Reading ChestRockwell's TLW article on DCU's recent win over Montego Bay, and his well-deserved praise of Michael Farfan, and thinking ahead to DCU's tilt with RBNY this weekend, I couldn't help thinking "what about a 3-5-2?" I know formations with only 3 defenders are not currently in vogue, but I think DCU has the pieces to consider it.

1. Bill Hamid. Once he's fully fit, his shot stoping ability might argue for taking some additional defensive risks.

2. The Taylor Kemp vs. Lloyd Sam match-up. This one does NOT tilt DCU's way. Not only is Kemp still not quite as strong a one on one defender as the team would like against the likes of Sam, but his value-added is really his ability to get forward and provide good crosses. With Sam's marauding either pinning Kemp back (or torching him), DCU loses that value anyway.

3. Our wealth of Center Backs. I'm imagining a 3 man back line with Boswell flanked by Birnbaum and Opare. This group has Boswell's organizing and experience coupled with the superior speed/athleticism of Birnbaum and Opare. While neither of them has Marvell Wynn speed, neither is terribly slow either. And this group loses very few balls in the air defensivley, and is a huge threat on attacking set pieces (or should be, their collective finishing this season has not been what it could be.)

4. a 5 player midfield allows DCU to get more of their best offensive pieces on the field. If the set up is Espindola and Saborio at Forward, with Rolfe-Farfan-DeLeon in front of Kitchen and either Arnaud or Halsti, that' a lot of fire-power up top and still leaves Pontius, Aguilar, and the now plesantly relevant Connor Doyle as late game subs to either chase a goal or kill off the game.

5. If DCU does have a lead to manage late in the game, there's no reason they could not revert to the 442, inserting Kemp or Franklin, or both.

Ok that's what I've got. I'm sure there are folks who read here who have a stronger grasp of tactics than I do, so let me know where I've gone wrong.