Herrera’s strength is wreaking havoc on his opponent’s game plan. That’s the missing piece right now. [UPDATE: Herrera is back to a clean bill of health! Wooooooo!]
- Don’t freak out if the Impact score first. New York City isn’t the only team that knows how to blow the lead.
- This isn’t the best game for RJ Allen to start. One part of me wants the team to push like hell for that elusive goal, but Allen’s aggressiveness will be his downfall against a squad that springs counterattacks as quickly as the Quebecois. My vote at right back is Andraz Struna. Speaking of counters:
- When Anthony Jackson-Hamel gets the ball on the run, get a body on him ASAP. If the Canadian forward features, Ring and Alexander Callens can’t let him out of their sights.
- Vieira should treat this like a playoff game. With just one victory in their last five, NYCFC needs a W right freakin’ now. Anything else means we’re one step closer to panic time.