Originally Posted by
Auzzy
Yes Montreal was awful for long stretches. Because they're not great anyway; and they're even worse w/o some of their best players. Yes still it was closer than it needed to be. For long stretches, it played out like some other frustrating TFC games: lots of possession, but missing the final good ball and/or poor finishing. And ending as a tie or lost game based on a small number of chances of the opposition.
Not sure if you're referring to me, but I don't think I've ever said Vanney out (yet I'm worried it might happen, and he sometimes frustrates me). For me this was an example of Vanney over-thinking things. The same kind of decisions that have cost us in many other games, came close but didn't cost us last night. I wouldn't call him a tactical genius after that game, until things work more consistently, and in more difficult circumstances.
I thought Benezet and Gallardo were a breath of fresh air, and even did more defensively than I had been lead to expect. Gallardo can do well in the high press with his great speed; Benezet with a last-ditch tackle near our goal, and some other good work to contain Montreal, and to help win the ball back. In offense, both are players that can take on & beat players, with speed and/or guile. And as they attract & take on defenders or midfielders, they free up others.
Almost everyone played quite well last night, most of the time, and for me that was a good sign for the future. And hopefully all our best players get more time and more familiarity / consistency together.
Shoulda been 4-1, and mighta been 4-1, if Pozuelo had started (and maybe also Shaffleburg coming on sometime after the 60th minute, just to kill them off with even more speed). I don't go all ra-ra after winning on a tight score against weak & weakened opposition; I like to still debate and learn from that. (And dropping points in a well-designed game with good effort, against a superior team or against some wonder goals, would also be worth a good debate, and no reason to get despondent.)