So let me get this straight....

Your assumption that Collins John is not 90 minutes fit is due to the fact that he did not start last Saturday because he was not 90 minutes fit even though he had an entire pre season of training to get fit. Or did you not take into account that he was jet lagged from flying across the globe the day before which is probably the reason why he didn't start.

Or then again maybe you did take that into account and you're just assuming that the jet lag will last all the way to the upcoming match on Saturday. At which point he will still not be 90 minutes fit, which is your reason why he shouldn't start.

I can see a point with Baggio and Lowry but I don't think Lowry's defensive capabilities are appreciably better then Husidic's. Either way, as you say it's a bit of a coin toss.

Criticizing the Blanco comment is nitpicking at it's best.

That's a fair point about the jet lag, but I hadn't read/heard anything about when he got back. Also, I hadn't seen any explanation of why he didn't start. They may have said something on the broadcast, but I was watching at a bar to avoid the idiocy that is John Harkes.

I should have framed that as simply another possibility, and maybe backed it up with playing time in pre-season matches, because I'm not certain John played 90 in any of them. I might be misremembering that, though, and biasing it toward a first-hand account early on from Arizona.

And I'm not sure how pointing out that Sam completely contradicted himself constitutes "nitpicking." A possession game means you maintain possession. Blanco can certainly slow the attack down, but that's something completely different. Substituting one for the other is lazy, imprecise and misleading.

It's widely known that Collins John isn't fit. That bit of information has been leaking from the front office. It's also the reason he's been on seven teams in eight years. Why do you think the Belgian team released him? Because he was scoring goals?

Well, it was widely known that he wasn't fit when he came into camp. I'm giving cesba the benefit of the doubt that he may be in better shape now than when he got here. And if he's at least 60-minutes fit, then he probably starts. We'll see what happens in Colorado, but at altitude, I think he'll come off the bench again.

from the Sun Times today:

De los Cobos will tweak his lineup for the second game, likely giving Collins John the start ahead of Patrick Nyarko as Brian McBride's partner up top. John and McBride played together with English Premier League club Fulham.

The Fire signed John to score goals, with Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Chris Rolfe departing after last season for foreign teams. John wasn't in the starting 11 against the Red Bulls but got off five shots in the 36 minutes he played off the bench.

''John didn't start because he had to go to Holland [to get his visa a few days before the match],'' de los Cobos said. ''But in the time he played, he was very good.''

De los Cobos said Nyarko might stay in the lineup as an attacking midfielder.

''Nyarko's a very good player,'' de los Cobos said. ''He affirmed to me his ability to play in different positions. We need to work with him about finishing. That's the most difficult thing about soccer.''

Thanks for the update, cesba. Actual reporting = good. Sam "guessing" = bad. With that first match on the road, I'm guessing no one was there to ask the question right afterwards. And I'm still not wholly convinced that John is 90-minutes fit, so we'll see what sort of subs CdlC breaks out for this one.

And does that read like "Nyarko on the wing" to you? That could be a little problematic, as I think Nyarko struggles to send in good crosses. In the air, at least -- cutting it back on the ground suits his skills a bit better. So it's going to be up to Tim Ward and probably Lowry or Husidic to get in behind him on the wing so he can drop it back and they can cross it.

Of course, this would make for de los Cobos adopting three of the things Hamlett got criticized for in just two weeks of regular season play, but that's a whole other post.

I actually enjoy reading your posts. I don't always agree with them, but the opinions are usually well thought out and explained on your end.

Good crosses are a problem on this team. I have also noticed that Nyarko struggles to get them in the air. Problem is, Tim Ward is also not a very good crosser. I haven't seen enough of Lowry or Husidic to really rate their crossing skills.