The Trequartista Sweeper - No YHs? Again? Now What?

This photo is clearly Bob Guerrero's. From his Yahoo! PH blog The Passionate Fan

You have probably seen the articles from Interaksyon and Inquirer, et al...

Coach Hans Michael Weiss, via the PFF, has ruled the two LMSFC players out of the FIFA international friendly against Bahrain on October 12 (That date falls under the FIFA international calendar).

Now what?

1. I don't think James will be that missed as much as Phil would. There is depth with regards to the wingers and midfielders. The forwards are the issue as of the moment, which will not be that much of a concern if Denis Wolf continues with his PFPC form (hopeful) and / or Ian Araneta rediscovers his brilliance (of which we all are currently hoping for a miracle). If Angel is there, we can plug him in at that spot. He has played that particular position before with Weiss.

2. I doubt this is a LMSFC matter when you have their starting keeper and one of their midfielders already at Bahrain participating in the camp.

3. Weiss must be cut from the Klinsmann cloth. If you don't get this, read the previous blog post.

What I'd like to see from the Middle East? See after the jump.




1. Roland as the number 1 GK. No Neil, and with the possibility of him being locked up by Bristol Rovers present, it's good to have options for November. Having him face the 112th and 115th-ranked nations in FIFA would be a good test. Also, he hasn't gotten much actual pitch time with MSV Duisburg, so it'll be a good workout.

2. Ray Jonsson and Paul Mulders returns. Ray's an interesting wildcard, since his contract with Grindavik apparently ends this month. They were relegated, and we're not exactly sure what he will be doing. He's the eldest among the European-based players and with his spot being occupied by Jeff Christiaens, it'd be fascinating if Weiss tinkers around. As for Paul, the guy is invigorated by actually being able to get some actual playing time after he's being buried on the ADO Den Haag roster. Look for him to be plugged as the chief attacking mid behind the lone striker on Weiss' 4-5-1 scheme. Considering how Reichelt has managed to finally break through in the PFPC, this could yield positive dividends.

3. Centre backs and DMs: With the prevalence of wingbacks thanks to Demit (too bad he's not in the camp) and Carli on the right and Jeff on the left, we'll need centre backs who can cover as well as DMs who can help out. Matthew Uy was great during the PFPC in this. My concern is that both Rob Gier and Juani just came back from injuries and Jason Sabio was left off the squad to recover from his. Jason de Jong is a work-in-progress as a CB (remember the foul against TPE player in the box?) Having the boys of Danish descent around is a huge plus. I'd be looking at Weiss doing some shuffling of combinations in the two friendlies of DMs, CBs and CMs.

4. Ian Araneta. Is he really done as a Philippine international? We will know soon enough. It is apparent that he's pressing during the PFPC, knowing the critics have been hounding on his performances.

5. A win, perhaps, you never know. What I'd like to see however, is better team play akin to how we performed in the PFPC. Won't mind a draw, or even a loss, as long as I see the scheme working and chemistry improving. This is after all, part of the Suzuki Cup preparation.