TFC 2018

[Gian-Luca]

Osorio surprisingly moves into the team lead for goals this year (both in MLS play & overall) with two tonight i a 2-0 win. Chapman also started tonight and was taken off in the 59th minute for the 3 start in a row (is Vanney concerned he turns into a pumpkin by minute 60?), Ricketts & Telfer come on as subs in the 2nd half. Fraser the only Canuck to dress who didn't play. Bradley still looks fatigued and mistake-prone, I'd still be tempted to rest him with another game in less than a week, but I don't expect that to happen.

 

 

 

 

[1996]

10 hours ago, Gian-Luca said:

Osorio surprisingly moves into the team lead for goals this year (both in MLS play & overall) with two tonight i a 2-0 win. Chapman also started tonight and was taken off in the 59th minute for the 3 start in a row (is Vanney concerned he turns into a pumpkin by minute 60?), Ricketts & Telfer come on as subs in the 2nd half. Fraser the only Canuck to dress who didn't play. Bradley still looks fatigued and mistake-prone, I'd still be tempted to rest him with another game in less than a week, but I don't expect that to happen.

 

 

 

 

Chapman should have been taken off a lot earlier not one of his best performances last night unfortunately. Moreover, I’ve been waiting for Chapman to pull an Osorio , you know start shining just like Osorio eventually did after Osorio was given a lot more playing time , but so far Chapman has not  turned the  corner yet with all the playing time he has been given, hopefully he starts to shine soon before all the injured players get back which will make it hard on Vanney not to play him more even when everyone is back. This is what Osorio did winning more playing time at first and then winning a starting position from his solid play. 

[Gian-Luca]

So if TFC can beat DC United at home on Wednesday, they will pull into 2 points of a playoff spot.

[Bdog]

5 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said:

So if TFC can beat DC United at home on Wednesday, they will pull into 2 points of a playoff spot.

Considering how many injuries we've had, it's not looking too bad right now. We should have still done better in a lot of the games we dropped points in but I don't think making the playoffs will be a problem.

DC is pretty bad and our CBs are getting healthy again, I'll cry if we somehow lose this game.

[Shortdutchcanuck]

22 hours ago, 1996 said:

 Moreover, I’ve been waiting for Chapman to pull an Osorio

I was expecting more of Chapman too.  On the other hand it took some time for Osorio to pull an Osorio, so I think there is still time.  Oso took lots of criticism in recent years too don't forget.  Vanney seems to rate Chapman and the fact he's been starting over Aketxe is a good sign.  This has still been valuable experience even if he hasn't made the most of his opportunities, and his breakthrough may still be coming.  

I'm more worried about Hamilton at the moment.  Really hoped he'd step up in Jozy's absence and pot some goals but lately hasn't even been in 18.  Is he banged up?

[gator]

49 minutes ago, Shortdutchcanuck said:

I was expecting more of Chapman too.  On the other hand it took some time for Osorio to pull an Osorio, so I think there is still time.  Oso took lots of criticism in recent years too don't forget.  Vanney seems to rate Chapman and the fact he's been starting over Aketxe is a good sign.  This has still been valuable experience even if he hasn't made the most of his opportunities, and his breakthrough may still be coming.  

I'm more worried about Hamilton at the moment.  Really hoped he'd step up in Jozy's absence and pot some goals but lately hasn't even been in 18.  Is he banged up?

He played and scored for TFC2 last night!

[Gian-Luca]

1 hour ago, gator said:

He played and scored for TFC2 last night!

And a nice goal it was too by the look of the highlights. Akinola's goal was also nice, both players showing some un-Ben Spencer like finishing. Looks like TFC2 got ripped off big time as the 2nd goal by Harrisburg should have been flagged for offside and the handball PK call for the winning goal was a joke - what was Boskovic supposed to do, dislocate his arm from his body so that the ball hit the side of his chest instead?

[Gian-Luca]

6 hours ago, Shortdutchcanuck said:

I was expecting more of Chapman too.  On the other hand it took some time for Osorio to pull an Osorio, so I think there is still time.  Oso took lots of criticism in recent years too don't forget.  Vanney seems to rate Chapman and the fact he's been starting over Aketxe is a good sign. 

Part of the reason for that is that Aketxe had been injured for a few games. Not much has been made of Delgado not even being dressed yesterday - he came off the bench last week and gave away the ball which lead to TFC giving up the lead and settling for a point against Columbus. I haven't seen an injury report for him so maybe it is a fatigue-related rest he was given?

[BenFisk'sBiggestFan]

Not entirely sure what people are complaining about Chapman for. He was actually involved as the main playmaker in many attacks. Many could have led to goals if not for misplaced passes after Chapman had already done the work. I think he is up there in the depth chart in the midfield. From the way he was playing I would rate him above both Delgado and akatxe. The weakness from Toronto is very obviously the back line right now, they seem fluid going forwards. 

[Bison44]

11 minutes ago, BenFisk'sBiggestFan said:

Not entirely sure what people are complaining about Chapman for. He was actually involved as the main playmaker in many attacks. Many could have led to goals if not for misplaced passes after Chapman had already done the work. I think he is up there in the depth chart in the midfield. From the way he was playing I would rate him above both Delgado and akatxe. The weakness from Toronto is very obviously the back line right now, they seem fluid going forwards. 

Its because Osorio is playing well enough they cant complain about him. He used to occupy that whipping boy spot.  I enjoy the revisionist history with Osorio.  He has grown/developed (as many 20 somethings do) into a more complete/dynamic player but some people seem to forget he bagged 5 goals in his rookie season and was logging 2000+ min a year until the midfield got a major upgrade.  The team was patient with him and has been rewarded for all those chances he was given 3-4 years ago. 

Chapman had less minutes in his first 3 seasons than Osorio got in his rookie year.  I hope Chapman will continue to show more and be trusted with more minutes but they';; be hard to come by as there is plenty of talent in the midfield.  If he gets squeezed out again this year maybe a year starting every game in the CPL for Hamilton next summer might be a better option.  

[Dub Narcotic]

There is no revisionist history. He was the weak link in the Toronto midfield until last year. He had no end product, the advanced stats hated him (kp, xG, xA, etc..) and he was always holding up the bottom in in the whoscored game rankings. This was even more damning given that he was playing with the best attacking force in MLS history with GIovionco/Altidore which would have inflated any midfielder's attacking stats. He's certainly hit his prime years well, adding penetrating passes and finishing ability to the skills he always had (good close control and workrate) but to say he was an overlooked star is as dumb as the Kyle Bekker apologias that used to get posted here a lot.

[Bison44]

No revisionist history for you DUB. You never rated him, good for you!  Revel in it.  I was getting at the posters who are surprised with his scoring and forget he scored at a decent clip for a rookie (5g), before Altidore and Giovinco.  My point was the team stuck with him and the flashes of a good player he has showed over the years have become more commonplace.  And I hope Chapman gets similar time and minutes to develop into a useful cog on a good MLS team.  I dont know who said Osorio was an overlooked star..........

[Bdog]

that was fun

[Gian-Luca]

Only at BMO field would you give the MOTM to a defender who plays the full 90 in a match where his team gave up 4 goals.

Good fight & determination by TFC but we need two things after the WC break. 1. Bradley to come back rested because he seems a shadow of his former self right now, constantly getting beat wherever he plays 2. Mavinga & Morgan to come back so that we can play Morrow in a back three and avoid playing Zavaleta back there because that was f'ing brutal.

Another two points dropped at home though, even though they moved within 4 points of a playoff spot with a game in hand, that could have been two points out with a game in hand.

Was there some sort of protest by the Inebriatti for some reason? Noticed that none of them were in their seats tonight (didn't notice anything different vocally but visually that was a conspicuous absence right behind the goal that saw 7 goals on the night).

[Ivan]

My God Zavaletta.  WTF?  Wondered the same about Inebriatti.  And the traffic around BMO!  An hour to get in and around the area, on top of the drive to and from Niagara!  Makes me consider giving up my TFC tickets and becoming a Hamilton Founders SSH.

[Ruffian]

10 hours ago, Gian-Luca said:

Was there some sort of protest by the Inebriatti for some reason? Noticed that none of them were in their seats tonight (didn't notice anything different vocally but visually that was a conspicuous absence right behind the goal that saw 7 goals on the night).

Seem they made some kind of banner about Giovinco (pro Gio). Not sure why this was such a big deal. Maybe it has something to do with the new contract negotiations. They posted an explanation on their facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/TheInebriatti/

[Rheo]

From what I saw online last night, they didn't get the banner approved and there was something with flags and they were sanctioned so they boycotted.

[AvroArrow]

I don't know if I've ever seen a game where at team claws back from 3 goals down, ties it up, goes down again, ties it up again, and then almost gives up another goal in the dying seconds.  If that DC striker hadn't wiffed, TFC still loses that game.

I think the TV announcers summed it up best with 2 paraphrased quotes:

"Does anyone want to play defense tonight?"

"There's still 4 minutes left to go in the game.  Probably enough time for 4 or 5 more goals."

[Gian-Luca]

1 hour ago, Rheo said:

From what I saw online last night, they didn't get the banner approved and there was something with flags and they were sanctioned so they boycotted.

Problem is that their solution was to punish themselves by missing the game (which turned out to be an extremely exciting one) after having already given MLSE their money for the tickets for this game. While their absence was noticed, it wasn't exactly missed as the 3 or 4 other supporter groups were there making plenty of noise.

[Rheo]

4 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said:

Problem is that their solution was to punish themselves by missing the game (which turned out to be an extremely exciting one) after having already given MLSE their money for the tickets for this game. While their absence was noticed, it wasn't exactly missed as the 3 or 4 other supporter groups were there making plenty of noise.

Oh I agree, just saying what was on Twitter.  As someone said, follow the rules and clear the banner and there isn't an issue lol. 

I saw they made reference to the Chicago Fire team banning a supporter group (which is a crazy storyhttp://www.chicagotribune.com/90minutes/mls/ct-90mins-chicago-fire-kick-sector-latino-out-of-toyota-park-20180610-story.html) so I think it might be more of an "Ultras are getting picked on so let's make a statement" thing.

 

[Ruffian]

1 hour ago, Gian-Luca said:

Problem is that their solution was to punish themselves by missing the game (which turned out to be an extremely exciting one) after having already given MLSE their money for the tickets for this game. While their absence was noticed, it wasn't exactly missed as the 3 or 4 other supporter groups were there making plenty of noise.

Did they come back in the second half? I saw their seats were full then, but not with people wearing black.

[masster]

2 hours ago, Gian-Luca said:

Problem is that their solution was to punish themselves by missing the game (which turned out to be an extremely exciting one) after having already given MLSE their money for the tickets for this game. While their absence was noticed, it wasn't exactly missed as the 3 or 4 other supporter groups were there making plenty of noise.

The fact that MLS and their member clubs require all banners to be approved is ridiculous. The fact that they would sanction a group for a banner that was not vulgar and contained no profanity is beyond acceptable to me. Why would the other groups in Toronto not support Inebriatti in this?

[deschamp86]

14 minutes ago, masster said:

The fact that MLS and their member clubs require all banners to be approved is ridiculous. The fact that they would sanction a group for a banner that was not vulgar and contained no profanity is beyond acceptable to me. Why would the other groups in Toronto not support Inebriatti in this?

Its probably stemming from their banner last year against Montreal. Probably on a short leash

[Gian-Luca]

33 minutes ago, masster said:

The fact that MLS and their member clubs require all banners to be approved is ridiculous. The fact that they would sanction a group for a banner that was not vulgar and contained no profanity is beyond acceptable to me. Why would the other groups in Toronto not support Inebriatti in this?

I've no idea whether they will agree with the Inebriatti's actions or not, but I don't believe that the other groups even knew about the reasons for this protest until that message was posted after the game. Even if they can sympathize with that group, I doubt many will want to administer self-inflicted punishment on themselves to support another group though.

[Gian-Luca]

Not sure where else to put this, but seems fitting here as this was TFC's forerunner - a nice video of the journey leading to Toronto's previous soccer championship, heading back to 1976 in the original NASL:

https://www.tsn.ca/fifa-world-cup/video/croatian-roots-run-deep-in-toronto-soccer-scene~1419582

Although I think the claim that Eusebio was the 2nd best player in the world while Pele was the first was more prior accurate 10 years prior to 1976 than it was by 1976 when this story takes place.