Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Frustration Creeping In - Week 8 Lineup

Third Straight Leaves Battle Fuming

When you play well enough to win, but don't, things can get a bit maddening.  While the defeat to Spartans three weeks a go is a bit easy to swallow given their continued undefeated/untied run and the fact that it was simply a shootout, this weekend was especially tough to stomach.  Why ?  Well, because Alamo City scored enough to win the match outright ... but player selection kept that from happening.  Those kind of decisions hurt, especially when the players perform.  So the Battle sunk to a third straight defeat and are now looking to hold on to the footing they gained with the hot start.

- In Freedom Cup action, Lanus defeated Flamengo 1-0 to pull even on points with Alamo City.  Anything but a loss in the final match up will see the Battle lift the trophy yet again.  If not, Alamo City will share the cup with Lanus.


Week 8 Lineup:

Thierry Henry (C)
Obafemi Martins
Mauro Diaz (VC)
Vicente Sanchez
Jairo Arrieta
Gonzalo Pineda
Leo Fernandez
Benny Feilhaber
Sal Zizzo
Gaston Fernandez

Luis Robles

Jerry Bengtson
Harrison Shipp
Issey Nakajima-Farran

David Ousted

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

The BSL Classic



The League's Premier Teams Compete in the League's Premier Showcase

No two clubs have put their stamp on the BSL in a bigger fashion that Capital District and Alamo City.  They've won all of the trophies and have dominated the league historically.  They are the measuring sticks and they are the flagships.  Now, the get ready to tangle once again in the BSL Classic.  Only a single win separates them on the all time list.  Come this weekend, Alamo City aims to make sure things are tied up once again.  The last two weeks don't matter.  This match can immediately reignite the Battle and set the tone going forward.  Even with the pitfalls of the past two matches, the season has been tremendous thus far for Alamo City.  With their first ever BSL Cup victory last season, the Battle have taken a liking to the trophy in the trophy case.  This weekend they look to spoil Freddy Montero's 15 minutes of fame as he has a pre-match Prom ceremony, and take a stranglehold on this season's classic.

LINEUP VS CDG

Thierry Henry (C)
Obafemi Martins
Gaston Fernandez
Mauro Diaz (VC)
Vicente Sanchez
Jairo Arrieta
Benny Feilhaber
Leo Fernandez
Jerry Bengtson
Sal Zizzo

Luis Robles

Harrison Shipp
Gonzalo Pineda
Issey Nakamima-Farran

David Ousted

Transaction - Recap Week 6

There's Something You Don't See Everyday

To put it bluntly, the Battle stunk this past weekend.  Despite Mauro splitting defenders yet again, Henry doubling up almost every team in the league's shot total this week, and Martins even heading a ball in ... a big fat goose egg is what Alamo City ended up with.  As has been the history with Gateway, someone forgot to get off the bus.  Unfortunately it was the Battle this time.  A 6-0 thumping was the end result and it marks the first time that the Battle have been shut out in 2 1/2 years.  Let's hope that streak starts back up again this weekend.  The Battle need to rebound, right now.

Alamo City Transaction

The Battle drop Charles Eloundou and sign Jerry Bengtson (NER)

Friday, April 11, 2014

Roster Week 6 vs Gateway

Thierry Henry (C)
Obafemi Martins
Gaston Fernandez (VC)
Mauro Diaz
Charles Eloundou
Jairo Arrieta
Leo Fernandez
Harrison Shipp
Issey Nakajima-Farran
Gonzalo Pineda

Luis Robles

Vicente Sanchez
Benny Feilhaber
Sal Zizzo

David Ousted

Battle Drops Week 5 Slugfest - Transaction

7-6 Loss to Spartans Sees Plenty of Silver Lining

It all went right for Alamo City, except for the one thing that mattered most.  The result.  Spartans walked away with all three points and the top of the table.  This, despite Alamo City making every right move.  "Our roster selection was as good as it could have been this week.  We know Henry was going to sit, and we just had a feeling about leaving Leo in and Mulholland on the bench.  We put the Captain's arm band on Mauro and left Luis in goal.  We couldn't have made any moves better than we did."  The only players that scored for the Battle were on the pitch.  Of course, it didn't help that Caleb Porter did nobody any favors by deciding at game time to bench Gaston Fernandez.  While ultimately it didn't matter as none of the bench players for Alamo City scored, it still left a hole in the lineup that was unable to produce.
"That's an issue we've brought up with the commissioner but we haven't heard back.  Given how our lineups have to be submitted and how the MLS lineups can change up to game time ... let's just say that things like this are a very real hindrance to being able to adjust when things out of our control take place."  When asked about Vicente Sanchez not playing, the Battle management answered that they knew he was a risk but had a much more likelihood of playing than Henry.  Add that to his leading the league in scoring and you get a risk worth taking.

When it was all said and done this weekend, the Battle are looking up at first place in the table.  That's the big take away.  The positives though, are that the lineup has remained hot.  It's not a normal occurrence to put six on the board and lose.  Continued play like this will leave the Battle in very good shape come the end of the season.  


Freedom Cup Update:
Club Leon stunned Brazilian powerhouse 3-2 in Libertadores action to keep their Freedom Cup hopes alive.


Transaction:
Alamo City releases Luke Mulholland and signs Charles Eloundou (COL)

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Transaction

Alamo City releases Kekuta Manneh and adds Issey Nakajima-Farran (TFC)

Friday, April 4, 2014

Match 5 - Benny and the Jets Feature in BSL Match of the Week


Lone Undefeated Teams Clash With Top of the Table on the Line

Things have been pretty good for the Battle so far.  The ebb and flow of the early season has managed to keep from dragging Alamo City out with the tide.  Even a week of overall low scoring didn't catch up to the Battle and they're hoping for more of the same this week.  Most likely normal captain Theirry Henry won't play at all due to the plastic pitch up in Montreal.  While it is possible he gets minutes and gets on the score sheet, Alamo City can't take that chance and keep a 90 minute player on the bench this week.  The good news is that the entire roster has been producing so the impact of Henry's benching this week should be minimal.  Several stars are emerging and many of them have the stage set to really break out.  This would be an opportune time for one or more of them to grab the spotlight.