agreed..finally it seems to be working back there!Originally Posted by DichioTFC
agreed..finally it seems to be working back there!
Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.
Roy Keane
Agreed on all counts.
Hscanovic was a huge surprise. I didn't even think he was anywhere near MLS level before this game. He was all over the place today. Having the LB and RB being able to hold + overlap completely changed the game for us.
Two or three more games and Marvell Wynne will be a distant memory.
thanks for writing that up Lucky Strike
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Saric is the new Garcia who was the old Welsh…
“We changed the entire league’s opinion of the viability of soccer in North America. And then we blew it because we chickened out." —Tim Leiweke
Hskanovics played far better than a 6.5. I was very impressed with him and Usanov today. Cann put in a good performance once again; when you don't hear his name on the broadcast, you know he's playing well.
+ 1,000,000. Cronin is one of the best football brains on this club and is being benched for a guy who has no brain. It's a no brainer....play the guy with the brain!
Yeah, to me this is the only tactical error in this whole 4-3-1-2 setup, having Saric instead of Cronin. I don't think tough is often as necessary as smart, particularly when you have a two-way team and need to break up field quickly.
Chad Barrett is playing some footy out there... even though he didn't score he was still productive... I like what I see from Chad Barett... my only suggestion would be to never look at the sky or put up your hands when you miss a shot/cross... that 1/2 a second can cost you an opportunity for a goal... for example... after his shot hit the ref DeRo was still in game mode... and scored... unfortunately Chad was in "WTF" mode...Barrett (6.5): Another industrious performance from him. He’s probably one of our most skilled players. Couldn’t score but I thought did enough to warrant attention from Seattle all the live long day. Well…actually until he was substituted but you get the picture.
nevertheless... I was to see Chad Starting.... he just needs to control his emotions...
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I love the emotion/ passion Chad plays with. If he can keep him emotion in-check he'll have a very good year.
As a good coach told me once, don't compound your errors. Barrett obviously never heard that growing up, and is worried more about how he looks than how he can help the team. He needs to stop throwing his hands in the air and lying on the pitch and start getting after the ball when he gives it up.
Frei (9) - Smart save in the opening minutes of 1st half to push the cross away. Two brilliant saves in the 2nd half to keep the score 0-0
Hscanovic (7) - Looked much more comfortable in foraying into the attacking third, movement was a lot better, and kept his wing clean against the dangerous Nyassi
Cann (7) - Overall, a very solid game at the back
Attakora (5) - Two big mistakes in the 2nd half and Frei saved his ass. He couldn't intercept Ljunberg's ball to Sturgis and he let Evans slipped by him on the second chance
Usanov (6) - Average game for the Russian. He's not bad, but not good.
Saric (6) - Perhaps a little reckless, but did his job cleaning up infront of the back 4 and starting attacks. There is noticeable improvement in his play from game 1 to this point.
Labrocca (7) - Based on the past five games, we can count on him for an energetic performance and lively movements in each game. The only negative I have is that DeRo needs to be our dead ball specialist - he's awful
De Guzman (8) - Best game in TFC uniform. Showed he is a class above MLS with his brilliant technical skills. Kept the ball moving to the right spots on the attack and won a fair share of tackles in the midfielder
De Rosario (9) - "Fluke goal" still required masterful finish and his pass to White was perfect
Barrett (6) - He hit the ref with the cross that led to the "fluke goal" (LOL). This was not a good game for Chad. However, with his technical skill (except for infront of the goal) and his industrious effort, there is no denying that he is our 2nd biggest offensive threat. The fans might think he sucks, but the opponents key in on him in the game plan.
White (5) - Nice goal, but with his speed, size and strength, the team really needs him to be able to get to the end of the long balls, take it down, and hold it up until his midfield can join the attack. He did not do that at all today.
Gargan (7) - He's not a bad player at the MLS level and was productive with his 20 minutes
Cronin (7) - Effective with his 15 minutes. We needed fresh legs to defend and chase, and he did it pretty well. I hope he gets more playing time - he can do much more
Gala (NR)
I agree.
He might be a thug, but he's our thug god dammit and I'm more than willing to support a player that everyone else on the pitch is afraid of.
You'll note that their attacks rarely got going, they had a few really good chances that were saved but no more. Part of that is due to the backline, a big chunk in fact, but Saric also did his best to make it tough on those forwards. He slowed down the Seattle attack. I personally would have pulled him off at the 61st minute, and put Cronin in for him, if only to reduce the risk of a red card.
But he's a roleplayer, and an enforcer. I'm surprised we, as Canadians, aren't embracing our thug. :P
I was impressed by Saric...would you want to receive the ball in the centre of the park with that thug out there? Or receiving the ball with your back to goal - not knowing where he is? The Seattle players didn't want to either...
I loved the way he raced after Nyassi, caught him after a 40 yard chase and then instead of tackling him or even making it look like a tackle, just flung him to the ground! Fantastic.
How he tried to maim Ljunberg?
Or how he raced down the field to get involved with every little skirmish?
I don't care - you need a guy like that. A guy who has the opposition continually looking over their shoulders...and to be fair, he's played the role perfectly - he hasn't been sent off once. He's straddled the line very very well.
And I'm surprised that there isn't more props around here for Gargan - he made that second goal. He was very good yesterday.
We were lucky at times though - even though that second half is the best I think TFC has ever played - we actually strung more than 3 passes together.
i think i understand where ppl are coming from with the appreciation of saric. however i can't help but wonder it's not a bit of the hockey fan in some. he did set a tone on seattle, and can be useful to intimidate a team with his aggressive play.
HOWEVER, personally i think his game is overly aggressive and does nowhere near enough to make up for his errors. especially in MLS the number of teams that will actually be intimidated by his tactics are few. yet the teams that will capitalize on his mistakes are many. as the player shielding the back line he needs to be better in possession, make fewer poor passes and taking pressure off his teammates, not add it on with a weak or badly angled pass. being strong in the tackle does not require one to be reckless in the tackle.
i like cronin, but im not sure he is physical enough to handle the same role. cronin is a good sub/rotational player for JDG/Labrocca. i would like to see sanyang start over saric and get a chance to grow a bit. i think sanyang has the ability to develop his game and give the kind of effort/physicality. also feel he is better on the ball than saric (not by much, but thats where i think sanyang can still grow and learn from a JDG whereas saric is basically a done deal).
i saw something in hscanovics the first game that gave me hope for our LB.. the subsequent games made me think i was very wrong until yesterday! nice to see good play from both of our FB's for once. make's our back line feel balanced and takes alot of pressure off of the CB's. Cann is able to play a simple mans game, something that he is doing well.
Come on guys theres a simple reason to not put cronin in that midfield. That being you dont want a midfield with nothing but players who are about five foot two. Need additional height. Im not defending it, but it hadnt been mentioned. Also we need more obw love. The kid is great. He flicked on like twelve balls with no one making runs. Problem is we have too many players who want to score from thirty yards, and only one who wants to get in the box. Obw was great yesterday.
Personally, I like how OBW makes runs towards the centre of the box starting from the edge or the sides. In contrast, for all his effort, I think Barrett would be well served to imitate that instead of starting in a central position and drifting off to the sides to look for the ball.
Good lord, No. Barrett's movement off the ball is a league above OBW's. It's why Barrett is in the right spot to muff so many sitters
This is the feeling I am getting.
Again, spot on Jeremy.
Barrett is by far the most industrious player out there, constantly moving into open space. If it weren't for his maddenning curse or fear of hitting the back of the net, we'd love him to death.
If he hit the back of the net with regularity, he wouldn't be in MLS. He'd be playing somewhere in Scandinavia.
Other than the obvious DeRosario and Frei having very good performances I watched Cann all match long and really liked what I saw. Really solid stuff.
On the flip side I thought Usanov was our weakest link of the back 4...somewhat slow and some of his decisions were rushed. Saric's actions will eventually cost us...
Agreed completely, great posts.
Saric was very valuable yesterday, and although he was a card risk, I hope Preki continues to play him.
Frei - 10 - He was great today, made many key saves. MoM keeping a potent Seattle offense at bay.
Usanov - 6 - Tough player. Win tackles, still not sold on his offensive acumen. Works hard and positional.
Attakora - 6 - Good game, Frei saved him from being a goat on a few occasions but Attakora closed space down well.
Cann - 6 - Solid in the air, but on the ground got caught watching the ball a few times.
The Latvian Guy - 6 - Set pieces and crosses left a lot to be desired. Defensively improving and like Usanov a tough customer.
Saric - 7 - Tough defensive midfielder set the tone against a Seattle club that does not like physical play. Not great on the ball, but has the balls to make the rough tackles which exposed Seattle as a soft team.
De Guzman - 6 - Not sure if playing wide suits him, but had his hardest working game. Helped lockdown the midfield.
LaBrocca - 6 - Quiet, did not notice him too much. Definately in the mould of a hard working player. Still developing chemistry. Not missing Wynne, but is LaBrocca doing much?
DeRo - 9 - Soul of the team. His offensive effort complimented Freis best game of the season. Without DeRo the workman like efforts of the supporting cast would be wasted.
OBW - 7 - Need to see more from White, did bag a scorers goal finishing what was served up. Improving first touch, needs to improve physical play against tough defenders and still not convinced on the merits of him being a lone striker.
Barrett - 7 - He does a lot to spread teams out. His work and Seattles lazy defending on the edge of the box nabbed DeRo the chance to score. We all saw what Preki meant when he says Chad needs to let mistakes go by. It could have been him stealing the ball and scoring a well place shot.
Cronin - 6 - Good player to come off the bench. Was rushed last year, good to give him time to develop.
Gargan - 6 - Role player, lacks pace or ability to attack. Defensively sound, versatile and a good sub.
Gala - 6 - Is he the real deal, will he ever be a player? Has pace, which he used, but what else does he bring to the table?
Overall, it was not Toronto's best game, but one of the games they needed to grind out a win and did. The keeper made key saves, defence bent but didnt break and the offence poached a few goals. The defensive players all have a common hardnosed mentality that makes it uncomfortable for teams. Fouls and yellows are going to be an issue, but the intensity to win is there. It was an important three points for the morale of the club and supporters.
What do you mean by lacks ability to attack in the Seattle game? I thought that was his strength yesterday. He played a couple of beautiful passes forward and went forward well himself in limited playing time. The White goal was started by a perfectly weighted ball from Gargan to De Ro. He was the one that turned that moment around from defense to offense.
Im not sure one pass makes it for me, I didnt think much of him going forward. That doesnt mean it isn't there, but one play doesn't mean he is a forward thinking player. He was brought on to keep a defensive shape and that itself doesn't mean he isnt effective in the counter attack. But weighted between the two, I think he is more of a defensive player who can help produce a counter, but not someone who generates during the run of play.
Also, I think Tyrone Marshall had a lot to do with the goal, he simply passed the ball to the wrong guy. Hopefully, it will win people over to my belief we are better off without him, now and long term.
LOL Frei getting 7. What's it take in your books for a keeper to get at least a 9? This win was key to him.
Like I said, he made more than one good pass in the game. Twice he made other very good passes forward but his teammates didn't take advantage. He also made a good run near the end right in front of my seats, but again his teammates didn't take advantage. I thought he added a lot of energy to the team and was a perfect sub.
On White's goal, sure there was a mistake on defense there.. but that happened almost *at midfield*. The screwup didn't happen at the 18 yard box or something. Gargan gains control, and you see De Ro start to sprint. Gargan identifies De Ro's run instantly, and makes a long leading pass perfectly weighted for De Ro to run onto. A lot had to happen to get to goal, and Gargan started it off.
I'd give him a 7 for what he did in the game on Sunday.
Last edited by rocker; 04-26-2010 at 01:30 PM.
We're both very close in terms of his rating, we both agree he turned out to be a solid sub, I guess the difference was what we saw in terms of his style.
For me, I think what he's done was from a counter as opposed to when the team is controlling the run of play. With him on the ball, I dont expect much. I really only saw the one real nice pass and it seemed to be that it was from Marshall being a bonehead and out of position. However, I hope he continues to fit more with your analysis as opposed to my view of him being a player to defend a lead.
Good performance..........things seem to be coming together. Saric however is about as much use as a chocolate teapot. Cronin should be starting.
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