TFC @ San Jose - April 9th, 2011

[ThiKu]

That was my first TFC match of the year - not shabby. Away draw, on far side of the continent against a solid team. TFC should only get better, but even as-is they can just about plan for playoff push. If they get themselves a proper centre forward, right back, and centre back partnership they'll be a fierce team with Winter's "guile."

LB - Borman is a great find! Exciting stuff. If he can develop crossing...

CB - Cann was great at hiding Harden's deficiencies....not going to happen often...

CB - Get rid of Harden as a First XI guy - NOW! Attakora was good though maybe not enough to get TFC in playoffs....push him to full back?

RB - Get one.... Nana?

CM was decent, and JDG will be just fine.

Stevanovic is a great pick-up. Gordon will work hard but they need more up front. Martina looks excellent. Joao Plata can potentially be a gem. Tchani was a good piece of business too.

[CanadianSoccerFan]

I really liked what I saw tonight. Draws on the road are always a good result.

[Gian-Luca]

Overall this team looks more talented than the one last year that had the likes of The Latvian, Usanov, Saric, Sanyang, etc. Maybe that's not saying much, but with all the doom and gloom for this season and the loss of DeRo & his goals, perhaps this hasn't been stated enough. It wasn't surprising that Gargan would lose his spot (he just doesn't have the speed nor ability to keep possession) - I wonder though if Winter will try Nana at right back, as he's a better fit there than Harden (who I still don't think should be starting but has been okay, playing within his limitations) - and they aren't even dressing Sturgis anymore (not making that trade look very good at all). My namesake looks like a real find from a Canadian perspective - great through-ball at the end for Martina that the latter should have done much better on. De Guzman looks quicker and sharper when he's on the field - he's going to get suspended soon if he keeps picking up yellows but they've both been intelligent yellows thus far. I think TFC need another striker option and a proper right back, but they appear on the right track and should improve with some actual stability.

[BearcatSA]

CB - Get rid of Harden as a First XI guy - NOW! Attakora was good though maybe not enough to get TFC in playoffs....push him to full back?

RB - Get one.... Nana?

Well, I believe that Winter said in this post game interview that Attakora's "head wasn't in the game" (same as last game), so I get the feeling there might be some tension between player and coach.

I'm usually supportive of Santos but I thought he stunk tonight. Too many (seemingly all?) giveaway passes and a non factor in the other facets of midfield play. Seems better when he can play as a centre forward and drop back as needed to get the ball (and the space) to make plays. Here, it looks like he's getting choked off for time and space, but his distribution was pretty wayward regardless.

[TFCRegina]

Well, I believe that Winter said in this post game interview that Attakora's "head wasn't in the game" (same as last game), so I get the feeling there might be some tension between player and coach.

I'm usually supportive of Santos but I thought he stunk tonight. Too many (seemingly all?) giveaway passes and a non factor in the other facets of midfield play. Seems better when he can play as a centre forward and drop back as needed to get the ball (and the space) to make plays. Here, it looks like he's getting choked off for time and space, but his distribution was pretty wayward regardless.

He looked awful out there, I don't blame Winter for the sub. The D is weak as a whole, but Attakora was exceptionally bad. Really disappointed with him. He is better than how he's been playing.

[jonovision]

^ I'm glad that Winter appears to be taking a hard line with Nana's hiccups, instead of letting these moments of inexperience slide. Bodes well for his future if he applies himself.

[BearcatSA]

De Guzman looks quicker and sharper when he's on the field - he's going to get suspended soon if he keeps picking up yellows but they've both been intelligent yellows thus far.

Tchani had a rough first half with poor passes and needless fouls but improved significantly once JDG got on the field. I still think this will be a strong central mid partnership because of the complementary skills. Stevanovic had some jump and combined well with Borman's supporting runs: I don't like how he tries to do too much dribbling/work on the ball 70 yards away from the enemy goal but he improved with quicker distribution in this area during the second half. Too bad about the injury.

[jpg75]

Getting a point on the road has to be a positive.

Borman looked much better this week, if he can do that going forward i'll be happy.

Agree with taking Nana off, hopefully he gets pissed and uses it as motivation.

I had been thinking of using Peterson as a RB now that we had a glut of D-mids (and the fact Peterson isn't that dangerous as a winger), i hope Winter takes serious consideration of this option.

De Guzman had a decent game, and yes his presence helped Tchani alot, i'd like to see them paired for a full 90.

We attacked well enough at times, but needed a stinky goal to score, it is what it is and we can focus on LA now...

[villus]

Was at the game last night. Thought Stepanovic was great on the ball. Deguz looked good, winning alot of balls for teh short time he had. Cann was MOTM for TFC for sure, his tackling was exceptional, his distribution was ok but overall a great game from him.

[JamesW]

We need a striker. Despite some good movement we never looked likely to score and our one goal was a total gift. Gordon looks to be a strong aerial threat, but I would feel very uncomfortable with him being the only option. Santos was invincible for the game. I think the fact that Winter was willing to sub off someone who he clearly favours is a good sign for the club, but I don't know if the replacement helped our chances of scoring at all.

Martina can and should do better.

[Michael Crampton]

We need a striker.

Need a real string pulling AM more since Santos can be shifted back to his actual position and rotated with Gordon depending on what Winter wants if we had someone to play underneath them.

Despite some good movement we never looked likely to score and our one goal was a total gift.

The goal was a gift granted and we didn't really create much sustained offense but Harden nearly nicked a winner and Martina could have done better on those two through balls that nearly put him through. That's actually a positive about this team: somehow they're actually scoring goals in every game! We've got three times as many goals as the offensively loaded Red Bulls after the same amount of games. I don't expect that to last all season but hopefully it means we'll never be completely out of games. I am too used to TFC road games basically being over after half an hour when they're already two goals down looking more like they're concerned with who gets the window seat on the flight home than figuring out a way to get back in the game.

Santos was invincible for the game.

Clearly you meant "invisible".

I think the fact that Winter was willing to sub off someone who he clearly favours is a good sign for the club, but I don't know if the replacement helped our chances of scoring at all.

While I can't remember if he was subbed directly for him, in hindsight, I think replacing Santos with Zavarise actually changed the game considerably. A lot of people in the TFC commentosphere seem to want to credit Julian's half time insertion with snuffing out San Jose's earlier incessant attack but my perception was that things didn't really change until after the 65th minute. Before that point Wondolowski had that great double chance - full credit to Frei on the first save - and if it weren't for the howler of a game Ryan Johnson was having we'd probably have conceded again. After Zavarise came on it just seemed like San Jose lost their flow. The whole game got choppy and less entertaining but I never felt like they were going to score. The funny thing is that I don't really remember Zavarise doing too much! But logic indicates that he'd be a stronger defensive presence in the middle than Santos so that probably had an influence on stopping San Jose attacks around the centre line before they really had a chance to develop. Just a theory mind you so don't take that as Gospel.

While you're right that he really didn't look to increase our chances of scoring he did put through the final through ball for Martina, after creating a turnover near half and winning the ball himself, that lead to our late penalty shout.* Again, I think this points to the need for a real central attacking mid on this team. Santos has done okay there when he starts from a more forward position and interchanges - that was a trick him and DeRo used consistently when playing together; remember DeRo's goal in Seattle last year? - but isn't a real midfielder and while I'm liking what I see from Zavarise but still see him as a more "go to" utility depth player across the midfield rather than a "first name on the teamsheet" starter. TFC needs to quietly do some serious scouting over the next two months in Central and South America and find us a (younger) Guevara, Morales, or Ferreira that we can build around for the future as much as improve this season.

*Not a penalty by the way. I thought it was during the game but the replay can (finally) been seen at the end of the highlights posted on mlssoccer.com and the defender clearly gets a touch to knock the ball away before Martina, seeing that he's not going to get a shot, tumbles over him. Not a dive; not a penalty.