Well here we are again, the new season kicking off, anticipation rising with supporters dreaming of success, however that may be defined, whether it's trophies, playoffs, respectably competing, or just seeing the odd glimpse here and there of some potential future success. It's a clean slate, everyone's excited, hell even David Beckham's deigned to be here for the start of the season this time.
Obviously that means it's preview time in the media, so here I go. I haven't done much research for this, to be honest I've done no research, I'm just going by my impressions from last season, and whatever news was big enough for me to notice and remember over the last few months, I'm not going to look anything up while writing this, I'm just going with a gut feeling, Tom Anselmi style, that always works right? So here we go, my First Annual Half-Arsed And Proud Of It MLS Season Predictions. The FAHAAPOIMLSSPs. Catchy. Due to First Kick involving two western teams, I'll start with the West.
1 Real Salt Lake. A really good team who should keep going. Due to Champions league play, they'll be more ready than most teams to start the season, so should get good results early, and from there on in, they can coast on the home advantage they get at Rio Tinto stadium. Fatigue from extra cup games will cost them towards the end of the season, they'll win the West, and the Supporters Shield, but will lose in the conference final.
2 Seattle Sounders. A very successful start as an expansion club, with two US Opens and good regular season success maintaining that momentum, and this year they'll make it really count. Blaise Nkufo should do really well, and they'll somehow even manage to make O'Brian White look like a decent player again. MLS Cup champs.
3 LA Galaxy. Another successful regular season, with Donovan and Beckham playing well and Juan Pablo Angel adequately replacing Edson Buddle, the real interest lies in seeing if the notoriously sweaty Chad barrett manages to avoid completely evaporating over the course of a long hot LA season. It will hilariously end with a first round playoff defeat, Seattle gaining their revenge for last year.
4 Colorado Rapids. The 2010 MLS cup champs should be strong again, with new signing Nyassi from Seattle combining with Kandji if and when he's fit to take some of the scoring pressure off Casey and Cummings. Basically though it's all going to come down to those two, and they'll do alright, securing the top wild card seed and once again representing the East in the final, where they'll lose.
5 FC Dallas. Bloody hell, there's a lot of good teams in the West. Last year's losing finallists will do ok, mainly on the back of another good season from David Ferreira. Due to being in the West, they'll only secure a wild card spot, and will lose at that stage.
6 Portland Timbers. As an expansion side, they'll be closer to Seattle than Toronto, and Kenny Cooper will pick up where he left off with Dallas and score plenty of goals. They'll beat Dallas in the wild card game, then lose to RSL.
7. San Jose Earthquakes. Wondolowski won't score half as many goals as he did last year, and they'll muddle along at the edge of the wild card spots all season before falling short.
8 Chivas USA. A new coach, some new players, Nick Labrocca. They'll be better than last year, but still not good enough.
9 Vancouver Whitecaps. More out of spite than anything. In a way, they're the anti TFC, what seems to be blandly professional behind the scenes, with continutiy in the coaching ranks, and slowly putting together what might eventually be a decent team, and no sign that they'll make a lot of panic moves if it doesn't start out right. The team generally reflects that, they'll be ok, tough to beat, but unexciting, hopefully their DP Hassli can score them some goals.
So there you have it, by far the stronger conference, 3 of the 4 wild card spots will go to Western teams, as will the Supporter's shield, both MLS Cup final spots and the MLS Cup winners.
Coming sometime in the next couple of days, the mediocrity that will be the Eastern Conference.
Showing posts with label Chad Barrett. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chad Barrett. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Oh my god! You traded Chad! You Bastards!
Well, I guess those of us who thought that Earl Cochrane had done all the necessary chopping of dead wood from last year's squad and that Aron Winter, Paul Mariner et al would move swiftly on to the rebuilding stage were wrong. At Wednesday's Superdraft! TFC did a lot more than just draft players. They first of all traded away Chad Barrett to LA Galaxy for the ubiquitous future considerations, in what was essentially a salary dump. Reports vary on whether TFC is still paying a portion of his salary or not, though the club has said that they won't be. Jon Conway was also traded to Chicago Fire for a 3rd round pick, and 4 players were drafted. Demetrius Omphroy, Matt Gold, Junior Burgos and Jaoa Plata will now have a chance to make it in Toronto.
I won't pretend to know much about any of those players yet, you can find more details here, or more colourfully, here. Suffice it to say that lower round picks don't have a history of working out great, so if 1 out of those 4 ends up sticking with the club long term, that will probably be considered a success.
Trading Jon Conway also isn't really that big of a deal, Milos Kocic should be an able backup to Stefan Frei, so the $70,000 Conway is due to make this year can be put to better use in areas of greater need, which is pretty much every other position. By all accounts, Conway was a great teammate and all round good guy, so I wish him nothing but the best, and his last act as a TFC player, saluting the crowd while walking off after his red card for upending Columbus' Steven Lenhart is certainly a fine and memorable way to go out.
The trade of Barrett though, well that's a big one. Chad Fucking Barrett! For most people that would be said with an exasperated tone after another wasted opportunity, for me it was always with a defiant glee when he'd done something right, scored a goal or had a particularly good game. I always liked Barrett, even back in 2009 when he was, how to put this nicely, not so prolific, and when Barrett vs Vitti arguments regularly raged on the supporters forums, I was always on his side as his contribution was always so much bigger than mere goals scored or not scored. In 2010, when he added more composed finishing to his undeniable workrate, well, can you say MVP? I did, It was no co-incidence that everything fell apart last year after he and Maicon Santos were injured.
In 2009 it was always a bit of a pleasant surprise when Barrett scored, and that attitude carried over for me into 2010. The game against Chicago in May when he scored twice, I was positively giddy, it was as if the special kid in school had got an A, one that he'd actually earned. Probably the best thing I could say about his improvement in 2010 would be that that sense of surprise disappeared, later in the year, before and after his injury, a Barrett goal was a lot more routine, I expected him to finish a good chance, and he usually did.
But this is what happens in sports, so I'll move on, and for now, I'll trust that our new management have impressive plans on how to spend all the salary cap space now at their disposal, and I'll also admit that Barrett was overpaid, so hopefully there's better value for money out there.
For now, though, I'll say goodbye with highlights of some of his finest work. If I had any sort of technical skills, I'd put the highlights together into a single youtube video with a suitably admiring soundtrack. One quick glance at my blog however, will tell you I don't have those technical skills, so instead here's a bunch of different clips of his best moments. Just imagine you're listening to "Nobody does it better" in the background.
First off, his goal against Montreal in the 2009 Voyageurs Cup, at 7:50 of this video.
Then there's his 1 goal 2 assist second half performance in the Montreal Miracle, starting at 3:30.
This is the game mentioned above where he scores twice against Chicago, starting at 0:40. My season tickets are in section 227, so the fact that he always ran to that corner after scoring in the north end was great, he had some really good celebrations there.
Next up is his goal against San Jose in 2010, not the greatest goal, but another great celebration 1:30 in.
And I'll finish up with his contribution to our triumph over Motagua, here's his goal in the first leg starting at 0.33
And his 2nd leg goal, at 1"36, where he really shows off just how much he sweats in a game. Good luck with that LA heat.
Thanks for everything Chad, I'll miss you.
I won't pretend to know much about any of those players yet, you can find more details here, or more colourfully, here. Suffice it to say that lower round picks don't have a history of working out great, so if 1 out of those 4 ends up sticking with the club long term, that will probably be considered a success.
Trading Jon Conway also isn't really that big of a deal, Milos Kocic should be an able backup to Stefan Frei, so the $70,000 Conway is due to make this year can be put to better use in areas of greater need, which is pretty much every other position. By all accounts, Conway was a great teammate and all round good guy, so I wish him nothing but the best, and his last act as a TFC player, saluting the crowd while walking off after his red card for upending Columbus' Steven Lenhart is certainly a fine and memorable way to go out.
The trade of Barrett though, well that's a big one. Chad Fucking Barrett! For most people that would be said with an exasperated tone after another wasted opportunity, for me it was always with a defiant glee when he'd done something right, scored a goal or had a particularly good game. I always liked Barrett, even back in 2009 when he was, how to put this nicely, not so prolific, and when Barrett vs Vitti arguments regularly raged on the supporters forums, I was always on his side as his contribution was always so much bigger than mere goals scored or not scored. In 2010, when he added more composed finishing to his undeniable workrate, well, can you say MVP? I did, It was no co-incidence that everything fell apart last year after he and Maicon Santos were injured.
In 2009 it was always a bit of a pleasant surprise when Barrett scored, and that attitude carried over for me into 2010. The game against Chicago in May when he scored twice, I was positively giddy, it was as if the special kid in school had got an A, one that he'd actually earned. Probably the best thing I could say about his improvement in 2010 would be that that sense of surprise disappeared, later in the year, before and after his injury, a Barrett goal was a lot more routine, I expected him to finish a good chance, and he usually did.
But this is what happens in sports, so I'll move on, and for now, I'll trust that our new management have impressive plans on how to spend all the salary cap space now at their disposal, and I'll also admit that Barrett was overpaid, so hopefully there's better value for money out there.
For now, though, I'll say goodbye with highlights of some of his finest work. If I had any sort of technical skills, I'd put the highlights together into a single youtube video with a suitably admiring soundtrack. One quick glance at my blog however, will tell you I don't have those technical skills, so instead here's a bunch of different clips of his best moments. Just imagine you're listening to "Nobody does it better" in the background.
First off, his goal against Montreal in the 2009 Voyageurs Cup, at 7:50 of this video.
Then there's his 1 goal 2 assist second half performance in the Montreal Miracle, starting at 3:30.
This is the game mentioned above where he scores twice against Chicago, starting at 0:40. My season tickets are in section 227, so the fact that he always ran to that corner after scoring in the north end was great, he had some really good celebrations there.
Next up is his goal against San Jose in 2010, not the greatest goal, but another great celebration 1:30 in.
And I'll finish up with his contribution to our triumph over Motagua, here's his goal in the first leg starting at 0.33
And his 2nd leg goal, at 1"36, where he really shows off just how much he sweats in a game. Good luck with that LA heat.
Thanks for everything Chad, I'll miss you.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Now the MLS Cup final is over, the off season got quickly under way with the release of the protected and unprotected lists that Vancouver and Portland get to sift through and pick from in the expansion draft.
A lot of teams seemed to take the view that those 2 teams wouldn't pick up the higher priced players, meaning some big names were left unprotected. Designated players Freddie Ljungberg, Nery Castillo, Geovanni, Juan Pablo Angel, and Blaise Nkufo all joined TFC's Mista and Julian De Guzman in the available pile, meaning there's some interesting choices to be made when the draft happens on Wednesday. I have no idea how much authority Interim Gm Earl Cochrane and Assistant Jim Brennan have to be making decisions before Jürgen Klinsmann figures out what type of club TFC's going to be, but I could definitely get behind some kind of sign and trade deal to bring Nkufo to town, or even Collins John, also left exposed by Chicago, who would be a bit of a risk, but with a lot of potential.
As for who's on TFC's list, here it is in full.
Chad Barrett
Julian De Guzman
Gabe Gala
Nick Garcia
Raivas Hscanovics
Fuad Ibrahim
Milos Kocic
Mista
Joseph Nane
Amadou Sanyang
Martin Saric
Maxim Usanov
O'Brian White
Obviously the big name there is Julian De Guzman, though I imagine no other MLS club would want to be paying him that much money, hell, even hometown TFC probably don't want to pay him that much any more. Chad Barrett is the biggest name with a chance of going, especially with his family ties to the West Coast. On the one hand I hope it doesn't happen, I really like Chad Barrett, even in 2009 he was one of my favourite players, and after increasing his scoring rate this year, he's become a very valuable member of the squad. On the other hand though, he is probably paid too much, and for the money he's set to earn, we should be able to find a player of equal or greater value, whether at striker or a different position.
I'd say the player most likely to be picked up is Amadou Sanyang, relatively cheap, young and athletic with the physicality needed for MLS, even if his passsing skills certainly have room for development. Martin Saric and Milos Kocic would also be possibilities, but I really can't see any of the other players being considered by anyone else.
This is of course just the first step in what should be a very interesting off season for TFC, or at least could be if and when we get around to appointing a new management team, or even just annointing the current one with the permanent role. It will be interesting to see which of these players who don't get drafted and which of those on the protected list will stay with the club, or are quietly shuffled off to the glue factory or move on to greener pastures. Here's who I'd like to see stay from the current roster.
Goalkeeper
Frei. A no-brainer really, unless a trade to Europe happens, he's the obvious first choice goalie.
Conway. A competent back up and apparently a great guy to have in the dressing room.
Kocic. A promising young kid who should get plenty of time in the reserve league, or on loan to the CSL again to develop further, one for the future.
Defence.
Cann. Team MVP ahead of De Rosario is maybe a bit much, but he had a great year, and will hopefully get the raise he deserves and stay. Would make a great captain, though I can't see De Ro taking that well.
Attakora. Reportedly turned down contract extensions over the past year so may be looking to explore his options overseas, but hopefully can be persuaded to stay.
Harden. Competent back up for Cann and Attakora.
Henry. Having the reserve league back is huge for youngsters such as him, hopefully he'll play a lot there with occasional first team appearances here and there, and be ready to step into the starting line up a year or two down the line.
Gargan. A solid if unspectacular minimum wage player who can cover a bunch of positions and is popular with the fans. Well worth keeping.
Gomez. Back in 2009 he showed promise before missing all of last year, deserves a chance to show what he can do.
Morgan. Bring him up form the academy, then like Henry, let him play in the reserve league and develop further, with the occasional first team appearance.
Midfield
De Guzman. Probably untradeable with his contract anyway, he deserves to stay around. Should a DM be a DP? Not really, but De Guzman should play his natural game, he looked at his worst last year when trying to be too ambitious with his passing, as if he was trying too hard to prove he could be a playmaker. As a defensive player, and someone to make himself available for a pass and transition the ball from defence to midfield, he's not bad at all.
De Rosario. Obviously depends on how his contract talks go, can be too selfish at times, but you can't argue with 15 goals.
Sanyang. Needs to improve his passing, but could grow to be a very good destructive DM in this league.
Peterson. I'd hope he's not our first choice winger next year, but showed enough under Dasovic to be a good back up or second winger depending on our formation. Ideally we can keep him for less money than last year to play that role.
Lindsay. Showed great promise last year, hopefully can keep it going and establish himself ahead of Peterson in the pecking order, if he struggles, the reseve league is there to give him the necessary playing time.
Labrocca. Another decent back up, who I'd hope won't be part of the starting line up, but can come in and do a job when asked.
Forwards.
Barrett. Ideally he'd be getting less money, but proved he can be a valuable player, an injury free season would be nice as well.
Santos. Showed some good skill either side of his summer injury. Ideally one of Barrett and he would be up front alongside some as yet unknown star striker with the other as backup.
A lot of that list is strictly back up quality, if more than Frei, Cann, Attakora, De Guzman, De Rosario and either one of Barrett and Santos are part of our regular starting line-up next year, we'll be in trouble. We could do with increasing the starting quality at every position except goal and Centre back. I'd say our most pressing needs are at both full back positions, a good winger (Nyassi from Seattle is on the unprotected list, I'd dangle a draft pick at someone to pick him up) and a top class forward. It would be a bonus if any of the academy kids or recent graduates can step up right away to be starters, but I really hope we're not counting on that.
As for the rest, Garcia, Hscanovics, Usanov, Gala, Nane, Saric, White, Ibrahim and especially Mista, hopefully we'll be saying goodbye and good luck to them.
A lot of teams seemed to take the view that those 2 teams wouldn't pick up the higher priced players, meaning some big names were left unprotected. Designated players Freddie Ljungberg, Nery Castillo, Geovanni, Juan Pablo Angel, and Blaise Nkufo all joined TFC's Mista and Julian De Guzman in the available pile, meaning there's some interesting choices to be made when the draft happens on Wednesday. I have no idea how much authority Interim Gm Earl Cochrane and Assistant Jim Brennan have to be making decisions before Jürgen Klinsmann figures out what type of club TFC's going to be, but I could definitely get behind some kind of sign and trade deal to bring Nkufo to town, or even Collins John, also left exposed by Chicago, who would be a bit of a risk, but with a lot of potential.
As for who's on TFC's list, here it is in full.
Chad Barrett
Julian De Guzman
Gabe Gala
Nick Garcia
Raivas Hscanovics
Fuad Ibrahim
Milos Kocic
Mista
Joseph Nane
Amadou Sanyang
Martin Saric
Maxim Usanov
O'Brian White
Obviously the big name there is Julian De Guzman, though I imagine no other MLS club would want to be paying him that much money, hell, even hometown TFC probably don't want to pay him that much any more. Chad Barrett is the biggest name with a chance of going, especially with his family ties to the West Coast. On the one hand I hope it doesn't happen, I really like Chad Barrett, even in 2009 he was one of my favourite players, and after increasing his scoring rate this year, he's become a very valuable member of the squad. On the other hand though, he is probably paid too much, and for the money he's set to earn, we should be able to find a player of equal or greater value, whether at striker or a different position.
I'd say the player most likely to be picked up is Amadou Sanyang, relatively cheap, young and athletic with the physicality needed for MLS, even if his passsing skills certainly have room for development. Martin Saric and Milos Kocic would also be possibilities, but I really can't see any of the other players being considered by anyone else.
This is of course just the first step in what should be a very interesting off season for TFC, or at least could be if and when we get around to appointing a new management team, or even just annointing the current one with the permanent role. It will be interesting to see which of these players who don't get drafted and which of those on the protected list will stay with the club, or are quietly shuffled off to the glue factory or move on to greener pastures. Here's who I'd like to see stay from the current roster.
Goalkeeper
Frei. A no-brainer really, unless a trade to Europe happens, he's the obvious first choice goalie.
Conway. A competent back up and apparently a great guy to have in the dressing room.
Kocic. A promising young kid who should get plenty of time in the reserve league, or on loan to the CSL again to develop further, one for the future.
Defence.
Cann. Team MVP ahead of De Rosario is maybe a bit much, but he had a great year, and will hopefully get the raise he deserves and stay. Would make a great captain, though I can't see De Ro taking that well.
Attakora. Reportedly turned down contract extensions over the past year so may be looking to explore his options overseas, but hopefully can be persuaded to stay.
Harden. Competent back up for Cann and Attakora.
Henry. Having the reserve league back is huge for youngsters such as him, hopefully he'll play a lot there with occasional first team appearances here and there, and be ready to step into the starting line up a year or two down the line.
Gargan. A solid if unspectacular minimum wage player who can cover a bunch of positions and is popular with the fans. Well worth keeping.
Gomez. Back in 2009 he showed promise before missing all of last year, deserves a chance to show what he can do.
Morgan. Bring him up form the academy, then like Henry, let him play in the reserve league and develop further, with the occasional first team appearance.
Midfield
De Guzman. Probably untradeable with his contract anyway, he deserves to stay around. Should a DM be a DP? Not really, but De Guzman should play his natural game, he looked at his worst last year when trying to be too ambitious with his passing, as if he was trying too hard to prove he could be a playmaker. As a defensive player, and someone to make himself available for a pass and transition the ball from defence to midfield, he's not bad at all.
De Rosario. Obviously depends on how his contract talks go, can be too selfish at times, but you can't argue with 15 goals.
Sanyang. Needs to improve his passing, but could grow to be a very good destructive DM in this league.
Peterson. I'd hope he's not our first choice winger next year, but showed enough under Dasovic to be a good back up or second winger depending on our formation. Ideally we can keep him for less money than last year to play that role.
Lindsay. Showed great promise last year, hopefully can keep it going and establish himself ahead of Peterson in the pecking order, if he struggles, the reseve league is there to give him the necessary playing time.
Labrocca. Another decent back up, who I'd hope won't be part of the starting line up, but can come in and do a job when asked.
Forwards.
Barrett. Ideally he'd be getting less money, but proved he can be a valuable player, an injury free season would be nice as well.
Santos. Showed some good skill either side of his summer injury. Ideally one of Barrett and he would be up front alongside some as yet unknown star striker with the other as backup.
A lot of that list is strictly back up quality, if more than Frei, Cann, Attakora, De Guzman, De Rosario and either one of Barrett and Santos are part of our regular starting line-up next year, we'll be in trouble. We could do with increasing the starting quality at every position except goal and Centre back. I'd say our most pressing needs are at both full back positions, a good winger (Nyassi from Seattle is on the unprotected list, I'd dangle a draft pick at someone to pick him up) and a top class forward. It would be a bonus if any of the academy kids or recent graduates can step up right away to be starters, but I really hope we're not counting on that.
As for the rest, Garcia, Hscanovics, Usanov, Gala, Nane, Saric, White, Ibrahim and especially Mista, hopefully we'll be saying goodbye and good luck to them.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
A really good year for TFC.
My usual cynicism and pessimism will soon return, but buoyed by a 2 game winning streak to end the season, and in the spirit of reconciliation, with MLSE playing nice, I'm going for a positive season review, so here we go, the 8 reasons why this was the best year yet for TFC.
1. We won the home opener. The home opener is always a special day in it's own right. The end to 5 months or so of not going to games, the chance to hold aloft a new scarf, try the new food options (mmmm, poutine) meet up with old friends, or check out the view from your new seats, and just get back into whatever your matchday routine and way of supporting the club is. The anticipatory buzz around the ground, the optimism not yet beaten out of the crowd, an enthusiastic singing of the anthem even in the prawny sections. For the second straight year we got an expansion side to kick things off, but whereas last years game against Seattle was a real downer, this year we won. OK, we didn't play all that well, and were lucky to be gifted both our goals, but what the hell. The home opener, a win, excellent stuff.
2. We won our first 5 home games. Though the weather was terrible pretty much every game, we kept building on that feel good first win, making it into June before we even drew a game at home. The peak of this run was the 4-1 win over Chicago. Heavy winds and intermittent rain provided a trial for the real supporters to get through and led to a freak opener from Nick Labrocca, and a Jersey Shore celebration (how together the team seemed, how much fun they appeared to be having). The second half saw Chad Barrett score twice against his old club, and even O'Brian White scored, though he nearly messed up an almost impossible to mess up chance. The combination of the weather and the result launched the brief "shirts off" phenomenom, for better or worse.
3. We won the Voyageurs cup with the minimum of fuss. This time there was no Miracle needed, we beat Montreal twice and drew in Vancouver, and that was enough for the cup to be clinched before we even played the last game. That led to a pressure free game with academy kids playing and supporters able to celebrate throughout the game, with no need to worry about the result. A trophy presented at home for the first time, players diving into the corners to celebrate, good times.
4. We had a 2 month unbeaten streak. Between May 1st and July 17th, we went 11 games without a loss in all competitions, including away wins at San Jose and Montreal, and important away draws at LA and Vancouver. At the end of this stretch, even Fuad Ibrahim scored, to give us a 1-0 win over Colorado.
5. We beat Motagua over two legs. The first game, we played really well but only got a 1-0 win to show for it, so we would have a hard time to defend that. Yeah, Motagua were only just out of pre season, but a Canadian side went to Honduras needing a result, went down early, but still got it, Dwayne De Rosario and Barrett with the goals, both set up by an excellent Maicon Santos. I watched this game at Shoeless Joe's and the Red Patch Boys "qualifiers! qualifiers! ole, ole, ole!" chant was as inspired as it was emotional.
6. We went 14 games unbeaten at home to start the year. Our away form was nothing special again, but BMO Field really was a fortress, 21 goals scored and only 6 conceded giving us a record of 9 wins and 5 draws in those first 14 games.
7. We beat Cruz Azul over two legs. The game at home is probably my favourite TFC game so far, an early goal, 2-0 before half time and then defending comfortably before letting in a goal from a very good free kick that was too late to cause real worry. Again, we beat Cruz A-fricking-zul, in a game that counted. The second leg, after the firing of Preki but with Champions League progress still a real possibility was an excellent backs to the wall performance, grinding out a 0-0 that never really felt in danger.
8. We've got some good academy kids. Doneil Henry was the first player to be signed to the big club from the academy, Ashtone Morgan put in a great performance against Arabe Unido, but the real find was Nicholas Lindsay. Signed to the first team late in the season, he put together a series of good games that suggest we might finally have ourselves a dangerous winger.
So there you go, without even having to resort to " there's hope for the future under a new regime" or "at least things got bad enough that they finally got rid of Mo" there's a lot of things that happened on the pitch that, despite the way the season unravelled, made 2010 a very enjoyable year.
1. We won the home opener. The home opener is always a special day in it's own right. The end to 5 months or so of not going to games, the chance to hold aloft a new scarf, try the new food options (mmmm, poutine) meet up with old friends, or check out the view from your new seats, and just get back into whatever your matchday routine and way of supporting the club is. The anticipatory buzz around the ground, the optimism not yet beaten out of the crowd, an enthusiastic singing of the anthem even in the prawny sections. For the second straight year we got an expansion side to kick things off, but whereas last years game against Seattle was a real downer, this year we won. OK, we didn't play all that well, and were lucky to be gifted both our goals, but what the hell. The home opener, a win, excellent stuff.
2. We won our first 5 home games. Though the weather was terrible pretty much every game, we kept building on that feel good first win, making it into June before we even drew a game at home. The peak of this run was the 4-1 win over Chicago. Heavy winds and intermittent rain provided a trial for the real supporters to get through and led to a freak opener from Nick Labrocca, and a Jersey Shore celebration (how together the team seemed, how much fun they appeared to be having). The second half saw Chad Barrett score twice against his old club, and even O'Brian White scored, though he nearly messed up an almost impossible to mess up chance. The combination of the weather and the result launched the brief "shirts off" phenomenom, for better or worse.
3. We won the Voyageurs cup with the minimum of fuss. This time there was no Miracle needed, we beat Montreal twice and drew in Vancouver, and that was enough for the cup to be clinched before we even played the last game. That led to a pressure free game with academy kids playing and supporters able to celebrate throughout the game, with no need to worry about the result. A trophy presented at home for the first time, players diving into the corners to celebrate, good times.
4. We had a 2 month unbeaten streak. Between May 1st and July 17th, we went 11 games without a loss in all competitions, including away wins at San Jose and Montreal, and important away draws at LA and Vancouver. At the end of this stretch, even Fuad Ibrahim scored, to give us a 1-0 win over Colorado.
5. We beat Motagua over two legs. The first game, we played really well but only got a 1-0 win to show for it, so we would have a hard time to defend that. Yeah, Motagua were only just out of pre season, but a Canadian side went to Honduras needing a result, went down early, but still got it, Dwayne De Rosario and Barrett with the goals, both set up by an excellent Maicon Santos. I watched this game at Shoeless Joe's and the Red Patch Boys "qualifiers! qualifiers! ole, ole, ole!" chant was as inspired as it was emotional.
6. We went 14 games unbeaten at home to start the year. Our away form was nothing special again, but BMO Field really was a fortress, 21 goals scored and only 6 conceded giving us a record of 9 wins and 5 draws in those first 14 games.
7. We beat Cruz Azul over two legs. The game at home is probably my favourite TFC game so far, an early goal, 2-0 before half time and then defending comfortably before letting in a goal from a very good free kick that was too late to cause real worry. Again, we beat Cruz A-fricking-zul, in a game that counted. The second leg, after the firing of Preki but with Champions League progress still a real possibility was an excellent backs to the wall performance, grinding out a 0-0 that never really felt in danger.
8. We've got some good academy kids. Doneil Henry was the first player to be signed to the big club from the academy, Ashtone Morgan put in a great performance against Arabe Unido, but the real find was Nicholas Lindsay. Signed to the first team late in the season, he put together a series of good games that suggest we might finally have ourselves a dangerous winger.
So there you go, without even having to resort to " there's hope for the future under a new regime" or "at least things got bad enough that they finally got rid of Mo" there's a lot of things that happened on the pitch that, despite the way the season unravelled, made 2010 a very enjoyable year.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Beautiful friend, the end.
Alright, well at least we can relax now, and just concentrate on the Concacaf Champions League instead. The brief hope we got after De Rosario's 2 free kicks saved a crappy performance and got us 3 points against Houston is now gone, after another home defeat, this time against San Jose.
There's a lot of different things running through my head, so this post is going to be a collection of individual thoughts that when put together may come together to be more then the sum of their parts, or may be a bit of a disjointed mess, I'm not really sure. So kind of like TFC then.
This game really shows that Preki the coach wasn't really all that bad, things certainly haven't improved since he left. It also shows that Mo the GM and Preki the co-GM really have left behind a squad that just isn't good enough.
What's going on with Mista? Dasovic is trying to play a more attacking style, he's theoretically our most talented forward and he's left on the bench, after not playing at all in the last two games? If Preki had made that choice he'd be getting all sorts of questions about why he can't get along with the talented players.
After Mista came on in the second half, and towards the end when we were desperate and basically playing 6 upfront, why was Mista one of the few left back to defend. I get that we had the tall defenders forward for the desperation long balls, but wasn't Mista supposed to be a targetman with a bit of skill? Surely ideal for that purpose.
Jacob Peterson actually looked like a winger again. Not a really good one, but he got in a few crosses and played quite wide, he definitely seems improved under Dasovic. Having said that, in my opinion, after the season he's had and the thin ice he must already be on, that awful late miss put the definitive stamp on his flight out of town at the end of the season.
The north end elite did a good job with their silent protest and simple dollar signs banners. Tom Anselmi and Paul Beirne were a lot less conspicuous than usual in that corner of the stadium.
Chad Barrett was probably our best player out there, he was all over the place, in a good way, getting on the end of long balls, and creating chances, really showed what we missed while he was injured.
De Rosario? Didn't have a great game, but clearly gave it his all in his own way out there, and scored a great goal. His "celebration" miming writing a cheque as a way of protesting that he feels underpaid was a bit crass and horribly timed though, given that he's the captain and we're 2-1 down in a crucial game. Does he deserve more money? He's got a very valid argument, and with the club looking to avoid negative publicity at season ticket renewal time, it's probably a very good time to be making that argument, but in the middle of the game? Awful.
So now we need to win our last 4 games. What are our chances? The body language of our two best players at the final whistle will tell you all you need to know about that.
There's a lot of different things running through my head, so this post is going to be a collection of individual thoughts that when put together may come together to be more then the sum of their parts, or may be a bit of a disjointed mess, I'm not really sure. So kind of like TFC then.
This game really shows that Preki the coach wasn't really all that bad, things certainly haven't improved since he left. It also shows that Mo the GM and Preki the co-GM really have left behind a squad that just isn't good enough.
What's going on with Mista? Dasovic is trying to play a more attacking style, he's theoretically our most talented forward and he's left on the bench, after not playing at all in the last two games? If Preki had made that choice he'd be getting all sorts of questions about why he can't get along with the talented players.
After Mista came on in the second half, and towards the end when we were desperate and basically playing 6 upfront, why was Mista one of the few left back to defend. I get that we had the tall defenders forward for the desperation long balls, but wasn't Mista supposed to be a targetman with a bit of skill? Surely ideal for that purpose.
Jacob Peterson actually looked like a winger again. Not a really good one, but he got in a few crosses and played quite wide, he definitely seems improved under Dasovic. Having said that, in my opinion, after the season he's had and the thin ice he must already be on, that awful late miss put the definitive stamp on his flight out of town at the end of the season.
The north end elite did a good job with their silent protest and simple dollar signs banners. Tom Anselmi and Paul Beirne were a lot less conspicuous than usual in that corner of the stadium.
Chad Barrett was probably our best player out there, he was all over the place, in a good way, getting on the end of long balls, and creating chances, really showed what we missed while he was injured.
De Rosario? Didn't have a great game, but clearly gave it his all in his own way out there, and scored a great goal. His "celebration" miming writing a cheque as a way of protesting that he feels underpaid was a bit crass and horribly timed though, given that he's the captain and we're 2-1 down in a crucial game. Does he deserve more money? He's got a very valid argument, and with the club looking to avoid negative publicity at season ticket renewal time, it's probably a very good time to be making that argument, but in the middle of the game? Awful.
So now we need to win our last 4 games. What are our chances? The body language of our two best players at the final whistle will tell you all you need to know about that.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Chad Barrett MVP. Seriously.
If you've read some of my other posts, especially this one you'll know I feel Preki was fired very harshly, and that we were doing ok until injuries hit, especially to Chad Barrett. After seeing us win in his first game starting since he got injured, my curiosity was further piqued, so I decided to check out the stats for this season (and they say bloggers don't do research, ha!).
Here's TFC's record in games which Chad Barrett started, in all competitions, excluding the useless Bolton friendly. Won 9, Lost 4, Tied 5. In games he didn't start? 3-8-5.
Add in his substitute appearances and the trend is even more pronounced, 11-6-7 when he plays at least part of the game, and 1-6-3 when he doesn't.
So translate that into 3 points for a win, and TFC with Barrett has 40 points in 24 games, which would be a 50 point season, which even the most ardent Preki-hater would have to accept as a bloody good one.
Without Barrett, 6 points in 10 games, or 18 points over 30 games.
Now I'm not about to suggest Barrett is as talented a player as Dwayne De Rosario, or that this sort of results would translate to another side, or a new style of play under Nick Dasovic, but it seems pretty clear that he was the crucial part of the team that made TFC under Preki work. As well as his vastly improved goal scoring record, his impact is a very important indirect one, causing problems for the defence that allows others like De Rosario more room to do their own thing. It's no co-incidence that the goals also dried up for De Ro, and everyone else, when O'Brien White was the main striker for the defence to contend with.
Best player? No. Most valuable? Absolutely.
Here's TFC's record in games which Chad Barrett started, in all competitions, excluding the useless Bolton friendly. Won 9, Lost 4, Tied 5. In games he didn't start? 3-8-5.
Add in his substitute appearances and the trend is even more pronounced, 11-6-7 when he plays at least part of the game, and 1-6-3 when he doesn't.
So translate that into 3 points for a win, and TFC with Barrett has 40 points in 24 games, which would be a 50 point season, which even the most ardent Preki-hater would have to accept as a bloody good one.
Without Barrett, 6 points in 10 games, or 18 points over 30 games.
Now I'm not about to suggest Barrett is as talented a player as Dwayne De Rosario, or that this sort of results would translate to another side, or a new style of play under Nick Dasovic, but it seems pretty clear that he was the crucial part of the team that made TFC under Preki work. As well as his vastly improved goal scoring record, his impact is a very important indirect one, causing problems for the defence that allows others like De Rosario more room to do their own thing. It's no co-incidence that the goals also dried up for De Ro, and everyone else, when O'Brien White was the main striker for the defence to contend with.
Best player? No. Most valuable? Absolutely.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)