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denime
08-24-2008, 08:20 AM
Barrett's goal lifts TFC to draw with Revolution
LARRY MILLSON

TORONTO — It was a game Toronto FC could have won and a game it could have lost so somehow a comeback 1-1 draw Saturday night with the New England Revolution seemed fitting.
Chad Barrett's nifty turn-and-hit goal in the 66th minute off a pass from Rohan Ricketts offset Tyler Twellman's goal against poor marking in the 35th minute in the Major League Soccer match played before an announced crowd of 20,461 at BMO Field.
It was Barrett's second goal in four games since joining Toronto in a trade with the Chicago Fire in late July and his seventh of the season.
Carlos Ruiz, another striker who was obtained by TFC in a trade with the Los Angeles Galaxy this past week, has not yet joined the team. He played in a World Cup a qualifier with Guatemala on Wednesday, a 1-0 loss to the United States, and had some business to tend to in Los Angeles. He is expected to join the team on Monday.

Read more (http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080823.wspttfc23/GSStory/GlobeSportsSoccer/home)


Ruiz, offence missing in action
Morgan Campbell

As last night's 1-1 draw with the New England Revolution wore on, and tiring TFC players blew chances to break the tie, head coach John Carver couldn't help but glance at the bench and wonder if the true difference maker was the guy who wasn't there.
He didn't mean Maurice Edu, who watched yesterday's game from the south stands a day after finalizing his $5 million (U.S.) transfer to Glasgow Rangers.
Instead, Carver pined for Carlos Ruiz, who came to TFC in a mid-week trade with the L.A. Galaxy, but who still hasn't reported.
Amid Internet rumours that a disgruntled Ruiz planned not to report to Toronto, Carver said the Guatemalan striker and former league MVP made a quick trip to Los Angeles after a World Cup qualifier in Guatemala. He said Ruiz has already spoken to team management and wished the squad luck in last night's game.
Carver expects Ruiz to join his new team as soon as tomorrow.

Read more (http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Soccer/article/484368)


Toronto FC earns draw with Revolution

John F. Molinaro

Moral victories are fine, but Toronto FC could use the real kind right about now.
Toronto battled to a hard-fought 1-1 tie with the New England Revolution on Saturday night at BMO Field, a result that, while not damaging, does little to bolster the Canadian club's chances of qualifying for Major League Soccer's playoffs.
New England improved its league-best mark to 11-6-4, while Toronto (7-9-5) remains near the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
With one win in their last nine contests and only nine games left on the schedule, Toronto needs to start winning again — and soon — if it is to have any hope of making the post-season.
"We played against a very good team today and if we keep performing like that we'll get into the playoffs, I have no doubt about that," midfielder Carl Robinson told CBCSports.ca.
Guatemalan striker Carlos Ruiz, recently acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Galaxy, did not dress for Toronto, as he was still in California tending to personal matters.

Read more (http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2008/08/23/mls-revolution-torontofc.html)



TFC fails to finish the job
Reds squander good scoring chances to settle for draw
By FRANK ZICARELLI, SUN MEDIA

Toronto FC was fit to be tied last night.
And with every point meaningful in a desperate playoff push, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing for a franchise that underwent a recent roster upheaval.
A point taken, but more importantly in the big picture are the two points squandered as the host Reds tied the mighty New England Revolution 1-1 at BMO Field.
In the final analysis, TFC should have won this game.
In the final moments, it also was a game TFC could have lost had 'keeper Greg Sutton not produced a save and defender Julius James not blocked a New England salvo.
In a season of should-haves, the Reds should have scored at least three times, only to find heartache.
Unless it discovers a finish and more polish in defending its box, TFC's dash to the finish line and the end of the season, which has nine games remaining, will come up short.

Read more (http://www.torontosun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2008/08/24/6555961-sun.html)



Barrett lifts Toronto FC to draw with Revs
THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO -- His team had great chances to win and lose, so Toronto FC head coach John Carver wasn't about to complain about a 1-1 draw with the league-leading New England Revolution in Major League Soccer action on Saturday night at BMO Field.

"I thought we deserved to get something more, yet we could have lost it at the end," Carver said after his team's entertaining game against the three-time reigning MLS runner-up before a sellout crowd of 20,461.

"(Goaltender Greg) Sutton made a great save and (defender Julius) James made a fantastic block (to preserve the tie)."

Indeed, Sutton had to dive right to make an outstanding stop on Steve Ralston before James got in front of a shot from Khano Smith in the dying seconds to push Toronto (7-9-5) within two points of a tie for the final MLS playoff spot.

But after Toronto forward Chad Barrett scored a beautiful goal to tie it at 1-1 in the 66th minute, the home side had several excellent opportunities to pull out three points.

Read more (http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/2008/08/23/barrett_tfc_goal/)



In Mo's world, waving the white flag is a victory
Cathal Kelly (http://www.thestar.com/opinion/columnists/94561)
We have no clue who else is in the running, but we're going to take a chance and guarantee that Toronto FC's Mo Johnston has MLSE Employee of the Month sewed up for August.
At the outset of the year, MLSE gave him zero dollars to populate his team with players. The league pays the salaries. This week, Johnston gave them more than $3 million back. How they spend it isn't entirely up to them, but they don't hire accountants for nothing.
This is infomercial stuff: You give me nothing. I give you money. Cliff Fletcher and Bryan Colangelo must be getting some searching looks in the hallway.
No wonder MLSE thinks soccer's such a blast. This is the sort of math that made Enron great. So, brilliant work. Shame about the team.
Though both moves were inevitable, for very different reasons, selling Maurice Edu and waiving Laurent Robert amounted to giving up on the 2008 season. Edu was the team's best player. Robert was its most talented. The two things are different. For one, Edu cared.
"It hurts to leave right now," Edu said yesterday.
Robert didn't give a fig. His on-field apathy was often painful to watch. However, the diffident Frenchman was still the most likely Toronto player to create a goal from nothing.
FC is still on the edges of the playoff race, with only nine games left. But they gave up a big plus and clipped a force multiplier. Based on last night's lack of evidence, they replaced them with a pair of question marks. Johann Smith played only five minutes. Carlos Ruiz is still lost in transit. The side looked spirited in tying the Revolution, but the terminal flaw – an inability to finish – still glares.
How Johnston is getting away with white-flag waving is the greater trick. Somehow, the Toronto FC conversation has been diverted away from the team and focused entirely on where they play.

Read more (http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Soccer/article/484374)


Reds see progress in draw with Revs
Tactical change sparks Toronto against New England

TORONTO -- After his side absorbed a 2-1 defeat to New England on June 28, Toronto FC coach John Carver knew some changes were in order for Saturday's rematch between the two Eastern Conference rivals. "If you cast your mind back to when we played in New England, we struggled playing 4-4-2 against them because ... they played 3-5-2 then," Carver said. "I said we wouldn't be able to handle their three [midfielders] inside so I had to play with three in there."
The Reds came out in the 3-5-2 formation on Saturday with backs Jim Brennan and Marvell Wynne moving up on the wings, and usual winger Rohan Ricketts moving up to play forward alongside Chad Barrett. The plan ended up working out for the best as Ricketts and Barrett combined for TFC's only goal in a 1-1 tie with the Revolution.

Read more (http://toronto.fc.mlsnet.com/news/team_news.jsp?ymd=20080823&content_id=182728&vkey=news_t280&fext=.jsp&team=t280)



http://i38.tinypic.com/rbwdtx.jpg


SUNSHINE (http://www.torontosun.com/SUNshineGirl/home.html)

ensco
08-24-2008, 09:02 AM
Can someone explain to me what the heck Cathal Kelly's point was?

olegunnar
08-24-2008, 09:07 AM
We've passed last year's point total.

Ossington Mental Youth
08-24-2008, 09:11 AM
Can someone explain to me what the heck Cathal Kelly's point was?

I think hes trying to cater to the "MLSE/Mo is the antichrist" group, the problem is that a) i dont think he understands that the money we do receive from Edu does not go to MLSEs coffers b)its split in two, 500k for transfers and the rest to be put back into TFC (NOT MLSEs coffers). Id love to leave a comment for him but tha tmeans creating a profile with the toronto star etc etc. Ideally he will read this in here.

Youre deluding your self Cathal

Kevvv
08-24-2008, 09:29 AM
Can someone explain to me what the heck Cathal Kelly's point was?


The team isn't as good as it could be because of an ever changing roster, but everyone is too distracted (by real grass and the Argos at BMO) to call him on it.

Beach_Red
08-24-2008, 09:37 AM
Can someone explain to me what the heck Cathal Kelly's point was?

First he says the league pays the players and holds the contracts, then he complains that TFC sold Edu. Now, I know that if I didn't follow the weird/unique MLS rules on this board I wouldn;t understand them, either, but I don't write for the Star.

Sometimes Cathal Kelley reads like he gets all his stories from the discussions here and sometimes like he's never really heard of the MLS.

Oh, and he'd like to find a cheap house in Toronto....

Ossington Mental Youth
08-24-2008, 09:47 AM
Sometimes Cathal Kelley reads like he gets all his stories from the discussions here and sometimes like he's never really heard of the MLS..

HAHAHA
totally true, i get that impression as well

mclaren
08-24-2008, 11:59 AM
CATHAL KELLY IN GREAT ARTICLE SHOCKER!!

Couldn't have put it any better myself Cathal. We all seem to be a bunch of suckers at the moment.

Cashcleaner
08-24-2008, 12:11 PM
Kelly's article has really hit the mark, actually.


How Johnston is getting away with white-flag waving is the greater trick. Somehow, the Toronto FC conversation has been diverted away from the team and focused entirely on where they play.


After selling his only genuine star, Johnston was able to placate fans by suggesting that maybe, perhaps, cross-your-fingers, the club might install grass at BMO Field.


Grass would be great. But since neither Johnston nor his bosses have the power to switch the surface at BMO, his assurances lack something by way of credibility.



And, of course, there is the ongoing and tiresome debate about the Argos and BMO Field. Where the team seemed genuinely threatened by the CFL's intentions at first, it now seems happy to drag out the discussion. The more people talk about the field, the less they pay attention to the performance of the squad.


Because right now it's a shambles. The main problem is continuity. This roster undergoes plenty of turnover without ever seeming to get any better. That's Johnston's responsibility. He still can't find a frontline striker. There really isn't a player capable of replacing Edu's varied midfield talents in all of MLS, so the crisis only deepens.


The truth hurts, but he's made a few good points.

Billy the kid
08-24-2008, 12:17 PM
"Edu was the team's best player. Robert was its most talented."

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?

Ossington Mental Youth
08-24-2008, 12:43 PM
sorry, not buying it

ensco
08-24-2008, 01:13 PM
Cashcleaner, you may "soy mas inteligente que tu" but you (and Kelly) are "muy mal" on this ;):

- Mo doesn't need to hide when it comes to how the team is doing. We're still in the playoff chase (39% chance of making it as of this morning), with more points after 21 games than we got from 30 games last year. The season isn't a failure that requires whitewashing.

- This "turnover" point is bogus. Core of team hasn't changed that much. It was Dichio, Brennan, Robinson, Sutton, Wynne, Edu and O'Brien in May 2007 last year. Only two of these are gone, and Mo wouldn't have moved them if the only factors were how he feels about what those two did for the team. The attempts to add to that core (Cunningham, Robert, Ricketts, Guevara, Ibbe, Barrett and Ruiz) haven't worked out yet, I agree, but the results aren't really in yet. No team in this league has depth.

- Finally, Mo is way out on a limb on this grass thing, and he's not getting enough support from the supporters on this. He's trying to get the one thing done that could make or brake the long-term success of the team. Having reporters calling this a diversion is bad enough, but if influential supporters' go along with it, the initiative to get grass will fail before it starts.

Ossington Mental Youth
08-24-2008, 01:27 PM
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
yes, well said

James17930
08-25-2008, 02:14 AM
"Edu was the team's best player. Robert was its most talented."

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?

Let me add a few more 'a's to this one, because I gotta agree

. . . aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?


Also, no one else may mind or notice, but this article is riddled with little semantic and phrasing errors. It makes me think he wrote it half-drunk half-an-hour before deadline.

Cashcleaner
08-25-2008, 02:17 AM
Cashcleaner, you may "soy mas inteligente que tu" but you (and Kelly) are "muy mal" on this ;):

- Mo doesn't need to hide when it comes to how the team is doing. We're still in the playoff chase (39% chance of making it as of this morning), with more points after 21 games than we got from 30 games last year. The season isn't a failure that requires whitewashing.

- This "turnover" point is bogus. Core of team hasn't changed that much. It was Dichio, Brennan, Robinson, Sutton, Wynne, Edu and O'Brien in May 2007 last year. Only two of these are gone, and Mo wouldn't have moved them if the only factors were how he feels about what those two did for the team. The attempts to add to that core (Cunningham, Robert, Ricketts, Guevara, Ibbe, Barrett and Ruiz) haven't worked out yet, I agree, but the results aren't really in yet. No team in this league has depth.

- Finally, Mo is way out on a limb on this grass thing, and he's not getting enough support from the supporters on this. He's trying to get the one thing done that could make or brake the long-term success of the team. Having reporters calling this a diversion is bad enough, but if influential supporters' go along with it, the initiative to get grass will fail before it starts.

I may disagree with your opinion, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it. :D

I_AM_CANADIAN
08-25-2008, 02:20 AM
Cathal Kelly back to his old self... He's way behind the times when it comes to TFC news. And to build a pretty small community facility, I can't see it taking more than 5 million dollars...