Jonathan Osorio
Osorio made a second-consecutive start for Toronto in their 2-3 win at Columbus on Saturday – it was his fourteenth start and seventeenth appearance of the season.
From the left side of the midfield, Osorio showed signs of life early, playing a neat flick up-field for Gilberto to chase – Giancarlo Gonzalez would cut out the chance, and exhibiting some hustle to force a turnover out of Columbus full-back, Waylon Francis on one play.
After rising to prominence with a very solid season that had some in Toronto calling him a candidate for rookie of the year, the 22-year old has struggled to recreate that same form in his sophomore campaign. Whether injury, playing time, position, or simply adjustment to a rebuilt side and new style, Osorio has showed glimpses of what made him so highly thought of, while suffering from spells of inattention – that said, it’s only natural for a young player to struggle with consistency.
He was guilty of a loose touch on a Doneil Henry pass that led to a turnover and a good chance for Ethan Finlay in one instance, but then recovered to touch a mistake from Nick Hagglund away from Adam Bedell, who was streaking towards goal on a later play.
Aside from his goal-scoring exploits of 2013, what drew the eye was his ability to combine and pick his spaces in congested areas atop the opponent’s box, as well as his ability to influence the game with his drive and passing through the middle. Stranded out wide, he has sometimes drifted out of matches, but in Columbus he found the proper mix, making a good run that was overlooked before recycling his effort to get on the ball and make space for a shot from the top of the box that required an excellent save from Columbus keeper, Steve Clark.
Perhaps one reason his production is slightly down is that he has struggled to know when to commit forward. With Michael Bradley calling the shots in the middle, Osorio has to play a reflexive game, rather than go taking the initiative upon himself – it is no accident that both of his goals this season, including this one in Columbus, have come from when he braves those runs into the box.
Against Houston, he followed up a harmless looking cross and was on hand to nod in when Tally Hall bobbled. In Columbus, the Toronto, Ontario-native
His passing was a little off, misplacing roughly a quarter of his attempts, a factor that was exacerbated when isolated on the wing – his completion rate getting a bump when tucked in-field – he thrives in combinations and he was feeling good after scoring, showing a new verve in his play for the rest of the match.
He spoke with TFC TV post-match.
Maxim Tissot
Tissot entered Montreal’s 2-1 loss at Philadelphia in the 75th minute, replacing Justin Mapp with his side trailing by two goals – it was his eleventh appearance of the season.
Fresh off scoring his first goal of 2014 against Portland two weeks ago, the Gatineau, Quebec-native made an immediate impact,
Having fallen behind on two regrettable and preventable goals, Tissot, along with fellow substitutes Dilly Duka and Anthony Jackson-Hamel, provided much-needed hunger and freshness to the Impact that gave Montreal hope of leveling, alas they would not, falling to a seventh-straight defeat.
Post-match, he commented, “When you’re called upon to go on the field from the bench, you have to bring some energy; the three players that came on, that’s what we did. We created chances, and it’s a shame that we didn’t score another.”
Adding, “Philadelphia were leading ... They were defending, waiting for us. It allowed us to keep the ball and put more pressure on them. They cleared the ball onto our center backs, our midfielders, so we recovered and attacked at once. We brought good energy in the end, and we wanted to equalize even though we didn’t.”
Frank Klopas has been reluctant to rely too heavily on the youth in his squad, but with two goals in his last two appearances, expect Tissot to see more minutes with their MLS season all but over. Perhaps a national team call should be coming his way as well.
Tissot did feature midweek in the Champions League, replacing Justin Mapp then as well, in the 69th minute with the Impact in the lead.
Will Johnson
Johnson started his 23rd-consecutive match for Portland on Saturday night in their 2-0 win over Chivas USA, as they look to factor into the playoff chase in the West, now just two points adrift of the dividing line having won three of their last four.
With regular partner Diego Chara alongside at the base of the midfield, Johnson was a driving force in Portland’s play – it was his
Given the freedom to advance forward, Johnson regularly got involved in the attack and was a factor from set-pieces – hitting one attempt into the wall, which squirreled to Valeri leading to a Gaston Fernandez chance, though the pass was a little behind the Argentine and shortly thereafter hitting a dipping shot from distance that beat Dan Kennedy, but not the left-post. Liam Ridgewell would tuck the rebound into the net, but the offside flag negated the goal.
The Toronto-born midfielder was heavily involved in a combative midfield that featured three defensive midfielders in Chivas colours: getting in the face of Osvaldo Minda when displeased with a particularly egregious hack – Minda was booked for his troubles, and on the receiving end of another challenge from Agustin Pelletieri that saw him booked as well.
With Portland running rampant, Johnson nearly added a third goal in the 62nd minute on yet another counter, cutting on to his right-foot to bend a curler to the far-post, but Kennedy was equal to the challenge.
His passing was excellent, misplacing just seven all night, while racking up eight recoveries, four clearances, two tackles, and an interception. If Portland are indeed to challenge for the playoff positions in the West, performances like this from their captain will be required – fortunately for them, he looks up for the responsibility.
Johnson was guilty of one of the challenges in the All-Star Game that so enraged Bayern Munich’s Pep Guardiola.
Anthony Jackson-Hamel
Jackson-Hamel, who only recently signed with Montreal, made a second-consecutive appearance for the Impact in their loss to Philadelphia, replacing Jack McInerney in the 67th minute.
As with his debut against Toronto, the youngster nearly got on the score-sheet, getting a deft flick on a Krzysztof Krol cross that would hit the post three minutes after entering play. Those sort of alert runs, getting in front of Carlos Valdes to win the touch with his right-boot, will serve the Quebec City, Quebec-native well in his MLS career.
Tesho Akindele
Akindele made his eleventh-straight start for FC Dallas in their 3-1 dismantling of Colorado on Saturday night – it was his twelfth start and fifteenth appearance of the season.
Alone up top, Akindele was very active all match, taking up wide positions to keep the Colorado back-line moving and unsettled. It was on just such a play that he drew a rash challenge out of Marvell Wynne after outracing the speedster to a ball – though it was a decision from the official that was not without controversy. Dallas were already ahead by one and Michel would dispatch the penalty kick, doubling that advantage.
It is the ability to play both centre-forward and wide positions that makes the Calgary, Alberta-native such a valuable resource – sending in a low cross from the right that drew Clint Irwin scrambling off his line – while the timing of his runs has been steadily improving with playing time, making one good run to keep a heavy pass alive at the end-line and looking to dart in on the Colorado defenses, only to be forced to hold his run with Zach Loyd dallying a touch too long on the ball – when it did finally come it was over-hit and the chance of exploitation had evaporated.
Whether on purpose or due to a push from Marc Burch, Akindele would
He would receive a yellow card in the 74th minute – just his second of the season – for catching a piece of Drew Moor with a late challenge, though Akindele was bemused by Moor’s over-elaborate, exaggerated throes of pain – the look he gave was priceless.
In the most recent edition of MLSsoccer.com’s Rookie Rankings, Akindele is second only to Harrison Shipp in the running for Rookie of the Year honours. Shipp’s stats alone will likely be enough for him to garner the award, but Akindele has been the better of the duo in recent weeks and featuring regularly for a playoff-contending team should be a factor.
Patrice Bernier
Bernier made his tenth-consecutive start for Montreal in their loss at Philadelphia – it was his sixteenth start and 21st appearance of the season.
Reunited with Gorka Larrea at the base of the Montreal midfield, Bernier was influential, but again, could not do enough to spur his side to victory.
He was
As always, his passing was spectacular – his diagrams are always a joy to behold; a whirlwind of green, dotted with the occasional forced bit of red – but once more he was unable to factor in the attacking third, where he is most dangerous and where Montreal struggle to retain possession with any regularity.
He did have one awkward slip that led to a turnover and a Philly counter, but his partnership with Larrea should be good for Montreal. The problem remains that he has far too much defensive responsibility in front of a hesitant back-line to be allowed an advanced position – once having to track deep into his own box to pressure a weak shot out of Le Toux after a Conor Casey layoff.
Bernier was one of several players admonishing the referee for blowing the match over in the 97th minute, claiming that a late injury to Le Toux should have given Montreal more time to find their equalizer.
Post-match he commented, “It’s a tough one to take tonight after playing a solid game like this. After the first goal, we kept on pushing. We played a good second half, but we were unlucky not to tie it up.”
Midweek Bernier played the final half hour of Montreal’s Champions League match against CD FAS, helping to see out the result after Hassoun Camara was red-carded.
Doneil Henry
Henry made a second-straight start for TFC in their win over Columbus – it was his thirteenth start and fourteenth appearance of the season.
Alongside Nick Hagglund once more in the centre of defense, playing as the left-sided of the duo, Henry was both excellent and inconsistent – a regular feature of his still developing game; racking up nine clearances, six recoveries, two interceptions, and a block.
The Brampton, Ontario-native showed his excellent reading of the game, stepping up to cut out a Ethan Finlay ball for Federico Higuain in the early goings, but then producing a give-away that prompted a lunging intervention that saw him booked – it was his sixth yellow card of the season.
He was dominant in the air, winning a big header back to Joe Bendik on one occasion to quell the threat of a Waylon Francis cross bound for Jairo Arrieta, but then
Henry and Bendik had gotten their wires crossed on an earlier play, the latter rolling a ball out to the former, who was unprepared to receive it, gifting Columbus a needles throw-in deep in Toronto’s half. It was not the first time that communication has been an issue for the Toronto defense – little things that must be cleaned up for the club to truly contend.
Wandrille Lefevre
Lefevre made his first appearance in eight matches, starting against Philadelphia on Saturday – it was his sixth start and seventh appearance of the season.
Taking up the left-sided centre-back’s role alongside Matteo Ferrari, Lefevre looked a little rusty. The French-born defender had seen limited minutes in Tuesday’s Champions League encounter with Salvadorean side, CD FAS, subbing on for Felipe in the 78th minute.
He took an earful from goalkeeper Troy Perkins for not closing down a Vincent Noguiera shot quickly enough and was
Despite those missteps, on the whole he did a very good job of matching Conor Casey in a physical battle.
Russell Teibert
Teibert began Vancouver’s 2-0 win over Sporting KC on the bench, before replacing Pedro Morales in the 77th minute – it was his seventeenth appearance of the season and seventh from the bench.
With Vancouver two-goals to the good, Teibert was asked to use his energy to close down the match, seeing out the result, despite a late surge from a humbled KC.
Of note, Teibert put on the captain’s armband, for the first time in MLS, upon replacing Morales; he did carry the honour against Toronto in the Voyageurs Cup earlier this season, but this was further indication of the place he holds at the club, if not always on the pitch.
Kyle Bekker
Bekker made a brief cameo for Toronto as the clock ticked down against Columbus, replacing Luke Moore in the 92nd minute – it was a second-straight match in which he entered from the bench, racking up his first seven MLS minutes in months over the two cameos.
The Oakville, Ontario-native has made eleven appearances, eight of which were starts – the last of which came back before the World Cup break.
The Rest
Karl Ouimette, Issey Nakajima-Farran, Dwayne De Rosario, and Kofi Opare were on the benches for their respective sides.
Karl Ouimette got the start midweek for Montreal against CD FAS, lining up at right-back as the Impact started their campaign on the front foot with a 1-0 win.
Ashtone Morgan, who was not in TFC’s game-day eighteen,
Dwayne De Rosario
Issey Nakajima-Farran was
All video and quotes courtesy of MLSsoccer.com
Each week James takes a look at the contributions of Canadians in the league and the league as a whole.
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