Agreed with Bigby, I thought we would lose this by at least 3. To be in it until the last seconds, and having the Vancouver fans whistling for the end of the game, is a fantastic showing from TFC given all the new players, new coach etc!
Agreed with Bigby, I thought we would lose this by at least 3. To be in it until the last seconds, and having the Vancouver fans whistling for the end of the game, is a fantastic showing from TFC given all the new players, new coach etc!
The first half was some of the most organized bit of football TFC has played since it's inception. And that's not hyperbole, like how Weedman is the best finisher of the modern era.Originally Posted by Shakes McQueen
Weren't really prepared for the beginning of the second half, and some of the key contributors from the first half were gassed. Not to mention the sub of Reo-Coker was a real shot in the arm to the Craps.
Agreed. A Bekker-Cesar pairing in the middle with Silva in front could be good. Those guys can't get back soon enough. The goal looked to be O'Dea's fault. Didn't close out fast enough. But overall the team looks more organized than any point over the last two years.
I never thought a 1-0 loss would get me so excited.
Agreed. 2nd half was nowhere near as bad as some people are making it out to be. We got outplayed, not dismantled.
Remember, our biggest attacking threat and best defensive midfielder were both out for this match. It sucks to lose but really, most of us were expecting to give up at least two goals today, and surely one in the first half.
Positives: Bendik looks like a legitimate keeper. The back line was solid overall. More possession and more meaningful possession than under Mariner. Ephraim has a nice touch, he just needs to take on his man a bit more. Bekker and Earnshaw both looked good.
Negatives: Hall and Dunfield have both had far worse games, but combining them in central midfield like that kills our passing and marking. I think Hall may have been to blame on the goal. Lambe was mostly ineffectual again, I'd like to see Welshman start over him next week.
So after the dust has settled:
Califf is a boss with his height, tons of headers. His speed is really lacking though and he would of gotten caught out if Lambe and Eks weren't busting their asses to get back and defend.
Morgan, work on your damn positioning.
Loved Epharim's touch, the ball sticks to his feet ala Messi. Not a speedster but seemed more comfortable than most players today to go around his man.
Lambe just does the same touch-touch trick everytime he runs forward so that he gets tackled. Almost like he gives up on the play once he passes 2 defenders. Confidence issue?
Bendik is massive. Size-wise. Good reach to grab balls whipped in. Need to see more to fully judge.
Earnshaw showed his potential today. Looked gassed second half as he kept making overlapping runs 1st half, looking for the through pass that never, ever came.
Bekker you slick mofo. He has some decent vision and makes risky passes successfully. Not sure about his tackling but he needs to replace the Dunce Hall (either) so that he can distribute from deeper in the field.
Decent game, could have been worse. Onto the next!
Should give Bendik some credit too. Looked confident and made some saves when called upon. He had no chance on the goal so can't be faulted for that.
Welcome back TFC
1 - 0 on the road,
I guess that's ok.
Hope it doesn't hurt the turn out next week.
The goal came through the midfield. Hall running around like a chicken with his head cut off and no one picked up the overlapping run.
I don't think this team will be horrible if they can get in shape. The shittyness of our team was mostly down to lack of chemistry with the new guys, and lack of fitness. I also don't see Hall and Dunfield being the CM pairing for very long. Although I do think that starting them, even with the injuries to Cesar and Silva, was a coaching mistake.
BTW, I find it kind of funny that Mariner bitched about Winter organizing too few preseason games which left the squad out of shape, and then organized a preseason with just as few games, leaving the squad out of shape going into the season
Hoping to see a completely different pair of central midfielders next week. Julio Cesar for sure if he's healthy, and then I'm fine with either Bekker or Russell.
I have to agree with you and, uhmmm, macqeen. We have no offense, this was only one game for the defense. If VWC had 1 or 2 fortunate touches we would have been dismantled. Let's get re-acquainted with Bill Murray and GHD people.
we didnt play too bad, our back end actually had pace moving the ball up and played it nicely most of the time , defensive hickup cost us, our offense is definately lacking but earnshawe's first touch on that lob from the back showed he's got talent so looking to see what he can bring
Last edited by pawlukj; 03-02-2013 at 09:20 PM.
Saw a portion of the first half and then all of the second. I liked what I saw in that first. Good positioning as we were able to pass the ball around and keep possession and move things forward. I also am a huge fan of the high pressure type of game that we played. This caused a good number of turnovers and reminded me of Dortmund to an extent. Granted our guys got worn out by the end of the game. Liked Bekkers play, he looked comfortable on the ball and should continue to improve.
I'm pleased with the overall performance, especially considering we were missing some key players. That WCFC goal was fantastic. Love seeing that type of quality passing in MLS leading to a goal.
Offence did ok in the first half' but as Devos said, Earnshaw relies upon driving to the byline wingers.
We only had Ephraim doing that.
Given both guys just got here, had no idea they were going to travel 3 time zones for the first match, and were playing on plastic for the first time ever, I'll cut them some slack.
I thought we did well, lots of chances, as most have said Hall was lacking, Frei may have made a difference in directing from the back and a bit more accurate GKs, I think Dunfield did well but needed to be subbed off.
Not that playing fifa 13 makes me a pro coach, but you have 3 subs, use them by the 85th minute, especially if you are losing.
Mostly it was just really nice to get to watch my reds again.
Another positive: no goals or chances conceded from set pieces (other than Rochat's curler that Bendik saved but there's nothing you can do about that).
I'm glad Earnshaw didn't score. A front flip on that plastic pitch would've blown both his knees out.
I thought we looked talented but a little disorganized (expected) and our midfield pairing did OK in terms of defensive cover but were woeful in terms of movement. You can't play what is ostensibly a five-man mid and not pressure a little higher, as well as having those two dm's move into supporting space occasionally. Instead, they played too cautiously, sitting too deep and close to our backline and not giving us extra bodies to win second balls in the midfield.
Vancouver looked good on occasion. Kobayashi has great vision. I thought Bekker looked like he has a future. If he can mark, I'd have to agree that dropping him next to Julio Cesar and having Silva in front ofthem would make us much more mobile and dangerous .
We have been conditioned to the point that 80% of this board is really impressed with a loss. Give your heads a shake, people
Hall and Dunfield weren't terrible but definitely the weak point. Would have liked to see if Osorio could have been an improvement. When Silva gets fit, both him and Bekker have to start. Also, would like to see JBB get a contract so they aren't forced to start Hall and Dunfield together. I did like that Nelsen made positive changes with his substitutions I just wish he had acted a little sooner.
dunfield planted spectating not goal side. the pass literally goes a foot goal side of him. they score. chicken with its head cutoff running on a football pitch, should be in a lob laws.
I think we'd be okay if we see this:
Stefan Frei;
Richard Eckersley, Danny Califf, Darren O'Dea, Ashtone Morgan;
Julio Cesar, Kyle Bekker, Hogan Ephraim, Luis Silva;
Danny Koevermans, Robert Earnshaw.
Ya, we lost. The result was the same as last year. That's it though. The way we played wasn't like last year. We didn't play Mariner ball. Anyone who is ready to jump off a bridge based on the result alone didn't watch the game. No, it wasn't all great, but I saw plenty of positives to build on. I thought Vancouver would eviscerate us by at least 3 goals today. They didn't. In fact, we had the run of play in the first half. Consider me pleasantly surprised, based on the fact that some of our players weren't even match-fit.
Yes, it's going to be a long season. There is no doubt about that. But today at least gave me hope we won't be total shit.
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Not at all. Losing sucks, but if you only see the world in black and white, I suspect your world will be a bleak (and colourless) place. Context is important, and in the context of initial expectations there were bright spots in the loss and at least the promise of good things to come. We will never win every game, but if we show effort, heart, and improvement I will continue to suport my team!
Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
I am not "really impressed" with the result...but taking everything into consideration, the result was ok. Consider that a few of our newest assets literally just stepped off of a plane from Europe. With some soon to be joining attacking resources + a bit of time to gel, the future could be brighter.
Vancouver is an average MLS team. In the second half they dominated and showed us just how weak our side is in virtually every aspect of the game. I dont see his club winning away from home any time soon, and it is not just about winning as I read in an earlier post, it is about playing to the level of the competition. As it stands now this is not an MLS caliber team, not even close.
Absolutely.......that lineup wins it's fair share of MLS Games.
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Is Cesar injured?
Hall,Duncefield and Lambe needs to be benched. None of them have any kind of quality delivery. I would like to see Cesar and Osario in the mid with Silva. Welshman deserves a start over Lambe. I wasn't all to impressed with Ephraim as well.
And can we seriously stop taking those long free kicks from half field. So incredibly stupid. Gave Whitecaps several dangerous counters.
Nelson needs to put in those subs earlier. We were awful in the second half.
Much much better game than most thought it would be, and you know despite injuries, new players, lack of chemistry and rustyness they played better than the last 10 games of last season. I agree with the consensus that Bekker looked pretty good, you could see him get better as the game progress, looking forward to seeing more of Ephraim and Earnshaw. Good riddance Freddy Hall. I was somewhat disappointed in Ecks crossing, it really has to be better. It was hard to assign blame on that goal, you had to say that it was of result of a pretty smooth set of passing plays. There was a touch too many hoof balls but with the lack of chemistry I suppose it was to be expected. Hats of to Nelson, seems to started better than expected. Will look forward to next weeks game.
you're too negative, the first half was quite a different team. They played as if they actually had a few games under their belt. We didn't have all the players out there we should have but the boys gave it a very good go considering. Enough of the old negativity esp when we only lost because of 1 miscue. I'm proud of my team. The future is bright! Ryan will solidify the defense which relaxes everyone then move through the mid , then forwards. And Frei will return.
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