Game 9 NER vs. Toronto FC - Saturday 16 May 7:30 pm

[OgtheDim]

Just went back and watched the highlights.

Konopka save at around 50 minutes is save of the week so far for me.

And Osorio was gassed when he was taken off. I would have put on Lovitz but then again, the flow of the team was very good from Cheyrou forward.

[Alonso]

All our eggs are in one basket. We have no depth, no Plan B, whatsoever.

You're probably right, TFC has never dealt with the depth of our squad properly.

That is on MLSE and on all of our sports teams run by them except for the Raptors who have no star players but lots of depth.

[MightyDM]

Exactly, severe over-reaction.

Bloom seems to be almost back, probably kept off the plastic tonight as a precaution. If he does come back, what do we do with Morgan & Morrow?

Put Morgan on the wing, or as a wing back with five at the back. Sort of 3-5-2

[MightyDM]

I agree with the statement to keep Moore off the field. Rather recall Dike if we can, or use Hamilton. You know their level of effort will be greater and I don't think Moore is more talented then either of them overall. He is good for the odd garbage goal tho.

Findlay is actually a striker. Just sayin'.........

[molenshtain]

iI don't think it would be terrible to have a 3-5-2 lineup in our back pocket:

-----------------Koneopka/Bendik------------
-------Hagglund----Perquis----Morrow----
Bloom/Jackson--------------------------Morgan
--------------------Cheyrou---------------------
------Osorio/Warner-----------Bradley--------
-----------Altidore-------Seba-----------------

Basically Puts everyone in a place to succeed, except Bloom maybe.

[TMAN80]

Welcome to the site! One small piece of friendly advice - might want to break up your thoughts into paragraphs in the future. Makes it a lot easier to read, than a block of text.

Again - welcome!

Yeah sorry, a couple thoughts quickly turned into a few more!

[Alonso]

Why did we sign Moore is a question we all need to ask. From 2011 to 2015 Luke Moore has only scored 14 goals.. We signed him after he was coming off back to back seasons without a goal 14 goals in 5 years of playing pro soccer. now this is the guy we have to depend on for Goals SMH. The real question we need to ask is can Hamilton really do any worst ?

Well really the question is if he can do any worse...

Moore is very productive for his salary and for expectations...

You are wrong on this one in my opinion.

His salary is justified by his productivity and the league salary cap.

[MightyDM]

Hi RPB forum, first post, but have followed the team since the beginning(and the forum for a bit too).

Just felt inspired to post this tonight, as I thought the boys played a great game, against a strong opponent in the NER! This is almost exactly the way I was imagining it(win or lose) when we made the signings that we did. I thought the football looked great, better than it has looked in a long long time. I really enjoyed the movement of the ball, the passes being completed, and the pressure they applied to NE. They looked very organized, and dangerous for a lot of the game and I hardly remember a pass to nobody that just rolls out of bounds that has been a little too frequent with this team over the years. This was nice on the eyes, even had we lost, and that is what I want to see. Skill was evident, patience and control seemed...uh...not like our typical game perhaps. Its hard to not think about how Jozy would have impacted the outcome, but none the less I am pleased at the performance. The only criticism I have for the game are the usual concerns, and that is our CB situation(and maybe a winger). Unfortunately, Hagglund is continually exposed and will cost the team valuable points. I am aware there is no other option(and Caldwell might not be either when he returns), but it could be the difference in making the playoffs, or not. Also, I think this formation and player selection(with Altidor) is the exact one we use every game possible! Everybody does what they should, and compliment each other perfectly! It was so obvious tonight. I wonder why(this is of course not common in football) Vanney would not have seen out the game with the starting roster. Might sound crazy, but when the matchup is working so well, and the boys are controlling the play, I think you stick with them! I saw a swing in possession, control and comfort once the subs were made, which tells me NE took advantage of the new match ups. They were subbed in the 80th minute...whats another 13 to see out the game! Oso played the best i've seen him as well!
Anyways, sorry for making this so long, I just kept going!

Great, optimistic post! Thank you.

[Blixa]

Perquis was and is a lone man at the back with Hagglund

Man how we could use a decent Cb to partner Perquis

can getting Glik from Torino be a dream??

Dream on. Glik will join some big club this summer but in a few years I could see him in MLS.

Good game this and begs the question why we couldn't play like this against Houston. Konopka was awesome.

[Couchy81]

@TMAN

Vanney making subs for the sake of making subs. Agree 100%. Even when we do well the coaching is off.

[PopePouri]

@TMAN

Vanney making subs for the sake of making subs. Agree 100%. Even when we do well the coaching is off.

I doubt that.

Given the state of the game, there was no point in changing the shape. Here also had a few things to consider like 5 games in 14 days and the work load of the outside midfielders in a diamond, so his subs made a lot of sense.

[Couchy81]

I doubt that.

Given the state of the game, there was no point in changing the shape. Here also had a few things to consider like 5 games in 14 days and the work load of the outside midfielders in a diamond, so his subs made a lot of sense.

Well I'm not going to say I think he's the coach we need. He does things I dont think work with the flow of the game and it's been multiple occasions. I've made my opinion known before this game.

I love the away point though. Not going to take that away from him.

[molenshtain]

Well I'm not going to say I think he's the coach we need. He does things I dont think work with the flow of the game and it's been multiple occasions. I've made my opinion known before this game.

I love the away point though. Not going to take that away from him.

But he also does things that regularly change the game in our favor. That can't be forgotten either.

[PopePouri]

This game made a statement to me out of all the games we've played. I don't know what results may come after this but from what I saw, Vanney looks like he has finally figured out his midfield.

[Couchy81]

But he also does things that regularly change the game in our favor. That can't be forgotten either.

It's not, as long as we go forwards and not backwards. The last two road games before the home opener were a step in the right direction, the second Canadian Championship game was good, tonight was good too. Being positive is good but rational criticism is also worth discussion.

[Dreadlocks]

The team looks much better with Osorio and Warner than it does with Jackson and Findley.

I'll take the point.

[reggie]

great to get a point last night..but the d is still a shite show.

[Brooker]

Woulda ripped your hand off for a point tonight. Quite pleased.

[dupont]

With all the missed chances, New England was lucky to escape with 1 point at home. Very pleased.

[jiforio]

Getting a point after your 5th game in two weeks is not something to be unhappy about. However playing on shite turf sucks. Just thinking about turf coming to BMO field makes my stomach churn. Also losing Altidore really sucks. Vanney's job being on the line is forcing him to overwork too many players, including our DP's and Hagglund. They need rest! Got to give it to the General though. Bradley's pushed through this tough schedule, which included heavy criticism throughout and even came away with an incredible goal in his fifth game! Clearly showing once again why Laba (losing a step in his game and is apparently relentlessly fouling everyone) and Beckerman (physically breaking down and subbed out at 60min. last game) aren't worthy of filling in his shoes. In soccer just that little bit of extra quality is what the big bucks are paid for. And I completely agree. We need to stop wasting our time with Luke Moore. Laziest player on the field hands down. It's really evident during home games, Vanney's out to lunch not being able to see this (which I noticed last year right away) and to keep on playing him this season. Moore is also making a pretty penny as well for his half hearted attempt to score goals. At this point it's gotten so bad that I'd almost like to see Chad Barret in his place?!!? At least you know you'll get some good work ethic.

[Ultra & Proud]

Well really the question is if he can do any worse...

Moore is very productive for his salary and for expectations...

You are wrong on this one in my opinion.

His salary is justified by his productivity and the league salary cap.

I expect people who make 3x my salary to work like I do, even if I only see them do a max of 90 minutes a week. With Moore I see nothing. He can score garbage goals and I will give him that. Otherwise give me Wiedeman, who we all know is shite but on a proper squad, can run down the ball and harass defenders if and when we have a lead. So in short, he has a purpose. Moore, minus his garbage goal-isms offers nothing. Moore is loafer. His biggest contribution this season so far is apathy.

[Pookie]

The raptors don't worry much about their basketball players players playing on hardwood either but that doesn't mean you can play soccer on it.

Futsal?

[ensco]

The turf kills teams in MLS. Sure. No one knows this better than us, our 2007 and 2008 teams got destroyed by injuries on turf.

So we know that as a fact.

Our strategy on roster composition and utilization should reflect that fact.

[backbeat]

As someone on here said in the past. We blew our load on 3 big players and our depth is USL level.

we didn't blow our load on 3 big players - we have 3 DPs like many teams do and if a 4th DP spot opens up in the summer we'll hopefully have another. there is a fixed cap hit to DPs so i don't see that as an issue.

building depth - yes - to date that has been an issue. i do see a team today that is in better shape depth-wise but has a ways too go to stay top of the league in the longer run. hopefully we'll see some of that happen in the summer window.

anyway i have to say that was the brightest game i've seen TFC play this year - they look energized and lively - i felt much happier watching this game than in quite some time and i thought Oso and Warner were better options but i agree a stud CB and winger would be great additions.

[TFC Tifoso]

great road point for TFC.....hopefully Jozy isn't out for long....

Konopka was MoM without a doubt.....I'd like to see him take over the gloves moving forward.....I liked what I've seen from him since the first game he played....a keeper that actually comes off his line to punch balls out and challenge shooters, unlike Bendik who is Krazy-Glued to his goal line......sure Konopka has his flaws, but every keeper in MLS does....to me his positives far outweight Bendik's as well as his own negatives.....I understand the "can't lose your spot to injury" line, but Bendik got it that way over Frei, and its time to do it again imo.......

good for Bradley to get a goal.....hopefully this will get him in gear......

One thing I loved to see from Cheyrou late in the game......Hagglund got burned in the box and NE put the ball just past the post......Hagglund put his head in his hands like a "I almost blew it", and Cheyrou went up to him quickly to tell him to stop it and chin up......love to see stuff like that.....well done by Cheyrou!

and of course, Giovinco is not a footballer......he's a magician......

[ag futbol]

^ I think you've nailed it. While nobody will say knopka is as spectacular a shot stopper as Bednik, his positioning generally seems better. Normally when someone rounds our defender or some space is left behind I get very nervous. Knopka handled those moments well.

Now that being said, let's see if he can keep this up. But he's more than proven himself as a capable backup though.

[Blixa]

The notion of turf coming to BMO makes my blood boil.

[TFC Tifoso]

^ I think you've nailed it. While nobody will say knopka is as spectacular a shot stopper as Bednik, his positioning generally seems better. Normally when someone rounds our defender or some space is left behind I get very nervous. Knopka handled those moments well.

Now that being said, let's see if he can keep this up. But he's more than proven himself as a capable backup though.

Konopka did quite the job stopping them last night though......how long had it been since he played when he took over for Bendik?......a year and a half I think....that was a lot of rust.....but he does a lot of things that to me Bendik doesn't.....and I'd guess that the defense appreciates when a keeper helps them out like that instead of doing nothing then yelling at them when the ball goes in the net......

[Cashcleaner]

Watched the game in Peterborough with the group out there (Reds of PTBO). I think I was one of the few people who came into this match with at least a modicum of optimism despite or record playing in Foxboro. I think a win was within our reach, but I'll take the draw without grumbling. It was a pretty chaotic first half or so with those two goal post stops so if but for a matter of inches, we could have had a very different result either way. I think Konopka had a pretty good game, and Bradley was running all over that pitch non-stop. Agree with a lot of comments about Hagglund - he still needs working on. But all-in-all, I'm content with the result we got. Just really hope Jozy can recover quickly and get him back on the pitch.

[jloome]

The turf kills teams in MLS. Sure. No one knows this better than us, our 2007 and 2008 teams got destroyed by injuries on turf.

So we know that as a fact.

Our strategy on roster composition and utilization should reflect that fact.

Who are you trying to convince, Ensco? You know that doens't qualify as a "fact". We could as easily argue that having a trainer who didn't understand MLS led to our players being massively overworked; Again, a report citing studies of comparative surfaces at least has some weight behind it. People repeatedly saying "people get injured, so turf is bad" do not. I could just as easily note that more than half the team didn't get hurt on turf, so it's safe, and it would be about as scientific.