Just in case you didn't know, there's going to be a championship soccer match played on Saturday in Milwaukee, WI. The Western Conference champions, the Milwaukee Rampage, will host the 2002 A-League Final and will face Eastern Conference champs, Richmond. For those who have followed the playoffs this season it is a bit of a surprise that these two clubs will be playing for the championship but it is expected to be a very exciting meeting.
Richmond offers a multi-faceted offense that has found ways to score when absolutely critical and a defense that works extremely hard. Meanwhile, Milwaukee appears to be a bit of a blue-collar club that works hard in each phase of the game and always seems to find a way to overpower their opponents. Both teams feature goalkeepers that can take a game over, Milwaukee's Dan Popik and Richmond's Ronnie Pascale, by stopping any and all shots taken their way.
This match will also feature Richmond's fantastic four of Kevin Jeffrey, David Hayes, Marco Ferruzzi, and Josh Henderson. Milwaukee will counter with iron men Matt Bobo and John Wolyniec. Bobo is really coming into his own in these playoffs as a good two-way player and should be of good value on any restart in the Richmond half. On the Kickers' side of things their gang of four continue to be impressive as they play their integral role in scoring for Richmond.
To try and get an idea of what the teams will look like on Saturday let's see what their possible lineups will be:
Milwaukee: Dan Popik; Matt Bobo, Jeremy Aldrich, Destin Makumbu; Steve Bernal, Jeff Bilyk, Jason Russell, Angel Rivillo, Miguel Saavedra; David Lara, John Wolyniec
Richmond: Ronnie Pascale; Khary Stockton, Peter Luzak, Kevin Knight, Chris Fox; Tony Williams, Marco Ferruzzi, David Hayes, Ray Goodlett; Kevin Jeffrey, Josh Henderson
Now all of this is unconfirmed and if my prior track record on predictions during this postseason is anything to go by we could very well see Bobo and Popik up top for Milwaukee and Mike Burke in goal for the Kickers.
Looking at these possible lineups we should be able to see where the strengths of each team lies. For Richmond there are some players who can switch to other positions but the main strength lies in the ability of the six other field players to allow Hayes, Ferruzzi, Jeffrey, and Henderson to attack almost at will. Don't be fooled, though, as both Henderson and Jeffrey tend to track back well. The Kickers have a solid, cohesive back four in Luzak, Stockton, Knight, and Fox that form an opposing wall at times in front of Pascale and he isn't easy to breach himself. Add in the abilities of Williams and Goodlet and it adds up to a difficult proposition for anyone to take this team on. How they managed to wind up with 9 losses this year I'll never know.
Meanwhile, Milwaukee has a side that likely prides itself on its versatility. They'll likely go with a transforming 3-5-2 that could morph into just about any formation for the given situations in a match. Starting with their three-man back-line that features two players, Makumbu and Bobo, who can get into the attack there is an apparent ability throughout their line-up to play several different positions. Midfielders Steve Bernal and Jeff Bilyk can play defense and provide midfield options equally well while Miguel Saavedra provides toughness defensively in midfield that blends well with his flashes of skill on the ball on offense. Rivillo and Russell can also slide into defense or become providers with the ball depending upon what they're called on to do although Rivillo is more likely to slide up top should one of the forwards move back into midfield. Meanwhile, up top Lara and Wolyniec work well together with the latter being the major threat to opposing defenses. Lara is equally adept in midfield as he is as a forward. Essentially, playing Milwaukee leaves the opposition playing against a hydra-like team that gives several different looks from their primary formation and makes passing through their midfield like trying to slow dance in a briar patch.
So in conclusion it looks like there are intriguing match-ups all over the field. Can Jeffrey and company find a way to get the ball past the Milwaukee midfield? Can Wolyniec take on the formidable Richmond defense alone if his teammates are digging in midfield? Can Pascale keep up his stellar performances of late? Of course, the biggest question, who will be the new A-League champion Saturday night? I may not know the answers to these questions but I can guarantee you this, it's going to be a lot of fun to watch on Fox Sports World if you can't be there in person.
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