I used to think he did a decent job, but he has been anything but objective when it comes to Paul Mariner. Coverage of the team has been down right pathetic.Originally Posted by narduch
We're back to excusing away losses on account of "playing well" same way we did with Winter.
But its amazing how all his objectivity seemed to vanish once Mariner was put in charge.
I kind of wonder if Mariner is a drinking buddy with the media guys. Or if he was their source for TFC scoops in the past and they don't want to burn bridges.
Why else would a media member blatantly cheerlead for the guy? And all the TFC media guys in general seem to be totally soft on Mariner. All the criticism of the way things are going are pretty much on this forum alone.
We've only lost 2 in a row. The Portland game may have felt like a loss but it was a draw.
Whats interesting is that right before the Chicago match there's 2 international friendlies. On the 7th and 11th Canada, Jamaica, and Ireland all have friendlies. The 12th is the game against Chicago followed by another home game on the 15th against Philly.
However, that being said I could easily see us lose each and every remaining league game. Houston (A), KC (A), Chicago (H), Phiily (H), LA (A), NY (A), DC (H), Montreal (H), and Columbus (A).
Im telling you guys, if you just boycott the home games and save your money/time, then the media cant make any more bullshit stories of how good Mariner is. Then this parasite will finally get fired and maybe we will get a proper coach.
I wouldn't mind that. We'd get the #1 pick and then Rogers/Bell would have no choice but to blow up the front office.
.. right ?!
Wow, that's a fairly tough schedule to end the season. Lots of playoff teams or teams still in the race.
This could get ugly (or uglier I suppose).
The fact that this was a serious comment pains me greatly.
You know its guys like this that make me loose any faith i had left in the media. I guess there all on the mlse payroll because the amount of bs being spewed by this guy is unreal, he is so biased its stupid and shamefull.
idiot
whoa, bad form dude. way out of line there, even as a joke.
^No I don't hope that one of our players dies, or that a player on any team dies for that matter.
The way Toronto played for 80 minutes of the game today, Columbus would beat them 9 out of 10 times, regardless of whatever else might be happening at the time -- births, deaths, you name it.
Just realized that Wiedeman had the deflection today again, that helped to lead to the first goal. Just like last game. Orange slices for that kid! (And no I don't think we should use Wiedeman as the new scapegoat for everything; he's far from the only problem on this team.)
How did our nearly 400k defender Richard Eckersley play today?
Joke is on him... when is the last time a toronto fc player showed signs of life?
ok ok, I'll stop
What a fucking disgusting comment. I don't care for the Crew but that is unacceptable.
As for the game, I didn't watch it, I'm glad I didn't, and I'm glad this board has now stopped reaching for positives and seeing what this "team" MLSE puts out really is. Minimum success with maximum profits is their hope.
Some positives
If Columbus can support a team since inception (And win an MLS cup) with that attendance we don't have to worry about franchise death. MLS is a business model that allows a high level of indifference to survive. I don't know if KKKrew are prospering but even if BMO is 'empty' at 12,000 season ticket holders there is no danger of TFC failing or disappearing as a franchise. Atmosphere will suck but the supporter and enthusiasts who want to make the trek and pay the price will still be able to attend live matches featuring the highest level of football available in the country. The marketing pitch, outside of designated players can only be that the academy will develop the players TFC needs in each non designated player position... something our National team will hope Canadian MLS clubs start delivering sooner than later.
Dude seriously stfu.
this is the stupidest joke i've ever heard,
what happened to #marinergettingshitdone??? lol.......can someone buy the man a plane ticket and a pair of pants as a parting gift?........."No Pants Wednesdays (or Saturdays)" at the office.......can't believe this lush was even given control of the team......
Ha, I was even at that game. Thanks for the correction.
Holy Shit Thank You.
Columbus is a team only a couple of wins out of the playoffs with games in hand and that's what their stadium looks like (yes on a Wed). Dallas was in the final two seasons ago and are as close as Columbus and are again one of the worst attendees of the league. They survive. Most NA sports do. THAT'S the only good thing about parity (for me).
Next is Houston. How bout that Andre Hainault.
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
From what I say, better than the rest of the team, and worth it!!! in my opinion
I was looking at the MLS game stats. I find the MLS site is not very good at accurately stating the teams' formations. But, they have TFC lined up in a 4-2-2-2. Now that would explain the complete lack of width we consistently play with. But holy shit, is this at all an accurate portrayal of our formation?
Cool, stream was good.
GlenM
"You play to win the game"
Herm Edwards - Former NFL Coach
The elbow to the temple looked worse.
I thought they looked bad last night but better than they have been as of late. They actually tried to string some passes together at times. Here's what I observed:
I think Eks looked better than he has becasue he played his natural position
Dicoy looked confident and somewhat capable.
O'dea looked the part
Dunfield + Frings = too old and slow for a pro midfield.
Weideman is simply not an MLS starter
Johnson is better suited to play up top - not out wide in the midfield (but he did look very lively at times in the game)
Hassli must be losing patience with all the balls played to his head (1 goal and 2 assists since his arrival is not bad)
Silva does not play well in front of the ball like a striker. He needs to be on the ball as much as possible. I only noticed him really when Frings came out and he dropped back into the midfield. No coincidence that they scored as soon as the change was made. Notice Silva came from behind the ball.
Although Kocic may have had one of the 2 goals scored, Hall's distribution was WAY better.
Subs:
Hall looked tentative but somewhat capable
Amarikwa looks strong and fast with a bit of skill. looks like he'll be an ok super sub (not a starter)
Did Maund play?
Oh and lastly, the second Cuntlubus goal was scored becasue 2 of the teams 'leaders' - and coaches favorites - in Dunfield and Eks were standing on either side of Higuian ball watching.
Anyway, see you all on Tuesday. The O'dea, Peralta match up should be fun......or embarrassing!
Go Reds!!
I wouldn't really say so unless you interpreted the way we play the 4 in the midfield as kind of U-shaped. That being said, we do frequently change our formation within the game so it is at times a bit of a wash.
I think Wiedeman's being dumped on unfairly. He was no worse than most of the team, and actually created a couple of chances before he was taken out, including some neat dribbling to win that free kick at the edge of the box.
He looked like a low-rent Nick Soolsma, which is depressing as hell but not the horror show this thread is suggesting him to be.
We were dominated in the central midfield. That's the biggest reason we lost. Frings' age is showing and Dunfield is just fucking woeful. Twice, frings received the ball in space and turned to the centre, expecting Dunfield to move into space. But instead, Terry had gone back into our own half to play anchor....even though we were in possession in their end.
Seriously, I know people love a hardworking guy, but we will never be a winning team with this guy starting. He's a late sub, as an anchor man blocking passing lanes, at the very best.
And I like Ryan Johnson's attacking play, but we can't play him as a wide midfielder; his defence is non-existent.
We would be better playing a diamond right now with FRINGS as the anchor than trying to play with two-way midfielders too slow to fill the role.
This team would've been more competitive:
--------------Kocic (Hall looks a bit nightmarish so far)
Eckersley----Williams/Harden----O'Dea--------Morgan-
-----------------Frings-----------------------
------Hall------------------- Lambe
---------------Johnson-------------------
---------Hassli-----------Silva
Some points: Hall is not a solid enough defender to play RB and not a solid enough winger to play midfield. But he's more solid at the latter than our other options and would have less space behind him. Plus, Hall and Eckersley make a natural tandem for the overlap. Johnson is good one-on-one and a good shooter from the edge of the box, with his finishing issues being of foot speed and release when in tight quarters.
In this formation you play the overlap slightly differently, with the overlapped player, or the fullback if the wide player stays high, slotting in slightly deeper behind them to help the midfield stay wide enough to cover. Both Hall and Lambe are tenacious defenders, albeit average-to-poor tacklers, so they can at least clog up their respective areas and make movement there difficult, funneling our opponent's best lanes past frings, O'dea and williams instead and lowering the chance that we'll be exposed from crosses.
However, even with these considerations to address our current shortcomings, this lineup is at least two players short of competitive, week in and out. I don't think Johnson will ever play hard if he's not a striker, as he doesn't want to play anywhere else. But his release and positional sense from 22 yards in are awful. We'd be better to trade him to someone willing to give him a shot up top. Hall isn't startign class, period. His marking is average-to-poor and his tackling as well. At least his work rate is good. But we need another versatile midfielder, and one who can play wide. Both Jr. Burgos and Nick Soolsma would have been better options than these two, but I suspect personality issues may have been a factor there. Stoic dutchman don't have much in common with the Steven Lenharts and Kyle Beckermans of the world.
EDIT: I should add that Dicoy Williams looks technically sound but also can't read the play at MLS speed and was caught high about five times, which is death for a team in this league. So we need a second CB as well; Doneil is class in the air but not ready positionally. His tackling and work rate are solid enough that I'd probably start Harden right now, until we get something better, alongside O'Dea.
Doneil is still a couple of years away. It's a tougher adjustment than playing wide.
Last edited by jloome; 08-23-2012 at 11:35 AM.
Good post jloome. Agree with most.
Wiedeman isn't as bad as some people are suggesting agreed. He's not spectacular, but he's ok. On the other hand, I would still much prefer Avila. I'm nto sure why Avila has fallen SO out of favour. He was part of the reason why we were playing so well post-Winter.
Williams is ok - but he definitely looks like he's had a year out of football. He was turned inside out so easily a couple of times. He was like an oil-tanker trying to make a quick turn!
I think Frings OR Dunfield would be ok IF they weren't playing alongside each other. Both players end up doing the same thing. Frings needs somebody more athletic next to him. Or if you have Dunfield, you need him to sit in front of the back four, and need somebody more dynamic ahead of him. Both work if we want to grind out a result. but in a game where we need somebody to put their foot on the ball and look for a pass, we need only one of them playing.
I really don't know what to suggest about Johnson. He's not a goalscorer. And he isn't a set-up guy either. I think we can do better than him, personally. I wouldn't really care if he left to be honest. I know he has some fans - but he ends up being Chad Barrett with a little less work ethic, just a little cheaper than Barrett. When Barrett left I thought we would find a replacement who was at least better. But we just ended up getting a cheaper alternative, with the same skills sets, but definitely not any better in quality.
I would say we are definitely 3 players off having a GOOD first 11. We need another CB. We need one quality box-to-box midfielder. And we need a second striker to go alongside Hassli or Koev's. I can live with the rest of the team - but those 3 changes/additions to the squad would make a big difference.
For next season, I would start by losing all the excess defenders that are NEVER going to make it and never going to be the second CB alongside O'Dea - so Harden, Cann, Williams IMO can all leave, and that opens up a big chunk of cap space. That opens up enough to find a CB and at least one of a midfielder or second striker. If TFC can pick up a GA for one of the positions, then we can definitely trade to get all 3 needed players in the off season.
Think I agree with everything here... except starting Ty Harden, lol.
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