Toronto FC @ Sporting Kansas City - Saturday August 16 - 8:30pm EDT - TSN2

[PopePouri]

Sometimes the reactions of supporters are hilarious. Last week I mentioned that Nelsen should get credit for how well the team has played regardless of the flack he takes here about inexperience and lack of tactical knowledge and I was called out for stirring up something that hasn't been said in months and that Nelsen was a coach of the year candidate and I was trouble making. I was going to post back saying wait until the next loss but decided against it but here we are again. Beyond that last weeks refrain seemed to be dump Defoe as he isn't worth the cash and now it's thank god Defoe is coming back for the next stretch of winnable matches and now Bradley is the overpaid player to dump. It wouldn't be so funny if it wasn't so predictable. But it is.

But to the topic of the thread; we played better than a 4-1 loss but not much. We gifted them penalties though starting Jackson at FB which never should have happened. Should have been Orr at CB with Hagglund out wide. That was a Nelsen f*ck up, no doubt. I got the point of leaving the young CB pairing together but not at the expense of the RB spot. The other PK was a fluke and even though Henry should have stayed on his feet, it was still a lucky bounce that did us in. Had Gilberto scored off that breakway it'd probably have been a different result but it is what it is. Tough place to play and losses are expected on the road especially in tough places. Main goal/hope now is that we can take advantage of this easier stretch of matches and our home field. Be interesting to see what our line up will be since some of our injured players could probably return. Regardless, our home matches are probably all must wins if we want to keep an automatic playoff spot and not the play in spot.

Orr was injured or didn't have a full 90 in him yesterday.

[Alonso]

I get that with Morgan. Not asking why he isn't starting or a sub. Asking why he's even on the team and not even considered when all other fullbacks are injured?



Agree but why not play morrow over at rb and let Morgan play lb? Why is he on the team if he's gonna be subbed once and play one minute all year?

As for dero...sure he's nothing like he used to be but when down a goal or two or three.....why wasn't he even considered?

Nelsen preferred subbing off Bradley for bekker.



Sorry. But you're ignoring one thing. The players playing were chosen by the coach. Jackson at rb was the reason we were behind from the first goal against.

That's on Nelsen.

After Gilberto scored late in the first and got us back in the game Nelsen did nothing (sub wise) until it was too late.

74th minute was out first sub. KC made a sub before us.

Ok so maybe he didn't think anyone on the bench could help us do to a short bench because of injury.


But he's been like this all year. Nelsen makes late subs when it's too late.

Why?

And why are people so hell bent on backing him up that they ignore this stuff?

I'm not ignoring that fact, it goes without saying, obviously the coach picked the team.

Two PK's against us, and two missed breakaways isn't on the coach, that's on the team.

Those events alone, reversed, gives us the win.

[Fort York Redcoat]

I'll say this much: Games like this make me less worried about who to protect come double expansion draft day.

This is best post I've read thus far in the thread. Love it.


So it seems we made mistakes and gifted the game to a league leader that attacked where we were most unsure and subbed sooner and adjusted to stay stronger. All these points are a concern and points to improve upon. Luckily we'll get chances to do so against weaker competition. We're still in a very good place.

[Carts]

I'm not ignoring that fact, it goes without saying, obviously the coach picked the team.

Two PK's against us, and two missed breakaways isn't on the coach, that's on the team.

Those events alone, reversed, gives us the win.

And if we reverse Jackson's EXTREMELY SELFISH attempt to deke a keeper instead of a simple ball & tap-in, and this could have been a much different game...

Also, the ref is a C*nt for calling the second penalty. Ya, he took him down, but that's after the ref himself got in the way and KC benefited, and that was after he already called a PK earlier. I think a little 'game-management' & judgement should have come into play there, and left the whistle in his pocket...

Plus, with Henry on the pitch you get the chance to call 4-5 penalties a match - so maybe let that one slide after you completed a pass for the home side...

[Phil]

To me, we should be much better at defending on corners and free kicks as a team. We should also be scoring more on set plays.

Makes me wonder why we have so many coaches and outright stink at corners. It is the easiest thing to practice and get some decent chances off of.

[Initial B]

I get that with Morgan. Not asking why he isn't starting or a sub. Asking why he's even on the team and not even considered when all other fullbacks are injured?

Agree but why not play morrow over at rb and let Morgan play lb? Why is he on the team if he's gonna be subbed once and play one minute all year?

Personally, I think Morgan's done at TFC. Nelsen doesn't seem to rate him or trust him with anything more than garbage time. The fact that Jackson started as fullback at SKC just cements this for me. For his own good and confidence, he should be released and allowed to find employment elsewere, maybe with Ottawa or Edmonton.

[OgtheDim]

Morgan is a LB only. Can't play the right. If Morrow gets injured, Morgan plays.

[notthesun]

Personally, I think Morgan's done at TFC. Nelsen doesn't seem to rate him or trust him with anything more than garbage time. The fact that Jackson started as fullback at SKC just cements this for me. For his own good and confidence, he should be released and allowed to find employment elsewere, maybe with Ottawa or Edmonton.

I'm not sure I see a long term future for Morgan here but I disagree the last game is any indication. Morgan can't play on the right side because he's extremely dependent on his left foot. Nelsen would have had to switch Morrow to RB, which limits his effectiveness and upsets some of the consistency we've had in the backline. Is that better than Jackson at RB? Turns out it probably would have been, but hey, now he knows.

If Morrow is ever out injured and Morgan doesn't replace him at LB, then it's time to worry. Remember, the only reason Morgan was even a question for playing yesterday is because we were looking 3 right fullbacks deep. A rare occurrence. As it stands Morgan is simply stuck behind a far better (and quite durable) player. For this reason I'd like to see Morgan loaned somewhere as long as we can recall him as needed.

[PopePouri]

I'm not sure I see a long term future for Morgan here but I disagree the last game is any indication. Morgan can't play on the right side because he's extremely dependent on his left foot. Nelsen would have had to switch Morrow to RB, which limits his effectiveness and upsets some of the consistency we've had in the backline. Is that better than Jackson at RB? Turns out it probably would have been, but hey, now he knows.

If Morrow is ever out injured and Morgan doesn't replace him at LB, then it's time to worry. Remember, the only reason Morgan was even a question for playing yesterday is because we were looking 3 right fullbacks deep. A rare occurrence. As it stands Morgan is simply stuck behind a far better (and quite durable) player. For this reason I'd like to see Morgan loaned somewhere as long as we can recall him as needed.

Warner and Creavalle can play LB as well.

Also, some people here act like Jackson has never played right back before and that he was playing out of position. He was actually brought into Dallas for that position.

http://www.fcdallas.com/news/2011/02...right-back-fcd

And when they played the 2010 MLS Cup, guess who was at right back.




It's one goddamn game. He had a bad night defensively playing with an inexperienced backline.

[v00d00daddy]

Personally, I think Morgan's done at TFC. Nelsen doesn't seem to rate him or trust him with anything more than garbage time. The fact that Jackson started as fullback at SKC just cements this for me. For his own good and confidence, he should be released and allowed to find employment elsewere, maybe with Ottawa or Edmonton.

Seems that way.

Morgan is a LB only. Can't play the right. If Morrow gets injured, Morgan plays.

I know. But can Morrow play on the right side? Wouldn't he have been a better RB than Jackson? Play him there and play Morgan at LB and then you'd actually have FB's playing FB positions instead of an already known clumsy and overly aggressive left sided midfielder playing for the first time this year at RB.

It was such a poorly thought of risk that ended up biting us. Jackson was bad but Nelsen was really bad for coming up with that. It's like dressing Morgan at winger and leaving Oduro on the bench and then blaming only Morgan when he has a bad game there and doesn't contribute offensively. It was just a dumb idea.

[v00d00daddy]

And if we reverse Jackson's EXTREMELY SELFISH attempt to deke a keeper instead of a simple ball & tap-in, and this could have been a much different game...

Also, the ref is a C*nt for calling the second penalty. Ya, he took him down, but that's after the ref himself got in the way and KC benefited, and that was after he already called a PK earlier. I think a little 'game-management' & judgement should have come into play there, and left the whistle in his pocket...

Plus, with Henry on the pitch you get the chance to call 4-5 penalties a match - so maybe let that one slide after you completed a pass for the home side...

As I've said before about the refs. They're bad in MLS and it has benefitted us many times this season. (Caldwell handballs in the box on more than one occasion)

We win some and lose some. Just like all other MLS teams. I just think we complaint about it more. (we as in our coach and captain)

[v00d00daddy]

To me, we should be much better at defending on corners and free kicks as a team. We should also be scoring more on set plays.

Makes me wonder why we have so many coaches and outright stink at corners. It is the easiest thing to practice and get some decent chances off of.

It's odd. We should totally get more chances from the set plays like corners and free kicks.

I also don't understand why Bradley feels like he deserves every dead ball he wants. Whether its 70 metres from goal or 20 metres from goal. He's wasted many this season.

[Carts]

As I've said before about the refs. They're bad in MLS and it has benefitted us many times this season. (Caldwell handballs in the box on more than one occasion)

We win some and lose some. Just like all other MLS teams. I just think we complaint about it more. (we as in our coach and captain)

Very true on both points - agree 100%...

But nobody, past or present, holds a candle to John Carver's ref rants! LOL... I actually really miss those!

[Derko]

The only good thing about this match was Gilberto scoring again.

[Canary10]

I missed watching it being away at a cottage. But that won't stop me from arguing anything with anyone. Both those penalties were shit btw.

[hulkrogan]

I also don't understand why Bradley feels like he deserves every dead ball he wants. Whether its 70 metres from goal or 20 metres from goal. He's wasted many this season.

Especially when another guy on the team showed he knows a little bit about taking a free kick at the top of the box. After you pound a couple into the wall, time to let someone else have a turn.

[Alonso]

I missed watching it being away at a cottage. But that won't stop me from arguing anything with anyone. Both those penalties were shit btw.

He's starting to catch Urruti, maybe I won't owe you a beer after all. I was losing hope that he would catch him.

[v00d00daddy]

I missed watching it being away at a cottage. But that won't stop me from arguing anything with anyone. Both those penalties were shit btw.

If the roles were the exact opposite and those things happened in KC's box and we got awarded the exact same two penalties would you call them shit?

[Canary10]

If the roles were the exact opposite and those things happened in KC's box and we got awarded two penalties would you call them shit?

I don't know, I didn't actually see them, but I'm pretty sure they were shit.

[Canary10]

He's starting to catch Urruti, maybe I won't owe you a beer after all. I was losing hope that he would catch him.

He's narrowed the gap for sure. Will be close.