That’s the backline that I would really like to see. Unfortunately the team is once again listing McTavish as questionable on the official injury report, so he is more likely to be available on the bench than starting. This means that Julius James will probably start, and will hopefully feel more comfortable with Pena in the lineup. In fact I think we will ALL feel more comfortable with Pena in the lineup.

I might swap Quaranta and Pontius, but I like your thinking. This lienup would allow us to get all of our best attacking players on the field at a time, which can sometimes be difficult to do.

1. Was James really that much worse than anyone else? I don’t think he stuck out amongst a group of players that sucked on the night. My issue is more with using him at right back at all; he’s clearly lacking in the technical department to do it. For me, he’s a center back except in emergencies as long as we’re in a back four.

As for what Onalfo should do, Pena will need to come in. Talley is better than what he showed in KC, and is more of a right back than James. However, if New England starts Mansally on the left wing, Talley will be in for a long night. Hopefully, McTavish is fit enough to play.

2. We’ll keep possession better when we realize that games are more intense than practices. The lack of possession came from not focusing on getting the basics right. I guarantee that, if we play with intensity and awareness, we will start stringing passes together.

3. I’ve got to offer up a correction. Najar started at right midfield and Quaranta was in the middle (that graphic the KC station showed as our lineup was all wrong; it also listed Wallace on the right side of a back three).

Going in against the Revs, I think we may have to seriously consider Pontius in midfield. Khumalo is a turnover machine, and I imagine confidence is low, so we need to avoid cheap giveaways if possible. Right midfield should go to Pontius or Barklage (since Quaranta is still being used centrally, much to my chagrin). I strongly prefer Pontius up front, but right now we need to get things right in the back and in midfield, and find guys that will work hard enough to support the strikers. Pontius usually supplies that, so he’s a candidate for a move (at least in the short-term).