Spurs never had a two goal lead. I believe they thought they'd already won the tie, but when Juve scored 2 so quickly they were unable to respond, especially as Juve suddenly started to defend like lions. Their heads were not held high, they were gutted.Originally Posted by ensco
A brilliant result last night, but it will be very difficult to keep them quiet at their place. I'm not sure if we have enough defensive quality to keep them out for 90. Hope I'm wrong !
Maybe the speed of the CL caught Zavaleta off guard yesterday, but I've found he's usually more reliable at moving the ball. Certainly better than Hagglund on that front, although Hagglund is probably a better defender and better in the air. I mean, he's not great at it, but he's never stood out to me as terrible at it, either.
Edit: And defenders who can't distribute very well isn't a TFC-only problem. It's an MLS problem.
Last edited by Jack; 03-08-2018 at 05:28 PM.
Toronto FC baby...best team everrrrrrrrrr -Jozy
Definitely an MLS problem. With limited payroll, most money is spent on offensive marketable players. Last night, all the defenders had trouble moving the ball and they couldn't do much beside giving a short pass to Bradley to let him move it forward.
There isn’t a “problem” if our excellent homegrown defenders can’t 100% handle a team like Tigres.
They have a payroll of $75M+, and a 100 year old academy. It’s not a fair fight.
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
The fact that MLS defenders don't have the best distribution isn't exactly a new thing. It's a problem in the league because of the salary limitations. Our guys did their best and battled very hard against a very difficult attack.
Toronto FC baby...best team everrrrrrrrrr -Jozy
Agreed 100%. It's obviously going to be much more difficult in the high altitude with their home crowd, but we proved that we could expose their backline countless times last night.
Fuck parking the bus. I say we go for the jugular. Even if we lose a high scoring game by one goal, we still advance.
I guarantee any CB with size and can dribble or pass would be in Europe. Even European teams have to choose between two of aerial presence, technical skill or pace. Very few have all three. We're lucky enough to pick a gifted CB who is down on his luck in Mavinga.
There isn't really any altitude to worry about in Monterrey, it's at 540 m. (Mexico City, where the trained, is around 2,250 m.) I think Monterrey is very hot & humid in the summer, but fine now. So far for next Wednesday they're predicting a high of 17 C (feels like 17 C, i.e. minimal humidity); low of 12, but a 90% chance of pretty heavy rain.
Anyone who believes Vasquez will not start if he is even 50 percent healthy is really not in touch with reality. I'm sorry. As the guy from Italy who was with me last night at the game said once Vasquez came on: "He is clearly the director, they play so much bigger with him in the game".
Also, Tigres is so much more like the competition Aketxe is accustomed to, as opposed to Columbus, that I will bet he starts too. Where does that leave Osorio and Delgado...I don't know. Even as well as Osorio has been playing, he probably will not start.
Last edited by InDa_110; 03-08-2018 at 11:00 PM.
No offense, but I completely disagree. Vanney has shown many times before that he will stick with a winning starting line-up. I'm pretty confident he'll run out the same 11 next time and make his sub decisions based on the way the game is going.
Starting VV at only 50%, then having to sub him off 20 mins in would be semi-disastrous.
Monterrey isn't high altitude - it's not Mexico City. The conditions will be excellent. The only issue is that they have a very good team with great support. It will be amazing.
I made a few posts about parking the bus...I have no confidence that we could do it. I watched the second half again this evening and we really dominated them...Giovinco...Altidore...Osorio..Delgado could all have had additional goals. We turned it up a gear big time after they scored. It could have been 5-1 with a bit of luck. This TFC has so much character - our confidence and swagger came back. Let's have a goal...an early go will scare the crap out of them.
Last edited by Hamilton_Red; 03-09-2018 at 12:04 AM.
You have to start Osorio and Delgado... the ballsy decision would be to start Giovinco on the bench and only bring him on if we need a goal. Vasquez as the number 10 feeding Altidore could get the job done.
[QUOTE=Auzzy;1864918 but a 90% chance of pretty heavy rain.[/QUOTE]
Bring on the rain...we always win in the rain!
AS much as Zavaletta has had some very poor clearances...he's got job 1 done for the most part. He defended very well. Mavinga as much as he had a game saving tackle at the end to save a goal.... was at fault for the first goal. Yes it was a brilliant goal - but he shouldn't have had the chance. I think Zav's injury is more the issue. You have to play 100% fit.
Bigger question for me is whether you start Auro over VdW?
Need Giovinco for his free kick ability in this type of game IMO.
Seba is the player you can see they all fear.
He's also the one MLS player that Liga Mx fans mention, enjoy watching, admire & wish they could have (thus the rumours this week).
While I agree that you start a fit Vazquez, he’s nowhere near that. Osorio and Delgado played some pretty dogged defence against Tigres and we need that. Delgado made the key pass for Jozy’s goal and Oso made a couple of dangerous plays and of course scored (and he was soooo lucky it worked). Aketxe will probably force things eventually, but he’s not quite there yet. On paper, Vazquez/Aketxe are the better pair, but on current form, Delgado/Osorio make a strong case. Either way, it’s a positive thing that we can even have these discussions.
Somebody wants to sit Seba!... now I have seen everything.
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
I would use another word rather than "ballsy".
Man, that notion just leaves me shaking my head, who would ever think that would be a good idea.
Remember The Man, The Legend, The Goal 5-12-07 and All That #9 Left On The Pitch, Thanks For The Memories !!!
We saw the benefit of having Vasquez out of the lineup. It forced Bradley to move to the center of the midfield and put him in some attacking situations. When VV is on the field, Bradley tends to play deeper - and we've witnessed some very big disconnect in terms of moving the ball forward creatively in the middle of the field. Delgado being in last game gave Bradley some freedom to roam.
It's a game like this that having Cheyrou on the field would mean the world. Bradley could do what he did last game - with even more comfort knowing that Cheyrou would be more than capable of back filling.
Bradley needs to play higher like he did last game... but there HAS to be coverage. If Delgado isn't on the field, what shape do we need, or what players will support Bradley? VV wont. Osorio wont. AA wont. So how do you keep Delgado out of the game? If VV or AA are in the starting lineup, that means you pull Osorio. Can either of them be a workhorse the way Osorio has been tracking the ball?
Tigres coach thought it was a good idea to play Gignac off the bench. 30+ caps for France. We get stuck with a tactical rigidity by having to start two undroppable strikers.
Yes but this is a $75 M payroll in Mexicoo I'd argue it translate to a $30 M payroll in Toronto. From the perspective that you'd have to double or triple my salary for me to move to Monterrey.
Tigres es un chico equipo too. No es un Club America.
Agreed that Bradley needs to be higher, but I don't believe the presence of VV is the reason he drops down. I actually think it's been more the 4-4-2 that has caused him to drop in between the 2 CBs.
In that regard, 3-5-2 with Moor on the field has given Bradley a little more forward freedom.
I agree with this assessment. Game was played at a way faster speed than we see in MLS games. I think a lot of his passing problems were due to fear of being caught in possession.
not quite apples to apples....Tigres has Valencia and Vargas with similarly impressive resumes to Ginac.
unless the skeptics (me included) are missing something, the suggestion here seems to be resting Giovinco and starting a (possibly not 100%) Vasquez, at the same time resulting in a formation that we've never played before, in a game of this magnitude.....doesn't seem to add up.....
You are right - regarding 100% fit Vasquez..not an option to play him if not fit. Also right that this wouldn't be the game to try it out. A league away game to say Atlanta might be the place to try it out... if we were polished at playing with a single striker and having it in the arsenal of options we would be a stronger team overall. This is absolutely the type of game where you would consider "parking the bus".
if we want to play 3-6-1 the “1” has to be Jozy ( or Hamilton but not in a CCL game). So there is a logic to sitting Gio or playing 3-5-1-1. But not this match. He was incredible last game, worked hard, and dominant on the ball. Personally, I like him playing a little more withdrawn as he did in the first leg. Highly effective.
the interesting thing is how Delgado and Oso have stepped up and are becoming difficult to dislodge, particularly due to their defensive work rate. VV and AA have some competition and will have to contribute both ways.
next game I think it’s Hagglund for Zav otherwise unchanged line up.
Oso and Delgado are creating selection head aches. Lol.
Sure, having options is always good.....I just don't think our current group of players match well in a single striker set up....doing so would meant that Giovinco and Vasquez would be doing the same work, and probably step on each other's toes, so to speak.....also, Seba has made it pretty clear that he's an attacker, and he'd never be able to be effective playing alone up top....
I don't think the team needs to do much different from the first leg.....imo they need to play the exact same game.....my thinking is that Tigres is scoring 1 goal for sure at home, so we will need 1 at least on Tuesday....coming out with a park the bus mentality would make it too difficult to find the offensive rhythm when its needed.....
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