That Austin stadium is nice, has a mid century modern feel to it.
Egrets or not they will be called flamingos
That Austin stadium is nice, has a mid century modern feel to it.
Egrets or not they will be called flamingos
For what it's worth: ASA's xG tracking has us as the 2nd most unlucky team this season. Our xP would have us sitting 6th in the East currently.
https://www.americansocceranalysis.c...018-mls-season
La Liga will play a match in the United States or Canada for the first time after reaching an agreement with Relevent."This extraordinary joint venture is the next giant leap in growing soccer's popularity in North America," Relevent chairman and owner Stephen Ross said. "This unique relationship will create new opportunities for millions of North American soccer fans to experience the most passionate, exciting, and highest level of soccer in the world."
Ross also owns the Miami Dolphins and is a part owner of their home, Hard Rock Stadium, which would make them the frontrunner to host the event.
"It's not hard to figure out where we would want it to be based on our ownership with Stephen Ross," Relevent CEO Danny Sillman said via telephone. "That part isn't too difficult to figure out. [The match will be held] much sooner than the public is expecting."
https://soccer.realgm.com/wiretap/64...ates-Or-Canada
This is really cool
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/...?autoplay=true
This is a random, not so much TFC / MLS related note but didn’t think there was a good place for it in the Canada section either (not really worthy of its own thread).
18 year old Jonathan David from Ottawa is playing his first season in the Belgian first division for KAA Gent and has scored 5 goals in 67 minutes (all from substitute appearances). Not really sure of the quality of the Belgian Pro league but kind of cool.
two of those goals came in the Europa league against a pretty decent polish team. His club is among the better ones in Belgium and ha
s a decent track record of producing players, namely Kevin De Bruyne. There are another half-dozen decent teams then it falls off. Really good developmental league.
Those in the know say that they already knew this kid was the real deal and that this isn't much of a surprise. If that's the case you wonder why he wasn't advertsised more but who knows. Maybe this is him.
Man DC united is rolling 9 points in a week, thier next six are against the top teams will be interesting to see if they can keep it up
Ciman is being sold to Dijon. Story says he wanted an extension, also that Bradley just doesn’t really rate him.
"There are some people who might have better technique than me, and some may be fitter than me, but the main thing is tactics. With most players, tactics are missing. You can divide tactics into insight, trust, and daring." - Johan Cruyff
Looks like we might be getting that break for Saturday.
As Ensco said, Ciman forcing a transfer out back to Europe - supposedly done & dusted & happening this week.
This is what LAFC deserve for poaching Edwards
I wonder how the transfer fee LAFC got from Dijon compares to the 400K in TAM Montreal got for Edwards.
"There are some people who might have better technique than me, and some may be fitter than me, but the main thing is tactics. With most players, tactics are missing. You can divide tactics into insight, trust, and daring." - Johan Cruyff
In the last week or so I’ve read an article in the Guardian about Tata and the juggernaut he’s built in Atlanta. I’m seeing articles predicting Altanta tops 70 points this year, which would surpass our record last year. I’m just waiting for the articles saying Atlanta 2018 is the greatest team in MLS history. It is surely coming.
The hardest part of this year for me is how zero we’ve become almost overnight. How much all of the accomplishments of last year are basically just forgotten and how little fight it seems we’ve had in defending our titles. I really fucking hope TFC can use that anger to pull something out to end the season. And fucking beat Atlanta that last home game to make sure they don’t beat our points record. I don’t want anyone talking about any other team than TFC 2017 being the best ever.
With the way they draw and the style they play I'm not surprised that ATL are the darlings of the league. I think Red Bulls are a better team than the peaches and hope they end up with the shield but Atl have an easier schedule. I'm still hopefully that we will snuff them out in the second round of the playoffs
I don't disagree and frankly am at the "Anyone but Atlanta" stage of things (what fan support they have! (smirk) --- sure it's easy to support when you're good right away and it's a shiny new toy; give them the first 5 seasons we had to start and I'm betting they would not be filling that place either in year 6--- the LV hockey team finishing in 30th place for 5 years to start the franchise wouldn't then be selling out either in year 6 once the novelty has worn off and the team sucked (let's go to the SC Finals in Year 1 - isn't this fun! -- everyone loves a winner and a shiny new toy -ask Jays fans from 1989-1993 filling a new DOME and also having a great team, and then watch what happens from 1996-2014 when the team isn't so good and the stadium wasn't a novelty anymore); you want to impress me with awesome support - have a crap team and an average (not new) stadium for 8 years straight, and still show up......I'll believe that when I see it.......
This whole talk of Atlanta being the best ever is annoying; are they winning a treble? are they over-exerting themselves with 8 extra games across the continent this season trying to win CCL this year (or will they next year if they do in fact win the whole thing and are trying to defend the CUP)? - simply put "NO", they played (and beat) a USL team in the US Open Cup and then proceeded to lose to Chicago AT HOME (no Martinez and they didn't win or score a goal at HOME - what a shock? having your best players actually play matters! ---- so for all the talk of TFC beating a USL team in a home and away tie last year, and then an MLS team in a home and away last year and that being a "dubious" treble; its still more than Atlanta accomplished who could not even beat an MLS team at home - we still played an extra 2 games as a result too last season)......when they make it to two straight Finals, win two domestic Cups those same years, and get to a CCL Final as well, then come and talk to me about them being better than the 2016-April 2018 run of TFC......
I think we can all admit to being disappointed at how this season has gone on many levels --- but if anyone does not think that the CCL run and the subsequent injuries of our top players was not a significant contributing factor then they are being overly-negative in my opinion (we don't just magically "suck" all of a sudden, nor has Vanney become an "idiot" all of a sudden either --- is there some regression to the mean? - sure, last year was an anomaly).......but you simply can't win consistently without Giovinco, Altidore, Vasquez, and Mavinga on the field TOGETHER - and that literally has only occurred for less than 10% of the minutes played in MLS games this year.....take Almiron, Martinez and Parkhust not playing together for more than 10% of the minutes and tell me how good they would be?!.....the whole depth thing is a bit of a fallacy too -- take a big chunk of the 37 goals out of Atlanta's 55 goals if their top two "stars" were not playing together and would they magically get filled up by their substitutes (like an Osorio scoring a bit more as a result of others not being on the field)? would they win as many games? highly unlikely I would suggest.....Most of these MLS teams are one or two key injuries away from being very average all of a sudden.....Take Altidore out of our offence or Almiron out of theirs for a significant chunk, it's going to affect what the other offensive star (Martinez or Gio) can do as teams can load up on the one remaining guy.....take Martinez our for an extra few games like Gio this year and they would likely have dropped a few more points as well....
There is a lot of luck and good health involved in this stuff in my opinion......when Atlanta overcomes some real adversity to their "stars" this season let me know......
Last edited by tfcfans; 08-29-2018 at 12:24 AM.
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/tutulismyname/status/1034733984603889665
We are going to hear ignorant talk of Martinez having the best year in MLS ever.
Its not.
Last edited by OgtheDim; 08-29-2018 at 06:17 AM.
You guys kill me, yes we are TFC fans but Martinez is having a great season and just broke the scoring record and yes probably having and will be considered as having the best season ever yes better than Giovinco wow eh ! This guy is scoring for fun , and Atlanta is on course to break TFC’s points record and if they win the MLS Cup will probably be considered the greatest team ever, and don’t bring up the Canadian Championship no comparison to the US open Cup where there is a shitload of teams and all of the MLS teams to also beat not a tournament featuring just 2 MLS teams to beat plus 3 non MLS teams ,it’s so much easier winning the Canada Cup apples and oranges comparison. If Atlanta gets more points, wins MLS Cup and goes to the final of CCL then for me they will have outdone last seasons TFC and in their second year not in their 10th. and without putting their fans through 8 years of utter garbage. This is sports records are meant to be broken suck it up people and a akknowledge, but the season is not over Atlanta might still not achieve anything let’s see.
Let's see how far Atlanta gets in Concacaf. They can win the MLS cup or get in via the best aggregate record over 2017 / 2018 (they lead this race too).
They will have to win Concacaf to be regarded as the best MLS team ever. Anything less, they will only be considered just as good in my books.
But yeah, Martinez is a beast.
Road Games:
2013 - Montréal , 2014 - Orlando (Disney Classic), Montréal
2015 - Columbus, New England, Montréal
2016 - NYCFC (Leg 2 Conference Semis), Montréal (Leg 1 Conference Final)
2017 - Ottawa (Leg 1 Canadian Championship Semi), DCU, Red Bulls (Leg 1 Conference Final), Columbus (Leg 2 Conference Final)
2019 - Montréal, NYCFC (Eastern Conference Semi @ Citi Field), Seattle (MLS Cup Final)
I work in banking and pretty much every player creates some flakey marketing materials stating they are #1 in whatever they are trying to sell. It is always littered with hilarious caveats.
“Number one advisor to food manufacturing companies in the Midwest, excluding Wisconsin, excluding the biggest deal that closed last year, including this thing that really shouldn’t count but we will count for our benefit”
Have to say this measure of looking at offensive potency feels remarkably similar.
Yes, records are made to be broken, and if Atlanta gets 70 points and wins the MLS Cup then good for them, all due credit is theirs - it will not diminish my enjoyment of last year one bit --- but my point was that the US Open Cup for an MLS team is 5 games in total (the first three rounds have nothing to do with them winning, just like Oakville and Blainville having nothing to do with us winning either) --- their first game was when Atlanta played a USL team (Charleston), so to win that trophy it was potentially 4 games against MLS competition (and 5 games total); we played only two and two (USL/MLS) which I acknowledge is easier --- however Atlanta didn't even win a single game against an MLS team in that competition and they lost in their next game at home to an inferior Chicago team (and as a result they played two less games, which taxes their players less overall too etc.) - that's clearly achieving less than TFC did last year in terms of their domestic tournament (maybe if they beat a USL team and beat two MLS teams and lost in the Semis of the US Open Cup I would say that was at least "comparable" to what TFC had done domestically)....when they go into CCL and play 8 extra games next season (risking injuries, exhaustion etc.), many of which against Mexican opposition (the most difficult in the region), then we will see if they are an "all-time" team......until then, it's a lot of talk and blowing "smoke up their...."
As for the doing it in their second year and not their tenth - I give their front office loads of credit for building a great team right away and not subjecting their fans to the crap we saw for a decade - my gripe is that the fans in these "winning/expansion" cities - like the Vegas Golden Knights etc. have been blessed with new teams and new stadiums and immediate success (I was happy that Ovie and the Caps won (and not LV in Year One) after all they had been through and I'm not a Caps fan) -- that is really not that tough to be a fan in such a situation; show me a group of fans who have gone through the ups and downs and not had a "shiny" new stadium, or a contender every year, and if they can keep supporting their team through the crap and still come back on the other side then I will give them their due as this "awesome fan base" of (soccer) supporters --- I've seen lots of "awesome fan bases" pack up and leave as soon as things weren't so good (or new) anymore --- see the Jays fans selling out the "new" Dome with a winning team from 1989-1993, and then see what happened afterwards for about 20 years when the team and the stadium weren't so "fun" anymore....see what happened when the Jays were winning again in 2015-2016, and by 2018 how 1 million of those fans are gone again once one year of crap happened in 2017.....as much as I love TFC, I will also acknowledge that we will lose attendance numbers too next season if this season ends poorly, the "bandwagon" will empty a bit here too just as it has for the Jays this year, and if Atlanta FC and the LV Golden Knights of the world have five losing seasons in a row, please let me know what their attendance and "awesome fan base" looks like then......cheering for a winner is easy, it's much tougher to stick it out through the bad times too, it's what made winning so much sweeter for those of us who had been around since 2007 (and suffered for most of that time - ha ha ha) rather than "welcome to the league - here is your title in year 2, isn't winning championships super easy and fun"......ha ha ha.......
I get the argument you are trying to make but determining who had the best season ever is not going to be clearly articulated by that sort of singular, modified stat. Did he win the majority of his penalties? Were the assists granted to other players real game breakers or classic MLS stat padders? Is Martinez or any other player simply taking balls on a platter form a more prolific playmaker? What percentage of games did these players score or assist in? Were strong performances generally against weaker opposition? Did the player disappear in big games?
I don’t quite believe it’s the best season in history but nonetheless...
Last edited by ag futbol; 08-29-2018 at 03:45 PM.
Hi
Just got this alert from GO Transit - for anyone using the GO Train the last few home matches of the season just got complicated: weekends beginning September 8th until early December Go Trains will be bypassing Exhibition and will only be running hourly on Lakeshore West.
Lakeshore West GO passengers - For nine weekends this fall, there will be several service adjustments on the line while we take portions of track out of service and restore six century-old bridges. Weekend trains will only run hourly, bypassing Mimico and Exhibition in Union Station.
The scheduled weekends are:
September 8-9, 16-17, 22-23, 29-30
October 13-14, 20-21, 27-28
November 24-25
December 1-2
If you're travelling westbound:
- all trains leaving Union Station will only operate at 43 minutes past the hour, and the 6:43 train will be the first train of the day;
- trains that would normally leave Union Station at 13 minutes past the hour are cancelled, all day Saturday and Sunday.
If you're travelling eastbound:
-all trains leaving Aldershot GO will only operate at one minutes past the hour, and the 7:01 train will be the first train of the day;
-trains that normally leave Aldershot at 31 minutes past the hour will not operate all day Saturday and Sunday with the exception of the 11:31 pm train departing Aldershot
Please expect delays of about 15 minutes as the trains detour on the Milton line after they depart Long Branch GO.
Hm
The weekend starts on the 15th not the 16th (Game is on the 15th vs LAG)
They skip Thanksgiving weekend (game Oct 6 vs Vancouver)
The other game that is directly impacted is Sept 29 vs NER.
Sounds like they're shutting the corridor right down on those days and sending the trains on the CP tracks to the Junction and over to Kipling station and then south again to LSW.
I wonder if they will still add an extra train after TFC games? If so, it won't be as bad.
MLS is a tough, physical league, that emphasizes speed, and features plastic fields, grueling travel, extreme weather, and incompetent refs. - NK Toronto
they're not - all trains are bypassing exhibition while they work on refurbishing some bridges