ben_vw
08-17-2008, 06:41 PM
For those of us who run TFC blogs I figured we could post our thoughts from today's game here for our fellow RPB to read.
Here (http://benstfc.blogspot.com/2008/08/toronto-fc-v-new-york-red-bulls-match_17.html) is my post about today's game:
Brief Synopsis
A goal by Mike Magee in the 37th minute and another in stoppage time by Juan Pablo Angel gave us our ninth loss of the season. Gabriel Cichero was sent off in the 46th minute and TFC looked lacklustre in its attempts at an equalizer. Looks like its back to the drawing board, again.
Starting Eleven and Player Ratings
GK: Greg Sutton - 7 - Sutts was hung out to dry on both goals. Made a couple of nice saves, nothing special beyond that.
RB: Nana Attakora Gyan - 5 - He sent lots of stray passes to no one. Lots of promise, but not quite ready yet.
CB: Julius James - 6 - The rookie was our best defender on the day - a day where we looked out of sorts.
CB: Marco Velez - 4 - He sent stray passes, longs balls upfield to no one and his lack of pace showed on the goal.
LB: Jim Brennan - 5 - A particularly poor match for Jimmy. Was pretty much invisible out there.
RM: Rohann Ricketts - 6 - Ro did what he could to create some plays but is ideally a winger. At least tried to test Conway.
CM: Kevin Harmse - 4 - He cannot connect on simple passing plays and generally looks lost.
LM: Laurent Robert - 3 - He only played 45 minutes and contributed very little. A player of his quality should be contributing more!
FW: Chad Barrett - 6 - He forced his way through defenders on several occasions. It just didn't happen for him today.
FW: Ibee Ibrahim - 4 - He did very little in the first half and was subbed out after 45 minutes.
FW: Danny Dichio - NR - He went off injured after 2 minutes thanks to Cichero's elbow.
FW: Jarrod Smith - 2 - Back to the developmental roster, thanks for coming out. He was particularly poor.
LM: Johann Smith - 6 - He has phenomenal pace but had no help today. His potential is a positive.
Final Thought
After going up a man in the 46th minute we should have been off and running on the attack. We really missed Amado Guevara as there was no one to spark our attack. Until Dichio is healthy again, we should start with Johann Smith and Chad Barrett up front. Jo Smith's speed looks like it could be lethal. With 10 games left in the season, we are 7-9-4. At home, we still face New England, Columbus, Houston, and Chicago. As the points slip away so do our playoff hopes. All is not lost however, and I will optimistically hope for a late playoff push.
Here (http://benstfc.blogspot.com/2008/08/toronto-fc-v-new-york-red-bulls-match_17.html) is my post about today's game:
Brief Synopsis
A goal by Mike Magee in the 37th minute and another in stoppage time by Juan Pablo Angel gave us our ninth loss of the season. Gabriel Cichero was sent off in the 46th minute and TFC looked lacklustre in its attempts at an equalizer. Looks like its back to the drawing board, again.
Starting Eleven and Player Ratings
GK: Greg Sutton - 7 - Sutts was hung out to dry on both goals. Made a couple of nice saves, nothing special beyond that.
RB: Nana Attakora Gyan - 5 - He sent lots of stray passes to no one. Lots of promise, but not quite ready yet.
CB: Julius James - 6 - The rookie was our best defender on the day - a day where we looked out of sorts.
CB: Marco Velez - 4 - He sent stray passes, longs balls upfield to no one and his lack of pace showed on the goal.
LB: Jim Brennan - 5 - A particularly poor match for Jimmy. Was pretty much invisible out there.
RM: Rohann Ricketts - 6 - Ro did what he could to create some plays but is ideally a winger. At least tried to test Conway.
CM: Kevin Harmse - 4 - He cannot connect on simple passing plays and generally looks lost.
LM: Laurent Robert - 3 - He only played 45 minutes and contributed very little. A player of his quality should be contributing more!
FW: Chad Barrett - 6 - He forced his way through defenders on several occasions. It just didn't happen for him today.
FW: Ibee Ibrahim - 4 - He did very little in the first half and was subbed out after 45 minutes.
FW: Danny Dichio - NR - He went off injured after 2 minutes thanks to Cichero's elbow.
FW: Jarrod Smith - 2 - Back to the developmental roster, thanks for coming out. He was particularly poor.
LM: Johann Smith - 6 - He has phenomenal pace but had no help today. His potential is a positive.
Final Thought
After going up a man in the 46th minute we should have been off and running on the attack. We really missed Amado Guevara as there was no one to spark our attack. Until Dichio is healthy again, we should start with Johann Smith and Chad Barrett up front. Jo Smith's speed looks like it could be lethal. With 10 games left in the season, we are 7-9-4. At home, we still face New England, Columbus, Houston, and Chicago. As the points slip away so do our playoff hopes. All is not lost however, and I will optimistically hope for a late playoff push.