Safe to say that if we fail to at least draw in Orlando, we reach for the panic button...
Safe to say that if we fail to at least draw in Orlando, we reach for the panic button...
he drives me up the wall. i have no clue why but i feel like hes really petty, especially when they are joking around, feel like he takes it personally and strikes back maliciously. all completely unfounded statements obviously.Originally Posted by portu
We need to get something out of this game badly.
some might. it's too early in the season given the circumstances to know if reaching for that panic button would be warranted. we might lose in Orlando, then go to Philly and beat a truly fucking terrible team in the Union, before going back and spending two months mostly playing host to some teams who are sure as shit not going to be good this season (two games against D.C., Houston, MTL, SJ, Plastic cunts FC). Lot's could happen. From what I've seen, a summer addition or two on the backline plus that may-june stretch of games could leave us in a great position for the rest of the season, regardless of where we'll be after these 7 away games are over.
It should be noted that we've already played 5 away games against teams who are all making the playoffs this year. And yes, I think you're ignorant if you don't think Chicago is making the playoffs with that roster in this conference.
I know this is a thread about the Orlando game, but that De Vos rant was same hat as his previous ones. Yes, we get it, you've said it multiple times that you don't like how Toronto goes about at the grassroots levels, developing players, yadayadayada...
But, they are still churning out players for the youth national teams, and now have a USL team that will help develop on-the-cusp players for the first team - so there's positive steps in the right direction, but nah, Jason can't mention that because history.
And he's going on and on about foreigner leadership coming in and not having success, but then goes and says you have to give people chances that have no experience so they get experience... like dude, you just gave your own counter-point
I dunno why he goes on an on about Canadian coaching and staff, what that has to do with anything this club is going through right now is so irrelevant, so whatever dude.
I like De Vos, but you can't get on the soapbox and say the same thing over and over without it grinding people. I was with him when it seemed that the team could be doing a better job at developing players, but they have a great facility now, they have a better path to the first team than before - and the team consistently puts on coaching workshops for the local youth coaching... enough already De Vos, don't put Toronto on this pedastal of excrement when it was a fundamental flaw with the national devlopment of players, not just a local one.
again, we don't need anything (other than some players on the backline obviously). We could lose this game and very much still stand a good chance of winning in philly, before going home and playing some very shitty teams for two months.
I hope Vanney and the players aren't going into the game with this line of thinking.
Neither do I...?
A win is needed if only for morale. Also so Gio doesn't get 'homesick'.
is it though? this is a group of professional footballers, not a group of teenagers. I'd agree that last season a lot of the locker room influence was either in the wrong places or was absent, which was part of why we had a hard time overcoming Nelsen's tactics getting figured out, but this is a much more veteran and adaptable team. They're not going to lie down because they've got a few bad breaks.
Defence changes are likely coming, regardless of what happens on Sunday night.
I would agree generally but this set of players don't seem to be particularly thick skinned...remember last year when Bez chimed in with his 'must win' comment and then they shit the bed that match. Same core group too - Bradley, Oso, Jackson, Caldwell, Bednik etc
That's not what happened. I thought we all came to an agreement at some point? the team basically gave up on Nelsen didn't they?
It's also not the same core group. The problem last year was that guys like Osorio and Oduro and Moore and Warner and Doneil and Hagglund were forced into playing significantly bigger roles than they should have. None of those guys should have been taking on significant leadership roles. The additions of Altidore, Findley Cheyrou and Perquis were widely talked about by the club as being the cure for what we lacked last season in terms leadership. All of those guys are veterans who have dealt with adversity in their careers yet still came out on top. I trust those guys.
Yeah, true...they have brought in leaders this season, let's just hope the little guys don't give up again. Cheyrou and Co can't carry this team alone.
Have to disagree there. What we need is a good 90 minute performance, particularly defensively. We need that badly. A win is far less important than the performance. If Orlando scores at will like Chicago, RSL and Dallas did (and Vancouver almost did), we are in trouble.
I was arguing that we don't need a win, not that it wouldn't be nice to get a good performance in a tough environment. I still think that regardless of our performance on Saturday it won't hurt our chances during our stupendously easy next 12 or so games. A bad performance wouldn't help, but I doubt it would do much damage. Everyone on this team seems to have pretty realistic ideas about how growing as a team works, not like last year when you could actually feel everything going to shit after every bad performance down the stretch.
No, we did not reach any such agreement.
If we cannot defend, we are going to keep losing. Vanney needs to show very soon that he can coach his teams to defend or we are in trouble on the field and he is in trouble off it.
I was being facetious, sort of.
Ah. That makes sense!
The defense will naturally improve slightly, if only because it's highly unlikely we'll let in 2.5 goals a game this year, regardless of who's back there and who's coaching. And sometimes teams take a while to figure out a certain aspect of the game as a team. Took Vancouver a year and a half under Robbo to not have a shit defense, for example. Then they got Waston and everything was great. It's unreasonable to expect everything to click right away, especially with that many injuries on the backline.
I think you mean Seba.
its reasonable to expect that the right back isn't left exposed against the oppositions best player after a two week layoff.
It's unreasonable to think our third string RB will play every game.
No worries. Creavalle's back. Right side is locked down.
A lot of blame is being put on the defence and mostly on the rightback... But, when these fullbacks are asked to attack high up the pitch, we are left vulnerable to wing attacks. It is how it works. Physically. Our real, deeper problem is that when our centrebacks shift out wide to fill in the gap left open, we have no cover for them centrally from midfield support ( not to mention that our CBs don't have the speed to peel out wide to cover very well). The slowness aside, Wwen fullbacks go up north, you need a central midfielder to have a defensive role and slot in when CBs get pulled around... So when a CB shifts out wide, the holding Mid slides back into the defensive line. We just don't have those type of switches. I blame it on not having a dedicated DM. Bradley gets caught up field making late runs and although he does get back down the field well, he is still behind the ball to a point of not being able to support the defensive line. Our shuttlers also are not given that defensive responsibility. Our defensive line is hung out to dry.
This is on Vanney because you can't have this type of attacking fullback play in a 4-man backline without a midfielder committed to shielding the defence. Our 4 defenders play like they are in a 5-man defence. Wide defenders allow opponents room to utilize space in behind them and Left/Right centerbacks, without hesitation, chase the play out wide....BUT there is no central CB in the mix to balance the line.
I find it to be a pretty simple adjustment, just requires someone within Vanney's current system to take up a deeper role in midfield, one where the player can still impact the game moving forward (spray the ball around, act as an outlet), but that they play a holding role and influence from deep. The problem is who is going to bloody do it?? Bradley has been put at the bottom of the diamond to maybe do this, but he doesn't commit to this part of the game. Do you see Beckerman running around all parts of the pitch like Bradley does? No! Cause you can't shield a backline when you play box-to-box.
Is Warner the answer? I don't think so; he is a pretty poor defender and atrocious in the tackle. So, when he does jump in to support the defensive line, we are still pretty vulnerable. Truth be told, Warner is at his best when he is higher up the field, able to make runs foward. We need a DM badly...
We do. However if were reliant on Caldwell to turn things around, there something seriously wrong given the squad we have. Whether or not he plays i've a nasty feeling Kaka could do some real damage against us
We had one (and one of the leagus best) in Laba, but dumped him without a second thought to overpay on Bradley
We did dump Laba, and I think everyone feels that it was a dumb idea at some level... But odds are that Laba might not have been such a standout without Robbo's influence (being arguably our best DM). If Laba had stayed, he would likely have been played out of position or underutilized by our coaches.
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