Post Match

[Trillium]

Well Barrett should be gone soon.

[TFC07]

Barrett is ****! TFC should have won by 3 goals.

Even though TFC won, they didn't play well at all.

[loyola]

True, Barrett didn't have a good game but I'm still waiting for Vitti to actually do something. Maybe that's why Barrett is starting, he's at least getting in position to get a few opportunities. But yes, he was terrible tonight.

The goal was well taken by Harmse on a nice cross by DeRo ( I doubt he knew much about it, looks like he was trying to just put the ball in front of the net). Nice CANADIAN goal!!!

Nana was pretty good apart from a few nervous moments. Like Gage confidence as well.

Déjà Vu for TFC, 1-0 win, unable to kill the game with a second goal, difficult at the end and needs Frei to come up with a huge save. On that last note, I still find it laughable that some suggested to go with Sutton for that game....

[tmcmurph]

Frei was very good especially on the shot from the sharp angle. Nice save. It would have been nice for the Caps to steal a point at BMO field but that's how it goes.

Lots of counter attacking and I thought it was a good opener. This year it looks like TFC want it. Maybe for Dichio, maybe because they have more canucks in the lineup but they seem a lot more into the game this year.

Is this the year Montreal lose their death grip on the Voyageur's Cup?

We'll see.

[MexTFC]

For me the one thing that stood out was all the room the TFC midfield had. Caps did not seem able to put pressure on them. Or perhaps that was the plan, and they wanted to counter. The feed I had online sucked, so others may have a more complete opinion.

[ag futbol]

Decent game overall.

Underrated part of KH's game is actually making good runs forward. Glad to see he got paid for one in the form of a goal.

Nice to see Gage and Attakora on the field at the same time.

[nolando]

Caps looked quite often like a team full of thirty-year-olds - also perhaps a little too bulky for some of TFC's speedier players. Not too exciting of a match from a fan's pov but Caps have to love playing such a meaningful game in such a passionate and large crowd.

Agreed - nice to get a good look at Attakora.

[BearcatSA]

quote:Originally posted by loyola

The goal was well taken by Harmse on a nice cross by DeRo ( I doubt he knew much about it, looks like he was trying to just put the ball in front of the net). Nice CANADIAN goal!!!

No long after his goal Harmse found Barrett's run with a really nice pass (behind Parke?), only for Mr. Chad to waste it, so I'll give Harmse so more kudos for that.

[BearcatSA]

quote:Originally posted by nolando

Caps looked quite often like a team full of thirty-year-olds - also perhaps a little too bulky for some of TFC's speedier players.

That's the feeling I got, too. Nash, in particular, really stood out as slow out there. It seemed like TFC had a lot of space in the middle of the park.

[Gian-Luca]

TFC can be frustating to watch even when they win. Too much in the way of trying to be fancy when they only had a 1-0 lead. Get up by two goals and then you can start to play cocky.

Well done to Nana - he was up against a couple of much bigger & more experienced strikers so it was no easy task for him. I'm not sure he was the player of the game as the stadium announcers said (I thought De Ro was the best player on the field) but there have been many worse choies for MOTM match at the stadium this year. Serioux wasn't even on the bench so he must have been injured, hopefully not seriously. (Spelling pun resisted). Brennan had an injured hand by the way which is why he kept having Velez take his throws.

[Gian-Luca]

By the way, I spotted De Santis & Limniatis scouting the game in the press box. Nice to see that they didn't do it on the cheap & just watched the game on television.

Disappointing crowd tonight by TFC standards, not quite 17,000 - perhaps it was the "lower league competition", or perhaps the prospect of spending two hours in the rain on a weeknight after so many games recently, or a bit of both.

[BearcatSA]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

TFC can be frustating to watch even when they win. Too much in the way of trying to be fancy when they only had a 1-0 lead. Get up by two goals and then you can start to play cocky.

And in the end they required a sharp save from Frei to preserve the points.

[Vancouver Fan]

TFC are going to have to be a lot better than that to take the whole thing. Caps were pretty bad tonight and a better team would have punished them. A point for Vancouver was possible but they will have to raise their game a few notches to make any noise in this competition. The game itself was a lot more competetive last year. We'll see what awaits at Swangard.

[BearcatSA]

quote:Originally posted by MexTFC

For me the one thing that stood out was all the room the TFC midfield had. Caps did not seem able to put pressure on them. Or perhaps that was the plan, and they wanted to counter. The feed I had online sucked, so others may have a more complete opinion.

I'm inclined to think the former because the Caps' midfielders didn't seem to close down space well in front of the back line, especially nearing the defensive third of the field. For instance, a confident Harmse was doing a Michael Ballack impersonation and allowed to run with the ball a few times without an opposing mid around him. So I agree with your statement about too much room being given (sorry I didn't acknowledge your post earlier).

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

Disappointing crowd tonight by TFC standards, not quite 17,000 - perhaps it was the "lower league competition", or perhaps the prospect of spending two hours in the rain on a weeknight after so many games recently, or a bit of both.

Paul Beirne has explained on the RPB board that that was just a mistake and the official number was over 19800:-

http://www.redpatchboys.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=13078

[Toronto Ruffrider]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

TFC can be frustating to watch even when they win. Too much in the way of trying to be fancy when they only had a 1-0 lead. Get up by two goals and then you can start to play cocky.

I noticed that as well. Our give-and-goes were too quick and fancy at times, leading to a loss of possession. The pitch didn't help, of course, as a wet surface naturally plays faster.

On the note of fancy play, I think DeRo was guilty of this on a few occasions. DeRo played an excellent match, but sometimes I think he plays a little too creatively for the rest of his teammates.

[Tuscan]

Vancouver just seemed out of sorts the whole match, while TFC seemed very confident and organized. Hopefully the Caps show up at home and leave these lazy, bumbly doppelgangers back in TO.

Nana looked very solid out there. He JUST about gave away a penalty in the first half (I actually thought it should have been) but seemed to only grow in confidence throughout the game. I agree with the MOTM being awarded to him, he really seemed to carry the back line well.

I'm very excited for the TFC - Impact match, as I think Montreal will be able to better exploit TFC's weaknesses.

As a last note, if TFC doesn't find a decent transfer for Barrett, then Mo really does need to go. Chad is absolute sh*te!

[Cheeta]

Certainly not the most entertaining match. TFC had the step on the 'Caps last night for sure, and could you have asked for a better way to start a match? Vancouver could have I guess.

Have to be happy for Harmse. Well done. Text-book finish off a perfect cross.

Nana gets at least one more line of praise, from me this time. Good job.

What's with you people in Toronto giving Reda a hard time after getting clobbered? He walks off 'cause he'll be dead before he'll allow himself to be stretched off (not the smartest thing some times, but admirable in my books) and you bunch give him grief. Didn't need binoculars to see the man had his bell rung. Very poor form.

[Alberto7]

Random thoughts the morning after the game:

-I enjoyed the game but TFC should have won it by 3 at least.

-What is going on with Barrett? Two clean break-aways and no goals?

-Someone else mentioned that Vitti has done nothing so far and I agree.

-I really like Frei in goal. Steady as a rock.

-Harme was excellent in this game

-DeRo played with a great deal of spark

-TFC play a lot better when Dichio comes on the field

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by tmcmurph

Lots of counter attacking and I thought it was a good opener. This year it looks like TFC want it. Maybe for Dichio, maybe because they

But there is no indication that they didn't want it last year. They played quite well for most of the games last year but in the end, it really came down to goal differrence. Specifically the huge goal dif that Montreal earned in their games versus Vancouver. When TFC played their next to last game at Swangard, they were up 2-1 but that was meaningless to them because it was the same as a 2-2 result and so they pressed or let up. TFC would have needed the same result at home against montreal ( in their final game)regardless of whether they would have won that game 2-1 or drew 2-2.

Which brings me back to last nights game. The downer for TFC was the goal diff. In a three team round robin format, goal diff very often becomes the deciding factor.

[VPjr]

quote:Originally posted by Alberto7

-Someone else mentioned that Vitti has done nothing so far and I agree.

I might be wildly biased because I love Argie footballers but it is my opinion that TFC uses him completely incorrectly.

He's a #9 style striker in the classic Argentine sense. His game is not as well suited to be played out wide.

Furthermore, when DeRo is on the field of play, the ball is almost always swung to his side, despite his propensity for cheap giveaways in bad spots.

Vitti did nothing last night because, as I saw it, he never saw the ball. The man still makes lovely runs without the ball, has excellent tactical awareness and is capable of doing wonderful things with the ball when it is at his feet (although he really needs to get a goal soon to get the monkey off his back).

I'm just not sure if Vitti is physically strong enough to play his proper position in this league.

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by Cheeta

Certainly not the most entertaining match. TFC had the step on the 'Caps last night for sure, and could you have asked for a better way to start a match? Vancouver could have I guess.

Have to be happy for Harmse. Well done. Text-book finish off a perfect cross.

Nana gets at least one more line of praise, from me this time. Good job.

What's with you people in Toronto giving Reda a hard time after getting clobbered? He walks off 'cause he'll be dead before he'll allow himself to be stretched off (not the smartest thing some times, but admirable in my books) and you bunch give him grief. Didn't need binoculars to see the man had his bell rung. Very poor form.

There are different people at the game amongst the supporters. When he went down and the derisive chants started, I looked around to see who was making those chants and it was none of of the "Long timers" who were making those chants. Certainly not anybody who goes back to the days of supporting the the Lynx and sitting at the pub after the game with the Lynx players.

It was mostly SG people whose following of the local pro soccer scene only spans back to the start TFC.

[RS]

Highlights here

[tmcmurph]

quote:Originally posted by Free kick

But there is no indication that they didn't want it last year.

I beg to differ there. Last year TFC just had too many players who seemed to be not interested in the games. That was my observation last year. This year seems different. Whether it was Dichio's comment about wanting to win something or more canucks on the team who want to win it and especially the Ontario player who wnat to beat Montreal I don't know.

I realize it is just one game in but TFC really seem more into the game this year.

[loyola]

Disagree. I think if Frei doesn't make that save at the end we would've heard people say how much TFC didn't cared and cliché like that.

Last year, TFC cared but it all came down to Cunningham missing chances after chances in that last game. I truly think they cared last year. No reason not to.

I really doubt the number of Canadians on the field has anything to do with the results. Ironically, I think if Sutton had played we might have been looking at a 1-1 result instead of a win for TFC.