My preferred line-up:
----------------Bendik--------------
Eckersley---Agboss--O'Dea---Russell
-------Bekker-----------Osorio------
--Ephraim-------Silva------Bostock--
--------------Earnshaw-------------
** * **
Frei kept a clean sheet in the reserve match, but I would prefer to wait and see how he does in games that actually matter (i.e. Canadian Championship); remember: they were up a man for much of that match and it is just reserves, after all -- not a whole lot on the line, besides scrapping for playing time (glorified training scrimmage).
Ironically enough, I liked having Ecks on the left because I felt like, too often, he opts to belt the ball down the pitch, to no avail and, since he's not as comfortable on his left, he would be forced to mix his game up a bit; there were a couple times where him cutting inside actually lead to us getting a free-kick in a good spot to send a quality ball in. That said, he's most comfortable and consistent on the right side and does his job there well enough. Agboss, I thought, had a stellar match; I can see what Nelson was saying when he expressed a little concern over Agboss always trying to play out of the back.. but, to be fair, I think that compliments the rest of the defence nicely, since they all have a tendency to by-pass the midfield with a long ball (well, O'Dea was connecting with Bostock a lot, with long balls, but the point still stands). I'll repeat that I thought Russell had his best showing in Montréal, at LB; I'd put him back there and see how he fares.
There's a case for starting Hall, considering his hustle and improved overall game.. but, he was also very close to being sent off; with how aggressively he pushed Perez (that cunt) to the ground, I feared the worse, for a moment and, certainly, whilst being on a yellow card and having to play such a physical role as a shield to the back-line, he was playing with fire on a couple challenges. I think having him sit a match out or, possibly, coming in off the bench would be good to give him a chance to cool off and think about playing a more responsible role, next time out. Osorio now has a full half under his belt and, hopefully, the nerves from starting his first match are behind him. Whilst I'm firmly in the camp that says he should be eased in, injuries have forced our hand and he's more likely to be called upon; he will know this and will want to improve on what he's shown so far, not letting the start get to his head and taking things for granted. Bekker is not as good defensively as Osorio, so I would look to have Osorio hold position that bit more and give Bekker licence to pick his moments to join the attack.
Bostock, I fear, doesn't look up often enough, focusing so much on dribbling; he misses key passes and otherwise runs into trouble, this way. For this reason, I no longer feel like he would do well in AM; he had a few minutes there, before his substitution and didn't seem as motivated to show his stuff as one might have expected him to be. He does, however, sometimes play some nice one-twos and I've seen him put in the odd quality cross. That said, Bostock should be tried on his more natural left side and have Ephraim play wide right, where he often will naturally drift towards, anyway -- have the two swap sides, if it seems like that might help. Silva can't play wide and does well to bring his team-mates into games, when, perhaps, they've been mostly invisible (there have been many examples of this); as with Osorio, he now has a full half under his belt and has earned, at the least, more time than that (45 mins.).. which, of course, effectively means that he's earned the start, behind the striker (if they didn't think he had, last time out).
Earnshaw's got some good feet on him and a good read of when to make his runs. With Silva starting in the side, I would be interested to see how he fares when the ball is played more on the ground.
Substitutions:
* If Russell is having a stinker, bring him off for A.Morgan to take his place -- whenever deemed necessary or, bring him on for one of Bekker or Osorio, if either is showing their greenness to the severe detriment of the game-plan, and then move Russell to DM. In Morgan's brief cameo, last game, I was screaming for him, on a couple occasions, to wake up, after watching him standing and, literally, doing nothing, during a few key defensive moments. That said, still a bit soon to start him, methinks.
* 60th-70th min. = Braun/Lambe for Silva, if he's gassed or Bostock if he's having a stinker. This keeps Braun hungry and, whilst Lambe has been relatively consistent, I think Bostock has a bit more quality to affect the game with over Lambe; should Bostock not take his chances against Philly, I would sit him in place of Lambe (provided we haven't yet seen any reinforcements added, of course).
* 70th-80th min. Hall for the other of our two young DM's, to close out the game.