Match Day 4 - TFC @ Colorado 14 April Saturday 3pm - Rocky Mountain High

[molenshtain]

Chapman and Hamilton were solid if unspectacular I thought. You also have to figure in that each of the guys on the field will look better with the starting lineup. Good for all of them to get minutes regardless.

Akexte is the Basque John Bostock.

[PizzaEatingYeti]

Can we just start the MLS Regular Season on April 28th? — this is all just wasting time until then pretty much. Obviously we are all in for the 17th and 25th as it should be, as that is about our legacy as an “all time” team in this part of the world; but 1-5 seems like a given after the Houston game. I’m hoping the squad will not have a let down emotionally after the CCL (win or lose, it’s been the whole focus since the moment MLS Cup ended), as they can’t coast if they want to win about 18/28 to finish in the top few spots. A one game playoff on the road is still not a sure thing if we finish 5/6......again, I’m not saying to panic by any stretch as we are obviously the most talented and deepest team on paper, it’s more a situation of whether the quest of getting to the top of the mountain on April 25th will lead to an emotional let down afterwards.....they may need to build a new “empty trophy case” to try to fill.....ha ha ha.....

I guess that by the end of our CCL run we'll be so much behind the best in East, that no matter how well we'll do in the remaining games, we'll have the chance to catch only the 3-4 th spot in East at the end of the regular season.

[Red CB Toronto]

That's a risk. Just seems to me TFC II is more like the old reserve squad set up than a quality USL side (ie all development, not much competitive success).

The biggest difference is that you have a full blown academy now unlike the days of the joke MLS reserve league where a number of teams did not take it seriously. I honestly believe that wins and losses are not a priority when it comes to the MLS2 sides that are playing in the USL. Its a double edge sword as you can see that both Montreal and Vancouver both scrapped their USL sides after a few seasons. But I think from their perspective they factored in some commercial success to some extent with there respective 2 teams.

[mistercorporate]

3/5th's of the way to meeting our total amount of losses from last year.

I'd be interesting to see if all of those people who thought we'd repeat the shield and do even better points wise this year still think that.

Once you win the shield, it's not such a big deal. Winning CONCACAF and possibly going further are way better accomplishments, particularly since we've never gone this far before. It's the MLS Cup that puts stars on our logo, so as long as we get enough points/wins to make it to the playoffs this year that's all we'll need to have a good chance at getting another Cup.

[PizzaEatingYeti]

I'we seen nothing yet from Aketxe which gives hope he'll worth to be a starter at any time this year.

Funny thing is that from the big 3 signings before this season, the order of importance looked: Aketxe, VDW and Auro, but by now they turned out exatly in the opposite order:
Auro by far the best signing, VDW not super, but what we have expected, and Aketxe being a miss so far.

[Hamilton_Red]

Once you win the shield, it's not such a big deal. Winning CONCACAF and possibly going further are way better accomplishments, particularly since we've never gone this far before. It's the MLS Cup that puts stars on our logo, so as long as we get enough points/wins to make it to the playoffs this year that's all we'll need to have a good chance at getting another Cup.

Winning the Shield means you play the Cup at home - it's a massive advantage in the strange MLS Cup format. Totally not giving up on winning the SS yet. We won't be able to draw anhy games this year - will have to go on a rampage once CONCACAF is in the bag.

The main concern from today is that maybe we are not as deep as we thought we are. Ricketts has gone backwards & if he doesn't get his head sorted he is in trouble. His first touch has been abysmal. Aketexe - that fierce left foot is going to burst a net soon. Missing that chance today is a big dissapointment - he had the chance to lead that group of youngsters and get a result. Hamilton was OK - but he has been better.

Key issue was resting the team and no injuries for those that couldn't be rested.

[ensco]

It's not reasonable to have expected much of anything today. The league isn't that shitty. I hope this group of guys can get a draw in Houston, that's going to be even tougher. Almost certainly another loss coming there. Can't be helped.

I just... don’t care about the shield. At all.

1) We already won it.
2) Mostly, shield winners don’t win MLS Cup.
3) If we have to play any western team on the road in a winner take all final game, I could care less. We would be the favorite, and I don’t care what the standings say. Could be a fun road trip!

It isn’t, and shouldn’t be, a priority for us.

[Ajax TFC]

So two games started, and Aketxe is already the new John Bostock even though he created more chances than the rest of the team put together out there. Okay then

[molenshtain]

So two games started, and Aketxe is already the new John Bostock even though he created more chances than the rest of the team put together out there. Okay then

He was playing as our #10 and we played two forwards as wingers with Ben Spencer as our striker. Who else was supposed to be creating chances?

[ensco]

Aketxe needs first team time to show what he has got. It took Vazquez a couple of months.

Not saying Aketxe is good or bad, just saying it’s not possible to say when you throw him out there with the reserves. At altitude.

(Aketxe will never get a real shot at unless we move one of Osorio or Delgado. So he may be gone in the summer.)

Why does anyone think Colorado are crap? Can we have a reality check here? They are no joke, they have had a strong start, and they played our full lineup, including Vazquez, Mavinga and Morrow, even, in 3 of the 4 halves of football we played them in 6 weeks ago.

That is as good or better than Tigres or America did against us, and we had depleted lineups against those teams.

[RedsYNWA]

I'we seen nothing yet from Aketxe which gives hope he'll worth to be a starter at any time this year.

Funny thing is that from the big 3 signings before this season, the order of importance looked: Aketxe, VDW and Auro, but by now they turned out exatly in the opposite order:
Auro by far the best signing, VDW not super, but what we have expected, and Aketxe being a miss so far.


I agree 100%

[Kaz]

This was a game that no one expected to win easily and likely was going to be a loss. It is ok. It actually wasn't that bad. A group of players who have never really played togeather like that, thrown togeather over a weekend.

The error to me was not preping this and having this group on the training field for the last week or two working together. I think if they had had more time to know one another this could have actually been a win... which... I hate saying it... is a comment on Colorado not us.

[Ajax TFC]

He was playing as our #10 and we played two forwards as wingers with Ben Spencer as our striker. Who else was supposed to be creating chances?
Well yeah, he created chances but the forwards couldn't capitalize. Also managed to get a quality shot off despite the forwards not being threatening enough at any point to draw defenders. As the #10 his job was to create chances and he actually did a good job of it. If we had a decent striker instead of BS we might have gone into the halftime break with a goal because of it. Comparisons to that headless chicken are unwarranted. He might appear a bit out of it defensively but he's clearly capable of creating quality goalscoring opportunities

[James17930]

3/5th's of the way to meeting our total amount of losses from last year.

I'd be interesting to see if all of those people who thought we'd repeat the shield and do even better points wise this year still think that.

I was one of those people and I definitely don't think that anymore. It bothers me that we are having to (willingly) sacrifice so much in MLS to attempt to win the CCL, but I guess it's necessary. I mean, if everyone at the club thinks we need to do this to win the CCL, I have to trust them. They know better than me.

It's just disappointing.

[OgtheDim]

Blame the uniforms!!!!

[TheSloanRanger]

I was one of those people and I definitely don't think that anymore. It bothers me that we are having to (willingly) sacrifice so much in MLS to attempt to win the CCL, but I guess it's necessary. I mean, if everyone at the club thinks we need to do this to win the CCL, I have to trust them. They know better than me.

It's just disappointing.

CCL > Shield.
we just knocked off Tigers and America. We don't need to prove ourselves to Colorado and Co. in MLS. This is a lot bigger than the Shield right now. Enjoy the ride!!

[Oldtimer]

This makeshift squad probably could have done much better if they had trained together. It's probably too much of an ask to have Vanney manage a second squad just for a couple of matches results, though. Good as he is, he's a human being and can't work 25 hours a day.

Maybe they can learn from this, as they've learned from everything else and have someone else manage a B squad for occasions like this. It's going to come up every year if TFC keeps winning.

[Redcoe15]

I guess that by the end of our CCL run we'll be so much behind the best in East, that no matter how well we'll do in the remaining games, we'll have the chance to catch only the 3-4 th spot in East at the end of the regular season.

It's not how you start, but rather how you finish that matters. I didn't really expect TFC to win today, given the lineup they put out, and I don't expect them to win next Saturday in Houston. At this moment, the CONCACAF Championship is all that should matter. Once that gets settled - i.e., winning the trophy - then they should be back to their kickass ways in no time.

[SirBobSaget]

Man some of you guys are super harsh. This was a patched-up lineup thrown out there to hopefully compete and they did. Aketxe was the focal point of the attack, despite Colorado marking him heavily he still managed some key passes and scoring chances. He had no space, when he lines up next to the first team he would look much better. Put Osorio out there tonight he would have done the same or less. Just like when Osorio he played with the 2nd team vs Ottawa.

[molenshtain]

Aketxe was the focal point of the attack, despite Colorado marking him heavily he still managed some key passes and scoring chances. He had no space, when he lines up next to the first team he would look much better. Put Osorio out there tonight he would have done the same or less. Just like when Osorio he played with the 2nd team vs Ottawa.


Indeed, that's quite likely. Though Aketxe is our fourth highest paid player now, ahead of all our other midfielders except Bradley. He needs to prove he can make the players around him better, which is what a good playmaker does.

I don't at all see him being the type of Player that Vazquez is, and he can't do what Osorio or Delgado (or even Hasler) do in the role beside him. I don't know what the point of him is. If we frequently played in a 5 man midfield I'd understand the change of pace he'd give you, but outside of that i'm not really sure what he can give us. I'd be happy to be proven wrong, and that's entirely possible given how early in the season it is, but for know i'm pretty unenthusiastic. We'll see.

Outside of that I don't think anyone is unhappy with today. Good to give the kids a run. Not much else to take away.

[Red CB Toronto]

This makeshift squad probably could have done much better if they had trained together. It's probably too much of an ask to have Vanney manage a second squad just for a couple of matches results, though. Good as he is, he's a human being and can't work 25 hours a day.

Maybe they can learn from this, as they've learned from everything else and have someone else manage a B squad for occasions like this. It's going to come up every year if TFC keeps winning.

It will be interesting to see if Greg goes to Houston next Saturday or as suggested one of the assistant coaches overseas the match. From what I gather TFC will leave for either Denver or Mexico Wednesday for training in altitude before the lineup taking on the Dynamo head to Houston. The Reds will face this on a lesser level later this year with their Cup semi-final first leg leg most likely at Ottawa, where it will be the middle game of three road games in a week.

[Leedsoronto]

Chapman and Hamilton were solid if unspectacular I thought. You also have to figure in that each of the guys on the field will look better with the starting lineup. Good for all of them to get minutes regardless.

Akexte is the Basque John Bostock.

This is my take on it too. Although the team looked like a TFC2 team on a bad day, some of the individual players may look better surrounded by quality players.

Take Hamilton for instance. Bloody awe full today, but the 10 mins he came on in Concaf he set up a sitter within minutes of coming on.

[Red CB Toronto]

This is my take on it too. Although the team looked like a TFC2 team on a bad day, some of the individual players may look better surrounded by quality players.

Take Hamilton for instance. Bloody awe full today, but the 10 mins he came on in Concaf he set up a sitter within minutes of coming on.

I think in games like this some players can give you a glimpse of what they can be, but with some a miss mash of a roster its tough to really get a feel for them. JHams for instances with the full service of our first choice midfield likely could shine, at least I would hope so.

[ensco]

I thought we'd win the Supporters Shield because I thought we'd lose to Tigres. I still cannot believe we did that.

[Red CB Toronto]

I thought we'd win the Supporters Shield because I thought we'd lose to Tigres. I still cannot believe we did that.

You were not the only one, I had doubts about the Reds knocking off Tigres, 50/50 at best. This in my eyes had turned into what the MLS Cup final was last year. Pinch me now, think I am dream.

[Carter]

Scheduled loss, so the result is what it is.

Fraser was great on the ball, had a bit of trouble in the tackle. He's a good player though.

Aketxe will come good eventually. He's talented and I'll always bet on talent.

Best thing about this game is Bradley coming away with 0 minutes played. On to Chivas.

https://s18.postimg.cc/hk0e2l4np/0_CDA1417-748_C-4_C5_C-_BD71-_BD6_F55832_CD7.png (https://postimg.cc/image/hk0e2l4np/)


https://s18.postimg.cc/4sm7w32lh/26_E83_E84-_C2_E5-496_D-9_D3_D-6_EECF2_EBB263.png (https://postimg.cc/image/4sm7w32lh/)

[Fort York Redcoat]

Ricketts should've done better. What a chance for redemption.

Not a surprise that ex Colorado staples Irwin and Moor got the most touches on the day.

[Auzzy]

For me, no surprise or worry about the result. I'm still hoping for more from Aketxe. Learning to play in a new midfield setup is probably the most difficult, so we need to give him more time.

The only thing that worried me a bit: there were times where many of the young guys / callups / regular bench players seemed to not be trying very hard. Just in that way, it reminded me a bit of that game vs. Ottawa Fury. I would think they would be giving 120% in hopes of earning a future spot. Not sure what's up with that. Are some of these guys used to being medium-sized fish in the tiny pond of Canadian soccer?

[paul-collins]

The only thing that worried me a bit: there were times where many of the young guys / callups / regular bench players seemed to not be trying very hard. Just in that way, it reminded me a bit of that game vs. Ottawa Fury. I would think they would be giving 120% in hopes of earning a future spot. Not sure what's up with that. Are some of these guys used to being medium-sized fish in the tiny pond of Canadian soccer?
I think altitude had an effect.