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.

TFC v Portland Timbers: Panic on the streets of Toronto?

So here it is finally, after 5 long months, the return of TFC to BMO Field, the home opener.  The chance to meet up with old friends in the seats next to you, or see the stadium from a new vantage point if you've swapped seats.  The chance to check out the new food options (though I'll be sticking with my poutine and only poutine plan, the only choice is sausage, pulled pork or maybe some new exotic option) and hold aloft a new scarf.  The chance to see what tifo ideas the supporters groups have come up with over the last few months.  The chance to be excited just to be seeing a game again, without being weighed down by another failed season.  On the more cynical side, it's also the chance to welcome yet another new management team, and yet another team that's half way towards being rebuilt, hopefully it's the last time we do that one for a few years.

There'll be the chance for a couple of of new experiences this year as well, firstly the chance to try out a whole bunch of different seats, as sales have been reported as sluggish, and it's very unlikely to be a sellout.  If you're curious about how the game looks from the North stand, or from the expensive dark grey or red  seats in the East or West stands, you should have no problem going to check it out, the big maple leaf in the middle of the East stand will be very visible. 

Another fun new thing to experience this year?  Frostbite.  Here's the dates of our home openers so far: April 28th, April 19th, April 4th, April 15th.  Up to now we've played a grand total of 5 games on or before April 23rd, which for some reason will be the date of our 5th home game this year.   For Saturday, the current forecast is -9 with the windchill, and it's always colder by the lake, so let's say -15, fun.

Anyway, getting away from my schmaltz and grumbling, there'll actually be a game taking place, and despite it only being the second game of the season, it's become quite a crucial one for Toronto.  The Reds have always struggled to start the season, whether due to long road trips to avoid the cold weather, or comically unprepared squads thrown together at the last minute, or both, it's just a fact of life TFC fans have sadly become used to.  If you take the first two games of each season so far, Toronto's record is won 1, drawn 1 (both in 2009) and lost 6. 

This year, whether deliberately or not, the schedule makers gave them a real chance to break out of that rut, with TFC having to wait until the 4th game of the season before facing a team that finished outside the bottom 2 last year.  Obviously the first of those games didn't go well in Vancouver last week, and this Saturday it's the other expansion team Portland Timbers coming to Toronto.  It's unfair to Aron Winter and co that they inherited a fanbase with it's patience and goodwill massively tested from the last 4 frustrating years, but unfortunately that is the case, and were TFC to lose again, to another expansion team, at home, well things could get ugly, there could be panic, if not on the streets, at least on the messageboards of Toronto.

Will they lose?  I'm optimistic that they won't, as I really don't think we can play as badly on the defensive side of things as we did against Vancouver.  Surely there won't be a repeat of the confusing Adrian Cann at Left Back experiment and he'll be reunited with Nana Attakora in the centre of defence which should help solidify things, and having an actual Left Back playing in that position should also help.

With no news of a return for Julian De Guzman or Elbekay Bouchiba, there aren't really many options to change the midfield, maybe Gianluca Zavarise will get a start after an impresssive substitution performance against the Whitecaps.  Someone who I'd doubt will be playing this weekend, but should be a great option going forward is Alen Stevanovic, who officially signed on Thursday, on loan from Italian side Torino, though somewhat confusingly he's owned by both Torino and Inter Milan.  It's been over a week now since his name started being mentioned as coming over on loan, so it's good that it's finally resolved.  A Serbia under 21 international, good enough to be signed by Inter Milan, he's the first really impresive signing from Winter.  He may or may not work out, maybe he'll turn out to be the next Pablo Vitti, tantalisingly talented but unproductive, but for me this is the first concrete evidence of Winter being able to seriously increase the quality of our squad, hopefully he'll be able to play very soon if not tomorrow.

As for Portland, well it's difficult to know what to expect from them.  They were given a very tough start with an away game to Colorado last week, so it would be very harsh to draw conclusions.  Playing against the MLS Cup champs, who fielded the exact same staring lineup as they did in that final so also had continuity on their side, in their first home game since winning, with all the extra emotion that would bring, I don't think there's any MLS team I would have backed to win that game. 

Portland's one big name player is Kenny Cooper, back in MLS after an unsuccessful stint in Germany, and he's the biggest argument for the return of Adrian Cann to Centre Back, as Cooper could easily dominate Ty Harden, and in general if the defence plays like it did against Vancouver, he'll have a field day.  His strike partner Jorge Perlaza is new to MLS after scoring 15 goals in the Colombian league last year, so he could also be dangerous, and has the pace to put pressure on TFC's defenders as they try to work the ball out of defence, which was an area they struggled with against Vancouver.

Defensively, the Timbers struggled against Colorado, but after taking off Kevin Goldthwaite at half time, who they played as a Centre Back, they kept the Rapids off the scoresheet in the second half, so maybe they aren't as bad as that 3 goals in 30 minutes stat suggests.  Eric Brunner reportedly looked good as the other Centre Back, and in midfield Jack Jewksbury is a solid defensive midfielder by MLS standards.

As for a prediction, I think it'll be an exciting game, with more than it's fair share of defensive mishaps, and the icy conditions will probably stop it from being a classic of flowing football, but Toronto will renew the supporters hope and make them forget the cold by just edging it overall, 3-2.

MLS 2011 Western Conference Preview.

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.