Pre/In/Post - Game 3: TFC @ Montreal, Sat 16 Mar 4pm

[T-boy]

I just can't disagree with much of what you're saying. Montreal was the better team Saturday night and dictated the pace for the majority of the 90 minutes. Sure, they didn't exactly set fire to the pitch, but we got outplayed. Offensively and defensively they were better organized, quicker on their feet, and just straight-up looked more confident out there on the turf.

The Impact are not world-beaters by any stretch, but we can't deny their current record. 3 straight wins - 2 of which were away, with 5 goals for and 2 against. Trust me, I don't like saying any of this. I can't fucking stand that team and it's shitty fans, but Saputo has definitely assembled a team that can contend, at least for the time being...

And that leads in to my second point. As others have pointed out (including our own John Leung) Montreal really looks like a team built to achieve very short-term gains and could find themselves up shit creek when their older core of players start breaking down.

Long story short: Montreal is the better team but that may not last. We're still bringing our squad together and we've yet to see the full potential from guys like Bostock, Earnshaw, Emphraim, etc.

For me, Montreal didn't look the "better team". Morelike, they looked like a team with 2 more weeks preseason under their belt, which they did have! Where Montreal's midfield knew where to find Di Vaio, the Toronto midfield didn't really gel with Earnshaw's off the ball run's. Give TFC a couple more weeks, and they will be more cohesive. Montreal looked like a bunch of players who have practiced a lot more. Toronto clearly needs two more weeks preseason. Luckily, Toronto now have 2 weeks until their next game, which I'm sure they will use wisely to catch up with the other teams.

I was definitely impressed though, that Nelson saw errors in the first half, and changed and corrected them in the second. That's good news seeing that Nelson is a rookie manager. He clearly gave the team a good talking to at half time, got them revving. He subbed Morgan and Hall, who were the weakest players. Russel made a good impact.

I'm not saying TFC and Nelson are fantastic already, but they've given me enough hope that they will improve, as they already have over 3 games. That is what we need this season.

I agree Montreal's team will find short term success. But I can see them drying up fairly quickly. The didn't seem to have a second game. Once Nelson had worked them out, Toronto really took the game to Montreal in the second half. The NYRB's, LA, San Jose's of the league will beat Montreal on a regular basis.

[Cashcleaner]

^ If I were a self-loathing Impact fan, I think that would be my biggest fear. That the composition of my roster and Schällibaum's obvious strategies combined are going to result in a team that opponents will be able to adapt quickly to and overcome in short order.

[CoachGT]

The good:

4,000+ fans in the opposing stadium! Loud and proud!
Wavus interruptus!
A chant of "Pay Tuition!" for a few minutes!
Meeting up with everyone in the downtown bars pre-game!
TFC played a better second half than they did in the first two games.
Earnshaw has some skill, as does Bostock.
Becker looks to fit and can contribute, not bad for his third ever professional game.

The bad:

Olympic Satdium is so cavernous, it was hard to hear anything, sound just sort of dies. At times, the front of 149 was chanting something different than the back, just because you couldn't hear each other!
Holding us in the stadium and then walking us out past Montreal fans with minimal security between - thankfully the most passionate Impact fans had already left.
An extremely flat first half by our guys.
Montreal's third uni - Inter wannabes???
An exhibition of poor refereeing again - when will MLS improve???
Two questionable (at best) penalty calls (ours was just as bad).

The ugly:

Giving up three points in Montreal.

Great weekend overall and glad to have met up with a bunch of our folks!

[Shakes McQueen]

Looked forward and not in the past,this the only City who do thinks like this,when Koevermans score every week you here nobody alone stupid dichio song

Yep, we're the only club in the world whose fans have ritualized behaviour based on events or players in our past. Fucking brilliant.

- Scott

[PopePouri]

Yep, we're the only club in the world whose fans have ritualized behaviour based on events or players in our past. Fucking brilliant.

- Scott

I hear "You'll Never Walk Alone" is pretty new and hip. We should sing that.

[Ajax TFC]

Montreal's third uni - Inter wannabes???

If I understood de Vos correctly, those are the jerseys that they wore back in the 70s. Yeah I was disappointed that they weren't being lame and copying inter

[billyfly]

The good:

4,000+ fans in the opposing stadium! Loud and proud!
Wavus interruptus!
A chant of "Pay Tuition!" for a few minutes!
Meeting up with everyone in the downtown bars pre-game!
TFC played a better second half than they did in the first two games.
Earnshaw has some skill, as does Bostock.
Becker looks to fit and can contribute, not bad for his third ever professional game.

The bad:

Olympic Satdium is so cavernous, it was hard to hear anything, sound just sort of dies. At times, the front of 149 was chanting something different than the back, just because you couldn't hear each other!
Holding us in the stadium and then walking us out past Montreal fans with minimal security between - thankfully the most passionate Impact fans had already left.
An extremely flat first half by our guys.
Montreal's third uni - Inter wannabes???
An exhibition of poor refereeing again - when will MLS improve???
Two questionable (at best) penalty calls (ours was just as bad).

The ugly:

Giving up three points in Montreal.

Great weekend overall and glad to have met up with a bunch of our folks!

They let everyone in the upper deck just leave and there was tension b/t some in the Metro thats for sure.

[Stouffville_RPB]

Montreal's third uni - Inter wannabes???

I'm convinced that is the reason for Nesta's early substitution. He just couldn't take wearing that jersey after 10+ years with Milan.

[Fort York Redcoat]

If I understood de Vos correctly, those are the jerseys that they wore back in the 70s. Yeah I was disappointed that they weren't being lame and copying inter

Um correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't Inter had that kit for a very long time? I'm pretty confident that '70's kit was an "homage" to Inter as well.

Translation: They can still be lame.

[Pint]

They let everyone in the upper deck just leave and there was tension b/t some in the Metro thats for sure.

Yep, one fight broke out in our metro car between TFC and impact fans.... and sad to say but it was the TFC fans who were being the aggressors in that one. promptly a few other tfc fans threw them out of the train at the next stop.

[ManUtd4ever]

I'm convinced that is the reason for Nesta's early substitution. He just couldn't take wearing that jersey after 10+ years with Milan.

LOL, I thought of the exact same thing at the time.

[Huyton]

Looked forward and not in the past,this the only City who do thinks like this,when Koevermans score every week you here nobody alone stupid dichio song

How do you explain the "Super Robert Earnshaw" chant?

[ensco]

I'm convinced that is the reason for Nesta's early substitution. He just couldn't take wearing that jersey after 10+ years with Milan.

Too funny. How could I miss that?

[Ajax TFC]

Um correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't Inter had that kit for a very long time? I'm pretty confident that '70's kit was an "homage" to Inter as well.

Translation: They can still be lame.

Oh. I didn't realize their Serie A obsession was so deep rooted. I just assumed it was a joey saputo thing

[jazzy]

Just back from the game Sunday evening. My two cents:

I think it was a very entertaining game. Montreal were very lucky to go in at the break two goals in front. That was very flattering to them. I thought TFC controlled a lot of the game in the first half. Di Vaio's goal was well taken. Otherwise it was fairly even. The onlt worry seemed to be Morgan being out of position and giving Montreal way too much space. Nelson clearly realised that in the second half, though.

I thought Toronto came out well in the second half and made a good game of it. TFC probably deserved a point out of it, in my opinion. TFC looked much better when Russel came on.

I actually thought Bostock played poorly. He clearly has skills, but he overplays the ball too much. The things he did looked good against Kansas, but often didn't work at all against Montreal. He needed to be simple and tried to do too much over and over again. I can see when he's on his game, he's going to be very exciting, but when the same skills don't pay off, its not going to be cohesive. On saturday is was the latter.

I thought Ecks had a great game. The guy never gives up. I thought Dunfield had a fairly good game too. I don't understand the hate for him, he didn't do much wrong on Saturday. Lambe looked good too. Bendick continues to impress. He's very confident in dealing with the 6 yard box and balls into the area. I like Frei, but there's no need to drop Bendick on his current form.

I'm "quietly confident" that Nelson can find some success this season. There are obviously some areas that need improvement (Russel in place of Morgan? Bekker instead of Hall? Possibly somebody else up front to help Earnshaw, who is too small to control the final third on his own). Having Silva and Cesar back will give Nelson some good options. I think we genuinely only need possibly 2 new players, plus a fit Silva and Cesar, and we will be competative against most MLS teams).

Great atmosphere, fantastic support from all you guys. A very enjoyable weekend, and a good game, despite the loss, I can take a lot of positives from the game.

thia is a good poSt however Rightly or wrongly disagree about Lambe feel he was in no mans land continuously, never supporting the offence when he should Ernshaw, or never helping the mid back field , Morgan , which of course is a must..I think as an import he's replaceable

[T-boy]

thia is a good poSt however Rightly or wrongly disagree about Lambe feel he was in no mans land continuously, never supporting the offence when he should Ernshaw, or never helping the mid back field , Morgan , which of course is a must..I think as an import he's replaceable

For sure, I agree. I think that Lambe was a little more effective as an offensive player on Saturday compared to Bostock. Neither Lambe OR Bostock are defensive minded at all. Bostock kind of makes it "look" like he makes a challenge, but never does. He seems to have perfected the "I'll jump to make it look like I'm going to win this header, but actually I'm 2 feet away and I won't ruffle my perfect hair" technique, by the looks of it!

I would be looking to find an improvement over Lambe in the current line up, as I would Morgan. They are both good squad players, but are replaceable in the starting 11. However, I don't think Lambe was terrible at all on Saturday. I guess it depends what you are looking for from the 2 wide men. When you are playing one lone striker, you really need them to be more attack minded, so I personally don't mind that Lambe didn't cover too much at the back.

[billyfly]

I think it is safe to say we look better than if this team was led by Mariner.

[whyalwaysme11]

who was that guy who I wont even call a supporter with the canadian flag wrapped around him who threw a beer on tfc supporters at the end of the game. he was sitting in the 400s.
embarrassing

[Alonso]

who was that guy who I wont even call a supporter with the canadian flag wrapped around him who threw a beer on tfc supporters at the end of the game. he was sitting in the 400s.
embarrassing

Not sure who it was but I was in 149 and got some of that beer on me.

It actually happened twice in the game and that is just in my little area... must have happened more then twice.

It reminded me of when Drew Carey was at BMO being interviewed in the press box by a girl from CP24 near an open window. They both got pelted with beer but the journalist got the worst of it.

[Pint]

who was that guy who I wont even call a supporter with the canadian flag wrapped around him who threw a beer on tfc supporters at the end of the game. he was sitting in the 400s.
embarrassing

2 different guys... the guy wearing the Canadian flag was hammered and reasonably annoying at times but he wasn't the one who threw the beer.

The guy that threw the beer was in the 1st row of the upper section of the 400's after which one of the guys i was with reminded him to calm down and that we are all TFC fans in this section.

[JoeyB]

Oh. I didn't realize their Serie A obsession was so deep rooted. I just assumed it was a joey saputo thing

I think TFC could use a few Italians in the middle of the park. MLSE's obsession with English football is just as lame.

[JoeyB]

I just can't disagree with much of what you're saying. Montreal was the better team Saturday night and dictated the pace for the majority of the 90 minutes. Sure, they didn't exactly set fire to the pitch, but we got outplayed. Offensively and defensively they were better organized, quicker on their feet, and just straight-up looked more confident out there on the turf.

The Impact are not world-beaters by any stretch, but we can't deny their current record. 3 straight wins - 2 of which were away, with 5 goals for and 2 against. Trust me, I don't like saying any of this. I can't fucking stand that team and it's shitty fans, but Saputo has definitely assembled a team that can contend, at least for the time being...

And that leads in to my second point. As others have pointed out (including our own John Leung) Montreal really looks like a team built to achieve very short-term gains and could find themselves up shit creek when their older core of players start breaking down.

Long story short: Montreal is the better team but that may not last. We're still bringing our squad together and we've yet to see the full potential from guys like Bostock, Earnshaw, Emphraim, etc.

Someone has to tell why winning now is a terrible thing? The way I look at it, when your ageing 34 year dies, you get another player with a little left in the tank. Kovermans last year, Earnshaw this year, next year someone else. Who cares? I'd rather have a Nesta in the back than what we have. I'd rather basically anyone with Seria A experience than Dunfeild.

Seeing what I'm saying. The culture of losing at TFC is being broken, but saying-- we're building for 2017 is defeatist. We should want to make the play-offs this year, we're maybe 4 players away. Bring them in. I don't care if they're 39.

And BTW-- when we look at Montreal, I think we're kinda looking at ourselves. You are defined by your opposition. It's why Ajax isn't considered a top team. Who do they play against during the year? And why is Man U what it is? They have Liverpool and the other top English clubs to thank. So save the total distain for Red Bull who have crap fans or Chivas who have no fans.

Just saying.

[Auzzy]

Someone has to tell why winning now is a terrible thing? The way I look at it, when your ageing 34 year dies, you get another player with a little left in the tank. Kovermans last year, Earnshaw this year, next year someone else. Who cares? I'd rather have a Nesta in the back than what we have. I'd rather basically anyone with Seria A experience than Dunfeild.

Seeing what I'm saying. The culture of losing at TFC is being broken, but saying-- we're building for 2017 is defeatist. We should want to make the play-offs this year, we're maybe 4 players away. Bring them in. I don't care if they're 39.

And BTW-- when we look at Montreal, I think we're kinda looking at ourselves. You are defined by your opposition. It's why Ajax isn't considered a top team. Who do they play against during the year? And why is Man U what it is? They have Liverpool and the other top English clubs to thank. So save the total distain for Red Bull who have crap fans or Chivas who have no fans.

Just saying.

It's risky because the Impact have lots of money tied up in a couple of good but older players that they are very dependent on. If a couple of them go down partway through the season, then you get no cap relief, so their salary is tied up for the rest of the season. Kind of like TFC last year. And if they're on multi-year deals, then you can only buy out one player per season, if some of those players are injured or not performing. Although every player over 30 is different, there may also be an issue of fatigue, especially as the season drags on, lots of travel, hot summer games, etc. Saturday we saw Nesta have to be subbed out early, and the whole team frankly looked a bit beat towards the end of the game, which gave TFC a chance. (Yes Montreal still had some gas for a few dangerous counter-attacks.)

I don't know how good the Impact's backup players are. Maybe they're fine and can do well if some of the older stars get injured. We shall see.

TFC still has some older players, but looking at the roster, I don't think there's as much money tied up in those players, nor is the team as dependent on them. Plus TFC still has cap space & spare allocation $ (I think Montreal is pretty well maxed out), plus flexibility due to a few players being on loans or short-term contracts until the summer. (Yes, I know there's a different type of risk with those short-term deals.)

For sure, TFC does not yet have the overall quality of players that Montreal has, but it seems they still have some room and flexibility to improve. Let's see how the results compare over a couple of years.

BTW, I've wondered about Montreal's cap space since last season anyway. Who knows how they pulled all that off?

[brad]

Auzzy nailed it.

I'm not very interested in how Monteal have done over three games. This isn't a cup - it's a league and you don't win it with a few good players, you win it with a squad.

We will see over the season if their model works or not. Didn't try have a strong start last year as well and then fall apart?

I never get why some people look at Montreal with envy. Yes we suck - and I perfectly understand being envious of better teams - but why not envy some of the better MLS teams like LA or Seattle.

Also Auzzy - rumors abound about a lot of back room deals between Saputo and folks back in Italy in regards to player salaries and cap space. No idea if its true, but I find it a bit strange a guy like Nesta moved here for peanuts.

[KRO]

Some videos from McLeans and the subway on the way to the Big O.

https://plus.google.com/photos/11788...27977009153537

[ensco]

I never get why some people look at Montreal with envy. Yes we suck - and I perfectly understand being envious of better teams - but why not envy some of the better MLS teams like LA or Seattle.

Ding ding ding.

How about RSL? A contender every year, came within a hair's breath of winning the CCL, while playing beautiful football, with no DPs.

[Yohan]

Saw the game again. Few of my thoughts.

Set pieces
-Gotta get those headers on frame if you beat your defender on corners

Bostock
-Tormented Al Pacino on right wing. Good 1st half, not so good 2nd half

Morgan
-Poor defensively, poor passing. Even the best players lose form from time to time, but Morgan needs competition to get better.

Califf
-Keeps losing di Vaio runs

Dunfield
-Offensively solid. As he gains more confidence, better he plays. Couple of nifty little moves to get away from his marker with the ball. Lost Arnaud on 2nd Mtl goal though.

Ephraim
-I can see why Nelsen is using him as AM. Better game from him offensively.

Bekker
-Really poor. Seemed lost on the pitch.

The inability to hold the ball in middle of the field is making TFC more predictable, as most of the attack seemed to filter through Bostock who had good first half, but less effective in the 2nd half. Bostock, Ephraim and Lambe are technically proficient, but not the biggest dudes. Dribbles ok, but they aren't going to beat every MLS defender they face. Need more off the ball movement in the midfield if TFC is going to try to generate offence using smaller and more skillful dribblers.

The defence needs to be more patient with the ball. Couple of sequences where TFC held on to the ball, but the defenders got frustrated by not being able to pass through the middle of the park because of well organized Montreal defence, so they hoof the ball to Earnshaw who aren't going to win many of those.

Set pieces were particularly poor. Good teams are competitive on set pieces. Nuff said.

Earnshaw led the defending by being a pest up front. His pressure caused quite a few turnovers.

Dunfield would have been my MOM if it wasn't for Earnshaw. Ya, he sold the penalty but there was definitely some contact. Except for losing Arnaud in 2nd Mtl goal (but the entire TFC defence fell asleep on that one esp Califf), Dunfield did a good job as box to box CM and a big part of why Mtl sucked in 2nd half. (Opta agrees with me http://www.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter...tor/chalkboard)

Same with Ecks. Wasn't particular good going forward but was defensively solid on both left and right back spots. I dunno about all the fouls he was committing, but opta says only 2 fouls.

It was a very even match. On another day, TFC nicks a draw away. Evident by Montreal not being very happy despite winning. TFC pressured heavily esp in 2nd half, and even 1st half wasn't bad; but rather pretty even. As much as I wanted a win so bad for this one, I'm pretty happy with the overall effort.

Earnshaw. What class. One of few players to make it down to TFC supporters end to show his appreciation. (though there was a bit of scuffle at the end of the game that some players got caught up on) Earnshaw shows his appreciation, turns away back to the locker room. Stops again after hearing his name being sung again and claps his hand in appreciation again. I'm getting an Earnshaw shirt once it is confirmed that he's staying past the summer. Seems the British players appreciate the supporters more than Canadian/US players.

Player ratings

Bendik 7
Ecks 6.5
Califf 5
O'Dea 6
Morgan 4
Dunfield 7.5
Hall 5.5
Bostock 6
Ephraim 6.5
Lambe 5.5
Earnshaw 7.5

Subs
Bekker 5
Russell 6
Osorio n/a

[Yohan]

Also Auzzy - rumors abound about a lot of back room deals between Saputo and folks back in Italy in regards to player salaries and cap space. No idea if its true, but I find it a bit strange a guy like Nesta moved here for peanuts.

Family has a lot to do with Nesta moving to NA. If it was just Nesta moving for small salary, I'd be surprised, but Arne Friedlich for Chicago did the same thing too.

As for Mtl, 7 out of 11 starters were over 30. If Mtl keeps wanting to think short term success only, I'm fine with that

[Yohan]

Ding ding ding.

How about RSL? A contender every year, came within a hair's breath of winning the CCL, while playing beautiful football, with no DPs.

Saborio

Though only due to a transfer fee being paid

[Yohan]

Some videos from McLeans and the subway on the way to the Big O.

https://plus.google.com/photos/11788...27977009153537

hahaha. Redcoe vids FTW