What about tactics?

[Corpand]

Watched this game with my dad first time today, he was born in bulgaria and has been an avid follower of bulgarian football since birth. After watching 50 minutes of this muck, he began pinpointing ridiculous tactics that clearly do NOT work with our team.

Excluding Dichio, our midfield and frontlines have no height to them. Practically 80%+ headers went to the opposition no matter who from TFC went up for them.

Stop with the bloody long balls, you dont stretch out the opposition well enough. Seeing that we should be getting goals from crosses (seeing the english-style football we play), it simply hasnt happened for us.

[Stiggy]

how about the fact that we had 4 strikers and 3 defenders in a game where a tie was all that was required. 4-3-3 isnt a solution to every single game.

[ExiledRed]

The 4-3-3 was found out a while ago,

This coach thinks that other coaches dont study our games before they play us.

[Sally Mack]

The 4-3-3 was found out a while ago,

This coach thinks that other coaches dont study our games before they play us.
not to mention the serioux throws... a throw is NOT the same as a kick.

you can't put SPIN on a throw, or really alter the trajectory drastically. all you can do is throw a dead, predictible ball, and hope the opposing team blows their marking assignments. i hate long throws.

[kingjerk]

i hate long throws.
<sarcasm>but that's part of the awesomeness of the tactics.... long throws and short corners</sarcasm>

[UltraSuperMegaMo]

The short / trick corners are just getting mental. They don’t catch anyone off guard when we try them 3 times every game.

[Fushida]

The short / trick corners are just getting mental. They don’t catch anyone off guard when we try them 3 times every game.

Especially when Robbo's always on the end of it. Instead of someone who can actually put power into a shot.

[Candu_88]

When you are playing away against a team that has to win you should employ the same tactics protecting a lead late in a game. You put a very fast player up as a lone striker to exploit the high defensive line on the counter attack and play some variation of 4-5-1. TFC left massive gaps in the midfield in order to play Barrett and Vitti as wide forwards in their variation of 4-3-3. Sorry Chris that makes no sense whatsoever. Dichio is a natural target striker with great link-up skills but he is too slow and static to get on the end of through balls. The Whitecaps have a large aggressive defense lacking speed and stamina. TFC should have easily exploited this but not with Dichio upfront.

The squad does not have the right balance. We don't have quality wingers or two true box to box central midfielders for a 4-4-2, we don't have natural wide forwards for 4-3-3. We don't have a speedy skilled aggressive lone striker with finishing skills. Too many central attacking midfielders. I can't come up with a formation that would work consistently for this squad. Mo is awesome at picking drafts but everything else in his team building is seriously flawed.

[Fushida]

just curious... those who are protesting against the 4-3-3 now... would you have said "go for a tie, and play 4-5-1" BEFORE the game yesterday? would you have been happy that we went and played for a 0-0 draw?

like i said, just curious.

i actually think this squad is quite suited for a 4-3-3. we have two attacking players in vitti and barrett (though it may not seem like it), and a good combination of grit and more than capable passing ability in the midfield with cronin and guevara (robbo... i'm not convinced).

the only problem is the approach that they've been taking recently with a 4-3-3... which is the long ball. when cummins first took charge they were playing nice slick possession footy with good bouts of passing... which seems to be a thing of the past now. first we need to work on the players' confidence in their own ability to pass before this formation can work again.

[TFC07]

On a road, I usually like to play 4-5-1 especially a game like Vancouver where we just needed a draw.

It seems like there's too much room for opponents to operate on midfield when TFC is playing 4-3-3 formation.

EDIT:

Something like this formation against Vancouver:


---------------------Sutton--------------------
----Harmse------Nana------Serioux------Jimmy B
-----------Robbo-------Cronin--------------------
----Barrett-------DeRo------------------Vitti
------------------Dichio------------------------

[Fushida]

barrett and vitti are not true wingers. most of barrett's chances have come from exploiting fullback runs, thus being open for a through ball. vitti can potentially make things happen, but we're talking about a supposed forward here playing on the wings and dropping back to defend... you can only suppress natural tendencies so much... both are going to move forward naturally.

a 4-5-1 may have worked, but 4-3-3 would have been fine too had we taken the right approach. i believe their fullbacks were pretty weak based on the number of attacks we had through the wings yesterday. the japanese left back isn't the fastest either. we could have fully exploited that, but instead chose to lob (shitty) long balls to wesley charles and their midfield who owned in the air.

[CoachGT]

This is my issue with the game on Tuesday. I get it that they tried to put Canadians on the field, players who should have pride in their national competition. I even get it that they tried to play the same formation that has been successful for them in a few games this year.

We don't appear to have the horses to be able to play an English possession game - strong defence combined with a surgical counter attack. We have sequences of good first touches until we get under pressure. Under pressure, our positioning is just a bit off, causing changes in possession. Even without pressure, our passes are sometimes off, leaving open men looking back at a ball that has gone somewhere else.

We don't close in on the ball as quickly as we should when the opposition has it, giving them valuable time and space.

We have plenty of creativity up front, with De Ro and Vitti, but both have their own styles and seem to need to complete a play themselves because few others appear to be on the same page as them in the ability to anticipate.

My issues over the loss do not lie with FO, do not lie with the coaching staff, nor even the players. It appears to be the style of play that is the problem, and that is a direct decision of the coaching staff and the manager. If they can't adapt with the players we have, and we've already seen a revolving door of players and how that didn't work, then the next step is to change the style, and whatever needs to go with that.

[Jamaicanadian]

This is my issue with the game on Tuesday. I get it that they tried to put Canadians on the field, players who should have pride in their national competition. I even get it that they tried to play the same formation that has been successful for them in a few games this year.

We don't appear to have the horses to be able to play an English possession game - strong defence combined with a surgical counter attack. We have sequences of good first touches until we get under pressure. Under pressure, our positioning is just a bit off, causing changes in possession. Even without pressure, our passes are sometimes off, leaving open men looking back at a ball that has gone somewhere else.

We don't close in on the ball as quickly as we should when the opposition has it, giving them valuable time and space.

We have plenty of creativity up front, with De Ro and Vitti, but both have their own styles and seem to need to complete a play themselves because few others appear to be on the same page as them in the ability to anticipate.

My issues over the loss do not lie with FO, do not lie with the coaching staff, nor even the players. It appears to be the style of play that is the problem, and that is a direct decision of the coaching staff and the manager. If they can't adapt with the players we have, and we've already seen a revolving door of players and how that didn't work, then the next step is to change the style, and whatever needs to go with that.

I totally understand your frustration Coach!

I am of the opinion that our lack of finishing was of more concern than the tactics employed. We had very good opportunities on goal despite the tactics. The Van-City striker made excellent use of his opportunities.

If TFC finish the chances; we're not having this discussion. You cant win if you you dont score........