Jair Marrufo is reffing this one.
Jair Marrufo is reffing this one.
So one of the better refs.
This time, there will be yellows because they don't hold over for the final. But the liklihood of a red is small. Which is good for us because we can't beat a 10 man team. :scarf:
I just checked the temp grandstand tickets. Very few left, in the back. I think they'll sell out within the next few hours.
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Originally Posted by mistercorporate
Why? In my experience, the fake grass is better for technical teams. The ball runs truer, no divots, the speed is better for players with good control.
That's maybe true if comparing a regular (or poorly maintained) grass field to standard turf. But here we are talking about a pretty bad turf surface with noted inconsistencies vs. what would have been a good quality outdoor field.Quote:
Originally Posted by Canary10
Not that it completely excuses TFC's lack of link up play by any means...
I don't know. I'm skeptical that it would make much difference, other than being really bad on your body. Certainly wouldn't fix our awful positioning and huge gaps in the mid!Quote:
Originally Posted by ag futbol
Most people seem to be on the side of "don't change the 3-5-2, it's working" but is it? We narrowly beat out Chicago with it. Sure, it was the first game playing in the formation but it was by no means flawless. For the next three games, maybe it just happened to work well tactically against the two teams we faced and their style of play. On a goals/minute stat, I'd imagine that we have a much higher scoring rate with 3 forwards on vs 2. As a counterpoint to that however, you could imagine that having fresh legs is also a factor as I don't think we've played with 3 forwards any earlier than from the 60th minute.
Are Montreal strong enough to keep us out at home for 90 mins? I dont think so which is why IMO they need to come here and score. Even being 3-2 down, I honestly believe the pressure is all on MTL. How do they approach this one? Do they come and defend for a 0-0? Come try and attack and get a goal? I think they're going to have to sit back and see how we approach it. We don't need to score in the 1st minute and that will take a bit of pressure of our lads.
We should start with the same lineup and formation that finished in MTL. Keep the pressure on MTL from the get go.
My other club team is Juventus and they brought back the 3-5-2 about 4 years ago with Antonio Conte (who is know the coach of Chelsea who plays a 3-4-3). This is what I wrote in the post match thread and why I feel they need to change the formation against a team like Montreal that set up to be compact and hit on the counter quickly...Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt.Cro
"After thinking about this game, I realized where I seen this play out before... I am a Juve fan and they play a 3-5-2 and they struggle with teams that play very compact and only come at you on the counter. When you play against a team that plays 4-3-3 you can't play with 3 CB as the get too isolated especially with their speed. Also, the midfielder's need to play a two way game and both Cooper and Osorio didn't have it last night, which in turn left Bradely having to cover way too much ground. The wing backs were very rarely in the right position which caused the formation to become too unbalanced and opened up holes that Montreal exploited.
Kudos on Montreal having an excellent tactical plan and executing it. IMO TFC needs to play 4-2-3-1 against a team like Montreal with Johnson and Bradley holding mids. Seba Cooper Ricketts in the attacking midfield and Jozy upfront."
To expand on the midfielder's roles in a 3-5-2 you have Bradley sitting deep to initiate the plays and to provide support to the defense. Osorio and Cooper need to be box to box covering defensively and push forward when in attack. Think of Marchisio, Vidal or Pogba (Juve version not Man U version) incredible engines, but diligent enough not be caught to high up on the counter. Against teams that want to play possession based think anyone except Montreal or (Colorado maybe) this formation works as you can stretch the gaps to provide lanes between the mid and defense to get Seba or Jozy in positions to attack. Where as Montreal plays essentially with 2 defensive midfielders who sit in front of the defense and the third midfielder is a box to box, but extremely cautious going forward, their job is to clough the middle of the park. The wing backs need to be aware of the defensive responsibility and positionaly aware that if they see the mids deep in the attacking third to pull back to ensure we won't be caught on the break like we did. Where as against teams like Philly or NYFC we can play this way.
Also, if you notice Montreal's break is a diagonal ball to the other side of the pitch and then due to the midfielders not tracking back you leave the defenders exposed. which was what happened on the first 2 goals and on the 3rd goal the midfielders were so high up the pitch that it left Bradley in no mans land he couldn't foul him as it would have been a yellow and suspended for this leg.
That wasn't grass, that was synthetic carpet with a 1cm pile dyed green with substandard underpadding over concrete. :prrr:Quote:
Originally Posted by Canary10
What about the matchup of Oduro and Hagglund? That's a glaring mismatch. For some reason Hagglund can't stay on his feet and is too lanky to get the speed to stop Oduro. Also, that positional awareness....is no good.
ESPN had been interested in moving some playoff games to midweek as their numbers suggested that it could prove successful for them. The Grey Cup issue was a good reason to do it, and the U.S. ratings showed that it may have been a good idea despite featuring two Canadian teams.Quote:
Originally Posted by ensco
If anything, the relatively good ratings south of the border could lead to more midweek playoff matches across the board next year.
Anybody know if MTL has managed to fill out the away support section yet?
That's comforting.....Quote:
Originally Posted by notthesun
http://www.empireofsoccer.com/bolivi...marrufo-49395/
I’m taking the optimistic approach to this one in hoping that he’s… made up for his shortcomings(?) in the last 6 months and has… earned(?) to ref this match?Quote:
Originally Posted by Carter
Never had a great opinion of MLS refs to begin with unfortunately.
In other words, shite. I can't remember the last time I've seen a soccer ball bounce so much. It was pretty bad.Quote:
Originally Posted by Initial B
Not sure if it really matters but I took a look at formations through the regular season. Majority of the time MTL plays a 4-2-3-1. When they've lost their opposition has played the same formation of 4-2-3-1 including our win against them in the Canadian Championship. I wrote out the formations for all their games along with scores for those interested. Their record playing 4-2-3-1 is 8-7-8. Take this all with a grain of salt.
At least it ain't Toledo.Quote:
Originally Posted by notthesun
Thank everything that is good and holy that it ain't Toledo.
looks like its raining the day of the game. Anyone know if its going to rain during the game? I got tickets in the temp stands, but I don't know if I want to be in the cold rain.
You want to be in the cold rain, if necessary.Quote:
Originally Posted by rockxlee
Oh Toronto,Quote:
Originally Posted by rockxlee
We love you so,
We sing for you NO MATTER RAIN OR SNOW
Biggest game in club history. Rain never killed anybody.
The issue was not the formation, but how we were playing. we were caught flat footed, we have to come out concentrated and ready from second one.
You have to keep compact, and keep shape, the mids cannot leave too much space between them and the backline, and the full backs cannot sit too far up when we are without the ball. That is what we need to do, not change formation.
You stick to the formation that got you there, you just adjust accordingly. You still play 3 at the back, you just ask the wing backs to sit back and the three mids to space out properly and keep proper shape. It should look like a 5-3-2 when defending, transitioning to a 3-5-2 in attack. We just need to play the disciplined counter attacking football we did against NYFC and we will win and go through.
The only other thing that I would consider, is instead of playing the three mids, like CM-DM-CM, with the DM sitting back, I would play two like DM-CM-DM, allowing one of the DMs to push up while the other holds back. That trys to avoid what happened on the second goal, when Giovionco gave away the ball, and Bradley was at the same level, which allowed Oneyaga to get on top of the back three that quickly.
But swithcing to palying two CBs when you have been playing 3 in such an imporanat game is asking for trouble. I think people just do not like the idea of the 3 at the back and look for reasons to get out of it.
Pretty sure there is a rule that MLS refs are only able to hate on 1 team per year.... http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt...e74237777.htmlQuote:
Originally Posted by Capt.Cro
I am pretty sure that rain has killed a person or two. You know storms, floods, lightning ect. . Just saying.Quote:
Originally Posted by charlieocc
The problem was the last game it wasn't actually as you stated how it should work. Against teams that will sit and bunker, I do not think that the majority of MLS players can figure out the spacing and have tactical acumen to stick with the plan. Against teams that want to keep possession and not just defend yes this system works perfectly. Again, I will use Juve as an example even they have issues playing against 3 forwards when a team bunkers and only wants to counter. I have watched that struggle for 3 years now.Quote:
Originally Posted by trane
In that case, Toronto Till I Die, possibly Wednesday.Quote:
Originally Posted by trane
:drinking:
Oh good we’re safe, thankfully the MLS has a rule for everything. Or maybe he just hates blue, in which case it still works for us.Quote:
Originally Posted by Carter
Quote:
Originally Posted by trane
I think the 3 of us all watch Serie A, so we know what Juve looks like in the 3-5-2 and the pros and cons of it.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheGoodson
TheGoodson is right in the sense that they struggle with countering teams that play 3 in the front, but the point Trane is making and that I think he is bang on with is that regardless of who you are playing, 1 of 2 thinks need to happen defensively in the 3-5-2, and that is....
1) Your wing backs have to be responsible enough defensively to know that the threat of the counter is always there and to consider it accordingly when attacking.
2) If the WB does get caught attacking, the RCM and LCM need to acknowledge that in the attack and provide cover should the WB get caught too far up.
Neither happened on Tuesday. I found that the WBs, Beitashour especially, got caught up field many times, and Cooper/Osorio could not cover for them (not surprising, as neither is great defensively).....it left a highway for Montreal to run at our CBs.
I like trane's idea of having a DM-CM-DM being Bradley-Osorio-Johnson, but my only concern in using it specifically in Leg 2 is that it would be too defensive considering we need to be on the front foot and score next week.
Montreal will sit back and invite us to open them up in this game, if any team will be playing disciplined counter attacking football it will be them. They will let us have possession knowing their two best outlets are Piatti on one side and Oduro on the other. They'll let us keep the ball until a move breaks down then bang, try and hit us on the break. We will need to play smart and wait for the right time to play the pass that carves them open. I felt in last match, Bradley was a bit to quick to play the direct ball to Seba. Couple of times it found its mark but more often that not it didn't. NYCFC had to come at us in 2nd leg, Montreal don't, unless we score very early. I'm sure Vanney will be working on this in training. I like your DM-CM-DM call, as anytime Bradley lost possession in their half we were wide open for the counter. I feel Johnson will come in, he offers Bradley protection, plus he can mix it up physically, something that was severely lacking in our mid in 1st leg.Quote:
Originally Posted by trane
We mustn't panic and try and get the ball in quickly, need to stay calm as chances will be made that way. The crowd will be keen for us to shoot and play the early killer pass but hopefully we stay relaxed and take our time.Once we score the tide is turned in this game....