Finally. Pre-season games on choppy streams are ok I suppose, watching away games on the TV is nice, but it's so much better to be able to see a game in person. Having a drink or two, then wandering over to the ground, taking in the atmosphere and watching the game live, there's nothing like it, here's my impressions of the day.
Starting with the peripheral issues, and yep, as advertised it was cold, especially in the second half when the wind seemed to really pick up, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. The attendance was also better than I expected, there were definitely empty spots here and there, with the North Stand in particular looking very sparse, but there was probably about 17-18,000 there, with an announced crowd of over 20,000. We also got confirmation of which way management are going to go to try and fix their attendance issues. It's not going back to the basics of what made TFC so popular back in the day, cheaper tickets and a supporter led "authentic football experience", nope it's going to be extra pizzazz and emotional manipulation, Leafs style. Thus we had Mounties, the academy kids and Danny Dichio all brought out for the anthem, followed by some fireworks let off after the anthem, and at half time, a live performance from Kardinal Offishall. I'd like to hope that's just a one off thing what with the home opener coinciding with the Junos in Toronto, but I don't really have much confidence in that theory. While I'm in grumpy old man mode, I really don't like the new electronic ad boards either.
Anyway, the game, well it wasn't all that pretty, but a win's a win and I was very encouraged by the appearance of something that I wasn't sure we were going to see much of this year - pragmatism. So far Aron Winter's given the impression that he's thinking long term, and that he's got one way of wanting his team to play, and that he's going to stubbornly stick with that until it works, and we'll just all have to be patient until that happens, even if it's not until next year. This impression was strengthened in the game against Vancouver when he didn't make positional changes even when it became obvious that they were desperately needed, and the ball was repeatedly turned over by defenders trying to keep possession. Against the Timbers though, the emphasis on possession and playing it carefully out of defence was a lot less pronounced, with a lot more long kicks from Frei, and no-nonsense clearances from the defence when the situation called for it. This may well have been due to the windy and icy conditions, as mentioned post game by Stefan Frei, rather than a permanent change in philosophy, and maybe it was the players taking things into their own hands and making those decisions, but it was a welcome display of pragmatism trumping idealism and gives me hope that Winter will be able to make the changes and compromises that will be required here and there in MLS.
Though this meant we didn't have as much possession as last week, it also dramatically reduced the giveaways in dangerous positions that occured so often against the Whitecaps, and was a huge factor in the defence looking a lot more solid and managing to keep a clean sheet. Two other big reasons for that though is that Portland looked a very poor team, and that Adrian Cann was back in the middle of defence. He looked a lot more comfortable at Centre Back, and had a good game, as Portland and Kenny Cooper were kept very quiet. An injury to Nana Attakora meant Ty Harden kept his place beside Cann, and he and Dan Gargan at Right Back did the basic defensive stuff just well enough, though Gargan's passing was terrible and his Right Back position is probably the one most in need of an upgrade at this point.
The biggest benefit of Cann moving back to Centre Back, is that we actually had a proper Left Back in Mikael Yourassowsky, and he had a great game, especially going forward, making several strong runs and working very well with Dwayne De Rosario at Left Wing, though his crossing definitely needs improvement. His day was marred by getting a second yellow card for taking too long to leave the pitch as he was substituted, which is the first time I've ever seen that happen.
Up front Alan Gordon made his debut as the centre forward, with De Ro on the left wing, Javier Martina on the right, with Maicon Santos playing further back, as an attacking midfielder, with Jacob Peterson and Nathan Sturgis completing the midfield. Sturgis was subbed off at half time, replaced by Alen Stevanovic, who looked a bit awkward and unfamiliar with his new teammates, but displayed enough flashes of quality to suggest he could be a very good player once he gets settled in and actually has some time to practice with the team.
Once again, TFC weren't great, there's definitely room for improvement and we look like we'll struggle against better teams than Portland. Fortunately our easy schedule continues with Chivas USA coming to town next week, so hopefully that's another game we can get points from as we continue our development. Like last week though, there was some good stuff mixed in with the bad, positive signs that however slowly, we are on the right track, and in different ways both goals provided evidence of that.
Javier Martina scored both goals, and it's his second that will get most attention and quite rightly, a very well taken first time lob over the goalie after a brilliantly accurate long ball from Stefan Frei after he caught a corner, that is quite possibly the best goal ever scored at BMO Field.
It's his first goal though that showed the benefits of what the team's learning under Winter, and gives me more hope for the season. Martina and Gargan forced a turnover just inside Toronto's half, on the right wing, Gargan quickly got the ball to Peterson, who showed great control and poise to hold on to the ball despite pressure from two Timbers midfielders before managing to get a pass off to Santos. Santos played a great ball through the defence to De Rosario, who unselfishly held it up before playing a perfect pass for Martina to run on to and slip the ball past the Portland Keeper. Much like the two goals against Vancouver, defence turned quickly into attack through short controlled passes and good off the ball running, suggesting a dangerous counter atttack is something we'll be able to count on throughout the season.
All in all, it's very much still a work in progress, there's still clear upgrades needed in a few positions and it'll be interesting to see what happens when we finally get to play against the better teams in MLS, but three points are always welcome, and will take some of the pressure off. My expectations for this season are fairly low, I'm not really thinking playoffs, but I'd consider it successful if we do well enough so that supporters and management don't panic and end up getting rid of Winter, avoiding the potential back to back defeats against expansion teams will really help with that goal. For a week at least, we can all relax.
One final note. After the game, De Rosario took a black banner from the fans, and it turns out that the banner was to honour a supporter who had recently passed away, he took it into the dressing room for all the players to sign before taking it back out to be given to the supporter's family. De Ro gets a lot of shit at times for his off-field antics, including here in this blog, so it's only right to acknowledge what was a really classy moment. RIP Rodrigo Novoa.
Watching a game live is so much better then tv.
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