The start of the rest of the season!

[invictusTFC]

TFC pulled off a great if not miraculous win in Colorado this past weekend. It was a wondrous strike by Barrett that held up as the eventual winner. I was also very impressed by the youngsters that Carver was forced to throw into action. James was solid in the back; Attakora-Gyan proved that he can be a serviceable substitute for Wynne; like last season, Gabe Gala continued to make a good impression at LM; and Ibrahim continued to demonstrate a skill set well beyond his 16 yrs of age. It was truly a remarkable performance, but there was also an immeasurable amount of luck involved and a giant for this team called Greg Sutton who continued his MVP like play.

Although we got a much needed victory from this game, I do warn that this team’s chronic problems still persist, and that the utilization of these kids isn’t the solution. TFC is still in desperate need of a consistent and effective striker as well as a proven and solid CB to offset the loss of Tebily (who should have been an undisputed starter for this club right from the start). The transfer deadline is upon us, and there has been little indication that reinforcements are on their way. Barret and Dichio are practical forwards, but they are hardly going to contend for golden boot honours in this league. Furthermore, what will happen if anyone of Marshall, Velez and James get injured or suspended? We can’t expect Robinson and or Brennen to step in on a regular basis because we are also short of options at their regular positions. (Wouldn’t Pat Phelan look great in a TFC uniform now?)

Lastly, we need reliable performances from our best players. Guevara, Robert, Ricketts and Edu have hardly been a model of consistency this season. If we want to be a playoff contender these guys need to step up. Trust me when I say that we aren’t going to go anywhere with players like Smith, Roselund, Gala and Hemming logging heavy minutes. Although they have put in some commendable performances they are nothing but role players at this point in their careers.

Lets just hope that this moral victory over the weekend was enough to shake the monkey off this team’s back and inject some much needed confidence into their play.

[Shaughno]

Can't really disagree with those points.

[McBrace]

Great Post, I would like to see Smith net a few before the end of the year. I feel his work ethic has been great, but he does have an issue with finishing so far.

[invictusTFC]

Great Post, I would like to see Smith net a few before the end of the year. I feel his work ethic has been great, but he does have an issue with finishing so far.

You can almost say that Smith is just the Kiwi version of Andrea Lombardo... lol

[McBrace]

Yeah but I think he's got a better first touch than Lambardo did. But it's been a while since I watch Lambardo! I don't remeber Lambardo hitting that many post.

[trane]

Cannot disagree with your assessmnet. The only thing that I hope , that sort of diverges from you view, is that a tandem of Dichio upfront and Barret in the hole may be interesting, and may produce resulst ( MAY), and that Attakora may be more then a servicable back. In the absence of new signing I would not mind for exampl a Wynne-Marhsall-Brennan-Attakora back line (if he can play on that side). However this is another thing that MAY work. It may be worth giving it a shot. Our midfield MAY be the most tallented and complete in the MLS but it needs to play like it game in and game out.

[Shaughno]

Agreed with Trane on the midfield comment as well.

[invictusTFC]

No doubt they are a talented bunch, but they haven't been in sync for a stretch now. Has the absence of a consistent target man affected their play, or is there something else going on behind the scenes?

[bangersandmash]

I'm going to go out on a very short limb here and say that ONLY thing we need is a striker. Our defense isn't perfect, but it tends to hold up for the first 80 minutes of the game. We don't get blown out of the water and we tend to lose games by a goal.

If we were bagging an extra goal or two per game our 4 ties would be wins, and the 5 games we lost by a goal would be ties and our record would be 11-3-5. (yes, there are lots of ifs...) But my point is that for want of 1 goal a game we are in 5th rather than first.

I appreciate good defensive soccer but if given the choice of playing the current back line for the rest of the year and chasing an extra goal per game by getting a striker OR getting a CB and trying to stifle the competition into a string of 1-0 and 0-0 games, I think I'd take the first option.

isn't stating the obvious fun! :D

[nimamalek]

we are a different team with Dichio, everyone plays better with him up front, I think a healthy Dichio and we're in the playoffs

[invictusTFC]

Our defense isn't perfect, but it tends to hold up for the first 80 minutes of the game.



Unfortunately, its been in the last 10 minutes of games where this team has lost points. Our current defense has demonstrated on several occasions now that they lack the poise and composure to close out games and hold onto results.

I agree with you though. If this team could score at will their record would look different.

[BuSaPuNk]

Yeah with the Combo of Barrett and Dichio up front I think this gives us a better chance of constistant goal scoring.

[mclaren]

Sadly, this away win over Colorado was nothing but a one-off. Colorado is terrible and toothless up front like us at the moment. One fantastic strike separated two very poor sides. Let's not get excited about this one.

[jabbronies]

Our D is a problem. It's very shaky. I can't really put my finger on it, but they seem very disorganized as a whole. I'm not sure who the captain is (Jimmy B or Tyron) back there, but they need to start doing a better job of organizing the troops.

[Don Julio]

I don't remeber Lambardo hitting that many post.

The only posts Lombardo hit were the lamp posts on the Gardiner.

[dannyd]

Our D is a problem. It's very shaky. I can't really put my finger on it, but they seem very disorganized as a whole. I'm not sure who the captain is (Jimmy B or Tyron) back there, but they need to start doing a better job of organizing the troops.

I CAN put my finger on it... two words... Marvel Wynne. He's great at burning down the wing, but a huge liability at the back. Replace him and our D is pretty good.

[LucaGol]

Sadly, this away win over Colorado was nothing but a one-off. Colorado is terrible and toothless up front like us at the moment. One fantastic strike separated two very poor sides. Let's not get excited about this one.

I agree.

The only intangible here is some built up confidence and possibly some inkling of momentum.

I want to be positive...but I'd rather be realistic.

[loconet]

... a Wynne-Marhsall-Brennan-Attakora back line....

Don't forget Robinson, he had a pretty solid game back there. I'm hoping he becomes our "Marquez" (ie. flexible to play as a center defender and d. midfielder)

[trane]

^ I would like him to play well back just on top of the two centerbacks, like a stopper, while Edu play more up, as he likes to attack.