TFC 2-0 Timbers. Home sweet home.

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.

Gordon Heavyelbow and Cann the Comedian.

A busy weekend for Toronto FC saw them play the last game of their pre-season, against DC United in the Carolina Challenge Cup, as well as continue with the all of a sudden rapid progress in adding to their squad.  After signing Gianluca Zavarise, and welcoming Adrian Cann back to the team, a trade was announced on Friday afternoon, Nick Labrocca going to Chivas USA with striker Alan Gordon coming back to Toronto.  Aged 29, Gordon's been an intermittent starter over 7 years in MLS, mainly with LA Galaxy, where he scored 16 goals in 99 games, before being traded to Chivas, with whom he scored 1 goal  in 9 games.

So, a tall striker who doesn't really score that many goals, but gets quite a few assists, acts as a target man, holding the ball up for other players, and as Adrian Cann's nose can attest after meeting his elbow in the game at Chivas last year, is a, erm, physical presence.  The obvious comparison is Danny Dichio, and while I doubt he'll have as big an impact, he'll bring some welcome physicality to a team that throughout pre-season seemed to be lacking it.  Unless there's more additions to the forward line in the next week, he should be starting as the middle of the three forwards, with Maicon Santos and one of Jacob Peterson or Javier Martina playing wide. 

One feature of pre-season seemed to be that TFC didn't seem quite good enough to be able to take their possession play into the final third and penetrate the defence.  This meant the final ball into the box was more often than not a cross from out wide, and more often than not, nothing came of that, so a big man in the box should  definitely help that default option become a more successful one.  Before we have to fall back on that default option though, Gordon should be able to use his size to hold the ball up in the final third and bring the other forwards, or Dwayne De Rosario coming from midfield, into the play in more dangerous areas.  If this works and he fits in well, he would be a very important part of any success TFC might have this season.

As for Labrocca, he's a competent if unspectacular midfielder, but won't really be missed.   With Julian De Guzman and Elbekay Bouchiba coming back soon from injuries and academy player Oscar Cordon also getting a lot of time in midfield, Labrocca fell victim to the numbers game as more options were needed up front.

After Friday's trade action, there was a game to be played on Saturday, the final game in Charleston and it ended 2-2, Dwayne De Rosario and Maicon Santos with the goals, and TFC holding on for the draw despite being down to ten men after Mikael Yourrasowsky was sent off for two yellow cards in two minutes in the first half.  I didn't see the game, but actually scoring a goal from open play has got to be a good sign, and most importantly De Ro proved his fitness after missing the last couple of games.

As part of Adrian Cann's return to training Camp, Aron Winter made it known an apology to his teammates was needed, and it turns out that that was going to be a public apology, as he was wheeled out to take part in Winter's post game media interviews.  Cann, as meek as a chastised schoolboy with Winter the stern Principal looking on, apologised to the fans and everyone in the organisation, acknowledged he made a mistake by leaving, calling it a mental lapse, and said he now wants to concentrate on the season and getting off to a good start against Vancouver.  He then added a much needed moment of levity to the interview by adding "and win a championship".

More painful than the public show of contrition would be the financial hit Cann took for his actions, as the details of the reason for Cann's walkout was revealed in this article from the Star's Daniel Girard, and it turns out it was another unwelcome leftover from Mo Johnston's reign of error.  Cann's salary last year was a very low $65,342, apparently as much as TFC could afford under the salary cap, and there was an unwritten promise that this season's salary would be topped up to make up for that.  So after Winter's appointment, Cann went looking for that top up, asking for a $175,000 deal for this year.  TFC countered with an offer of $160,000, not to Cann's satisfaction, and thus he eventually left camp to force negotiations along.  TFC called his bluff, and now Cann is back on his original $124,000 deal, so in effect his principled stand has ended up costing him $36,000. 

Turning down that $160,000 compromise probably wasn't the smartest move by Cann, but hopefully, he and the team can put everything behind them and move forward.  Cann should have motivation to play as well as possible so as to help him with future negotiations when this season is done, whether with TFC or another club.  This situation, along with the broken promises made to Dwayne De Rosario are big indictments of how TFC used to be run, hopefully from here on in things will get a lot more professional, and hopefully there's no more ticking time bombs that the new management regime will have to deal with.

Blackbaud, cry.

New TFC trialist (Billy) D. Williams knows what TFC fans are in need of.

Tonight was the second game of this year's Carolina Challenge Cup for Toronto FC, as they took on hosts Charleston Battery at the Blackbaud Stadium.  Charleston, of the 3rd tier USL Professional Division, haven't won a game in this competition since 2008 when they beat Toronto FC, and well, I think you know where that sentence is going.

It was another poor performance from another experimental line-up, with Julian De Guzman, a few weeks away from starting apparently, joined off the pitch by Dwayne De Rosario and Maicon Santos, meaning the 3-3 in TFC`s 4-3-3 was Nathan Sturgis, Nick Labrocca, Oscar Cordon, and now officially signed up Javier Martina, Jacob Peterson, and Keith Makabuya.  Defensively, Ty Harden was at Right Back, Mikael Yourassowsky at Left Back and Nana Attakora was joined in the middle by TFC`s latest trialist Dicoy Williams, a Jamaican international Centre back.

In the first half TFC played OK, once again keeping possession well, though spending way too much time passing it around between the defenders and Stefan Frei in goal, and without looking quick or incisive enough to cause Charleston any serious worries.  We did actually score a goal, Sturgis converting a penalty after a handball in the box, but chances were few and far between, and once again the opposition was able to defend comfortably.  Charleston equalised late in the first half with a goal very similar to Chicago`s goal on Saturday, a defensive breakdown on the left, a low cross only partially cleared, and no-one picking up the opposition man at the top of the box who was able to knock home the rebound.

The main positive for me in the first half was the play of Nana Attakora, who much like the last game against Chicago showed an encouraging willingness and aptitude for bringing the ball forward from the back.  That will be a big boost for the Reds if he can continue that in the regular season, leaving the midfielders to provide him with options further forward, rather than one of them having to drop deep to pick up the ball from the defence as De Guzman had to do so often last year.

The second half saw the usual flood of substitutions and though my stream was too choppy to make any reliable observations, it didn't look pretty, and Charleston scored a winner with a rebound from a penalty that was saved by Frei.

All in all, I liked some parts of it, where you can see what they're trying to do, but the line-up out there tonight wasn't good enough to do it successfully, there just isn't yet the speed of thought and quickness of movement and quality first touch required to make it work.  Obviously it wasn't our first choice line-up, it's just pre-season and all that, but the time to improve that squad is rapidly running out.  De Guzman, De Rosario and Santos will make a difference, but more quality is needed throughout the squad if we're going to be able to compete in any sense this season.

The other big news of the day was the confirmation of the signing of the three Dutch players that Aron Winter informed everyone of a few weeks back.  Elbekay Bouchiba hasn't really played much at all due to injury, so I haven't really been able to form any opinion on him, Javier Martina has played a fair bit, and has confirmed my initial opinion that he's going to excite and frustrate the crap out of me in equal measures, he often looks good, very tricky and skillful, but there's rarely much productive end product.  Nick Soolsma, well he's looked unimpressive so far, but again, to judge on the little I've seen would be unfair.  Those extra 3 players take us up to 15 players, not including Nicholas Lindsay and Adrian Cann, so not quite enough for a starting eleven and a full bench yet.  Not to worry though, plenty of time.

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.