Interested to hear why you'd drop Cooper?Originally Posted by Hamilton_Red
Interested to hear why you'd drop Cooper?
BMO is gonna be insane. Time to BRING IT people.
Who is gonna bet we can't score? No one. You think they will get shut out at home? No way.
We just need to defend better. It's all resting on keeping the ball outta our net.
The fact that they game back with 2 goals.. big momentum for us. I had a gut feeling with the long break, garbage stadium and garbage pitch tonight wasn't going to go our way. Winning by a goal or two at home is definitely doable.
Bradley got the goal and played somewhat better near the end.
Credit goes to Vanney for the tactical and player adjustment that helped win the game.
I'd find a place for Johnson - the guy is a winner. 2 MLS Cups...winning goal for the Voyageur Cup deep in injury time breaks leg...and he is Canadian. The guy plays with his heart on his sleeve and we need that.
Cooper is good - was probably our best player in the first 30 mins tonight. For me he hasn't offered enough offensively and linked up with the rest of the team overall. Might sit Osorio though instead of Cooper. They are all good options though - though Oso was off on the shit turf tonight though.
Including the fat IMFC fan vs TFC fan on the sidelines and Giovinco's big shank
“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
Great comeback by the boys tonight. They had every reason to roll over and die but didn't. Ricketts he is a wrecking ball out there. From the time he came on he did not but cause nightmares for their backline. Beit and Hagglund need to be better in the 2nd leg. Seba struggled tonight but he will turn in a real Seba performance next week. I think Oso will have a defining game next week. That game will mean everything to him. We most definitely are alive and breathing time to man the Fortress and bring it home. BMO will be bouncing on Wednesday and I cannot wait!!
Wednesday requires cool heads and Cooper is among the coolest of them all. Top player in this league and bags of experience. Exactly what is needed. I like Johnson but you can't go round altering the side just to fit him in. A midfield trio of Bradley, Oso and Cooper have got us this far, for the recent part, and deserve to start again next week. Take Oso out and you're missing the link between the strikers. Take Cooper out and you miss a box to box midfielder who can tackle, pass and make things happen in the final third. Johnson is a decent option but doesn't start ahead of those 3 in my team
Bradley interview on tsn went something like this
We are gona have an atmosphere on weds night that none of us have ever seen..and i know we are gona need every one of those people to push us on and will make it a special night!!
Altidore was MOTM for me - both goals he was key for. That third goal we gave up was absolutely terrible - so many things wrong on it. Cooper and Giovinco pulling out...Bradley out of position and jogging back...Moor watching - FFS the Impact player stopped for a few seconds before shooting. Then Irwin missing what should have been a save. Lot's of problems with giving up the three goals - but what a great fight back and a winning result in the end.
Altidore and Bradley were playing in a scrappy game on yellows. The tentative play will be gone and they will be unleashed next week now that they are cleared of cards.
Good point - they had to avoid the Yellows. Really this was a win for us - what an come back in the last 30 minutes. We are so close to the finals I can taste it.
Johnson over Osorio for me . Cooper should start. While Oso is technically very good... he gets pushed off the ball easily in rough situations and tends to slow the game down on the counter . Johnson is more physical and direct which suits a chippy game which Montreal will no doubt bring. Cooper and Altidore first touches were poor bc of bouncy pitch. Simply, while I respect Impact and their fans, TFC are a better team, period. Let's bury these guys !!!
Thanks coach!
Personally I'd drop him because Cooper hasn't shown the toughness to battle IMFC's 3 man midfield. He's good when players drop against him but in the 3-5-2 against what is in essence 3 DM's who ball hawk, he's got issues.
That and we basically played a 3-4-1-2 near the end and Cooper will just get in Giovinco's way.
I would change nothing, except that I'd bring in Johnson and Ricketts at halftime.
Vanney has made his call. This is his XI come hell or high water.
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
yeah agree 100%. Osorio looked a bit lost, not sure if it was the ocassion that got to him, but he had really big issues with the physicality of the Montreal mid, and they will only increase that in return leg. That physicality won't worry Johnson. Might lose a bit a bit if link up play without Oso, but the amount of times he was out-muscled last night means we need a more physical presence in there to compete.
I am not writing Osorio off, I just feel we need a bit more bite in next leg
I agree with bringing in Johnson over Osorio. Cooper had an off night, but he has been one of our best and most consistent midfielders.
I feel Johnson can break up their counter attacks which were killing us last night.
considering the way that game was going last night I'll take 3-2 loss on the road all day!.....great fight shown by the boys to not give up......its so cliche, but its all to play for in Leg 2.....can't wait!
That game was absolutely exhausting to watch. One thing is for sure...we need to light up BMO in a huge fucking way on Wednesday.
After thinking about this game, I realized where I seen this play out before... I am a Juve fan and they play a 3-5-2 and they struggle with teams that play very compact and only come at you on the counter. When you play against a team that plays 4-3-3 you can't play with 3 CB as the get too isolated especially with their speed. Also, the midfielder's need to play a two way game and both Cooper and Osorio didn't have it last night, which in turn left Bradely having to cover way too much ground. The wing backs were very rarely in the right position which caused the formation to become too unbalanced and opened up holes that Montreal exploited.
Kudos on Montreal having an excellent tactical plan and executing it. IMO TFC needs to play 4-2-3-1 against a team like Montreal with Johnson and Bradley holding mids. Seba Cooper Ricketts in the attacking midfield and Jozy upfront.
But at the end of the day TFC controls their destiny at home and that is all they could ask for.
The fast turf really played into the Impacts favour especially during the counter where they used Odouro's speed against our slow backline. Can't believe how bad that turf played, ball was bouncing like a ping pong.
Speaking of turf (and I know there is another thread for this) I will be watching the Grey Cup this Sunday on tv. Do I care whether RedBlacks or Stampeders raise that Cup?
No, I will be cheering for the grass of BMO to get through the event unscathed. I am sure that every blade is just putting up with the CFL championship. Every blade wants to be sparkling for the greatest TFC game ever!
Vanney was right when he said no TFC team in the past would have been able to respond like that. Bradley's goal may be the one that turned the tie for us! We've seen this team steam roll through the playoffs to this point. Now, in a moment that demanded a response, a moment of adversity, the boys stood up and were counted. I won't be surprised if they go on and finish this tie!
I've no idea what this bit means
Team needs to track piatti properly and eliminate the gaps in the midfield. This is as much about how the players organize themselves as who is on the field.
While I appreciate what WJ does, I think a more anchored Bradley and less of the fullbacks running forward is what's called for.
Drove from Ottawa with tfcfaninottawa with my son and some friends for the game. We were feeling lower than a submarine's bottom with the third goal, but the two away goals put the wind back in our sails and it was actually a pleasant drive back despite the loss. A couple of observations:
1. I think the mispainted lines were done on purpose. Apparently Montreal was able to warm-up prior to the start of the match, but TFC was prevented from doing so due to the lines needing fixing. I wonder if that had something to do with them scoring 2 in the first 15 minutes. I sense douchebaggery.
2. They also needed the extra time to shoehorn everybody into the stadium - they only had two gates allowing people through. We were stuck about 15 minutes just trying to get through with I estimate 5000 people jammed around one entrance.
3. It was really loud inside the stadium. I mean jet engine loud. Despite the crowd quieting a bit by the two TFC goals, my ears were ringing all the way home.
4. Why on earth did they move the WWC turf out of the Big O to their practice facility? It looked like a green carpet out there! The ball bounced and rolled way too much.
My sense was that Montreal's FO stacked the deck as much in their favour as possible with the setup. It's up to TFC's FO to return the favour next Wednesday.
As a lot of you have already said, I've never had a loss feel like such a win before. I also feel like this game gave no indication as to how next week will go. That wasn't us out there.
The lack of defensive communication can be attributed to it being very loud in there.
Zav slipping to let Oduro walk in that first one could have been the pitch, could have just been a fluke.
Hag and Zav staring at each other when Mancosu sprung up in between them to snatch the ball that they both thought the other would get.
Oyongo goal was another lack of accountability where the whole midfield disappeared and Moor was left to close him out. Thing is though, you can tell that Moor wasn't going to commit as he was buying time for everyone else to cover a player as I'm sure EVERYONE was thinking Oyongo was going to pass. No one expected the shot, clearly not even Irwin who definitely should have been in position for the shot however he too was setting himself up for a seemingly obvious pass. They tried playing him conservatively, gave him way too much space and time and he realized he should just shoot as everyone was in fact covered.
Seba was out to lunch on a few efforts, could be attributed to not being used to the pitch, could just be bad shots, but you don't see those from him very much. (the free kick wide left and the shot I'm describing next)
I am however perplexed as to why he shot with his right foot when he flew past Ciman on the right flank and just as we've seen him do countless times before by blasting one into the far corner with his outside foot, he instead send one curling outwards with his right foot. Couldn't have been a cross, no one was there.
Whoever suggested at 3-4-3 with Johnson over Oso is a great idea. Also a great lineup would be a 3-5-2 with Johnson and Bradley playing the DM roles, Gio infront of them, Morrow and Cooper on the flanks, Altidore and Ricketts up top. However, I doubt Vanney is willing to change anything up.
All I know is that next Wednesday will be absolutely epic and count on the crowd now working in our favor. Not a bad first game to be front row in supporter's section for me!
They have to play with two up front, a 4-2-3-1 doesn't suit our players. We have essentially been playing a 5-1-2-2 with Bradley behind Cooper and Oso. You could reverse that and have a 5-2-1-3 with Bradley and Johnson, and Oso up front. They need to do something because Montréal ripped us apart for 60 minutes. I'd even consider the 4-4-2 diamond if I were Vanney.
also, Bloom should be considered over Beitashour. A player of his experience should not have been caught ball watching with Piatti in behind him. And it isn't the first time for him. Very uneven this year.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Great love does not exist without joy and without great suffering ,that's why One club is worth only as much as its fans !