Friday, April 11, 2014

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)

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