Match Day 33 - Montreal @ TFC Sunday Oct 15 5pm - The road unwinds before me

That was certainly an ugly game and not one that we can gain much confidence from, regardless of the outcome.

I heard a couple of people on the TTC trekking home say that, 'champions grind out hard fought results like that' but I can't agree that that was the scenario tonight - it was a poor performance and a game we might easily have lost.

We got the result like we did the last game, but that was by no means a team in form we saw today.

Too many poor showings there by players who ought to show better. A poor managerial showing too - Vanney has adjusted well generally to counter opposing teams this season but another measure of a manager's thinking is how he or she can cope with conditions.

The number of times we lost possession in dangerous positions was unforgivable, but yet we persisted with trying fancy, delicate flicks to play ourselves out of trouble. The wind played havoc with that shit. Adjust your tactics to cope with conditions or suffer the consequences - football is a multi-dimensional sport.

Early December can be brutal and a Supporters Shield will provide us little protection to hide behind should we play such crap football against a better team we faced this Sunday day.

One thing I can not have a decision about:

In this season in the 3 games against our rivals, Montreal, in 1 game we looked great (the first one), in one we looked by far the worst in the whole season (the second one), and in one we looked very bad (this, the last one).
I have not counted here the matches for the Canadian Championship.

What do you guys think, we have a problem when playing Montreal, or Montreal is somehow able to be playing almost always their very best when facing TFC?
Just think about how brutally bad were Montreal's results in the last 2 months, but they took 3 points from us before this game, and today just the Footy Gods made them to not take at least 1 point.

i dont understand why people on here really dont care that we won the shield,for me that is bigger than winning the mls cup.

There are definitely people like-minded to you and think the shield is the top piece of silverware. And there are people with the more North American mindset and think that winning MLS Cup is the ultimate goal. Personally, I put more weight on MLS Cup. Don’t get me wrong - I think the Supporter Shield is massive. I was a fan of the EPL before MLS and I appreciate the significance of being tops after an entire season. I love the EPL for that and would never want to see that changed to a playoff format. But I also don’t think MLS should ever change either. Some people only think the shield is bigger because of other, long established, European leagues - as if they value MLS less because it has a playoff and doesn’t end with the regular season. For me, some of the best soccer is international soccer - and those are all, ultimately, played in a playoff style tournament. You can’t find more intense soccer - with so much weight on each game. And I love that. I don’t feel a need for MLS to copy the “big boys” - we can be our own thing. It is massive to be the best team over 34 games. I absolutely understand those who weight it heavier than MLS Cup. But MLS Cup is trophy 1A in my eyes - and the shield a very close 1B.

Last night's game looked to me like TFC was practicing - trying to get their legs under them with all their starters. Montreal was FLAILING at the ball every time they could - rash tackles and trying to hound the ball carrier as much as possible. They were hungrier than us.

I can put the poor performance on a number of reasons.
1) they did NOT want to lose to MTL at home on the day where they get the shield presented to them - nerves got to the boys. I mean come on, it's Montreal.
2) Jozy and Bradley had some ghosts to shake off.
3) Giovinco had a bad game - although how much skill does it take to hit a post with a soccer ball twice in a row? Anyone can hit a net.... :hide:

And for those who were saying that Bono's distribution was terrible - it's always terrible. That's not his strong suit.

As referenced earlier....

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For Altidore, Sunday's celebrations came at the end of a tough week."It's been probably one of, if not THE, toughest periods of my life," he said. "Definitely the darkest three days I've probably had. I didn't leave the house, I really didn't do anything.
"But then I remember I'm in a special place and quickly I'm reminded just going to get a coffee, seeing somebody in a TFC shirt and them saying how much it means to them how well the team's done. I'm just reminded of how special of a club that I'm at, the city and the opportunity that I have."

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http://www.ctvnews.ca/sports/toronto...real-1.3633482

Bono man of the match for sure.

Hasler played well well and Morrow decently

Jozy was really poor, after his well taken goal.

bradley had some very good periods but multiple poor giveaways. Delgado and Vasquez too.

i thought Gio was fine, about what you'd expect given six weeks off

Moor really looks like he has lost a step.

wind was brutal.

i share the worry but it's less from this game than from the previous three. The conditions were brutal and it was the first game back after a break. Rust.

WTF with the two yellows to the captains for talking to the referee?

great day to be a Red!

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Originally Posted by Tfc/lfc

Especially Moor. He really needs to pick it up.

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You mean Zavaleta he has been atrocious for about 4 games know, Moore not as much, but needs to pick it up.

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Originally Posted by StokeciTFC

The number of times we lost possession in dangerous positions was unforgivable, but yet we persisted with trying fancy, delicate flicks to play ourselves out of trouble. The wind played havoc with that shit. Adjust your tactics to cope with conditions or suffer the consequences - football is a multi-dimensional sport.

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I think much of the “fancy” play happened in the attacking third, not that it made it any less frustrating to watch. Seeing a guy with 5-6 yards of space to operate at the top of the 18 try a pointless flick to a player who wasn’t even in a better position made me quite angry.

In our own third, when trying to play out of trouble, guys looked rusty or made poor decisions. Did not think our midfield or wide players played well in general.

This would have been a good game for a dour tactical performance where everything just gets ground up in midfield. Once we had that goal we should have shown more maturity.

Too many players committed forward on a lot of overly direct play which just left acres of space on the counter.

Sure, the team looked rusty and clunky. But I think the culprit lies beneath.
Bono combined skill and luck and was my man of the match.
I was looking for Vanney to get Edwards and Ricketts into the game to boost the TFC speed and attack...

But then the Montreal keeper slid and created a huge trough in the field on a goal kick and I started suspecting both field conditions and those tricky winds.
The Montreal insertion of Oduro indicated that it was not a night for speedsters.
TFC may have had time apart, but that pitch has not been rested and that 3:30 - 4 pm downpour must have been too much. A sluggish game was the result.


Argos Out!

Looking good with that Shield, boys.:scarf:

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Originally Posted by fergiejr

Last night's game looked to me like TFC was practicing - trying to get their legs under them with all their starters. Montreal was FLAILING at the ball every time they could - rash tackles and trying to hound the ball carrier as much as possible. They were hungrier than us.

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Yeah I feel that the Reds weren't playing to beat Montreal, they were playing to win on their own terms. They didn't adjust their game strategy to the conditions beyond keeping the ball down (except for Bono, who was still sailing the ball from both ends). They were trying the tricky things to get their timing back.

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Originally Posted by Derko

You mean Zavaleta he has been atrocious for about 4 games know, Moore not as much, but needs to pick it up.

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On one of our corners Zavaleta fell and I said to my seat neighbour "glad he's doing that in *their* box this game" - his game has been off since the last Montreal game, if not before. I'd like to see Hernandez or a healthy Hagglund get some minutes, even just to remind Eriq that he has to have some urgency to his defending.

Do we not have a left footed corner taker? Would be useful from the right corner in windy conditions, I think...

I'm going out for halloween as Left Post. damn that goal post stopped more shots than some of the players!.

The wind was freaking ridiculous. Just looking at how the streamers were flowing in multiple directions around the stadium shows that and luckily there were no Labrocca goals against us. Bono needs to learn how to kick a flat ball out like Milan Borjan when the wind is up. if you kick high, the ball slows down and the wind owns it. Side kick flat and you get much better control.

Seba always has rust after a layoff but I've never seen it that bad. Hope he pots a few in Atlanta to get the mojo back.

Really hoping this is just a dip in form and they will recover their midseason dominance as we get into the games that matter. The shield is locked up so time to get that last piece of hardware for this season. So glad we won the shield. Taking the cup will ensure there are no questions about this team in years to come.


Great TIFO's to those that built them. much respect to everyone that puts their time and energy into it. :flare::drum:

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Originally Posted by fergiejr

Last night's game looked to me like TFC was practicing - trying to get their legs under them with all their starters. Montreal was FLAILING at the ball every time they could - rash tackles and trying to hound the ball carrier as much as possible. They were hungrier than us.

I can put the poor performance on a number of reasons.
1) they did NOT want to lose to MTL at home on the day where they get the shield presented to them - nerves got to the boys. I mean come on, it's Montreal.
2) Jozy and Bradley had some ghosts to shake off.
3) Giovinco had a bad game - although how much skill does it take to hit a post with a soccer ball twice in a row? Anyone can hit a net.... :hide:

And for those who were saying that Bono's distribution was terrible - it's always terrible. That's not his strong suit.

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We got super lucky. They were missing some big pieces or it would have been a repeat.


The Issue is Montreal plays a very aggressive game against us (I mean they have literally put TFC players in the Hospital) They just run at all and try to prevent us from having time to do anything and then attack quickly on the counter.

We slowly build play and even when a counter can happen we stop wait a second and then start moving up letting them defend. Montreal is good at defending. Our Coaching staff knowing how Montreal plays has over and over again not properly prepared the team for it. Last time I think they just assumed we were better, this time I think they assumed that with Montreal out, they wouldn't play so hard. That is bad decision making. (Yes I'm biased I think while Vanney has come a long way he still makes the same mistakes particularly against pressing teams like Montreal and Seattle last December without having learned from that).

Tonight we had the add issue of the wind. It likely is the reason Gio hit both balls on the post giving it just a little too much spin and he didn't compensate. Warm Up should have had some time getting a bit of compensation for the high winds.

So tonight was a combo of improper preparation after a long break (which happens a lot with us it's been better this game not not 100%), High Winds, a Montreal side that plays hard and rough, Emotions (from Bradley and Altidore coming of their WCQ loss and Gio wanting goals).

The Pluses here is Bono was a beast. The Wind hurts both teams equally, Ganter was kept away from the pitch, and we didn't get too frustrated. The Boys kept their wits a bit better and were paying attention more than in the last game.

Atlanta will be interesting.

We weren't at our best, but we could have easily scored a few more goals with any luck.

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Originally Posted by Kaz

Tonight we had the add issue of the wind. It likely is the reason Gio hit both balls on the post giving it just a little too much spin and he didn't compensate. Warm Up should have had some time getting a bit of compensation for the high winds.

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How do you suggest he do that? his penalty shot was in the North end and TFC got the south end to warm up. Shooting on the south, with the wind at your back, in no way prepares you for shooting into the wind. And there was no comparable wind in the early afternoon before the storm line ripped through, so any earlier warmup would have been moot, weatherwise.

The press that Montreal plays does disrupt our passing, and we do need to adjust for that. NYRB plays us the same... But I think the adjustment is in the form of more precision, not change of style. We were very imprecise. That's rust.

In the position the team is in, opponent-wise, everything they do now is in preparation for the week of Oct 30. We fans have to keep that in mind. Forget the record, the shield, any mind games with Atlanta this weekend. Get the groove back.

I think it's time Victor Vazquez takes over penalty duties. Giovinco hasn't been great from the spot this year.

The wind played havoc with the passing game and with most shots. giovinco was a bit off, but still made some great passes and runs, he earned that penalty but once he missed it once, I was not surprised that he missed it again.

I have been on the boards less then in any other season, mostly because we have finally risen to the highest I believed we could, so I am very happy with everyone. Not perfect, we got to keep on growing and improving.

My only overall criticisms is that we should have played way more compact, to avoid some of those long passes in the wind, which were routinely being cut off. Giovinco should have score on the penalty, and he has another great setup from Jozy. But we won.

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Originally Posted by trane

The wind played havoc with the passing game and with most shots. giovinco was a bit off, but still made some great passes and runs, he earned that penalty but once he missed it once, I was not surprised that he missed it again.

I have been on the boards less then in any other season, mostly because we have finally risen to the highest I believed we could, so I am very happy with everyone. Not perfect, we got to keep on growing and improving.

My only overall criticisms is that we should have played way more compact, to avoid some of those long passes in the wind, which were routinely being cut off. Giovinco should have score on the penalty, and he has another great setup from Jozy. But we won.

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welcome back Trane! I think you are onto something here, for several games they have not a
ways been compact front to back, and are paying the price on the counter. The third Montreal goal last game when Bradley, Delgado and Vasquez were all caught up field was a good example of that. It allows our defence to be abused.

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Originally Posted by Canary10

I think it's time Victor Vazquez takes over penalty duties. Giovinco hasn't been great from the spot this year.

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You realize that Giovinco holds this year's MLS record for goals from the penalty spot?

That being said it would probably be good to have VV take a few. Giovinco is a bit rusty right now.

Molinaro chimes in.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/toron...azquez/sn-amp/

I forgot to mention that Beitashour did really well off the bench I thought. He made a number of good tackles in key moments and contained Montreal's forays down his flank. Showed his value as the more defensively responsible of our two RB options. Thought it was just him and Bono who were truly sharp on the day.

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Originally Posted by notthesun

I forgot to mention that Beitashour did really well off the bench I thought. He made a number of good tackles in key moments and contained Montreal's forays down his flank. Showed his value as the more defensively responsible of our two RB options. Thought it was just him and Bono who were truly sharp on the day.

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Agree about the Beita part, it's great that we have 2 serviceable RB on our team. But I think Bono was a bit shaky yesterday despite making a few clutch saves. He got lucky on the one in the 1st half where he tried to catch a bullet, which ended up bouncing off his chest and back to Mancosu. He was hesitant on a few occasions where he could've just throw it to an open player instead of holding it and ended up kicking it into the stands, I've seen better from him.

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Originally Posted by Oldtimer

You realize that Giovinco holds this year's MLS record for goals from the penalty spot?

That being said it would probably be good to have VV take a few. Giovinco is a bit rusty right now.

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He's 1 for 3 this year. Not even close to best in the league.

Wow there sure is a lot of negative comments about the team considering they just tied the all time points record. It wasn’t a pretty performance, the conditions played a big part in that. The main thing was to get our starting 11 time together and come away with a win, we did both. I’m sure with another 90 mins together next Sunday we will be much closer to being in peak form come play off time. Remember we now get a full week of training with a full squad which we have not had in a long time so that will help big time.
We have had quite possibly the best season in league history, lets not forget that just because we didn’t play our usual fluent soccer yesterday.

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Originally Posted by anto7

Wow there sure is a lot of negative comments about the team considering they just tied the all time points record. It wasn’t a pretty performance, the conditions played a big part in that. The main thing was to get our starting 11 time together and come away with a win, we did both. I’m sure with another 90 mins together next Sunday we will be much closer to being in peak form come play off time. Remember we now get a full week of training with a full squad which we have not had in a long time so that will help big time.
We have had quite possibly the best season in league history, lets not forget that just because we didn’t play our usual fluent soccer yesterday.

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This is true but it's been more like 4-5 games now rather than just one. Might mean nothing but just enough to be a bit worried going into the playoffs.

my only take is that the hallmark of all truly great teams is the ability to win when not at their best.....that is all I'll take from this stretch....

imo, this is a good thing to happen right before the playoffs....a good reminder that this is not going to be easy....I don't think for a second that the team thought so, but a tangible reminder will have the the right effect on this group, I think....

can't wait for a chance at history on the weekend, and playoffs after that.....