2015 TFC Season

[AvroArrow]

The one Montreal centre defender (Soumare?) looked absolutely dreadful.  I'm not sure what he was entirely doing out there, as he wasn't marking tightly and certainly didn't have the speed to catch up to people.  There was one instance where he pretty much backed himself all the way to the goal while Giovinco walked in with the ball.

[Rocket Robin]

pictures from the De Rosario testimonial game on my site:

http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports15/15tfc016.htm

[nolando]

Thanks for these!

Who/ Why is number 15 wearing what looks like a harness?

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

For the DC goal I think the CBs were more to blame. It looks like Zavaleta ducks and Perquis lets his man get in front of him. Sure a top class keeper would have claimed that but CBs need to be better on set pieces.

 

http://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2015-06-06-dc-united-vs-toronto-fc/details/video/40647

 

Watch it again

 

Why would they expect the keeper to be coming for it, if the guy is rooted to his line and presumably there's no shout? All a bit odd in communication terms, although my experience of how teams organize stuff like that is admittedly at a much less exalted level, but looked like one an MLS keeper should be going for every time when I watched it on Youtube. DC probably floated that in there like that, because they knew there was a weakness in the TFC defence that they could exploit. If the weakness is the keeper, there will soon be a change, because it's very much a team game until the goalkeeper makes a mistake in group psychology terms.

[BuzzAndSting]

Thanks for these!

Who/ Why is number 15 wearing what looks like a harness?

15 in red is David Edgar. 25 is wearing a GoPro camera harness, not sure who it is though.

[davey_twelve]

Seems like quite a few people were unhappy with the 0-0 draw against DC today but they are a top team and TFC did have many more chances. Giovinco seemed to realize he wasn't going to score from distance with the wind and it seemed like some of his teammates were hoping he'd provide them with the difference. Warner and Delgado have had strong back to back games now.

[Dub Narcotic]

DCU are the Chelsea of MLS, just a veteran, physical team with a great keeper who also seem to find a way to take points from a game. I don't think TFC will be happy with 4 points from 9 at home with Bradley, Osorio and Altidore leaving. I don't believe Morgan is a big loss in all honestly. Good one-on-one defender but noticably worse techincally than the rest of the team. I also can't believe they are letting Altidore leave, he is not even fit to play a whole ninety minutes yet. I hope Vanney made a stink about this.

[davey_twelve]

Yeah I think it'll be interesting how they do with Morgan gone. If Crevalle plays like he did against Montreal I think he should keep the RB spot. Morrow was quite limited in his offensive contributions yesterday.

[Macksam]

DCU are the Chelsea of MLS, just a veteran, physical team with a great keeper who also seem to find a way to take points from a game. I don't think TFC will be happy with 4 points from 9 at home with Bradley, Osorio and Altidore leaving. I don't believe Morgan is a big loss in all honestly. Good one-on-one defender but noticably worse techincally than the rest of the team. I also can't believe they are letting Altidore leave, he is not even fit to play a whole ninety minutes yet. I hope Vanney made a stink about this.

Morgan is probably having his best season right now and solidified that left back role. His technical ability is also fine. The loss, like the others, will be missed.

Anyhow, I really wanted to talk about Jay Chapman. I don't really want to single him out but it seems like a lot of young Canadians getting a late run out in MLS games are content with showing they can get themselves open to receive a simple pass, hold onto the ball for a couple seconds before making a simple pass to a teammate themselves. This is not good enough. The little time they get, players like him should be grabbing the bull by the horns, becoming absolute spark plugs out there and making shit happen. You have to sell yourself through your play and making and receiving simple passes is not going to cut it. Granted, Chapman did link up nicely with Morgan in one instance.

Chapman should look to Kianz Froese for a little inspiration. He is a game breaker when he comes out there. He takes on opposing players and becomes a focal point for the team. More of our young Canadians need to play like that to show they deserve more minutes because unfortunately, the rules of this league make it impossible for a Canadian to make it as a journeyman, which is how I would describe Chapman's play yesterday. American College players have those positions locked up and they're not letting them go anytime soon. For a Canadian to get a job in this league, they need to be truly exceptional, like being one of the top 50 players (guys like Tiebert and Larin) in the league exceptional.

[Keegan]

You are spot on Macksam.  Being top 50 is a bit of an exaggeration though as there is no way Teibert is in there.  

 

Chapman seems to come out and he's very composed and keeps possession well but you're right that it's time for him to believe in himself and make things happen out there, it can take time especially playing amongst so many good players it can be intimidating trying to take control.  We saw earlier in the year Osorio was a little timid but now he realizes that he can be the guy to make things happen this season and TFC is much better for it.

[Dub Narcotic]

Chapman has played something like 40 minutes in MLS total this year, and he's not a speedy winger like Froese, I'm sure he'll be fine. His bigger problem is that Marky Delgado looks pretty solid in a similar position to what he is targeting.

[Macksam]

@Dub

Chapman is labeled as an attacking midfielder if my memory is correct. That's still a position where he needs to make things happen and really show what he's capable of.

@Keegan

I think you're right about self belief. I think him starting a match may help with that.

[AvroArrow]

I watched Delgado during the game and it seemed the majority of his contributions were receiving a short pass and making a short pass.  There were a number of instances were Bradley saw he was open and instead of passing to Degado, he held onto the ball and looked for another option.

[Macksam]

^^^^^LOL, I didn't really pay much attention to his game but, judging from that description, it seems young Americans exhibit the same growing pains that our kids do.

[soccerlife]

I watched Delgado during the game and it seemed the majority of his contributions were receiving a short pass and making a short pass.  There were a number of instances were Bradley saw he was open and instead of passing to Degado, he held onto the ball and looked for another option.

I noticed that too. Especially when Bradley was choosing not to pass to Delgado.

[Free kick]

Morgan is probably having his best season right now and solidified that left back role. His technical ability is also fine. The loss, like the others, will be missed.

Anyhow, I really wanted to talk about Jay Chapman. I don't really want to single him out but it seems like a lot of young Canadians getting a late run out in MLS games are content with showing they can get themselves open to receive a simple pass, hold onto the ball for a couple seconds before making a simple pass to a teammate themselves. This is not good enough. The little time they get, players like him should be grabbing the bull by the horns, becoming absolute spark plugs out there and making shit happen. You have to sell yourself through your play and making and receiving simple passes is not going to cut it. Granted, Chapman did link up nicely with Morgan in one instance.

 

 

 

this is so true!  on one play last night Chapman got setup perfectly by Giovinco,  right at the top of the box.  i jumped up and i was thinking, there it is,  a goal that will earn him more playing time.   it was there, as good a go at goal as he will ever get.  And, given that the starting line up is pretty much set, a chance to get his name more in the conversation when playing time gets discussed.   

 

so what does he do? he passes on the chance and opts for a simple lateral pass and the scoring opportunity dies.  this kind of thinking is something we have seen far too often from canadian players at all levels.  either at clubs on teh national teams.   think of all those international matches where our play consists endless lateral and back passes between midfielders and defenders where everybody is waiting for someone else to take charge and be the hero.  players with burning hunger to excel and be the hero is what we need.  its nice to be coachable and want to establish yourself as pro but the good ones in this game have a ego.   we need those types.

[davey_twelve]

Not just Chapman and Delgado, the whole team's attacking plan seemed to be get it to BAG. Chapman may have been told to play conservatively, tying DC home or away is nothing to shrug at.

[El Hombre]

Not just Chapman and Delgado, the whole team's attacking plan seemed to be get it to BAG.

 

That is definitely part of the game plan.  Also, it's tough not to pass it off to Bradley when he runs halfway across the pitch to take the ball away from you.

[baulderdash77]

With Caldwell retired and some cap space opening up plus the new "Core Player" rule; I wonder what moves TFC is going to make to improve at the back end.

 

They should have enough space to pay a guy a $300k annualized wage (pro rated for half a season) plus open up some space by paying down Cheyrou as a core player.  That's plenty of room to make a decent signing.

 

David Edgar only has 1 year left on his contract and he finished off the season on loan.  I bet he could be had for a free transfer.  He's probably in that salary range.

 

Also Andre Hainault's contract in 2 Budesliga expired this week so he could be an option.  He's certainly a solid MLS starting level CB and he can probably be had for under $200k

[Blackdude]

Core player is not a thing yet. I haven't read anything by MLS on that.

[baulderdash77]

It's called the "Targeted Allocation Money" rule.  It's how the LA Galaxy just signed Giovani dos Santos.  They paid Omar Gonzalez down from being a DP to open up a spot. 

[baulderdash77]

Basically the rule lets a team with 3 DP's sign a DP lite and pay them down by $100k per year for 5 years so they're under the DP threshold.  Also anyone not using their "Targeted Allocation Money" of $100k is forced to trade it or use it the following season.  Basically the rich teams get richer with the new rules because the poor teams have to trade their new allocation money for picks or international slots or something.

 

Anyways- Toronto should have enough money to spend on a guy making low end DP money and buy them under the cap now.

[Soccerpro]

Morgan is probably having his best season right now and solidified that left back role. His technical ability is also fine. The loss, like the others, will be missed.

Anyhow, I really wanted to talk about Jay Chapman. I don't really want to single him out but it seems like a lot of young Canadians getting a late run out in MLS games are content with showing they can get themselves open to receive a simple pass, hold onto the ball for a couple seconds before making a simple pass to a teammate themselves. This is not good enough. The little time they get, players like him should be grabbing the bull by the horns, becoming absolute spark plugs out there and making shit happen. You have to sell yourself through your play and making and receiving simple passes is not going to cut it. Granted, Chapman did link up nicely with Morgan in one instance.

Chapman should look to Kianz Froese for a little inspiration. He is a game breaker when he comes out there. He takes on opposing players and becomes a focal point for the team. More of our young Canadians need to play like that to show they deserve more minutes because unfortunately, the rules of this league make it impossible for a Canadian to make it as a journeyman, which is how I would describe Chapman's play yesterday. American College players have those positions locked up and they're not letting them go anytime soon. For a Canadian to get a job in this league, they need to be truly exceptional, like being one of the top 50 players (guys like Tiebert and Larin) in the league exceptional.

Marky Delgao had a goal today and played well in a 2-1 win over the union. His 2nd goal in 2 weeks. It's too bad Chapman didn't perform better in his lone start as Delgado has clearly established himself over Chapman.

[davey_twelve]

Yeah Chapman didn't really do enough during his cameo against the Union but it's a good sign the he's coming off the bench before Lovitz, Findley and Creavalle (is Vanney learning?)

 

Half-way through the season now and I think TFC are headed in the right direction. Vanney seems to be going with a pretty consistent game plan tactically: a diamond midfield where the point is actually the one applying most of the pressure in the middle third when they don't have the ball. This is a good fit for someone like Bradley and explains why Delgado or Cheyrou will play there before Osorio. This also conserves the 2 strikers to focus more on attacking. That being said, I was glad to see a bit of a change last week against NYCFC (likely due to the field as much as Gold Cup absences) where they lined up as more of a 4-3-2-1 unfortunately the backline was more than their usual sub-par selves. Good to see Vanney growing as a coach, once he gets his sub choices improved TFC should stay close to the top in the East.

[Gian-Luca]

Yeah Chapman didn't really do enough during his cameo against the Union but it's a good sign the he's coming off the bench before Lovitz, Findley and Creavalle (is Vanney learning?)

 

I thought Chapman played quite well, his best cameo of the season. Nearly set up a goal at the end of the game as he deked around a number of players on the opposition goal line, took up some good positions and kept the team in possession. Not sure he needed to do more than that.