Hagglund had a hell of a debut tonight as well. He was composed beyond his years all night, and he singlehandedly saved a goal in the final minutes when it was still 1-0.
Hagglund had a hell of a debut tonight as well. He was composed beyond his years all night, and he singlehandedly saved a goal in the final minutes when it was still 1-0.
Agreed - they eased up on the offense in the second half - not overly pretty - but they did push them at times - and that was after subbing bradley and dero out. I would not call that ugly - I would call it amazing and refreshing! They looked a lot more competent, focused and relaxed than in previous years... I know it is crazy... but I am starting to believe... gotta get back to reality...Originally Posted by Shakes McQueen
I don't think the missing guy's were the reason we played that way. I just think it's Nelsen's style, he's very much a manager in the style of George Graham, or if you want a more modern comparison Mourinho. He will always have a well organised defence, protected by a solid mid and look to hit on counter. It may not be pretty but so far it is effective, Chelsea won CL playing a similiar system under Di Matteo. Utd conceded 80% possession against Bayern but probably should have won game. I just don't see us playing sexy football, this season anyway. Maybe over next few yrs he may well evolve, but I certainly wouldn't class him yet as a front manager, he defintely wants his defensive solidity first. Jackson is an excellent example of that, great energy, great defensive traits, but going forward not so great.
We were missing both our starting centre backs, our starting CM, and our leading scorer against the undefeated top team in the conference on the road, and not only did we win by 2 goals, but we could have scored a few more, and we held them to a clean sheet.
And now people are going to complain that the win wasn't pretty enough?
I am very proud of the boys tonight. This was a statement win around their mental toughness. All the signs indicated they would not or could not win. Bad game in RSL, injuries, suspensions, and 3rd away game in our first 4 games of the season. They could have turtled but they choose to fight on and win. The team has talent but also a lot of character too.
apparently the Crew Attendance was only 12,000. That is kinda scary. How does that happen, the crew usually have decent success. Last season wasn't great for them but the weren't so horrible to lose that many fans. (also shows how poor the draw of TFC "Stars" are). I find it sad that 2 seasons without a playoff can result in only 12,000 getting out to a game.
We could use some more division of labour out there. Jackson going forward is relatively pointless, might as well let him focus on disrupting the play. He lead the game in tackles btw, 6 successful ones. He was really all over the place.
I didn't know it was that low, you'd think yanks would be out to see Bradley at least. They have a pretty good core down there but I guess it doesn't transcend to the masses. 12k for a team that has started season in excellent form is weak, we have been getting more than that for yrs with no success.
I guess you can not please everybody
Moderator
Nordecke looked packed and jumping, but the rest of the stadium just looked sad. Especially for a team that was 3-0-0 going into today.
“Heroism breaks its heart, and idealism its back, on the intransigence of the credulous and the mediocre, manipulated by the cynical and the corrupt.” ~Christopher Hitchens
With Michael Bradley in town, after that MExico performance, and their team 3-0. It's just not a strong market.
Amazing all around performance tonight. Not spectacular individually, but everyone doing their job well and playing aggressively.
Bekker played his best game yet. I had a feeling that playing next to Bradley would bring out the best in him. I know Osorio is pretty much universally considered the better of the two (and in most ways he is), but in this game Bekker played better in tandem with Bradley than Oso or Hall have so far. Sure he made some bad passes, but he also made a lot of key interceptions in the midfield to keep the pressure off the back line; made some good passes forward; had good passing chemistry with Bradley, and most importantly IMO, he managed to keep the shape with Bradley moving all over the place much better than Hall or Osorio have managed to do. Osorio did pretty well in that regard too, but there were still times when he got caught upfield with Bradley. Bekker seems to have a slightly better understanding of what Bradley is doing, and is able to play along with that. I give him a lot of credit for that.
That said, I still wish he would be more aggressive when tracking back. I can't remember ever seeing him run as hard as he can to catch and stop someone. If playing with Bradley can't inspire him to add that to his game, then I don't think that will ever be part of his game.
Edit: Also, who was the idiot announcer who called Issey a youngster? Was that Dunleavy?
Last edited by Ajax TFC; 04-05-2014 at 10:36 PM.
most of you don't know the problem Columbus have been facing under previous ownership.
the new owner, Anthony Precourt, is ambitious. he doesn't have deep pockets, but he seems like he cares about the Crew. there will be a rebranding next year, and hopefully, better times for Columbus, at least in the stands
“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
Early days, but we are 2nd in the East (on goal differential), and forth in the combined table (with RSL and Columbus ahead of us on goal differential - RSL having played one more game)
I'm not complaining. I was expecting we'd do a lot worse and I wouldn't have complained even if we'd lost.
It was a gritty win, which could have gone either way to be honest. We held on for dear life in front of our goalmouth and we punished them twice for fucking up in front of theirs. We can't win consistently if we approach every game like that, and our previous tactics have been roughly similar regardless of squad fitness.
It's not a complaint, its an observation. If someone says, yep, that was an ugly win. Theyre not being negative, theyre calling it like it is ffs.
Columbus average MLS attendance is about what ours gets for non MLS games. Columbus is a disgrace... give them to Beckham.
Good teams win ugly.
They win beautiful, too. Which is what they have to do now. If this team comes out and paste Colorado next week, I will actually be giddy.
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
Winning ugly usually indicates you are facing a technically superior or fitter team, and you've won by frustrating them instead of dominating them.
A win is a win, but it wont work every week. This is a great start though, and Im really excited about Colorado too.
Moderator
Speaking of Colorado, has there been word about how much longer Defoe, and the rest of them are expected to be out?
“Heroism breaks its heart, and idealism its back, on the intransigence of the credulous and the mediocre, manipulated by the cynical and the corrupt.” ~Christopher Hitchens
Yes, usually.
winning ugly against an inferior team would indicate that you're not as good as you think you are.
Six of one, half a dozen of the other mate...
I think every games this week in the MLS has been a good result for TFC. Not one east team got 3 points this week except us! Fucken massive win!
I don't care how pretty or ugly they are, as long as they are worth three points. After what we've had for the past half decade, I'll take as many ugly wins as we can get. Points in the bank and 2 out of three wins on the road are both fine with me. Our home match against DC on a horrendous pitch was also ugly, but I'll give that one a pass for now.
Toronto FC baby...best team everrrrrrrrrr -Jozy
Great result and all Nelsons fault...stealing wins like this makes me soo angry. Seriously winning ugly is remarkable when you have had as must disruption as this team has had pre-season and early season.
Fair enough. 'Brilliant' was an exaggeration....but it's Game Day....and Game Day is brilliant
Resilience in the face of adversity is always a thing of beauty. You won't see much of that game populate a highlight reel. You kinda had to watch it all the way through to fully appreciate it. But at the end, a bunch of grimey-faced guys walked over a smokey, bloody battlefield and savored a victory delivered with a really stout, full team effort.
We have veins of steel running through this club like we've never seen before.
Or Columbus just suck. I'm good either way.
Agreed. He kept trying to thread the needle with low probability passing to the strikers and succeeded only in giving the ball away. That said, his nonchalant pass to Morrow leading to Issey's goal was wonderful.
Moderator
First off, I really like the fact that Toronto is the club that put the brakes on the Crew's winning streak. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Now as ugly as the game got at times for us, when you figure who we were missing and what sort of squad we could have played today, I'm more than happy with the result.
One thing that continues to concerns me is possession, though. Our control of the ball over 4 games is around 36%. I totally get that our style of offensive football doesn't necessarily require a high level of possession, but on the flip side I will argue again that it's very seldom a bad thing to have the ball and be able to dictate he flow and pace of the game as a result.
This is an issue that so far hasn't translated into a losing record - after all, 9 points from 4 games is a pretty good trend; but this could potentially bite us in the ass sometime down the line when clubs will have had more time to study our matches. Not trying to be negative here, but it's really the only worry I have with this club right now.
Really looking forward to the game against Colorado. They beat Vancouver 2-1 (though the Whitecaps lost Laba in the 77th minute).
Last edited by Cashcleaner; 04-06-2014 at 02:21 AM.
Did the USA , of all countries, just fix soccer? - C. Ronaldo, May 27th commenting on the FBI-led investigations into fraud and corruption throughout FIFA.
not sure we were holding on for dear life at any time, to be fair Dero missed a sitter in 1st half and in 2nd half he had a 3 on 2 on a breakaway and instead of laying it off opted to shoot from the half way line. For sure Crew had a couple of chances also, eg clearance Orr made was excellent, but I can't think of too many other clear cut chances they had. Excellent performance, 2 wins away to Col and Sea, not bad so far, look for the positives, there is more of them than negatives
For one game depth questions answered. Swapped 2 CBs and pulled off a clean sheet. Showed well in other areas even though in the end it felt like a smash and grab. 2 Goals, strong debut performances and 3 points were the result.
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