Finally. Pre-season games on choppy streams are ok I suppose, watching away games on the TV is nice, but it's so much better to be able to see a game in person. Having a drink or two, then wandering over to the ground, taking in the atmosphere and watching the game live, there's nothing like it, here's my impressions of the day.
Starting with the peripheral issues, and yep, as advertised it was cold, especially in the second half when the wind seemed to really pick up, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. The attendance was also better than I expected, there were definitely empty spots here and there, with the North Stand in particular looking very sparse, but there was probably about 17-18,000 there, with an announced crowd of over 20,000. We also got confirmation of which way management are going to go to try and fix their attendance issues. It's not going back to the basics of what made TFC so popular back in the day, cheaper tickets and a supporter led "authentic football experience", nope it's going to be extra pizzazz and emotional manipulation, Leafs style. Thus we had Mounties, the academy kids and Danny Dichio all brought out for the anthem, followed by some fireworks let off after the anthem, and at half time, a live performance from Kardinal Offishall. I'd like to hope that's just a one off thing what with the home opener coinciding with the Junos in Toronto, but I don't really have much confidence in that theory. While I'm in grumpy old man mode, I really don't like the new electronic ad boards either.
Anyway, the game, well it wasn't all that pretty, but a win's a win and I was very encouraged by the appearance of something that I wasn't sure we were going to see much of this year - pragmatism. So far Aron Winter's given the impression that he's thinking long term, and that he's got one way of wanting his team to play, and that he's going to stubbornly stick with that until it works, and we'll just all have to be patient until that happens, even if it's not until next year. This impression was strengthened in the game against Vancouver when he didn't make positional changes even when it became obvious that they were desperately needed, and the ball was repeatedly turned over by defenders trying to keep possession. Against the Timbers though, the emphasis on possession and playing it carefully out of defence was a lot less pronounced, with a lot more long kicks from Frei, and no-nonsense clearances from the defence when the situation called for it. This may well have been due to the windy and icy conditions, as mentioned post game by Stefan Frei, rather than a permanent change in philosophy, and maybe it was the players taking things into their own hands and making those decisions, but it was a welcome display of pragmatism trumping idealism and gives me hope that Winter will be able to make the changes and compromises that will be required here and there in MLS.
Though this meant we didn't have as much possession as last week, it also dramatically reduced the giveaways in dangerous positions that occured so often against the Whitecaps, and was a huge factor in the defence looking a lot more solid and managing to keep a clean sheet. Two other big reasons for that though is that Portland looked a very poor team, and that Adrian Cann was back in the middle of defence. He looked a lot more comfortable at Centre Back, and had a good game, as Portland and Kenny Cooper were kept very quiet. An injury to Nana Attakora meant Ty Harden kept his place beside Cann, and he and Dan Gargan at Right Back did the basic defensive stuff just well enough, though Gargan's passing was terrible and his Right Back position is probably the one most in need of an upgrade at this point.
The biggest benefit of Cann moving back to Centre Back, is that we actually had a proper Left Back in Mikael Yourassowsky, and he had a great game, especially going forward, making several strong runs and working very well with Dwayne De Rosario at Left Wing, though his crossing definitely needs improvement. His day was marred by getting a second yellow card for taking too long to leave the pitch as he was substituted, which is the first time I've ever seen that happen.
Up front Alan Gordon made his debut as the centre forward, with De Ro on the left wing, Javier Martina on the right, with Maicon Santos playing further back, as an attacking midfielder, with Jacob Peterson and Nathan Sturgis completing the midfield. Sturgis was subbed off at half time, replaced by Alen Stevanovic, who looked a bit awkward and unfamiliar with his new teammates, but displayed enough flashes of quality to suggest he could be a very good player once he gets settled in and actually has some time to practice with the team.
Once again, TFC weren't great, there's definitely room for improvement and we look like we'll struggle against better teams than Portland. Fortunately our easy schedule continues with Chivas USA coming to town next week, so hopefully that's another game we can get points from as we continue our development. Like last week though, there was some good stuff mixed in with the bad, positive signs that however slowly, we are on the right track, and in different ways both goals provided evidence of that.
Javier Martina scored both goals, and it's his second that will get most attention and quite rightly, a very well taken first time lob over the goalie after a brilliantly accurate long ball from Stefan Frei after he caught a corner, that is quite possibly the best goal ever scored at BMO Field.
It's his first goal though that showed the benefits of what the team's learning under Winter, and gives me more hope for the season. Martina and Gargan forced a turnover just inside Toronto's half, on the right wing, Gargan quickly got the ball to Peterson, who showed great control and poise to hold on to the ball despite pressure from two Timbers midfielders before managing to get a pass off to Santos. Santos played a great ball through the defence to De Rosario, who unselfishly held it up before playing a perfect pass for Martina to run on to and slip the ball past the Portland Keeper. Much like the two goals against Vancouver, defence turned quickly into attack through short controlled passes and good off the ball running, suggesting a dangerous counter atttack is something we'll be able to count on throughout the season.
All in all, it's very much still a work in progress, there's still clear upgrades needed in a few positions and it'll be interesting to see what happens when we finally get to play against the better teams in MLS, but three points are always welcome, and will take some of the pressure off. My expectations for this season are fairly low, I'm not really thinking playoffs, but I'd consider it successful if we do well enough so that supporters and management don't panic and end up getting rid of Winter, avoiding the potential back to back defeats against expansion teams will really help with that goal. For a week at least, we can all relax.
One final note. After the game, De Rosario took a black banner from the fans, and it turns out that the banner was to honour a supporter who had recently passed away, he took it into the dressing room for all the players to sign before taking it back out to be given to the supporter's family. De Ro gets a lot of shit at times for his off-field antics, including here in this blog, so it's only right to acknowledge what was a really classy moment. RIP Rodrigo Novoa.
Showing posts with label Jacob Peterson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jacob Peterson. Show all posts
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
2012 pre-season looking good.
Toronto FC continued it's preparations for the 2012 season with the first game of the Carolina Challenge Cup in Charleston on Saturday against the Chicago Fire.
With some of the very few officially signed players missing through injury (Julian De Guzman still, and now also Dwayne De Rosario with what was described as a tweak) or through contract disputes (Adrian Cann), the game provided plenty of opportuntities for those looking to impress enough to nail down a position in the squad or the starting line up just over 12 months from now.
Mikael Yourassowsky joined Nana Attakora in central defence, with Dan Gargan at right back and academy player Ashtone Morgan at left back. Another academy kid Oscar Cordon joined Jacob Peterson and Nick Labrocca in midfield with Joao Plata and Javier Martina playing upfront with Maicon Santos. Plenty of substitutions meant appearances for a few other new signees, trialists and academy players, including Andrew Ornoch, previously rejected but back for a second try, and Nathan Sturgis, trying to work his way out of the coach's doghouse after not impressing in Turkey.
So how did it all look, well not great frankly, but that's ok, we've got over a year to be working on things. Sloppy defending led to Chicago scoring after 6 minutes, but aside from that Yourassowsky looked alright in the middle, making a couple of really good tackles in the second half. Attakora looked comfortable bringing the ball out of defence, and in general, the team was passing the ball about and keeping possession nicely, though they definitely lacked a cutting edge.
Chicago allowed that to happen really, happily letting Toronto pass it around in their own half while blocking things up in midfield in front of their defence. That tendency was increased after Chicago had a player sent off after 35 minutes, but even then, TFC, curiously still playing in practice jerseys rather than the official new kit, created very few chances against the ten men. It's obviously very early, and though we didn't look great, there were a few moments here and there yesterday where you could see the potential of what Aron Winter's trying to do and what it could all become with an improved squad, even adding De Guzman and De Rosario back into the line-up should make a big difference.
Fortunately there's plenty of time to give the current trialists a fair go and see which of them has what it takes to make the starting lineup for First Kick a year or so from now. Those who don't make the grade can be replaced between now and then, maybe in July when the European transfer window opens. Also the 40 odd practice games we'll have in 2011 will give plenty of opportunities to blood the youngsters from the academy, giving them valuable experience for when it counts. All in all, pre-season's off to a good start and the future is certainly bright.
What's that? How's the squad looking for the 2011 season? Oh, believe me, you really don't want to ask that question.
With some of the very few officially signed players missing through injury (Julian De Guzman still, and now also Dwayne De Rosario with what was described as a tweak) or through contract disputes (Adrian Cann), the game provided plenty of opportuntities for those looking to impress enough to nail down a position in the squad or the starting line up just over 12 months from now.
Mikael Yourassowsky joined Nana Attakora in central defence, with Dan Gargan at right back and academy player Ashtone Morgan at left back. Another academy kid Oscar Cordon joined Jacob Peterson and Nick Labrocca in midfield with Joao Plata and Javier Martina playing upfront with Maicon Santos. Plenty of substitutions meant appearances for a few other new signees, trialists and academy players, including Andrew Ornoch, previously rejected but back for a second try, and Nathan Sturgis, trying to work his way out of the coach's doghouse after not impressing in Turkey.
So how did it all look, well not great frankly, but that's ok, we've got over a year to be working on things. Sloppy defending led to Chicago scoring after 6 minutes, but aside from that Yourassowsky looked alright in the middle, making a couple of really good tackles in the second half. Attakora looked comfortable bringing the ball out of defence, and in general, the team was passing the ball about and keeping possession nicely, though they definitely lacked a cutting edge.
Chicago allowed that to happen really, happily letting Toronto pass it around in their own half while blocking things up in midfield in front of their defence. That tendency was increased after Chicago had a player sent off after 35 minutes, but even then, TFC, curiously still playing in practice jerseys rather than the official new kit, created very few chances against the ten men. It's obviously very early, and though we didn't look great, there were a few moments here and there yesterday where you could see the potential of what Aron Winter's trying to do and what it could all become with an improved squad, even adding De Guzman and De Rosario back into the line-up should make a big difference.
Fortunately there's plenty of time to give the current trialists a fair go and see which of them has what it takes to make the starting lineup for First Kick a year or so from now. Those who don't make the grade can be replaced between now and then, maybe in July when the European transfer window opens. Also the 40 odd practice games we'll have in 2011 will give plenty of opportunities to blood the youngsters from the academy, giving them valuable experience for when it counts. All in all, pre-season's off to a good start and the future is certainly bright.
What's that? How's the squad looking for the 2011 season? Oh, believe me, you really don't want to ask that question.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
All we need is just a little patience.
So that's the Mickey Mouse cup over and done with, as well as the first two games we've been able to watch and see how things are going with the new regime, so what have we learnt so far, aside from the fact that it's still way too early in preseason to be able to draw any kind of conclusions.
Game 1, a 3-2 defeat against Houston on Thursday night was definitely a mixed bag. Defensively we looked a little unorganised at times, Houston's first goal in particular saw some bad positional play from triallist Mikael Yourassowsky, though given it was his first game after just joining the club, that's forgiveable. Dan Gargan didn't look great on Houston's 3rd either which is a bit more worrying for our chances this season. Gargan seems like a great player to have around in the dressing room, and his versatility means he'll be a valuable part of the squad, and a very useful player to have on the bench in any game, but if he's part of the starting line up when March 19th comes around, that'll be a sad indictment of our squad's depth.
The new possession based 4-3-3 system worked ok here and there, very much still a work in progress, and the defenders often had problems working the ball through to the midfielders, especially when Houston started pressuring more after the first few minutes. Obviously having three players upfront means fewer players back close to the defenders so they're really going to have to work on movement, tracking back and making themselves available for the pass if the defence is going to be able to avoid losing the ball or just hoofing it long. Julian de Guzman's return should really help with that, he's going to be crucial to TFC's chances this year.
When it worked though, it worked really well, TFC's first goal came after a long period of possession, patiently moving the ball from one side to the other before Nick Labrocca played a longer ball through to Jacob Peterson who had made a sudden incisive run and was then able to round the goalie and score.
The second goal came from a penalty after triallist Jamal Gay was pulled down inside/on the edge of the box while running onto a great through ball from Javier Martina. While the tricks that were shown in highlights from Turkey suggested Martina certainly has talent, his play to set up that penalty gives me much more hope that he can be an effective player. I'll take the composure and vision he showed to hold on to the ball, drift inside then play a simple but lethal defence splitting pass, over any number of fancy dribbles.
Jamal Gay looked alright as the main striker up front, but most of the other triallists or draft picks didn't really show much and were outshone by academy players Matt Stinson and Oscar Cordone who both looked impressive in the second half.
Losing on Thursday meant the second game was against Orlando City on Saturday night, and it was another struggle, ending in a 1-0 defeat and an ignomious 4th place finish. Orlando had definitely learnt from Houston and were very aggressive in pressuring TFC's defenders as they tried to get the ball forward. It worked very well for them, as all game TFC struggled to get anything going, and the result was well deserved, with the goal coming from some more crapppy defending, Orlando player/coach Ian Fuller managing to fight off 3 defenders and round Milos Kocic.
Oh well, TFC move on and hopefully things will get better with a bit more time to get used to the system and new players. There's signs of promise, you can tell that what they're trying to do will look good if it all comes together, so it's time to move on and wait for more evidence next week in Charleston.
What's that whistling noise? Why, it's Axl Rose.
Game 1, a 3-2 defeat against Houston on Thursday night was definitely a mixed bag. Defensively we looked a little unorganised at times, Houston's first goal in particular saw some bad positional play from triallist Mikael Yourassowsky, though given it was his first game after just joining the club, that's forgiveable. Dan Gargan didn't look great on Houston's 3rd either which is a bit more worrying for our chances this season. Gargan seems like a great player to have around in the dressing room, and his versatility means he'll be a valuable part of the squad, and a very useful player to have on the bench in any game, but if he's part of the starting line up when March 19th comes around, that'll be a sad indictment of our squad's depth.
The new possession based 4-3-3 system worked ok here and there, very much still a work in progress, and the defenders often had problems working the ball through to the midfielders, especially when Houston started pressuring more after the first few minutes. Obviously having three players upfront means fewer players back close to the defenders so they're really going to have to work on movement, tracking back and making themselves available for the pass if the defence is going to be able to avoid losing the ball or just hoofing it long. Julian de Guzman's return should really help with that, he's going to be crucial to TFC's chances this year.
When it worked though, it worked really well, TFC's first goal came after a long period of possession, patiently moving the ball from one side to the other before Nick Labrocca played a longer ball through to Jacob Peterson who had made a sudden incisive run and was then able to round the goalie and score.
The second goal came from a penalty after triallist Jamal Gay was pulled down inside/on the edge of the box while running onto a great through ball from Javier Martina. While the tricks that were shown in highlights from Turkey suggested Martina certainly has talent, his play to set up that penalty gives me much more hope that he can be an effective player. I'll take the composure and vision he showed to hold on to the ball, drift inside then play a simple but lethal defence splitting pass, over any number of fancy dribbles.
Jamal Gay looked alright as the main striker up front, but most of the other triallists or draft picks didn't really show much and were outshone by academy players Matt Stinson and Oscar Cordone who both looked impressive in the second half.
Losing on Thursday meant the second game was against Orlando City on Saturday night, and it was another struggle, ending in a 1-0 defeat and an ignomious 4th place finish. Orlando had definitely learnt from Houston and were very aggressive in pressuring TFC's defenders as they tried to get the ball forward. It worked very well for them, as all game TFC struggled to get anything going, and the result was well deserved, with the goal coming from some more crapppy defending, Orlando player/coach Ian Fuller managing to fight off 3 defenders and round Milos Kocic.
Oh well, TFC move on and hopefully things will get better with a bit more time to get used to the system and new players. There's signs of promise, you can tell that what they're trying to do will look good if it all comes together, so it's time to move on and wait for more evidence next week in Charleston.
What's that whistling noise? Why, it's Axl Rose.
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.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
How bizarre, how bizarre.
Saturday's game was, in many ways, a very strange one. The deliberately subdued atmosphere due to the Red Patch Boys and North End Elite protests. Dan Gargan as captain. TFC, without Dwayne De Rosario, Chad Barrett, Adrian Cann and Stefan Frei, arguably our 4 best players this year, playing a decent game against a good team. Maicon Santos scoring one of the best goals in TFC history. Jacob Peterson scoring. Nicholas Lindsay putting in one of the best performances by a TFC winger in a long time. A double sending off after an incident that almost led to a full on brawl. Columbus' two goals both scored by goalies, their first bounced off the bar and then off John Conway's back and in, it was very charitably not given as an own goal, and the second scored by their goalie Will Hesmer, going up in desperation for an injury time corner. The only thing weirder would have been if TFC actually won, but alas we didn't quite get that one.
The game itself was fairly meaningless so I won't talk much about that, but I'd say that was the best game we've played under Dasovic so far. Santos and Lindsay had great games (I feel bad for Lindsay, his substitution got lost in the chaos after the red cards, if anyone deserved a standing ovation off the pitch it was him yesterday) and were ably supported by Nick Labrocca and Jacob Peterson. I was also happy for Dan Gargan to be given the captaincy in De Ro's absence. With Nick Dasovic talking pre game about how players have been showing their character recently, that decision speaks volumes.
The main talking point though is of course the continuing supporter dissatisfaction and the protests, which continue to get attention in the media, even going as far as the New York Times.
It could be argued that the game showed how much of a minority the more hardcore supporters groups members are, an argument used by the Front Office in the recent townhall meetings. Despite the promotion of the "Wear Green" protest by the Red Patch Boys, TFC red was still by far the most prominent colour in the stadium. The silent treatment was in a way also quite ineffective, though U-Sector never made any official decision, many of their members chose not to let their gripes with the front office get in the way of supporting the boys on the field. This combined with most of the stadium continuing their usual support, not singing all the time by any means, but reacting to the play, cheering goals, booing the ref and so on, meant that there was still atmosphere in varying degrees, though in that respect this was one of the more entertaining, incident filled games all year, so probably not representative of the average experience. Probably the best representation of fan anger wasn't any of the organised displays but instead the spontaneous and widespread booing of the announcement thanking fans for coming this season and reminding them to renew for next year, followed by the very audible booing of Julian De Guzman after he skied a shot way over the bar early in the game.
To me though, while not as effective or widespread as many might have hoped it was still successful, and a very good representation of what the could happen to TFC if things continue to slide. It was very reminiscent of the crowd at the Chivas game, and at many other MLS grounds, a small supporters group singing throughout the game, and then plenty of empty seats and sporadic cheering as the game goes on in the rest of the stadium, but often eerily quiet enough for any reasonably big away contingent to be heard, and the Crew fans' "Guillermo" chant could certainly be heard often from my seats in 227.
If the team keeps alienating supporters, this is what it will become, it won't be the end of the world, the crowds won't completely disappear, the club will keep going, and if the team starts winning the crowd size will probably bounce back to be decent, essentially we'll be an average MLS club. But given the potential that still exists (even the angriest supporters desperately want to have something to cheer about again), what it could be, and especially given what TFC started with, average would be a terrible shame and a real wasted opportunity.
The game itself was fairly meaningless so I won't talk much about that, but I'd say that was the best game we've played under Dasovic so far. Santos and Lindsay had great games (I feel bad for Lindsay, his substitution got lost in the chaos after the red cards, if anyone deserved a standing ovation off the pitch it was him yesterday) and were ably supported by Nick Labrocca and Jacob Peterson. I was also happy for Dan Gargan to be given the captaincy in De Ro's absence. With Nick Dasovic talking pre game about how players have been showing their character recently, that decision speaks volumes.
The main talking point though is of course the continuing supporter dissatisfaction and the protests, which continue to get attention in the media, even going as far as the New York Times.
It could be argued that the game showed how much of a minority the more hardcore supporters groups members are, an argument used by the Front Office in the recent townhall meetings. Despite the promotion of the "Wear Green" protest by the Red Patch Boys, TFC red was still by far the most prominent colour in the stadium. The silent treatment was in a way also quite ineffective, though U-Sector never made any official decision, many of their members chose not to let their gripes with the front office get in the way of supporting the boys on the field. This combined with most of the stadium continuing their usual support, not singing all the time by any means, but reacting to the play, cheering goals, booing the ref and so on, meant that there was still atmosphere in varying degrees, though in that respect this was one of the more entertaining, incident filled games all year, so probably not representative of the average experience. Probably the best representation of fan anger wasn't any of the organised displays but instead the spontaneous and widespread booing of the announcement thanking fans for coming this season and reminding them to renew for next year, followed by the very audible booing of Julian De Guzman after he skied a shot way over the bar early in the game.
To me though, while not as effective or widespread as many might have hoped it was still successful, and a very good representation of what the could happen to TFC if things continue to slide. It was very reminiscent of the crowd at the Chivas game, and at many other MLS grounds, a small supporters group singing throughout the game, and then plenty of empty seats and sporadic cheering as the game goes on in the rest of the stadium, but often eerily quiet enough for any reasonably big away contingent to be heard, and the Crew fans' "Guillermo" chant could certainly be heard often from my seats in 227.
If the team keeps alienating supporters, this is what it will become, it won't be the end of the world, the crowds won't completely disappear, the club will keep going, and if the team starts winning the crowd size will probably bounce back to be decent, essentially we'll be an average MLS club. But given the potential that still exists (even the angriest supporters desperately want to have something to cheer about again), what it could be, and especially given what TFC started with, average would be a terrible shame and a real wasted opportunity.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Ladies and gentlemen, Rita Macneil!
So after a 1-1 tie with Real Salt Lake, combined with a win for Cruz Azul, we're officially out of the champions league, along with being all but mathematically eliminated from the MLS playoffs.
It wasn't actually a bad game today, Jacob Peterson continued his improvement under Dasovic by actually scoring a really nice goal, and the boos the players received were harsh, though understandable if taken as a comment on the season as a whole.
The crowd, 10, 581, is a good indication of the disillusionment the fans feel right now, I'm not sure where the demand is that Tom Anselmi think's he's supplying.
Once again, a big fuck you to Preki for his line-up and tactics for the away game against Arabe Unido, that's what really killed us in this tournament.
Not much else to say really, cue the fat lady, we're done, bring on the new regime and the next rebuild.
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.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
That's a mega juggling act!
It certainly was a mega juggling act by Chicago tonight, two handballs in the box, both accidental, sure, but both very clear and the sort of thing that regularly gets called. Both penalties not given. Not to cast aspersions on the ref or the Fire, they'd never get involved with this sort of thing, but can someone check the ref's bag on the wayout to see if Nery Castillo's shirt is in there.
Joking aside, this time I'd agree with Preki that we didn't get the breaks we deserved, I thought overall, even though the result was another 0-0 that leaves our playoff chances hanging by an even slimmer thread than before, we played well today, and played a well coached team to the best of our ability given the players at our disposal.
Given the extra quality Chicago have, with Freddie Ljungberg, Nery Castillo and Collins John all starting and Brian McBride on the bench, sitting back to absorb the pressure would have been suicidal, and thankfully we didn't do that. We went with two up front with De Ro and De Guzman pushing up, and Usanov and Harden getting forward from both full back positions. We'd also obviously been told to be aggresive and not let them play, as we quickly racked up the fouls. That it came to nothing in the first half is down to the fact that the two we played up front, Peterson and White, is probably the most insipid forward line in MLS history, that and the non-penalties, but hey at least we were trying.
In the second half, we brought on Maicon Santos for Peterson and things immediately improved, with a bit of quality to go with the added numbers we were throwing forward, we looked a lot more fluid and dangerous up front, even if our best chances were still coming from set pieces. He obviously wasn't fully fit though and soon faded, and when Garcia and Nane were brought on, it was obvious we were settling for the point.
So overall a good game for Preki the coach in my opinion and a much more entertaining game than we've seen recently, with Chicago also having their chances.
Now the fact that we had Peterson and White up front, is quite the damning indictment of Mo and Preki's personnel decisions, our squad just isn't good enough to withstand a few injuries, in contrast look at the forwards Chicago has as mentioned above, and you can add Guatemalan international Marco Pappa to that list who also scored a bunch of goals for them this year as well.
As for our DP, Mista wasn't playing, not even on the bench, it was mentioned that he took a knock, and I'm very eager to see what stories come out of the woodwork as far as this is concerned.
What's that Jim Mora, you want me to talk about playoffs? Ok then. Much like the black Knight we're not dead yet, but we're pretty much at the "I'll bite your legs off" stage.
With 7 games left we need at least 4 wins and a draw, probably 5 games, and while it's a weak schedule so it's just about plausible, I can't see Santos and Barrett coming back quickly enough to enable us to do it. I await the North End Elite's banner selection for the DC game on saturday with baited breath.
Joking aside, this time I'd agree with Preki that we didn't get the breaks we deserved, I thought overall, even though the result was another 0-0 that leaves our playoff chances hanging by an even slimmer thread than before, we played well today, and played a well coached team to the best of our ability given the players at our disposal.
Given the extra quality Chicago have, with Freddie Ljungberg, Nery Castillo and Collins John all starting and Brian McBride on the bench, sitting back to absorb the pressure would have been suicidal, and thankfully we didn't do that. We went with two up front with De Ro and De Guzman pushing up, and Usanov and Harden getting forward from both full back positions. We'd also obviously been told to be aggresive and not let them play, as we quickly racked up the fouls. That it came to nothing in the first half is down to the fact that the two we played up front, Peterson and White, is probably the most insipid forward line in MLS history, that and the non-penalties, but hey at least we were trying.
In the second half, we brought on Maicon Santos for Peterson and things immediately improved, with a bit of quality to go with the added numbers we were throwing forward, we looked a lot more fluid and dangerous up front, even if our best chances were still coming from set pieces. He obviously wasn't fully fit though and soon faded, and when Garcia and Nane were brought on, it was obvious we were settling for the point.
So overall a good game for Preki the coach in my opinion and a much more entertaining game than we've seen recently, with Chicago also having their chances.
Now the fact that we had Peterson and White up front, is quite the damning indictment of Mo and Preki's personnel decisions, our squad just isn't good enough to withstand a few injuries, in contrast look at the forwards Chicago has as mentioned above, and you can add Guatemalan international Marco Pappa to that list who also scored a bunch of goals for them this year as well.
As for our DP, Mista wasn't playing, not even on the bench, it was mentioned that he took a knock, and I'm very eager to see what stories come out of the woodwork as far as this is concerned.
What's that Jim Mora, you want me to talk about playoffs? Ok then. Much like the black Knight we're not dead yet, but we're pretty much at the "I'll bite your legs off" stage.
With 7 games left we need at least 4 wins and a draw, probably 5 games, and while it's a weak schedule so it's just about plausible, I can't see Santos and Barrett coming back quickly enough to enable us to do it. I await the North End Elite's banner selection for the DC game on saturday with baited breath.
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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