they said they would if they can get hold of the footage but who knows at this point
they said they would if they can get hold of the footage but who knows at this point
Likely the MLS video editors are scratching their heads as to what highlights to include since they can't clearly see many of the players.Originally Posted by TFC07
Hard to tell from preseason form and fog to get a good feel, but overall I felt that the lads were not bad. Some good combination plays. Both Bendik and Konopka had to make big stops, but the defence wasn't bad considering no Caldwell and Richter playing out of position. Actually, Richter at CB might not be a bad idea at all, if he can improve his positioning.
Was impressed by Bradley, who won a lot of balls and has the capability to unlock defences with long range passing. Bekker had couple of good passes as well, and seemed to have improved his composure a bit. Issey looked to have gotten involved on the wing. Laba I don't think lost the ball once. Morrow looked to be a slightly better version of Morgan, and got up the flanks a lot. DeRo was DeRo, and he's going to take a shot whenever he sees quarter of an opening. Rey is still the best 1v1 on the team.
For first game of the season, felt good about what I saw.
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
Here's the goal finally. Field-level replay gives a better look. Solid weak foot finish from Dike.
Nice goal, great service, thanks NTS
That is amazing, when the MLS is up against the wall, they give us what we want. Good to see Dike in action.
Remember The Man, The Legend, The Goal 5-12-07 and All That #9 Left On The Pitch, Thanks For The Memories !!!
Wow, this time it was the other team giving it up near the end-of-game. And to think that the goal came of what could be considered our second string. Can you imagine having Bradley and Laba on the field at the same time? The two of them will own the middle of the pitch this year!
Fucking Christ how can they not have the goal up before the post game interviews with Nelsen and De Rosario? Sometimes I wonder if these big signings are coming at the cost of belt tightening in other areas.
I couldn't tell much of what was going on in the first half but I was impressed by Bradley for both his footballing ability and the fact that his head reflects the stadium lights like a lighthouse in St Johns. Richter at CB was an interesting choice, he's 6'2" and hard in the tackle. It makes sense that they're keeping him around as the 4/5th centreback instead of the 5th fullback. If the experiment works out I'd say keeping him is a better move than say, Attakora. Agbossoumonde needs to learn how to pass plain and simple. If it's a forward pass and the player is not wide open, it's a turn over. Nakajima Farran looked promising, far more than Reggie Lambe and I imagine he'd be cheap considering his past clubs were 2nd tier Denmark and the A-League. Bekker better improve his passing game because having flashes of being a professional footballer isn't good enough. Dike had a nice and composed finish and Welshy gets the fog excuse for being invisible this time, but I suspect it won't happen again.
From these pics I found on Yahoo you can really see how thick the fog truly was, good on the Reds getting the victory, all good to see them start with a victory.
Remember The Man, The Legend, The Goal 5-12-07 and All That #9 Left On The Pitch, Thanks For The Memories !!!
Lovely shot of Osorio and Silva, what we have and what we gave away. These great shots look like the game was played near a forest fire or in China, surreal.
The cross from Eze was nice, too. Looks like a big, clever player. Rey was good in the first half, Bradley looked solid, Laba came on and immediately stripped DC twice, lol.
Good times, fog and all. If Dike finishes like that all season we'll have some heavy options up front.
I can see Dike locking down a starting position early in the season if Gilberto takes a bit of time to get used to MLS play. With a strong pre-season he may even make the starting lineup against Seattle. I think he'll be very valuable to us this season.
Last edited by notthesun; 02-06-2014 at 01:14 AM.
I did not watch any of the preseason match I have only seen the goal and that is it. Who stood out other than Bradley and Dike.
Here is a pretty cool fog pic of Joe Bendik, just look at it taking over the field.
Remember The Man, The Legend, The Goal 5-12-07 and All That #9 Left On The Pitch, Thanks For The Memories !!!
Bradley's post game interview, I counted 12 "You know" in just over 1 minute. That has to be a TFC record...
We MUST hang on to Dike......His size and speed are fantastic....
I have a feeling we'll see him paired with Defoe more often than we think.
I thought Joe Bendik made an interesting comment at the end of his post-game. Briefly talks about midfield style change.
I'd like to see DeRo and Dike as forwards at the same time,
the idea of Bradley, Osorio, two solid wingers .. (anyone but Lambe)
and some back line options are a good sign.
lots of work to do.
Though I do like that TFC either through design or just coincidence have always tried to maintain a decent crop of Canadians on the team, and ones that have potential to start.
say what you will about TFC.. but they have tried to find a way to compete with Canadians on the pitch. Vancouver and Montreal haven't. If Issey signs that is 10 Canadians with 5 potential starters (though I expect 4-5 of them to go out on loan). Vancouver has 3 signed Canadians, 1 draft pick and 1 on loan (5) (only 1 starts often) ... Montreal has 5 and 1 draft pick, Bernier is the only real regular starter.
This years TFC squad could see Henry, Morgan, Osorio, Issey, and Dero all start a game together where we have a strong chance to pick up points.
That I think is the most smile inducing thing I got out of that pre-season game.
I do want to make it clear that is all I take from it.. we had a very strong pre-season in 2012... and then.. worse team in the world.
Last edited by Kaz; 02-06-2014 at 11:03 AM.
Out of this group: Konopka, Agbossoumonde, Henry, Morgan, Nakajima-Farran, Laba, Hall, Bekker, Rey, Welshman, Dike, who had the captain's armband in the second half?
I agree. I know he wants to see playing time, and there's been talk of him going out on loan to help his WC chances. But honestly, why would we loan out such a strong striker when we need him so desperately? Defoe and Gilberto will hopefully be great up front, but Dike will serve as our 3rd guy. Or possibly 2nd or 1st. That's up to him.
Jeremy Hall had the armband, I recall the announcers saying.
Where's Elmer?
I really can't imagine him going anywhere on loan. If he's third choice striker at TFC, he'll be even lower on the pecking order at Celtic (where he was rumoured to go), or pretty much any other European club. He has a better chance of playing at TFC. And playing with Defoe, Nigeria will be having a close look at him.
Dike scored in preseason.. lets all take a breath and calm down. He could be solid depth but he hasn't maintained a consistent finishing rate in his career. Gilberto on the other hand has, and in Brazil.
We definitely shouldn't consider loaning him out to a club that's not going to start him every game. Also, I understand that he wants to make the WC, and playing regularly will help in that pursuit. But I don't really see the sense in putting Dike's own personal priorities over ours. He could actually be extremely effective here as first a super sub, and then later getting some starts, especially in the cup games. Then who knows, maybe he'll push Defoe or Gilberto onto the bench. It's GOOD to have a player who is hungry for games and goals - it helps motivate Defoe and Gilberto.
I think it would be a terrible mistake (of Mo proportion) to loan out Dike at this point. It would hurt us in the league. We've had enough of that.
Oh absolutely. That's why Dike is #3 striker. Maybe shared with DeRo. Either way, we should keep him. We don't want to find ourselves in a situation where we need him and he's loaned out to serve his own need. Our need must come first.
Totally agree. He also gives us size which we don't have in Defoe or Gilberto. Need to be able to change things up, look to score in different ways and he brings that.
WE'RE GONNA WIN THE LEAGUE... Undefeated at home... TFC looked unstoppable... Dike unreal finish... Laba the DP of all non-DP's... Eze = service king... Bekker is a future all-star...
Bradley is GONNA TEAR THIS LEAGUE APART!
Carts...
PS: I didn't watch the game
"...Money wasn't tight, but it like, it wasn't right..."
I would expect this in some sort of media that doesn't follow the team. lolWE'RE GONNA WIN THE LEAGUE... Undefeated at home... TFC looked unstoppable... Dike unreal finish... Laba the DP of all non-DP's... Eze = service king... Bekker is a future all-star...
Bradley is GONNA TEAR THIS LEAGUE APART!
Carts...
PS: I didn't watch the game
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