Sorry, but of course you can. The cheating KC player had no right to run into Henry. We know he did that because he bounced off and held his face. He didn't trip over a so called "outstretched leg". Henry had as much right to be in that place as the other guy - he had to run around him. I don't see Henry at fault on this one at all. If you were right, then it would be called obstruction every time a player shepherds a ball out for a goal kick. Similar principleOriginally Posted by jloome
Last observation.
It was a pleasure to watch SKC last night and their one touch passes and pressuring the ball.
Imagine. A team that competes at the top every year. Stable management. No major gaps in player salaries. A beautiful soccer specific stadium. Reasonable ticket prices for years to come.
I feel bad for them. Their franchise operators just go about scouting talented players. They don't go out with open wallets and deliver big names that the people of Kansas City deserve. They just deliver results with lesser names at prices you can afford. Poor bastards.
I have read plenty of praise recently for our young players such as Hagglund, Lovitz, Osorio, and Bekker. Henry deserves the criticism, and Bekker had his worst game of the season last night.
As for your indictment of our team as a whole, I think it's unfair to label the collective group of players as overrated. I think it would be more apt to label the team as an underachieving group at this point, and that falls squarely on the shoulders of our coaching staff.
Offensive minded players can't perform when they don't have the ball. It's really that simple.
Rating the team is important in this. If you feel they are underperforming, that is indeed on the coaching staff.
I don't think they are underperforming at all. I think they need to develop and/or improve their players. We haven't changed the way we develop players and most certainly haven't changed the way we acquire them. 8 coaching staffs couldn't get more out of the players. At some point, it ceases to be the easy fix and requires a long term look at team building.
Agreed.Offensive minded players can't perform when they don't have the ball. It's really that simple.
So then where is the wisdom in bringing in a couple of offensive players to a TEAM that has never enjoyed a possession advantage (5 games in 2013 resulted in >50% possession)?
I don't see a fault with that if you keep expectations reasonable. Like Payne did. Long term vision. Stick with us. This year is about improving.
If you set your expectations on playoffs and call it the easiest team to turn around… it was built on somewhat of a fatal flaw isn't it?
and still tied a shit team like us...I guess yr done with TFC...
Okay I get it. TFC sucks. They have stupid management, overpaid players etc. etc. I am curious why you repeat the same shit over and over again. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but when someone is always coming from the dark side it gets irritating. KC is on 1.5 points per game pace, Toronto is on a 1.44. Not much to look at there. Toronto is basically sold out for all their games so 22,000 people per game don't see it your way. As a suggestion I would stop watching the games because it may not be a healthy experience for you.
Results 22% of the way through the season don't tell you much. Leafs and Raptors were pretty interesting examples of that this year.
Forgetting the score, the ref ... how did the team look to you last night?
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
Ugly. It looked like a team that needs a midfield to get the ball to our strikers and properly defend. I agree it's too early to predict the final outcome but considering the fact that most of these guys haven't played together much I think there is good potential for improvement with an additional midfielder or two.
I think some people's expectations just needs to be checked right now. 4-1-4, plus we are at least 3 games in hand to others, even more with some teams. We win 1 or 2 of those games (and the in hand games are largely home games too) and we are right in the play off mix.
If anybody thinks that getting 3 DP's instantly turns you into winning games 3-0 each week have to calm down. Nelson is doing what all new managers does and makes his team "hard to beat". Just looking at our goals conceded shows he is doing exactly that.
This team isn't going to be gelling and BEATING (winning by a couple of goals) teams until at least half way through the season, lets be realistic here!
This is still early days and these early games are bonus points, especially away. Taking a point from Kansas is a good result for us. Forget the style of play until at least July, a new group of players needs to grind out these early season results.
So on the positive side for TFC. Results have gone very well. With games on hand we are well placed to make a run for the play-offs. We've had our best away results ever & we are improving. We have really only played with one DP at any time..and if we ever get all three clicking at the same time - we will be a force.
After last night - you have to be impressed with Luke Moore's start at the club. He is offering something different up front. Same with Bradley Orr & Hagglund - both looking solid. collen Warner had a decent debut & Lovitz is progressing well. Bendik is a very good keeper.
So saying "lay off calling the young guys shit" is coming from the dark side?
Ok then.
I'll collect my payment in the forum of a beer at Joes this wed
Depends on what you mean by done. I'm done as a season ticket holder but that was for economic reasons.
Results on the pitch are different than how former season ticket holders have been treated. They haven't earned trust. SKC and about 15 other MLS franchises are the model for how you can make soccer a #1 priority, create (and keep) a nice soccer specific stadium, build a team that competes, without gouging the hell out of your fans.
As for results on the pitch, I don't think they are where the ticket sellers say we are. I think they need time to develop the talent they have and draft new talent to be competitive over the longer term. This was always a band aid plan to me. Maybe not you, that's fine. To me, getting down on our players and coach is about the worse thing we can do if I (and others) are right in that the team isn't there yet. If that assumption is true, we are pressuring them to over perform at a time when development is critical. It is a recipe for more of the same.
Now, I (and others) could be completely wrong. Maybe they are underachieving. Maybe a 9th or 10th coach will help. Maybe Henry or Bekker or the goat of the day needs to be stapled to the player's bench. Maybe they are favoured to get into the playoffs.
You go your way, I'll go mine. Which cringes every time a young player is criticized, the coach is called to be canned and a parade is led in Tim L's honour.
I don't understand why we're debating the price of tickets and variance in player salaries. Every team in the league wants Bradley and Defoe and given the resources to do so, would.
This is about our management thinking a bunch of randoms whom may or may not be good enough at the MLS level can push the ball up to our "wonderful" strikers. Bradley is everything we could have asked for, but it's already quite obvious that he alone can't get this done. Add in the fact that Gilberto looks like he's got two left legs and is running around like a deer in headlights and you can see the reason for criticism.
Everyone had doubts that this would happen but simply trusted the belief that management knew more than we did, they didn't. This is a horribly constructed team and our coach/manager is thrilled about it. Fuck.
I just re-watched the highlights. Even if what Doneil Henry did was a penalty, I still think the other guy should get a card for launching himself at the ground and grabbing his face like he got hit with a sledgehammer. Pathetic that shit like that is allowed in this sport.
Well done Nelson!!! We owe the point tonight to his management...the change in the 53rd minute swung the game for us....Give Warner some time, especially when Bradley is back.....Bekker and Henry need to be sent out to Wilmington as soon as we get our plyers back...
Has been and will be until the end of soccer/football. It's what the sport is.
They are tied.
Like many, many clubs in MLS, SKC ticket prices have not and will not ever approach TFC levels. If you don't have depth, you buy your way to "competitive." That raises ticket prices.
As for the variance in salaries, it speaks to how well the team functions… as a team. The goat horns are passed quite frequently to guys that make less than Defoe makes in a week. Only human nature for them to start to get frustrated with the criticism and expectations and they may start to turn on each other.
You see elements of this every game. From Rey almost throwing his shirt after getting subbed. Defoe throwing his arms up. Osorio and Caldwell barking at each other. Etc. We've had rumours of dressing room friction before and some major public blow ups like DeRosario after JDG arrived in his sportscar with $1.8M in tow. The salary gap doesn't help.
I'm sure SKC has issues as well. By having players without major gaps in salary though they eliminate a potential powder keg. We seem to want to stuff powder and expectations into a very small room and hope for the best.
More of a commentary on how the team is built, functions and the impact on all of us.
Last edited by Pookie; 05-24-2014 at 10:01 AM.
You ever heard of LA? They seem to consistently do well with multiple DPs. NY too. This is MLS and this is how it works.
This may have been already mentioned in the last 17 pages of this thread but I for one am getting kind of sick of watching TFC have 10 seconds of possession then watch the other team possess the ball for 10 minutes and have that repeat for pretty much the whole match. How long can we just let other teams have the ball and wait for little opportunities? I don't really enjoy watching that style of play. The one positive thing I was hoping to see and did see is that postmatch they admitted they did not play well. Acknowledgement and acceptance that there is an issue is the first step. At least they made that. If Nelsen came out saying we had a great performance I would have been pretty pissed. We are just getting lucky right now that we have some guys to capitalize on the few little chances we are getting.
You've highlighted the only two teams that spend near what TFC does. And LA is the only one of the three to win a Cup. Most times in MLS, the team without the big spending wins (Colorado, Dallas, RSL, SKC, Columbus, Houston). LA has done very well but collectively, the non-spenders make or win the finals every year.
This was my only ask in the offseason. Look like you really actually belong in the league.
Which we don't, after 9 games.
I'd be happier if we'd looked like a team but lost. I mean that. Where is the progression?
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
Toronto charges more for tickets because we got market that people are willing to pay those prices to watch soccer. That's main reason why ticket prices are higher in Toronto than anywhere else. MLSE should be glad they're in market that they can screw up so much, but still get people buying their tickets and making them money.
The thing is, we're playing this way be design. Look what happens when we don't have possession. We concede the ground in the first third of our half (and the wings). Then teams face a bank of 8 players to hack through. It looks ugly and you can question whether it's sustainable over a season but it is largely working. We have one of the best goals against. And actually, a top striker who won't see much of the ball is integral to this because he might get only one chance to score, so he has to make good on it.
There are really only 2 other teams that CAN do it this way. And one has been dominant for half a decade. With 18 small market teams who can't spend chances are one of them will always be in a final.
So... I must have been dreaming when I saw the final score of 2-2. Judging by the comments on here we lost at least by 3 goals.
Context is important.
The score tells a tenth of the real story.
We never would have clawed our way out of that match in previous years, period.....and being able to do this really matters.
Good point. All is not lost.
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
Yes but its the most important part of the story.
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
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