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 FC Dallas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FC Dallas. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Scummy assholes, or friendly and generous?
So the MLS Cup weekend has come and gone and now we're left with the reports and reviews, or in this case, a review of the reviews.
With the game itself not being fantastic, a lot of opinion has focussed on the part TFC fans played. One opinion is represented in this Big Soccer article which rather dramatically suggests "Toronto FC fans are officially the biggest bunch of scum, frauds, jokes, and assholes I've ever seen in the history of MLS." This sweeeping generalisation of all TFC fans is based on the "fact" that some TFC fans left early as a way of protesting MLSE. While undoubtedly many fans left early for whatever reason, and there were many empty seats by the end of the game, it's a very small minority who would have done so as a protest, most people who were still angry enough probably didn't even go in the first place, which is definitely a shame as I agree with the opinion it wasn't the right time and place for a protest, but to tar everyone with the same brush is more than a bit ridiculous.
A very different viewpoint is expressed in this letter from Portland Timbers supporters, posted on the Red Patch Boys forum, thanking supporters for their friendliness and generosity and putting on a great weekend. Of course other TFC supporters groups played their part in organising different events, pub crawls and get togethers over the weekend, including the supporters summit, and hosting Dallas and Colorado fans for pre and post game drinks.
So which is true, are TFC fans the petulant crybabies who spoiled MLS Cup weekend for their own selfish purposes in order to embarass MLSE? Or are they the generous hosts, eager to show their visitors a good time and foster goodwill among travelling supporters from all across the league? Well the obvious answer is neither of those options, and both of them.
I'm going to take a guess here and say that the writer of the first linked article didn't actually visit Toronto, and instead just watched the game on TV, and though I haven't watched the game again yet, despite PVRing it on both GOL TV and TSN2, I can imagine it didn't make for the most captivating spectacle. At kick off, the stadium looked fuller than it usually does at the beginning of TFC games, but that number slowly dwindled, as fans gave in to the cold, caught trains or beat traffic, and only a small percentage stayed around for the trophy presentation.
The atmosphere was muted, and if it wasn't for Marvell Wynne and especially Jeff Cunningham, would have been even more so. The 100-200 travelling supporters from both Colorado and Dallas certainly did their part, and kudos to them for making it out here, but for the Toronto crowd the lack of a team to really love or hate meant that the atmosphere was always going to reflect the game, which unfortunately didn't provide the excitement needed to ignite much fervour. It could have been better, the 2008 all star game at BMO started with a similar subdued atmosphere amid talk of protests, but by the second half the quality attacking play and tight scoreline meant that despite the lack of any real chanting, there was the definite buzz of a knowledgeable crowd that had been sucked into a good football game.
I'd hesitate to say it was just about the game though, the attendance and atmosphere have steadily been getting worse over the last couple of years at games TFC is involved in as well. The fact is that after 4 years, the novelty has worn off, and the continued mediocrity on the pitch and feeling of exploitation by the front office has drained the enthusiasm of many of the more casual fans. Add in the confusingly small effort made by MLS and MLSE to promote the game to the more casual unconnnected fan, and it's not really a surprise that that buzz wasn't repeated. So while it is ridiculously over the top to say TFC fans are the biggest bunch of scum...etc, the "best fans in MLS" tag that still gets thrown around really doesn't apply to TFC fans as a whole any more either.
Where TFC suporters did prove themselves though over the weekend is in the strength of the hardcore minority. The events that were organised and staffed by supporter volounteers were truly worthy of applause, and the welcoming of opposition supporters at both formal and informal events was genuine and enthusiastic, building bridges with a "we're all on the same side really" feeling. So thanks to all who organised and attended events and showed TFC fans can throw a hell of a party.
Scum, frauds, jokes, and assholes? Nope. Best fans in MLS? Nope, not any more. Best supporters groups? Well, TFC is definitely very much still in the running for that one.
With the game itself not being fantastic, a lot of opinion has focussed on the part TFC fans played. One opinion is represented in this Big Soccer article which rather dramatically suggests "Toronto FC fans are officially the biggest bunch of scum, frauds, jokes, and assholes I've ever seen in the history of MLS." This sweeeping generalisation of all TFC fans is based on the "fact" that some TFC fans left early as a way of protesting MLSE. While undoubtedly many fans left early for whatever reason, and there were many empty seats by the end of the game, it's a very small minority who would have done so as a protest, most people who were still angry enough probably didn't even go in the first place, which is definitely a shame as I agree with the opinion it wasn't the right time and place for a protest, but to tar everyone with the same brush is more than a bit ridiculous.
A very different viewpoint is expressed in this letter from Portland Timbers supporters, posted on the Red Patch Boys forum, thanking supporters for their friendliness and generosity and putting on a great weekend. Of course other TFC supporters groups played their part in organising different events, pub crawls and get togethers over the weekend, including the supporters summit, and hosting Dallas and Colorado fans for pre and post game drinks.
So which is true, are TFC fans the petulant crybabies who spoiled MLS Cup weekend for their own selfish purposes in order to embarass MLSE? Or are they the generous hosts, eager to show their visitors a good time and foster goodwill among travelling supporters from all across the league? Well the obvious answer is neither of those options, and both of them.
I'm going to take a guess here and say that the writer of the first linked article didn't actually visit Toronto, and instead just watched the game on TV, and though I haven't watched the game again yet, despite PVRing it on both GOL TV and TSN2, I can imagine it didn't make for the most captivating spectacle. At kick off, the stadium looked fuller than it usually does at the beginning of TFC games, but that number slowly dwindled, as fans gave in to the cold, caught trains or beat traffic, and only a small percentage stayed around for the trophy presentation.
The atmosphere was muted, and if it wasn't for Marvell Wynne and especially Jeff Cunningham, would have been even more so. The 100-200 travelling supporters from both Colorado and Dallas certainly did their part, and kudos to them for making it out here, but for the Toronto crowd the lack of a team to really love or hate meant that the atmosphere was always going to reflect the game, which unfortunately didn't provide the excitement needed to ignite much fervour. It could have been better, the 2008 all star game at BMO started with a similar subdued atmosphere amid talk of protests, but by the second half the quality attacking play and tight scoreline meant that despite the lack of any real chanting, there was the definite buzz of a knowledgeable crowd that had been sucked into a good football game.
I'd hesitate to say it was just about the game though, the attendance and atmosphere have steadily been getting worse over the last couple of years at games TFC is involved in as well. The fact is that after 4 years, the novelty has worn off, and the continued mediocrity on the pitch and feeling of exploitation by the front office has drained the enthusiasm of many of the more casual fans. Add in the confusingly small effort made by MLS and MLSE to promote the game to the more casual unconnnected fan, and it's not really a surprise that that buzz wasn't repeated. So while it is ridiculously over the top to say TFC fans are the biggest bunch of scum...etc, the "best fans in MLS" tag that still gets thrown around really doesn't apply to TFC fans as a whole any more either.
Where TFC suporters did prove themselves though over the weekend is in the strength of the hardcore minority. The events that were organised and staffed by supporter volounteers were truly worthy of applause, and the welcoming of opposition supporters at both formal and informal events was genuine and enthusiastic, building bridges with a "we're all on the same side really" feeling. So thanks to all who organised and attended events and showed TFC fans can throw a hell of a party.
Scum, frauds, jokes, and assholes? Nope. Best fans in MLS? Nope, not any more. Best supporters groups? Well, TFC is definitely very much still in the running for that one.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
MLS Cup thoughts
When faced with supporter backlash over the automatic inclusion of the MLS Cup final in the 2011 season ticket package, Tom Anselmi, Paul Beirne and co expressed surprise and admitted being caught out by the reaction. They stated that they saw it as a reward for TFC supporters, and thought it would be embraced and welcomed by the city's enthusiastic football community. Obviously, as we all know it didn't quite work out that way, and with hindsight, making the purchase optional might have been wise, but I for one always did feel that way. I was excited when it was announced, and when it was made known it would be part of the package, I didn't mind at all, I was happy to have my guaranteed seats at a reasonable price, and there was never a question for me that I'd be attending, even before all the apologies and townhalls and concessions that followed the cratering (MLS Commissioner Don Garber's word at the Supporters Summit) of the renewal percentage. So first of all thanks to MLS and MLSE for bringing the game here.
My enthusiasm waned a little with the dismal end to TFC's season, and then the playoffs really didn't work out all that well. The teams I would have liked to see win got knocked out, as did the high profile teams and the teams I would have loved to watch lose, and we ended up with the MehLS Cup final of Dallas and Colorado. Combined with the puzzling lack of hype and promotion, and ensuing lack of buzz in the city, and it looked like it was going to be a disappointment, I'd still go to the game, I'd be cheering for Colorado but my heart wasn't really in it.
Over the last few days though, my interest and excitement has been renewed. Though I'm sure it hasn't really reached the general public, there's been a lot of extra buzz, I've really enjoyed the MLS Cup Classics series and extra programming on GOL TV. Mainly though it's the events that have been going on around town, organised by TFC supporters groups, open to and attended by supporters from Colorado, Dallas, and all the other MLS cities. So a huge thanks to everyone who organised or volounteered or spread the word about all those events. A friend's shotgun wedding stopped me from attending as many events as I would have liked, but from reading about them, and from attending the Supporter's summit this morning, it's clear there's a great sense of camerarderie between supporters from different cities, a real sense of being in it together and sharing a common goal. It's a very similar feeling I got when I was at games in Seattle and Chivas, where supporters were very friendly and welcoming.
Obviously this comes from MLS still being a very young and very small league within the North American sporting landscape, one that needs to be grown through mutual respect and co-operation. It's in the interests of any individual set of supporters that the rest of the league remains healthy and develops further. The teams or supporter experience can be fantastic in one city, but without the rest of the league also improving, it would be rather pointless.
Which is why I'm hoping that tonight's game will be well attended. Obviously some people will have very good reasons not to atttend, and the late start time and potential bad weather will put off some other fans as well. But many fans have talked about not going, and leaving their seats empty as a protest against MLSE, as a way to embarass them at their showpiece event. I understand supporters' anger at how TFC's lack of success has been combined with ever increasing ticket prices and exploitation of the atmosphere the supporters bring, and other protests have certainly been effective. I just don't think this is a good venue to be protesting further, this game isn't really about TFC or MLSE, it's about MLS. Many supporters have come to Toronto from all over North America, to enjoy all the festivities, the climax of which should be the MLS Cup, for TFC fans to metaphorically piss all over that for the sake of proving a point would be a terrible shame.
If attendance is weak, it'll lead to accusations that Toronto isn't really a good soccer city, instead it's just a good TFC market. I imagine anyone that's not going to the game as a protest, or simply because TFC isn't playing won't really care about those charges, which in a way actually proves the point. All I know is that if I were a supporter of another team, I wouldn't want to hear the oft repeated "TFC has the best supporters in the league" mantra again.
Hopefully that won't be an issue and those season ticket holders who have tickets will actually come out to enjoy the game, I guess we'll see soon. As for the game itself, I'll predict a tight game, with Colorado winning 2-1 in extra time, Omar Cummings with the winning goal.
Post game edit: well, I got the score right. All in all a decent night, the crowd was respectable if far from a sellout, the game wasn't a classic by any means, but Jeff Cunningham missing a chance to tie it at the death was satisfying, and the MVP being awarded to Casey Conor was very amusing. The most alarming part of the night was seeing Mo Johnston in one of the corporate boxes (ballsily enough the one right behind the North End Elite) hanging out with Nick Dasovic, Leo Percovich and others.
My enthusiasm waned a little with the dismal end to TFC's season, and then the playoffs really didn't work out all that well. The teams I would have liked to see win got knocked out, as did the high profile teams and the teams I would have loved to watch lose, and we ended up with the MehLS Cup final of Dallas and Colorado. Combined with the puzzling lack of hype and promotion, and ensuing lack of buzz in the city, and it looked like it was going to be a disappointment, I'd still go to the game, I'd be cheering for Colorado but my heart wasn't really in it.
Over the last few days though, my interest and excitement has been renewed. Though I'm sure it hasn't really reached the general public, there's been a lot of extra buzz, I've really enjoyed the MLS Cup Classics series and extra programming on GOL TV. Mainly though it's the events that have been going on around town, organised by TFC supporters groups, open to and attended by supporters from Colorado, Dallas, and all the other MLS cities. So a huge thanks to everyone who organised or volounteered or spread the word about all those events. A friend's shotgun wedding stopped me from attending as many events as I would have liked, but from reading about them, and from attending the Supporter's summit this morning, it's clear there's a great sense of camerarderie between supporters from different cities, a real sense of being in it together and sharing a common goal. It's a very similar feeling I got when I was at games in Seattle and Chivas, where supporters were very friendly and welcoming.
Obviously this comes from MLS still being a very young and very small league within the North American sporting landscape, one that needs to be grown through mutual respect and co-operation. It's in the interests of any individual set of supporters that the rest of the league remains healthy and develops further. The teams or supporter experience can be fantastic in one city, but without the rest of the league also improving, it would be rather pointless.
Which is why I'm hoping that tonight's game will be well attended. Obviously some people will have very good reasons not to atttend, and the late start time and potential bad weather will put off some other fans as well. But many fans have talked about not going, and leaving their seats empty as a protest against MLSE, as a way to embarass them at their showpiece event. I understand supporters' anger at how TFC's lack of success has been combined with ever increasing ticket prices and exploitation of the atmosphere the supporters bring, and other protests have certainly been effective. I just don't think this is a good venue to be protesting further, this game isn't really about TFC or MLSE, it's about MLS. Many supporters have come to Toronto from all over North America, to enjoy all the festivities, the climax of which should be the MLS Cup, for TFC fans to metaphorically piss all over that for the sake of proving a point would be a terrible shame.
If attendance is weak, it'll lead to accusations that Toronto isn't really a good soccer city, instead it's just a good TFC market. I imagine anyone that's not going to the game as a protest, or simply because TFC isn't playing won't really care about those charges, which in a way actually proves the point. All I know is that if I were a supporter of another team, I wouldn't want to hear the oft repeated "TFC has the best supporters in the league" mantra again.
Hopefully that won't be an issue and those season ticket holders who have tickets will actually come out to enjoy the game, I guess we'll see soon. As for the game itself, I'll predict a tight game, with Colorado winning 2-1 in extra time, Omar Cummings with the winning goal.
Post game edit: well, I got the score right. All in all a decent night, the crowd was respectable if far from a sellout, the game wasn't a classic by any means, but Jeff Cunningham missing a chance to tie it at the death was satisfying, and the MVP being awarded to Casey Conor was very amusing. The most alarming part of the night was seeing Mo Johnston in one of the corporate boxes (ballsily enough the one right behind the North End Elite) hanging out with Nick Dasovic, Leo Percovich and others.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Marvell Wynne, Marvell Wynne, flying down the wing.
The unavoidable juggernaut that is the MLS Cup hype machine is again turning the focus of the world's media to Marvell Wynne, with this publicity stunt set for Friday, based around lighting up the CN Tower. So I figured I'd join in by reliving some of his best moments with TFC, at least the ones available on youtube.
I'll start with his first goal for TFC, from September 2008 against Houston. Go to 1:51 to see the goal, a great dribble, cutting in from the right wing, owning Dwayne De Rosario in the process, and then a great shot into the far corner. This video also features Hunter Freeman's comedy own goal, starting at 1:15, if you want to take that in again.
This is probably my favourite Marvell moment, his assist on Danny Dichio's goal against Colorado, featuring a nutmeg, a well sold dummy, and a good low cross for Dichio. And why not get nostalgic for 2007 by watching the whole thing, top ten goals of 2007.
He seemed to like playing against his current club, getting another assist here with yet another run down the wing and cross, this time for De Rosario, at 0:34 of this video. Also at about 2:45, you see the rarity of an O'Brian White goal, a really nice finish as well.
This is his other TFC goal, and it's another spectacular one, against Dallas in 2008, using his speed to get behind the defence, running on to a through ball, and chipping the goalie from about 30 yards out, at 2:50. Keep watching to see John Carver have a bit of a meltdown at the end.
Thanks for the memories Marvell, keep your hands down on Sunday.
I'll start with his first goal for TFC, from September 2008 against Houston. Go to 1:51 to see the goal, a great dribble, cutting in from the right wing, owning Dwayne De Rosario in the process, and then a great shot into the far corner. This video also features Hunter Freeman's comedy own goal, starting at 1:15, if you want to take that in again.
This is probably my favourite Marvell moment, his assist on Danny Dichio's goal against Colorado, featuring a nutmeg, a well sold dummy, and a good low cross for Dichio. And why not get nostalgic for 2007 by watching the whole thing, top ten goals of 2007.
He seemed to like playing against his current club, getting another assist here with yet another run down the wing and cross, this time for De Rosario, at 0:34 of this video. Also at about 2:45, you see the rarity of an O'Brian White goal, a really nice finish as well.
This is his other TFC goal, and it's another spectacular one, against Dallas in 2008, using his speed to get behind the defence, running on to a through ball, and chipping the goalie from about 30 yards out, at 2:50. Keep watching to see John Carver have a bit of a meltdown at the end.
Thanks for the memories Marvell, keep your hands down on Sunday.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Jeff Cunningham MLS Cup message to Toronto fans.
By now you've probably seen Marvell Wynne's video asking Toronto fans to come out and support him and the Rapids on Sunday. It's come to light that MLS asked all the former TFC players to make such videos to inspire Torontonians to brave the cold November night and cheer them on. The others didn't see the light of day for reasons which will soon be obvious, but fortunately, before the tapes were burnt, an MLS mole leaked the transcripts to Cruel Geography, which I'll faithfuly reprint here.
Jeff Cunningham's MLS Cup message to Toronto.
Scene: FC Dallas training ground, various players and coaches go through the motions in the background as Jeff prepares to give his message.
Cunningham: Hey Toronto, what's up? This is Jeff Cunningham, formerly number 96 with TFC.
Off Screen: boooo!
Cunningham: I wore 96 as that was how many goals I'd scored at the time, I scored a lot of goals before I was at TFC, and since leaving, I've scored a bunch more...
Off Screen: booooo!
Cunningham: what? erm, okaaaay. Anyway, I'm now the second highest all time scorer in MLS, I know you're all real proud of me.
Off Screen: boooooooooooo!
Cunningham: What the hell? I've told everyone what great fans you are, and from my own experience, I know how much you love to see other teams raise trophies at BMO Field.
Off Screen: booooooooooooooooooo!
Out of nowhere a red streamer flies into the shot and hits Jeff on the head.
Cunningham: Ow! Do I have to keep going with this? Seriously? (sigh) alright. I hope you're all going to cheer for me and Dallas and paint BMO blue...
Jeff dodges another streamer, and a quarter full plastic beer cup.
...and I can't wait to come back to Toronto to see you all again, and score the goals that will win us the MLS cup.
FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman walks by
Hyndman: You do know you'll be on the bench all game, right Jeff?
Cunningham: What? Aw, c'mooooon. Did you have to tell me now? you know what? screw this!
Jeff walks away angrily shaking his head, narrowly avoiding a flying poutine.
Fin
When reached for comment, former TFC coach John Carver said "You want my honest opinion on that? I am thinking, ‘How has he done hundreds of interviews?’ That’s what I thought.’"
"If you’re a star player and you have got desire to promote the game, no matter how you finish the piece, you finish the piece," Carver concluded, rubbing his temples in frustration.
Next, Conor Casey's MLS Cup message to Toronto
Jeff Cunningham's MLS Cup message to Toronto.
Scene: FC Dallas training ground, various players and coaches go through the motions in the background as Jeff prepares to give his message.
Cunningham: Hey Toronto, what's up? This is Jeff Cunningham, formerly number 96 with TFC.
Off Screen: boooo!
Cunningham: I wore 96 as that was how many goals I'd scored at the time, I scored a lot of goals before I was at TFC, and since leaving, I've scored a bunch more...
Off Screen: booooo!
Cunningham: what? erm, okaaaay. Anyway, I'm now the second highest all time scorer in MLS, I know you're all real proud of me.
Off Screen: boooooooooooo!
Cunningham: What the hell? I've told everyone what great fans you are, and from my own experience, I know how much you love to see other teams raise trophies at BMO Field.
Off Screen: booooooooooooooooooo!
Out of nowhere a red streamer flies into the shot and hits Jeff on the head.
Cunningham: Ow! Do I have to keep going with this? Seriously? (sigh) alright. I hope you're all going to cheer for me and Dallas and paint BMO blue...
Jeff dodges another streamer, and a quarter full plastic beer cup.
...and I can't wait to come back to Toronto to see you all again, and score the goals that will win us the MLS cup.
FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman walks by
Hyndman: You do know you'll be on the bench all game, right Jeff?
Cunningham: What? Aw, c'mooooon. Did you have to tell me now? you know what? screw this!
Jeff walks away angrily shaking his head, narrowly avoiding a flying poutine.
Fin
When reached for comment, former TFC coach John Carver said "You want my honest opinion on that? I am thinking, ‘How has he done hundreds of interviews?’ That’s what I thought.’"
"If you’re a star player and you have got desire to promote the game, no matter how you finish the piece, you finish the piece," Carver concluded, rubbing his temples in frustration.
Next, Conor Casey's MLS Cup message to Toronto
Monday, November 15, 2010
History! Underdogs! er...Marvell Wynne!
With FC Dallas knocking out LA Galaxy, Landon Donovan, David Beckham et al last night, the job of generating excitement to sell all the non season-ticket seats, and get bums into those pre sold seats to make BMO field look acceptably close to, if not actually full, got a lot harder. Judging by the lack of adverts to be seen so far around Toronto or in the media, for the game or any of the events surrounding it, the Toronto FC marketing and sales types must have been working overtime on the TFC season ticket renewals, and hoping that Beckham or Thierry Henry would have been showing up to boost interest for the MLS Cup.
With the sizzle reduced to Marvell Wynne (hey TFC fans, you liked Marvell right? You don't remember all those handballs do you? You'll come out on a cold November night to cheer him right? Right? Guys?), it's time to focus on the steak of what should hopefully be a decent game. Despite the lack of marquee talent, there's still good players on show, Conor Casey and Omar Cummings have been one of the best forward pairings in the league over the last few years. For Dallas, David Ferreira has had a great year, legitimately contending for the MLS MVP award, and they have had a very successful year, including going 19 games unbeaten spanning almost 5 months. The two games between the teams this year both ended in ties, so it should be an even game, with a good possibility of extra time and penalties.
It's not like there's no good storylines at all here, both teams are original founding members of MLS back in 1996, and neither of them have won the cup before, so we're guaranteed a new winner, and a feel-good story of long suffering team and fan base finally gets the title. Both teams are underdogs, with Dallas having to beat the reigning champs, and then the favourites to get here, and Colorado coming from behind then holding their nerve in penalties against the Crew, and despite having two of the worst corporately-named stadiums in the league, neither team has a shirt sponsorship, which for me at least is a very refreshing thing to see.
There should be enough to be able to sell the game, especially given the oft-repeated assertion that "TFC fans are the best in the league". This should be a good test to see if Toronto really is the great soccer market people try and tell us it is, or merely a great TFC market, either way I'm looking forward to it.
With the sizzle reduced to Marvell Wynne (hey TFC fans, you liked Marvell right? You don't remember all those handballs do you? You'll come out on a cold November night to cheer him right? Right? Guys?), it's time to focus on the steak of what should hopefully be a decent game. Despite the lack of marquee talent, there's still good players on show, Conor Casey and Omar Cummings have been one of the best forward pairings in the league over the last few years. For Dallas, David Ferreira has had a great year, legitimately contending for the MLS MVP award, and they have had a very successful year, including going 19 games unbeaten spanning almost 5 months. The two games between the teams this year both ended in ties, so it should be an even game, with a good possibility of extra time and penalties.
It's not like there's no good storylines at all here, both teams are original founding members of MLS back in 1996, and neither of them have won the cup before, so we're guaranteed a new winner, and a feel-good story of long suffering team and fan base finally gets the title. Both teams are underdogs, with Dallas having to beat the reigning champs, and then the favourites to get here, and Colorado coming from behind then holding their nerve in penalties against the Crew, and despite having two of the worst corporately-named stadiums in the league, neither team has a shirt sponsorship, which for me at least is a very refreshing thing to see.
There should be enough to be able to sell the game, especially given the oft-repeated assertion that "TFC fans are the best in the league". This should be a good test to see if Toronto really is the great soccer market people try and tell us it is, or merely a great TFC market, either way I'm looking forward to it.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Successful Canadian footballers?
Tonight, having already qualified for the 2011 World Cup in Germany after their semi-final win over Costa Rica, Canada's Women's National Team has the chance to clinch the Concacaf championship tonight. They're favourites as well, as rather than taking on the heavily favoured US team, they'll actually be playing Mexico who lost 3-0 to Canada in the group stages, before stunning the US in the semi-final. You can watch the game on CBC Bold, or if you're not one of their approximately 12 subscribers, online here. Congratulations to Carolina Morace and her team for a successful qualification, and hopefully they can finish the job tonight and cap what's been a busy and enjoyable weekend of football.
In the MLS playoffs, San Jose destroyed the "dream final" by knocking out Thierry Henry and the Red Bulls, and you've got to say that the first half-season of the Henry experiment was a bit of a failure really. Not a Mista level failure by any means, but he's going to have to improve next year to justify the big bucks. Columbus also lost, in a shootout to Colorado, and San Jose-Colorado really is an appropriate final for what was a very bad year for Eastern Conference clubs. In the Western Conference, Dallas beat Real Salt Lake, before a higher seed finally won, with LA knocking out Seattle. So either David Beckham or Jeff Cunningham will be playing and potentially lifting the the cup at BMO field, it's safe to say I'll be supporting whoever comes out of the "East".
Back in England, it was a mixed weekend for the small clubs in the FA cup. Tipton Town and Hythe Town both got hammered, though Hythe did at least score. Dover upset Gillingham, getting revenge against all the management and coaches who went from Dover to Gillingham this summer and FC United of Manchester got a 94th minute winner against Rochdale. Darlington beat League one side Bristol Rovers 2-1, though even when they win, they can't win, as computer problems in the ticket office led to very long waits to get in and quite a few people apparently giving up, so that's a good chance to win some new converts, or win back some old fans wasted, but still, an excellent result.
Throw in Chelsea and Arsenal both losing to EPL minnows, and it's been a really good weekend, Canada being champions would be a great way to finish it.
Edit: And they did finish it off, a 1-0 win giving them the title, 5 games, 5 wins, 0 goals against, a really good tournament all round. Well done Ladies. Campeonas! Campeonas! olé, olé, olé!
In the MLS playoffs, San Jose destroyed the "dream final" by knocking out Thierry Henry and the Red Bulls, and you've got to say that the first half-season of the Henry experiment was a bit of a failure really. Not a Mista level failure by any means, but he's going to have to improve next year to justify the big bucks. Columbus also lost, in a shootout to Colorado, and San Jose-Colorado really is an appropriate final for what was a very bad year for Eastern Conference clubs. In the Western Conference, Dallas beat Real Salt Lake, before a higher seed finally won, with LA knocking out Seattle. So either David Beckham or Jeff Cunningham will be playing and potentially lifting the the cup at BMO field, it's safe to say I'll be supporting whoever comes out of the "East".
Back in England, it was a mixed weekend for the small clubs in the FA cup. Tipton Town and Hythe Town both got hammered, though Hythe did at least score. Dover upset Gillingham, getting revenge against all the management and coaches who went from Dover to Gillingham this summer and FC United of Manchester got a 94th minute winner against Rochdale. Darlington beat League one side Bristol Rovers 2-1, though even when they win, they can't win, as computer problems in the ticket office led to very long waits to get in and quite a few people apparently giving up, so that's a good chance to win some new converts, or win back some old fans wasted, but still, an excellent result.
Throw in Chelsea and Arsenal both losing to EPL minnows, and it's been a really good weekend, Canada being champions would be a great way to finish it.
Edit: And they did finish it off, a 1-0 win giving them the title, 5 games, 5 wins, 0 goals against, a really good tournament all round. Well done Ladies. Campeonas! Campeonas! olé, olé, olé!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Weeeee love you! But we hate you. You too. And especially you!
With the MLS playoffs about to start, and TFC's lockers already cleared out, it's time to decide who to be following, and who to be prepared to cheer for or against when the final is played before all TFC's eager season ticket holders (everyone's going right? there were no problems with that?).
If you're undecided and it's uninformed opinions, partisan sentimentality, bitterness and petty prejudices you want to make a decision on, then you've come to the right place. Here's my reasons to boo and cheer for the 8 teams still playing.
Colorado.
Reasons to cheer. Marvell Wynne, his flailing arms and lack of positional sense annoyed me, but I hold no grudge with Wynne and would have no problem seeing him with the trophy. No sponsor, I'm officially jealous of their jersey, simple, no sponsor or obnoxious North American style logo, classiest in MLS by far.
Reasons to boo. Conor Casey, the poor man's Danny Dichio. You don't like Toronto? We don't like you either, so there! Success would probably increase their commercial value and lead to a jersey sponsorship offer they can't refuse.
Verdict. Meh!
Columbus.
Reasons to cheer. Their consistency over the last few years is an example of...Nah, can't do it. Seriously, it's Columbus.
Reasons to boo. Schelotto, Lenhart, Padula's terrible hair, their taser happy cops, the fact that TFC still hasn't beaten them. Seriously, it's Columbus.
Verdict. Fuck those guys! booooooo!
Dallas.
Reasons to cheer. I seriously can't think of any, though I suppose in a "good for the growth of the game" kind of way, being champions might help them actually sell some tickets.
Reasons to boo. Jeff Cunningham. Milton Rodriguez's obnoxious fan-baiting celebration after scoring at BMO field this year. The bouncy castle. Did I mention Jeff Cunningham?
Verdict. Booooo!
Los Angeles.
Reasons to cheer. The Riot Squad supporters group standing up to Beckham last year was a great moment. That's about it.
Reasons to boo. Beckham. Landycakes. That's all the reasons I need.
Verdict. Fuck those guys! Boooo!
New York.
Reasons to cheer. Robbo, it`d be good to see him raising a trophy at BMO. Greg Sutton, ditto. They`ve built themselves a fantastic stadium, and it`d be good for the league for it to be filled on a regular basis, winning would help with that.
Reasons to boo. Thierry Henry. Changing the team name to Red Bulls? Awful. 5-0 last year. That Red Bull Energy Zone or whatever it's called that sprung up outside the North stand at BMO towards the end of the season is terrible on so many levels.
Verdict. Sorry Robbo, booooo!
Salt Lake.
Reasons to cheer. Will Johnson, good Canadian kid. Their turnaround from consistently terrible to very good gives some hope for TFC.
Reasons to boo. The dirty hippy. Real Salt lake is still a stupid name.
Verdict. Meh!
San Jose.
Reasons to cheer. Canadian Frank Yallop, showing the benefits of patience and sticking with a plan. Sam Cronin. A pacific coast team representing the Eastern conference would be amusing. Supporters had their original team ripped away from them, so karma wise, they've earned it.
Reasons to boo. None that I can think of, they're a pretty inoffensive club.
Verdict. Against New York and probably Columbus? Rock the Casbah! I hope they make it.
Seattle. Reasons to cheer. Before TFC's game in Seattle, I unknowingly ended up in the home pub of Seattle supporters group Gorilla FC. "Anti-racist, anti-Fascist, anti-sexist and anti-homophobic, but pro-party!!" Now that's a slogan I can get behind. They were unfailingly friendly, many of them very sincerely thanking me for travelling. It was a great day for lucky drinking, I ran into some of Chad Barrett's family at a bar near the stadium pre game, and later that night Danny Dichio and Leo Percovich showed up at the same Irish pub I was in. The atmosphere at the game was great, and the ambition the owners have shown is something that I really hope TFC are going to try and emulate.
Reasons to boo. They`ve already had way too much success, I`m jealous.
Verdict. I hope they win it all.
So here it is in order who I'll be cheering for, or more likely, not cheering against.
1. Seattle
2. San Jose
3. Colorado
4. Salt Lake
5. New York
6. Dallas
7. LA
8. Columbus.
7 and 8 was a really tough call. I hope they don't both make it to the final.
If you're undecided and it's uninformed opinions, partisan sentimentality, bitterness and petty prejudices you want to make a decision on, then you've come to the right place. Here's my reasons to boo and cheer for the 8 teams still playing.
Colorado.
Reasons to cheer. Marvell Wynne, his flailing arms and lack of positional sense annoyed me, but I hold no grudge with Wynne and would have no problem seeing him with the trophy. No sponsor, I'm officially jealous of their jersey, simple, no sponsor or obnoxious North American style logo, classiest in MLS by far.
Reasons to boo. Conor Casey, the poor man's Danny Dichio. You don't like Toronto? We don't like you either, so there! Success would probably increase their commercial value and lead to a jersey sponsorship offer they can't refuse.
Verdict. Meh!
Columbus.
Reasons to cheer. Their consistency over the last few years is an example of...Nah, can't do it. Seriously, it's Columbus.
Reasons to boo. Schelotto, Lenhart, Padula's terrible hair, their taser happy cops, the fact that TFC still hasn't beaten them. Seriously, it's Columbus.
Verdict. Fuck those guys! booooooo!
Dallas.
Reasons to cheer. I seriously can't think of any, though I suppose in a "good for the growth of the game" kind of way, being champions might help them actually sell some tickets.
Reasons to boo. Jeff Cunningham. Milton Rodriguez's obnoxious fan-baiting celebration after scoring at BMO field this year. The bouncy castle. Did I mention Jeff Cunningham?
Verdict. Booooo!
Los Angeles.
Reasons to cheer. The Riot Squad supporters group standing up to Beckham last year was a great moment. That's about it.
Reasons to boo. Beckham. Landycakes. That's all the reasons I need.
Verdict. Fuck those guys! Boooo!
New York.
Reasons to cheer. Robbo, it`d be good to see him raising a trophy at BMO. Greg Sutton, ditto. They`ve built themselves a fantastic stadium, and it`d be good for the league for it to be filled on a regular basis, winning would help with that.
Reasons to boo. Thierry Henry. Changing the team name to Red Bulls? Awful. 5-0 last year. That Red Bull Energy Zone or whatever it's called that sprung up outside the North stand at BMO towards the end of the season is terrible on so many levels.
Verdict. Sorry Robbo, booooo!
Salt Lake.
Reasons to cheer. Will Johnson, good Canadian kid. Their turnaround from consistently terrible to very good gives some hope for TFC.
Reasons to boo. The dirty hippy. Real Salt lake is still a stupid name.
Verdict. Meh!
San Jose.
Reasons to cheer. Canadian Frank Yallop, showing the benefits of patience and sticking with a plan. Sam Cronin. A pacific coast team representing the Eastern conference would be amusing. Supporters had their original team ripped away from them, so karma wise, they've earned it.
Reasons to boo. None that I can think of, they're a pretty inoffensive club.
Verdict. Against New York and probably Columbus? Rock the Casbah! I hope they make it.
Seattle. Reasons to cheer. Before TFC's game in Seattle, I unknowingly ended up in the home pub of Seattle supporters group Gorilla FC. "Anti-racist, anti-Fascist, anti-sexist and anti-homophobic, but pro-party!!" Now that's a slogan I can get behind. They were unfailingly friendly, many of them very sincerely thanking me for travelling. It was a great day for lucky drinking, I ran into some of Chad Barrett's family at a bar near the stadium pre game, and later that night Danny Dichio and Leo Percovich showed up at the same Irish pub I was in. The atmosphere at the game was great, and the ambition the owners have shown is something that I really hope TFC are going to try and emulate.
Reasons to boo. They`ve already had way too much success, I`m jealous.
Verdict. I hope they win it all.
So here it is in order who I'll be cheering for, or more likely, not cheering against.
1. Seattle
2. San Jose
3. Colorado
4. Salt Lake
5. New York
6. Dallas
7. LA
8. Columbus.
7 and 8 was a really tough call. I hope they don't both make it to the final.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Losing. So nice we did it twice! part two.
So after the Canada game, I headed to Shoeless Joe's to watch TFC vs Dallas with little expectation of a result given we were missing 5 of our best players to injury and international call-ups (despite being announced in the starting line up, Attakora didn't even play due to "an error on the paper" thanks Stephen Hart). The game went pretty much as I would have predicted really, we were generally solid defensively, and stopped them from doing much, but we never really looked like doing something ourselves. While we did create a few chances, they were generally from set pieces or Dan Gargan's long throws. The few chances we created out of open play fell to either O'Brian White or Jacob Peterson and were unsuprisingly wasted. On the other hand, Dallas didn't really create many chances until late in the game when we were pressing more, but one of the few chances they got fell to (an offside) Jeff Cunningham, who despite his many faults, and despite the impression he gave when with TFC, does know how to score.
In his post game interview, Preki bemoaned our bad luck and that the ball didn't bounce for us, which to me is ridiculous. Cunningham scoring a chance and White missing multiple chances isn't bad luck, that's something that's going to happen 9 games out of 10, it would be good luck if the reverse happened. This was all about our strength in depth, with De Ro, Barrett and Santos missing, we don't have a real scoring threat who'd be able to make something out of nothing, which is what we need to be able to score within the confines of Preki's defensive system.
White actually had one of his better games recently, pressuring their defence and goalie into the odd mistake, and getting a few chances, but he just doesn't look likely to score, and he looks like he knows that. The best example of this isn't with his easiest chance, the header from Usanov's great tackle run and cross, but a half chance shortly after Cunningham scored, he got the ball on the edge of the area with a couple of yards of space. Did he let fly with a hard shot on goal to at least force a save? Nope. Did he cut in towards goal to get a better angle, or maybe draw contact to win a penalty? Nope. He went further wide, and slowed down enough for the defender to catch him and the chance was gone. That was really symptomatic of his play recently when he gets the ball near goal and has a chance. There's no sense of urgency or dynamism, he just seems so timid and unsure of himself, which means he can hustle and run as much as he likes, but he really isn't doing his job.
You could ackowledge the "bad luck" that led us to the point where we have to have White out there as our main striker - injuries to Barrett and Santos coming at the same time as De Ro getting called up for Canada. But a) every team has to deal with that sort of thing at some point, and b) Preki knew all along that that was the case for this game. You can't call something that you've had a week to prepare for bad luck, it's your job Preki to come up with a plan that works with what you have. A defensive system can work well with players out, even missing Attakora and De Guzman, we looked solid, which is a testament to the discipline and focus on defence that Preki has brought. But if the only players who can create something within that system aren't playing, then you have to change things around, which Preki didn't do, a starting midfield of Nane, Labrocca, Saric and Gargan really isn't going to create much.
Mista had a nice touch here or there but was generally anonymous. Without other quality players causing problems for the defence to give him room to create, he's easily stifled, he doesn't have the power or pace to create things for himself, and for the money he's being paid he should be able to do that.
All in all, we got what we played for, we went to play a team on a roll, away from home, and we only conceded one goal, that's a good result. But to suggest it's only bad luck and bad bounces that stopped us from scoring is just a cop-out on Preki's behalf. Those players playing that sytem were always going to struggle, it's a coach's job to give them a chance, not to blame bad luck.
In his post game interview, Preki bemoaned our bad luck and that the ball didn't bounce for us, which to me is ridiculous. Cunningham scoring a chance and White missing multiple chances isn't bad luck, that's something that's going to happen 9 games out of 10, it would be good luck if the reverse happened. This was all about our strength in depth, with De Ro, Barrett and Santos missing, we don't have a real scoring threat who'd be able to make something out of nothing, which is what we need to be able to score within the confines of Preki's defensive system.
White actually had one of his better games recently, pressuring their defence and goalie into the odd mistake, and getting a few chances, but he just doesn't look likely to score, and he looks like he knows that. The best example of this isn't with his easiest chance, the header from Usanov's great tackle run and cross, but a half chance shortly after Cunningham scored, he got the ball on the edge of the area with a couple of yards of space. Did he let fly with a hard shot on goal to at least force a save? Nope. Did he cut in towards goal to get a better angle, or maybe draw contact to win a penalty? Nope. He went further wide, and slowed down enough for the defender to catch him and the chance was gone. That was really symptomatic of his play recently when he gets the ball near goal and has a chance. There's no sense of urgency or dynamism, he just seems so timid and unsure of himself, which means he can hustle and run as much as he likes, but he really isn't doing his job.
You could ackowledge the "bad luck" that led us to the point where we have to have White out there as our main striker - injuries to Barrett and Santos coming at the same time as De Ro getting called up for Canada. But a) every team has to deal with that sort of thing at some point, and b) Preki knew all along that that was the case for this game. You can't call something that you've had a week to prepare for bad luck, it's your job Preki to come up with a plan that works with what you have. A defensive system can work well with players out, even missing Attakora and De Guzman, we looked solid, which is a testament to the discipline and focus on defence that Preki has brought. But if the only players who can create something within that system aren't playing, then you have to change things around, which Preki didn't do, a starting midfield of Nane, Labrocca, Saric and Gargan really isn't going to create much.
Mista had a nice touch here or there but was generally anonymous. Without other quality players causing problems for the defence to give him room to create, he's easily stifled, he doesn't have the power or pace to create things for himself, and for the money he's being paid he should be able to do that.
All in all, we got what we played for, we went to play a team on a roll, away from home, and we only conceded one goal, that's a good result. But to suggest it's only bad luck and bad bounces that stopped us from scoring is just a cop-out on Preki's behalf. Those players playing that sytem were always going to struggle, it's a coach's job to give them a chance, not to blame bad luck.
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