TFC 2018

[Gian-Luca]

6 minutes ago, Ivan said:

Dunfield said he grew up in T & T, and moved to Canada in 2011.  He sure looked good though.

I listened to the radio show on the way home as well.  To be fair to the first caller, I think he meant it was embarrassing that a York U grad was MOTM while we have so many imported stars?  And @Gianluca, I think the next 2 or 3 callers all commented how great it was that so many Canadians were seeing the field, playing well, and thing s were looking up for the NT.  So it may not be as bad as the first caller made it sound.  I have a 1.5 hour drive home so I get to listen to the whole show.

Perhaps that's what the first caller meant but he didn't actually mention anything about imported stars, so I took the question the same way that I think Wheeler & Dunfield did (in terms of how they answered it) where it seemed to be more of a shot of where the player had come from. Either way, it just seemed strange that the first caller on the phone in show was complaining in any way about Telfer being MOTM (although at the stadium they gave it to Chapman, so I'm assuming this was TSN Radio award). It shouldn't matter where he comes from, I think the fact that TFC's depth players can step up to the plate is a positive sign for the team, rather than an embarrassing one (especially with half of the imported stars not dressed due to injury/suspension).

The next caller said TFC should trade the likes of "Delgado, Moor, Ricketts and Delgado" (apparently they can trade Marky twice) and then yes I did hear the other guys call in saying it was great to see young Canadians playing & developing at TFC, so I'm not saying its all of the fans or even most of them, just that there are some fans that fall into that category I mentioned earlier.

[Gian-Luca]

Vanney said post-game that Morgan is in fact injured now as well, so I think we'll be seeing Telfer next week even if he had a poor game.

Presumably he is T&T eligible and no doubt they have another 17 friendlies or something like that before we bother to play another match. I do hope that Herdman, who is supposed to have communication as his top strength according to the players, media and even the CSA VP's, has or will be in touch soon since we can't cap-tie this guy or even include him in a friendly until September. Need all the players we can get and to deprive our rivals of that as well.

[jpg75]

Yeah in the Telfer thread there's an article saying he moved to T&T and came back when he was 17. That makes sense. I just thought he'd lived here his whole life and was trying to sound more bad ass for his buddies or something.

[Big_M]

Telfer very good offensively which is something that a lot of Canadians in this league lack..key now is consistency and being strong defensively..hamilton weak again and no impact

[Rocket Robin]

my game report at:    
http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports18/18tfc018.htm    

I've got pictures at the bottom of the squirrel and another of me in a York 9 t-shirt. 

 

[Gian-Luca]

Another significantly changed line up for TFC tonight - I know all about the roster challenges this year but at times it seems Vanney is becoming a little too Arrigo Sacchi-like - such a lack of continuity can make winning more challenging. Anyway Osorio, Ricketts, Telfer and Fraser get the start, Chapman and Hamilton on the bench. Akinola makes the bench ahead of Spencer and Hagglund makes the bench but Zavaleta isn’t dressed after starting last week. 

[Greatest Cockney Rip Off]

Couple of thoughts watching the first half. 

1. Fraser has looked pretty tidy so far. Has done a good job of linking defence and attack. 

2. TFC might not be winning very much but I am really enjoying watching them play. I am sure the hardcores that go each week might feel differently, but from a distance they are great to watch. 

[Obinna]

4 hours ago, Gian-Luca said:

Another significantly changed line up for TFC tonight - I know all about the roster challenges this year but at times it seems Vanney is becoming a little too Arrigo Sacchi-like - such a lack of continuity can make winning more challenging. Anyway Osorio, Ricketts, Telfer and Fraser get the start, Chapman and Hamilton on the bench. Akinola makes the bench ahead of Spencer and Hagglund makes the bench but Zavaleta isn’t dressed after starting last week. 

Agreed. At this point Vanney needs to come under fire. Why change the formation and line up so radically for this one? Okay Zavaletta is injured again, but just put Nick in his spot and keep Bradley in midfield. It is clear that Bradley in the centre of a back 3 dors not work. Why does he insist on this? He just doesn't have the pace to play there and he gets it wrong to often on the defensive end. 

Also... Ricketts makes my blood boil sometimes. That miss is inexcusable.

Great performance, terrible result. It is becoming a trend. 

If they don't make the play offs it will be a shame. So much talent but just can't catch a break.

[Obinna]

Injuries aside, the big difference that TFC perhaps underestimated, or weren't ready for, is having a target on their back all season.

It is becoming apparent that opponents are giving a little extra against them because they are the champs. More than that, they are the "best team of all time", so for pretty much every club, playing TFC is in theory the toughest match in their schedule.

I watched the Orlando City preview online, from their website, so it was Orlando-centric. They mention a big game against the champs. That's when it sunk in for me.

Teams have and want to be at their very best. The motivation to beat them is huge.

There have also been no cup distractions and surely for every single opponent, playing TFC is the biggest game of the season.

Meanwhile, TFC are just trying to keep their heads above water with injuries, frusturation and plain old bad luck.

It's a bad stretch of the season. The WC break could not come quick enough and the USA missing out may be a blessing in disguise. No additional games for Bradley, Altidore (who is injured but he'd probably be selected still) and Morrow, Delgado and Bono, while all longshots, could have in theory been selected too. Now the team gets to just rest up. They need it.

[Keegan]

It’s a shame, always giving up the first goal and so early.. it reminds me of old TFC.  Then it hurts a lot more when you miss clear chance after clear chance. 

At what point does Vanney get on the hot seat? He went from a stagnant tactician to Mr. Tinker within the last few months.. sure somewhat out of necessity but now why is Bradley at cb and why do we insist on forcing Mavinga if he’s not good to go..

Ricketts, Hamilton, Chapman.. decent fillers but not leaders to take the reins, this is why I think/hope they’ll never be Canada regulars.  Telfer on the other hand looks like he wants to make things happen.. sort of reminds me of Akindele/VDW.

 

 

 

 

 

[Gian-Luca]

In fairness to Vanney there were more players unavailable or injured than I realized. While I thought Fraser looked good in his first start with some of the big boys, I still wouldn't put Bradley at CB & Telfer at LB (one or the other if you have to, but not both). You can't keep player two guys out of position on the back-line and expect to win. Now they may have to with Mavinga out yet again as well as Zavaleta and Moor.

I also wouldn't start Ricketts - not only is he less effective as a starter but you lose the impact he can make off the bench if you do need a goal. And I don't know that it made sense to play him wide right in the 2nd half and then ask Chapman to play there (also not the forte of either player). Granted, when you consistently have 8-9 guys out of the line-up its going to be a tall task to win against any half-decent team in the league.

All that said, TFC created enough chances to win quite easily last night and due to some great goalkeeping & poor finishing, they didn't even get a tie.

And if there's any way to fine the Dallas coach for the collective team time-wasting last night, I'm all for it. The 7 yellow cards they picked up last night might help other teams in the West down the road but they did squiddly-shit for TFC on the night.

 

[Soccerpro]

Giving up an early goal every game is killing TFC.

[Kadenge]

24 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said:

In fairness to Vanney there were more players unavailable or injured than I realized. While I thought Fraser looked good in his first start with some of the big boys, I still wouldn't put Bradley at CB & Telfer at LB (one or the other if you have to, but not both). You can't keep player two guys out of position on the back-line and expect to win. Now they may have to with Mavinga out yet again as well as Zavaleta and Moor.

I also wouldn't start Ricketts - not only is he less effective as a starter but you lose the impact he can make off the bench if you do need a goal. And I don't know that it made sense to play him wide right in the 2nd half and then ask Chapman to play there (also not the forte of either player). Granted, when you consistently have 8-9 guys out of the line-up its going to be a tall task to win against any half-decent team in the league.

All that said, TFC created enough chances to win quite easily last night and due to some great goalkeeping & poor finishing, they didn't even get a tie.

And if there's any way to fine the Dallas coach for the collective team time-wasting last night, I'm all for it. The 7 yellow cards they picked up last night might help other teams in the West down the road but they did squiddly-shit for TFC on the night.

 

Yeah agree with this. The issue is that TFC are really having problems converting opportunities   they create. There has not been much secondary scoring and let's face it you simply cannot replace a DP like Altidore. Having said that Gio has to convert that penalty...that's why he makes 7M. Yes it was a great save but he is becoming much too predictable. Vasquez is also playing way below his performance last year. When a team invests the lion's share of their payroll on 4 players you need them to excel. We will have to wait and see if it changes when they get their squad fit. On a side note they have to sign another CB. Hernandez is just not good enough.

 

[Bison44]

Hernandez has been poor.  if you are going to throw out someone not ready to play why not a youngster like Boskovic/Dunn.  At least they might have an upside, whereas watching Hernandez its hard to believe he isnt retired.  If anyone is looking for the phantom US journeyman that supposedly doesnt exist..there he is.  Hard to see why Edgar couldnt have been picked up instead to shore up the back line.  

[mpg_29]

what are Bale's wages like...?

[Jith12]

7 minutes ago, mpg_29 said:

what are Bale's wages like...?

That was really a godlike performance.

#ComeToToronto

[Gian-Luca]

TFC catch a slight break for Saturday's game against Columbus as Higuain got a red card tonight and won't be available for the game against TFC, which means TFC's almost-completely depleted back-line stands a slightly better chance of not giving up a ton of goals. Still other players to worry about but he's definitely the guy that stirs the drink normally for that club.

[Bdog]

On 5/26/2018 at 8:56 AM, Keegan said:

Ricketts, Hamilton, Chapman.. decent fillers but not leaders to take the reins, this is why I think/hope they’ll never be Canada regulars.  Telfer on the other hand looks like he wants to make things happen.. sort of reminds me of Akindele/VDW.

Ricketts is somehow great when he comes in as a sub but is terrible when he starts. I hope he stays a super sub.

I feel that Hamilton and Chapman unfortunately had their development kinda screwed by not playing much in the last few years. If the CPL was a thing in the last couple of years it would have been perfect for them.

[Gian-Luca]

Apparently they've taken a tooth away from Mavinga in order to help his hamstring injury heal:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/mavinga-injury-toronto-fc-medical-staff-hitting-books/

Looks like Hasler might be back for this weekend but that's about it for TIFC (Toronto Injured Football Club), so guessing we roll the dice with Bradley as a CB yet again, unless they put Hasler at right back, Van Der Wiel & Hagglund at CB and move Auro left back (where he played once against Tigres when Morrow got injured).

[Obinna]

6 hours ago, Gian-Luca said:

Apparently they've taken a tooth away from Mavinga in order to help his hamstring injury heal:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/mavinga-injury-toronto-fc-medical-staff-hitting-books/

Looks like Hasler might be back for this weekend but that's about it for TIFC (Toronto Injured Football Club), so guessing we roll the dice with Bradley as a CB yet again, unless they put Hasler at right back, Van Der Wiel & Hagglund at CB and move Auro left back (where he played once against Tigres when Morrow got injured).

Please no more Bradley at CB.

Van Der Wiel and Hagglund at CB is the way to go.

[AvroArrow]

10 hours ago, Obinna said:

Please no more Bradley at CB.

Van Der Wiel and Hagglund at CB is the way to go.

Agree with this.  Having Bradley play CB weakens both our defense and our midfield.  I don't know why Mavinga and Haglund didn't start against Dallas.

[Obinna]

1 minute ago, AvroArrow said:

Agree with this.  Having Bradley play CB weakens both our defense and our midfield.  I don't know why Mavinga and Haglund didn't start against Dallas.

I can excuse the injuries but this is where I put the blame squarely on Vanney. For whatever reason he has tunnel vision this will work, and maybe it will, but it hasn't so far and time is running out. I still like Vanney very much and I haven't lost faith in him, but the time has come to start being more critical of his line up choices

[Dub Narcotic]

Hagglund was only about 50% apparently. Toronto is doing well now in terms of xG, now the goals have to start going in.

[Gian-Luca]

And now the league has rescinded the red card to Higuain and he will play against TFC tomorrow after all. So much for TFC catching a slight break.

[AvroArrow]

I get that a healthy TFC roster is still a forced to be reckoned with and that there still are a lot of games to be played, but at some point TFC needs to start picking up points.  All these points dropped at home are starting to get concerning.