TFC Academy 0 St. Catharines Roma Wolves 1

Was at the TFC Academy game Friday night at Lamport Stadium and the Reds lost what turned into a chippy affair 1-0 to the visiting St. Catharines side. There were a few yellow cards for both squads before a Roma Wolves player was ejected with a few minutes to go in the game.

Control was real issue for TFC-A tonight, finishing plays just did not happen all the time, but hey these are kids and over time they will get better.

On a down note TFC-A starting goaltender Jarret Humphreys went down in the second half with some appeared to be an arm injury, maybe even a break.

The crowd this week was much smaller but there was a good group of loud and proud TFC supporters making themselves known with some good chants and cheers. TFC returns to the pitch Sunday afternoon at North York, with a 3 pm kickoff if anyone is interested.

Here was the starting lineup for the game:

GK 50 Jarret Humphreys
DF 40 Daniel DiBiagio
DF 35 Shawn Kodejs
DF 47 Daniel Tannous
DF 43 Domenic Roberts (C)
MF 28 Derek Robinson
MF 36 Latwayne Anderson
MF 38 Erick Olazabal
MF 31 Ashtone Morgan
FW 39 Adrian Pena
FW 49 Viktor Anastasov

how many were there ?

200 maybe, that could even be pushing it, was nowhere near last week's attendance, which is expects as Toronto Croatia brings out a good crowd. When TFC-A plays the Serbian White Eagles that will be a good sized crowd too.

sweet

Why was U-20 player Jarek Whiteman not playing?

thats a weak attendance. I was really excited to hear about e TFCA coming in the league thinking it would help boast the league attendance but i guess not. atleast the team is will be competitive. any thoughts of a RPB day vs.the Serbia WhiteEagles?? they have a large support group that head out to the games... would be cool to have two

This game was a disappointment compared to their first outing. Toronto Croatia was a bigger and older squad but TFC-A created most of the chances and were rewarded for them. Control was a problem in both games but last week the long ball attack seemed to work better. This team has some fast guys up front and they try to exploit that. It sort of worked in game 1 but last night the balls were too long or they were cut off by the other team's defenders. They also kicked the ball directly to the blue shirts on several occasions. I realize these kids are young, but there is some talent on this team and they need to work on knowing where their teammates are and connecting their passes. Humphrey's injury is concerning. He was good in the first game and didn't really get tested last night until the goal where he picked up his injury. As he left the pitch he was cradling his right arm. They called his father out of the stands. Someone said it was a dislocated shoulder.

Our (RPB & NEE) fan support was not really support at all. I was as guilty as anyone of criticizing our play instead of boosting the team. We stood behind the coaches and tried to tell the players what to do instead of doing what we do best - rattle the other team. The stadium actually marked out a reserved section for us but we didn't stand there.

Guys don't forget that we have many supporters in DC today,that was one of the reasons why TFC A didn't have bigger support.They shoul let fans know during the TFC home games at BMO when TFC A next game is.

Yeah that'd be huge for attendance I hope

Does MLSE have any stake in this team at all? If not, how hard will it be to get them to help push tickets (a-la Marlies)?

Bones...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TFC John

Our (RPB & NEE) fan support was not really support at all. I was as guilty as anyone of criticizing our play instead of boosting the team. We stood behind the coaches and tried to tell the players what to do instead of doing what we do best - rattle the other team. The stadium actually marked out a reserved section for us but we didn't stand there.

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We did sing in fits and starts (well Gobi kept trying to get us going!).

I'm as guilty as anyone of just being obnoxious last night... just venting from a hard day.

I managed to get the keeper's attention though :)

I have to question again why are we teaching our kids to play long ball? Academy games should not be played for results, they should be played for development. We should be principled about staying away from route 1 football and playing in a way that's going to produce better technical players, regardless of whether that leads to winning or not.

I'm still going to give the academy coaches the benefit of the doubt but this is a little concerning.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ag futbol

I have to question again why are we teaching our kids to play long ball? Academy games should not be played for results, they should be played for development. We should be principled about staying away from route 1 football and playing in a way that's going to produce better technical players, regardless of whether that leads to winning or not.

I'm still going to give the academy coaches the benefit of the doubt but this is a little concerning.

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Bang on.

Lets face it. Toronto is full of snobs. Most only want to watch the best, not support development. it sickens me. I actually enjoyed having the Tribal rythim nation guys there playing thier instruments. that one lady there was really gettin pissed at our players bad play. lol. Still the soccer abilities on the feild aint bad.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ag futbol

I have to question again why are we teaching our kids to play long ball? Academy games should not be played for results, they should be played for development. We should be principled about staying away from route 1 football and playing in a way that's going to produce better technical players, regardless of whether that leads to winning or not.

I'm still going to give the academy coaches the benefit of the doubt but this is a little concerning.

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"winning" football is what the OSA promotes with its All Star teams. Hopefully, proper football is what TFC will teach these young men.

give the coaches the benefit of the doubt. they have not had enough time with these players to instill anything yet. give them 6-8 weeks before having any real expectations. These kids have been together for a while, by and large, so they will resort to the style they know best at this early stage in the program.

BTW, who is going out to Ester Shiner to see North York Astros vs. TFC A tomorrow afternoon. I am (I've got Astros seasons tickets). Astros have a fantastic coaching staff led by Rafa Carbajal. He is striving to create a similar development program to what TFC is doing with its Academy, just with less resources at his disposal.

Should be a good game...both teams lost their games on Friday night so they'll both be hungry to reverse their fortunes.