Time for part 2 of my First Annual Half Arsed And Proud Of It MLS Season Predictions, and this time it's the Eastern Conference. Click here for my Western Conference preview, where Seattle took less than half a game to make a mockery of my optimism for Blaise Nkufo and O'Brian White. Like how I did it with the West, it's another no research, no googling, gut instinct kind of thing, here we go.
1 New York Red Bulls. Juan Pablo Angel could be a big loss, but having a full season of Thierry Henry should work out nicely for them. Not really much competition in the East, so they should sew up first fairly easily, before shockingly and amusingly losing to the wild card Colorado Rapids.
2 Sporting Kansas City. A new name, almost a new stadium, and Omar Bravo as their new DP. Things are looking up in KC. A long road trip could kill their season, but I think they'll do just about well enough to hang on, and then really make up ground in the 2nd half of the season, before making it to the Conference final and losing.
3 D.C United. Charlie Davies is a great signing and if Andy Najar can repeat or improve upon his showing of last year, they should help restore DC, if not to their former championship winning glories, at least back to respectability and a playoff position.
4 Philadelphia Union. Faryd Mondragon's a great name, and a decent signing as well. Carlos Ruiz seems like a bit of a desperate gamble, but things will come together and the Union will get the last wild card spot, where they'll lose to Colorado
5 Chicago Fire. Lost a few big name players in Cuahtemoc Blanco Brian McBride and Nery Castillo, so will wallow in mediocrity, flirt with the playoffs all season, but not make it.
6 Houston Dynamo. Houston benefit with the move to the weaker Eastern Conference, but won't really be able to take advantage. With no big names coming in over the off-season, they'll once again be relying on Brian Ching, and he won't be able to do it on his own.
7 Columbus Crew. Lost a lot of their best and most experienced players, like Schelotto and Hejduk, and their days of being a contender are over. They'll actually lose a game to Toronto, but will still finish above them.
8 Toronto FC. Ah, Toronto. New management, new hope, no good new players yet though. If some academy kids/draftees or as yet unknown new signings don't come along and impress, we'll be in trouble. We're finally on the right track but we're a long way back, 2012 should be better but this year will be long and frustrating, it'll be interesting at least.
9 New England Revolution. If only because I couldn't bring myself to put Toronto dead last. If Shalrie Joseph can keep himself out of trouble and out of rehab, they'll maybe do ok, but I think they'll struggle and it may be the end of the Nicol era.
So overall, in one magnificent single table format, your standings will be;
1 Real Salt Lake
2 Seattle Sounders
3 New York Red Bulls
4 LA Galaxy
5 Colorado Rapids
6 FC Dallas
7 Sporting Kansas City
8 DC United
9 Portland Timbers
10 Philadelphia Union
11Chicago Fire
12 San Jose Earthquakes
13 Houston Dynamo
14 Columbus Crew
15 Chivas Usa
16 Toronto FC
17 Vancouver Whitecaps
18 New England Revolution.
Wild cards, Colorado beats Philadelphia, Portland beats Dallas.
Conference semi finals, RSL beats Portland, Seattle beats LA, Colorado beats New York and Kansas City beats DC.
Conference finals, Seattle beats RSL and Colorado beats Kansas City
MLS Cup, Seattle beats Colorado.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
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.
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.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
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.
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.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Can we actually fill out our bench now?
The haircut's some kind of rookie hazing thing right?
Well, things are really picking up pace now in TFC's long delayed race to have a full squad before the season starts. After the announcement earlier in the week about the signings of Javier Martina, Nick Soolsma and Elbekay Bouchiba, another trialist was confirmed as officially one of the boys today, Gianluca Zavarise.
Zavarise is Canadian, from Burnaby B.C, but his playing career has been almost entirely in Europe, with a few appearances here and there in stops in Italy, Germany and Greece, and two international caps for Canada. Much like Soolsma and Martina, his career never really got going over there, but he's still young and hopefully a fresh start will work out for him. He's been training with TFC since their Turkey trip and has obviously impressed enough to make the squad, ideally he'll provide good depth and a different attacking option off the bench, and eventually press for a first team spot.
A better addition to the squad is Adrian Cann, who has rejoined training camp after deciding to end his contract dispute. A busy work day before an upcoming weekend away means I've no time to write fully about that, whether he made a good decision, how much of a snake Mo Johnston is and all that, hopefully I'll tackle that later. For now I'll say welcome back, given how bad the defence has looked and how low on numbers we are, it's a very good thing he's back.
Sweet FA Trophy, semi-finals
The FA Trophy semi-finals happen over the next two weekends, and all the upsets are over as it's 4 Conference teams playing off for the place at Wembley for the final.
Chasetown took Mansfield Town to a replay before a 3-1 defeat saw them bow out, and Mansfield now face Luton Town in the first semi final, with the first leg this Friday at Mansfield. Luton are rightly the favourites to win the trophy, as they currently sit 3rd in the Conference and seem fairly certain of a promotion playoff place for the second straight year, whereas Mansfield are currently 13th. In their one meeting so far this season, back in September Luton won 2-0.
Both teams have previously won trophies at Wembley, Mansfield won the 1987 Freight Rover trophy (now the Johnstone's Paint Trophy) after a penalty shootout against Bristol City. Luton have made it to Wembley finals 5 times, losing the FA Cup final in 1959, as well as the League Cup final in 1989, and the short lived Simod Cup in 1988. They won the Johnstone's Paint Trophy in 2009, the same year they were relegated to the Conference mainly due to a huge 30 point deduction for financial problems. Most famously of course they won the League Cup final against Arsenal in 1988, a late comeback sealing a 3-2 victory, which you can see the highlights of here. Luton were the underdogs that day, but if they make the final they'll be the prohibitive favourites, quite frankly they're too good and too big of a team to be at the non-league level much longer.
The other semi final is a North Eastern Derby with Gateshead, winners over their local rivals Blyth Spartans playing against everyone's heroes Darlington, the first leg at Darlo on Saturday. The teams have played twice this year, Darlington winning 2-0 at home in August, and then just this Tuesday they drew 2-2 in Gateshead, Darlington letting in an injury time goal, throwing away points in that fashion for the 5th time this year.
Gateshead are currently 12th while Darlington sit in 8th after a good recent run that has them eyeing a playoff place. They are unbeaten in 9 games in all competitions since a 4-0 defeat to Luton, though any feel good factor is deflated somewhat by their precarious financial position, with a "help save your club" season ticket appeal being launched to try and take advantage of the extra crowds expected for the semi-final matchup.
The Wembley final is a very big prize for both these teams, Gateshead have never been to Wembley, so will be making history just by making the final. Darlington have just two losing division 4 playoff finals, 1996 and 2000, at the old Wembley in their history, and while it would be nice to get back there and hopefully win something, the economic benefits of qualifying for the final will probably be the most important factor for them. With Chairman Raj Singh putting out an appeal to get the season ticket base up to 2,000 adult season tickets (currently there are 1,200 and that's including children and other concessions) it's going to need something big like the chance of a Wembley final to get the locals energised and willing to give the club another chance. If it's not just a slightly desperate, blackmail based sales pitch, then without those numbers Singh is likely to walk away from the club, putting it's entire existence in jeapordy, so Darlo have a bit more than a fun day out and shiny trophy to be playing for.
Prediction time, I maintained my 75% success rate in the quarter finals, getting 3 out of the 4 ties correct. In the semis, Luton will use the Stag's antlers as a hat stand, and easily make the final, and Darlington will just squeak past Gateshead.
Chasetown took Mansfield Town to a replay before a 3-1 defeat saw them bow out, and Mansfield now face Luton Town in the first semi final, with the first leg this Friday at Mansfield. Luton are rightly the favourites to win the trophy, as they currently sit 3rd in the Conference and seem fairly certain of a promotion playoff place for the second straight year, whereas Mansfield are currently 13th. In their one meeting so far this season, back in September Luton won 2-0.
Both teams have previously won trophies at Wembley, Mansfield won the 1987 Freight Rover trophy (now the Johnstone's Paint Trophy) after a penalty shootout against Bristol City. Luton have made it to Wembley finals 5 times, losing the FA Cup final in 1959, as well as the League Cup final in 1989, and the short lived Simod Cup in 1988. They won the Johnstone's Paint Trophy in 2009, the same year they were relegated to the Conference mainly due to a huge 30 point deduction for financial problems. Most famously of course they won the League Cup final against Arsenal in 1988, a late comeback sealing a 3-2 victory, which you can see the highlights of here. Luton were the underdogs that day, but if they make the final they'll be the prohibitive favourites, quite frankly they're too good and too big of a team to be at the non-league level much longer.
The other semi final is a North Eastern Derby with Gateshead, winners over their local rivals Blyth Spartans playing against everyone's heroes Darlington, the first leg at Darlo on Saturday. The teams have played twice this year, Darlington winning 2-0 at home in August, and then just this Tuesday they drew 2-2 in Gateshead, Darlington letting in an injury time goal, throwing away points in that fashion for the 5th time this year.
Gateshead are currently 12th while Darlington sit in 8th after a good recent run that has them eyeing a playoff place. They are unbeaten in 9 games in all competitions since a 4-0 defeat to Luton, though any feel good factor is deflated somewhat by their precarious financial position, with a "help save your club" season ticket appeal being launched to try and take advantage of the extra crowds expected for the semi-final matchup.
The Wembley final is a very big prize for both these teams, Gateshead have never been to Wembley, so will be making history just by making the final. Darlington have just two losing division 4 playoff finals, 1996 and 2000, at the old Wembley in their history, and while it would be nice to get back there and hopefully win something, the economic benefits of qualifying for the final will probably be the most important factor for them. With Chairman Raj Singh putting out an appeal to get the season ticket base up to 2,000 adult season tickets (currently there are 1,200 and that's including children and other concessions) it's going to need something big like the chance of a Wembley final to get the locals energised and willing to give the club another chance. If it's not just a slightly desperate, blackmail based sales pitch, then without those numbers Singh is likely to walk away from the club, putting it's entire existence in jeapordy, so Darlo have a bit more than a fun day out and shiny trophy to be playing for.
Prediction time, I maintained my 75% success rate in the quarter finals, getting 3 out of the 4 ties correct. In the semis, Luton will use the Stag's antlers as a hat stand, and easily make the final, and Darlington will just squeak past Gateshead.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
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.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Dude, where's my Cann?
With less than two weeks until TFC's first game against Vancouver and with a roster that I'd hesitate to even call 'bare bones', one of the players that seemed to have a place in the starting line up firmly locked down, Adrian Cann, remains away from the squad, while a contract dispute is sorted out.
Since leaving training camp last week, Cann has maintained his silence, with no articles showing his side of the story, or even quotes to balance out an article that takes a more pro-management view. Given how much of a soap opera TFC's existence has been so far, with plenty of dirty laundry aired, keeping quiet and allowing negotiations to take place behind closed doors can certainly be admired and applauded. The problem is, if the other side has no qualms about putting out information, then the PR war for the hearts and minds of supporters becomes a very unfair fight, especially after taking such drastic action as leaving training camp, as Cann did.
That's the situation Cann now finds himself in, as after the initial article on the clubs website that cast him as the bad guy by putting out the info that he was only one year into a four year contract, Aron Winter cast TFC firmly in the role of the good guys with quotes in this Gareth Wheeler article, saying that TFC have made two different offers to Cann, who has refused them, and which they have now withdrawn, saying he can come back on his old contract or not at all.
So TFC's side of the story is that Cann is very much under contract for another three years, so there's no need to renegotiate, but recognising his 2010 MVP efforts, they've made him new offers anyway, which he's had the temerity to turn down. What's Cann's side? Well that's the part we don't know, what his current contract calls for him to be paid, and what offers have been made. The Wheeler article also mentions that the terms initially reported (4 years at $65,000) were incorrect, though there's no mention of whether it's the length or the dollar value that is wrong, or both.
Until this situation blew up, most supporters seemed to be firmly behind Cann, with most bloggers and forum commenters aware that, whether under a long term contract or not, (and more than one respected TFC reporters have recently said that he was out of contract) negotiations were taking place over the off season, with most people agreeing that Cann was worthy of a raise. In the big debates when Dwayne De Rosario's situation blew up, Cann was even offered up by many including myself (magnificently ironically in hindsight) as an example of someone whose contract was up for renewal but who wasn't making a big deal of it.
Now though, supporters are taking the report of a 4 year contract as gospel, a certainty that Cann has no right to walk out on, and without any information at all as to what the new offers included, are saying he should be gratefully signing on and getting his ass back into training camp asap. Many supporters are taking things even further and saying that they simply don't want Cann back at all, saying that as opposed to De Ro, he's easily replaceable, even though we haven't even got close to replacing everyone else let go from last year's squad yet.
Obviously the biggest part of that reaction is the fact that Cann did more than just pretend to write a cheque and grumble to the media, he literally walked out on the team until the situation is resolved one way or another. But the way that supporters have reacted to the one-sided information presented so far can only strengthen MLS's and TFC management's resolve to hold a firm line, indeed Adrian Cann is now listed on MLSsoccer.com as retired.
It may well be that new management within TFC means a new attitude, that they are acting very honourably and telling the full truth in all this, but given all the rumours of foul play involved in Cann's previous contract, I can't help but think that there's more to this than meets the eye, that there's another side to the story. Walking out of training camp is a very high stakes move, one that Cann won't have taken lightly, so he must feel he's being seriously short changed. Maybe he is, or maybe his sense of his own worth is way too high, I'd personally be comfortable seeing him earn about $100,000 to $120,000 but not much more that that.
We'll probably never know the details of what numbers are being discussed, but that isn't stopping many people from rushing to judgement. By keeping a dignified silence while negotiations happen, Cann may well be taking the high road and acting professionally, but in the court of supporter opinion, he's doing himself no favours at all.
Since leaving training camp last week, Cann has maintained his silence, with no articles showing his side of the story, or even quotes to balance out an article that takes a more pro-management view. Given how much of a soap opera TFC's existence has been so far, with plenty of dirty laundry aired, keeping quiet and allowing negotiations to take place behind closed doors can certainly be admired and applauded. The problem is, if the other side has no qualms about putting out information, then the PR war for the hearts and minds of supporters becomes a very unfair fight, especially after taking such drastic action as leaving training camp, as Cann did.
That's the situation Cann now finds himself in, as after the initial article on the clubs website that cast him as the bad guy by putting out the info that he was only one year into a four year contract, Aron Winter cast TFC firmly in the role of the good guys with quotes in this Gareth Wheeler article, saying that TFC have made two different offers to Cann, who has refused them, and which they have now withdrawn, saying he can come back on his old contract or not at all.
So TFC's side of the story is that Cann is very much under contract for another three years, so there's no need to renegotiate, but recognising his 2010 MVP efforts, they've made him new offers anyway, which he's had the temerity to turn down. What's Cann's side? Well that's the part we don't know, what his current contract calls for him to be paid, and what offers have been made. The Wheeler article also mentions that the terms initially reported (4 years at $65,000) were incorrect, though there's no mention of whether it's the length or the dollar value that is wrong, or both.
Until this situation blew up, most supporters seemed to be firmly behind Cann, with most bloggers and forum commenters aware that, whether under a long term contract or not, (and more than one respected TFC reporters have recently said that he was out of contract) negotiations were taking place over the off season, with most people agreeing that Cann was worthy of a raise. In the big debates when Dwayne De Rosario's situation blew up, Cann was even offered up by many including myself (magnificently ironically in hindsight) as an example of someone whose contract was up for renewal but who wasn't making a big deal of it.
Now though, supporters are taking the report of a 4 year contract as gospel, a certainty that Cann has no right to walk out on, and without any information at all as to what the new offers included, are saying he should be gratefully signing on and getting his ass back into training camp asap. Many supporters are taking things even further and saying that they simply don't want Cann back at all, saying that as opposed to De Ro, he's easily replaceable, even though we haven't even got close to replacing everyone else let go from last year's squad yet.
Obviously the biggest part of that reaction is the fact that Cann did more than just pretend to write a cheque and grumble to the media, he literally walked out on the team until the situation is resolved one way or another. But the way that supporters have reacted to the one-sided information presented so far can only strengthen MLS's and TFC management's resolve to hold a firm line, indeed Adrian Cann is now listed on MLSsoccer.com as retired.
It may well be that new management within TFC means a new attitude, that they are acting very honourably and telling the full truth in all this, but given all the rumours of foul play involved in Cann's previous contract, I can't help but think that there's more to this than meets the eye, that there's another side to the story. Walking out of training camp is a very high stakes move, one that Cann won't have taken lightly, so he must feel he's being seriously short changed. Maybe he is, or maybe his sense of his own worth is way too high, I'd personally be comfortable seeing him earn about $100,000 to $120,000 but not much more that that.
We'll probably never know the details of what numbers are being discussed, but that isn't stopping many people from rushing to judgement. By keeping a dignified silence while negotiations happen, Cann may well be taking the high road and acting professionally, but in the court of supporter opinion, he's doing himself no favours at all.
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.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
The wrath of Cann
If like me, TFC's lack of action on the player acquisition front, both qualitatively and quantitavely speaking is getting you a little worried with the season fast approaching, well get ready to reach for the anti-depressants, as things got worse today with the news that 2010 team MVP and one of the few nailed down starters in the squad Adrian Cann has walked out of training camp. Cann and TFC have been trying to negotiate a new contract, which apparently isn't going well, so Cann has decided to return to Toronto rather than go to Charleston for the team's next training camp and pre-season games. Details are very scarce right now, with no numbers being made public with regards to years or dollar amounts being discussed, though TFC did make a point of saying that Cann is currently one year into a four year deal. This was a bit surprising as it's been widely known that a new contract is being discussed, and this article from Duane Rollins claimed that Cann was actually out of contract.
Without knowing details of what has been offered to him, and how much he's holding out for, and indeed if he is or isn't currently under contract (and I certainly don't trust an article on the team's official website to be 100% truthful), it's difficult to take sides. I have a lot more sympathy for the argument that a player has to make as much money as they can in their short career when it's made on behalf of someone who made just over $65,000 last year, as opposed to someone on Dwayne de Rosario's salary. However to walk away from pre-season training is a much worse action to take than pretending to write a cheque, trying out for another club in the off-season and making some inflammable statements to the press. I guess we'll have to see what statements and clarifications come out in the next few days before rushing to judgement.
It's a very interesting gamble by Cann though, despite his MVP award, he's by no means a star player, he's a good solid MLS level defender, but that's all he is, and that's a lot more replaceable than De Ro's goals. Having said that, with TFC very much in a rebuilding phase, and with a very thin roster already, the last thing they'd want to do is have to find another player to come in and fill a position that was one of the few that was already filled, Cann must be banking on a sense of urgency leading to the club giving in to his demands. If so that's a very risky ploy, as that's not a precedent any club wants to set, though depending on what's happening with De Ro's contract, maybe it already has been set.
It's just all so very depressing, all this sort of soap opera-esque drama was supposed to have left when Mo Johnston did. The De Ro saga was being kept quiet very nicely and it seemed like all contract negotiations were being handled behind closed doors, with the sort of professional winning culture that Paul Mariner talked about back in January. Now this. Without knowing more detail it's difficult to lay blame, but with just two and a half weeks to go until the season starts, more drama and a further shrinking of the roster was the last thing TFC needed.
Without knowing details of what has been offered to him, and how much he's holding out for, and indeed if he is or isn't currently under contract (and I certainly don't trust an article on the team's official website to be 100% truthful), it's difficult to take sides. I have a lot more sympathy for the argument that a player has to make as much money as they can in their short career when it's made on behalf of someone who made just over $65,000 last year, as opposed to someone on Dwayne de Rosario's salary. However to walk away from pre-season training is a much worse action to take than pretending to write a cheque, trying out for another club in the off-season and making some inflammable statements to the press. I guess we'll have to see what statements and clarifications come out in the next few days before rushing to judgement.
It's a very interesting gamble by Cann though, despite his MVP award, he's by no means a star player, he's a good solid MLS level defender, but that's all he is, and that's a lot more replaceable than De Ro's goals. Having said that, with TFC very much in a rebuilding phase, and with a very thin roster already, the last thing they'd want to do is have to find another player to come in and fill a position that was one of the few that was already filled, Cann must be banking on a sense of urgency leading to the club giving in to his demands. If so that's a very risky ploy, as that's not a precedent any club wants to set, though depending on what's happening with De Ro's contract, maybe it already has been set.
It's just all so very depressing, all this sort of soap opera-esque drama was supposed to have left when Mo Johnston did. The De Ro saga was being kept quiet very nicely and it seemed like all contract negotiations were being handled behind closed doors, with the sort of professional winning culture that Paul Mariner talked about back in January. Now this. Without knowing more detail it's difficult to lay blame, but with just two and a half weeks to go until the season starts, more drama and a further shrinking of the roster was the last thing TFC needed.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Gomez gone.
Anyone worried about the lack of urgency displayed in building TFC's 2011 roster, and thinking we're heading into another season woefully unprepared and undermanned won't be reassured today by the news that Gambian defender Emmanuel Gomez has been waived. After missing all of the 2010 season due to injury, it will be easy to not miss Gomez, though he certainly showed promise in the few games he played in 2009. The main thing gained by the release of Gomez is an extra international spot, which if pre-season so far has taught us anything, will be filled by another young Dutch player who's very close to his mid 20's and still hasn't quite made the jump from the Ajax academy to a pro career yet.
After not travelling with the team to Orlando, reports from Holland suggest that Kevin Westmaas, who trialled with the club in Turkey is likely to be filling that role soon, but another option is Keven Aleman, a 16 year old from the TFC academy who impressed with his play for Canada at the recent Concacaf under-17 tournament where Canada earned a qualification spot for the U-17 World Cup coming up later this year, and won an invite to train with the first team.
Another addition to the ranks, probably the most important one to be made this side of another DP signing is Julian De Guzman, returning from injury and participating in his first full training sesssion of the year. Hopefully he can get back to full fitness for the start of the season to help with the passing out of defence and keeping possession which will be crucial to the successful implementation of Winter's plans.
Whichever new players arrive had better come along soon, given that there's only two and a half weeks until First Kick, and with TFC having a very easy schedule early on. If there's to be any success this season, and while that shouldn't be the main priority it certainly would be nice, we can't afford another slow start to the season due to a lack of familiarity being added to the problems with learning the ins and outs of a new system.
Tick tock Aron, tick tock.
After not travelling with the team to Orlando, reports from Holland suggest that Kevin Westmaas, who trialled with the club in Turkey is likely to be filling that role soon, but another option is Keven Aleman, a 16 year old from the TFC academy who impressed with his play for Canada at the recent Concacaf under-17 tournament where Canada earned a qualification spot for the U-17 World Cup coming up later this year, and won an invite to train with the first team.
Another addition to the ranks, probably the most important one to be made this side of another DP signing is Julian De Guzman, returning from injury and participating in his first full training sesssion of the year. Hopefully he can get back to full fitness for the start of the season to help with the passing out of defence and keeping possession which will be crucial to the successful implementation of Winter's plans.
Whichever new players arrive had better come along soon, given that there's only two and a half weeks until First Kick, and with TFC having a very easy schedule early on. If there's to be any success this season, and while that shouldn't be the main priority it certainly would be nice, we can't afford another slow start to the season due to a lack of familiarity being added to the problems with learning the ins and outs of a new system.
Tick tock Aron, tick tock.
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