2-1 TFC is my prediction. Osorio and Jozy score, Pozuelo two assists. Chicago has some pretty good players I think they will do better than we think this season.
2-1 TFC is my prediction. Osorio and Jozy score, Pozuelo two assists. Chicago has some pretty good players I think they will do better than we think this season.
Trap game. I expect a chippy game and Pozo to be poleaxed early and often. If the refs don’t call it tight, it could be a frustrating day. I am envious that they have Gaitan, who is the best forward we will have seen this year.
We could dominate possession and not get the result.
Last edited by ensco; 04-02-2019 at 08:55 PM.
"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
It wasn't really discussed because the final result was good, but Chris Penso allowed lots of hacking during the game vs. NYC. I think that the PK on Jozy was the right call, but it was actually one of the weaker fouls compared to others that weren't even whistled. I realize it wasn't a foul every time a Toronto player fell down, but Penso left some blatant tackles from behind unpunished. I hope that doesn't become the standard, especially in terms of fouls on Pozuelo.
The ref vs Chicago will be Armando Villarreal. I don't have an overall bad impression of him, but does someone know how tightly he calls the games? Overall TFC has a .500 record when Villarreal officiates. However he was the ref for the game vs. Atlanta where Mavinga ended up getting ejected; I don't think that Villarreal handled that game well at all.
I watched the 20 min condensed highlights of fire vs nyrb and vs Seattle. Fire are probably bit better than last year, playing with more men tracking back and lots of scrappy challenges. However, Seattle completely tore them up down the wings and thru the back. There is no reason we shouldn't get 3 points at home.
Also reminded me that I really miss raheem edwards.
Commentator said the Fires last game was Gaitan's first game in 4 months and he's a bit rusty.
I get the rusty thing but I am worried about him.
Gaitan was a rotation player at Atletico Madrid 12 months ago. That is a step higher than where Pozo was, as a for instance. Before that, he was every bit as dominant in Portugal as Pozo was in Belgium.
He was one of the fastest players in the world, a couple of years ago.
Simeone only brings in gamers, even though he wasn’t a regular, being there for two years is a major character endorsement.
There is a decent chance that Gaitan is every bit as good as Zlatan or Vela.
Last edited by ensco; 04-03-2019 at 10:28 AM.
"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
I spoke to a few of my Argentinian friends about Gaitan and they all pretty much said the same thing he peaked early and he will never become the player he was thought he would be. He was spoken about as the next great 10 through the Boca system. I have no doubt that his talent alone will put him in the top of half of players in the mls, but to suggest he has the skill of either Zlatan or Vela is a stretch. Those two and along with a few others Jozy include are the upper class and I don’t put him in that category
Last edited by TheGoodson; 04-03-2019 at 06:28 PM.
For about 3 seasons in a row a lot of talk on Man Utd forums where that he was being watched. That was a few yrs ago, nothing ever came of it. They saw something but not enough, the fact he only has 16 caps shows he maybe never realized his true full potential. At one point though he was so highly thought of, but he seems to be one of these players just running down his career now. He's still only 31, if he wants to he has more than enough natural ability to succeed, it's whether or not he wants it.
fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire,
oh oh ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh oh oh oh ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh FIRE
FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!
I hope our overexuberance as supporters isn't felt by the team. Overconfidence is a killer, and the first three games were against weak teams. (But there were moments against NYCFC that we looked fabulous)
I find this discussion bizarre. This is MLS, not England or Spain.
This guy isn’t “in the top half of MLS”, he is almost certainly a star in this league, day one
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IgJe9Bw-vlM
Last edited by ensco; 04-04-2019 at 10:43 AM.
"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
I don’t disagree that he could perform well here, but I saw him play in China and he didn’t seem fit and was pretty lazy.
His general performance at Dalian was pretty bad compared to what you’d expect (not exactly Tevez in China bad, but still).
If he puts in effort here there’s no doubt he could be effective. If not...
The list of players that should be stars in the MLS that have DP is long and I don’t have the time to go through them. But I will give you Denillson the former most expensive player in the world and former Brazilian national team member. He is the perfect example of talent that did absolutely nothing here.
At the end of the day he’s not as good as he was projected to be and he was slightly above average at best in Portugal and didn’t cut it with Atheltico and ended up in China. If he’s so talented why not go back to Europe with a mid table team? He’s not getting crazy money like Seba was so really why come to the MLS?
At best maybe he ends up like anAllesandri or Ellis from Houston but even then he’s not in the top 10-12 players in this league I excluded Puzelo as it’s still too early to put him that echelon of players after 1 game. Putting him with established stars or players with true pedigree is a stretch IMO
Denilson is a valid comparable. That could happen. I could add Frings to that list if I wanted to be mean...
He was a lot better than “slightly above average” in Portugal. Perennial transfer target of the biggest clubs. Probably should have moved before he did.
I give more pedigree than you do to being a rotation player at Atletico Madrid. That is something Pozo never came close to.
Your conclusion is probably fair. He isn’t an automatic given the year in China.
btw he's a winger (at least he was), his stats aren’t going to tell the story
Last edited by ensco; 04-04-2019 at 12:23 PM.
"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 China, he mostly played as an attacking mid.
It’s just a question of effort and mentality; if he’s here for retirement tour #2, then it won’t go well. Guys who go to CSL and try can definitely put up big numbers, just look at Wu Lei looking like an absolute god with Oscar sitting behind him.
Nico definitely wasn’t putting in the kind of performance one would envy, but who knows, maybe he’s ready to put his nose to the grindstone in Chicago...
don't think anyone doubts his talent, it's just when these players start moving clubs, you wonder what their motivation is if any. He only played 13 games in his last season for Atletico. This is his 2nd move in 2 seasons. There's no doubt he will show his ability at times, but is the consistency or the will to work there. It almost looks a little like Van Der Wiel for us, if anything his past and success were greater but once he left PSG he's been on a downward spiral.Gaitan didn't light up China, 2 goals in 30 games for an attacking midfielder. I know goals isn't his forte but you'd be expecting a bigger return considering his pedigree.
After a few good early years Denilson spent his time essentially pissing away his career and being lazy, forget his last club stint prior to MLS. He had given up long before that. This guy could have been Ronaldo, before Ronaldo.
If that’s the comparison the fire are getting for this guy, they’re screwed.
Poz suggesting maybe pumping the brakes on him doing what he did last week every week.
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/Beezersun/status/1113857601958219777
In both sad and happy news, Raheem Edwards out with a knee injury.
Weather forecast now a lot like last Friday night.
8 degrees, no real wind, no rain, sunny with cloudy periods.
I thought the rest of the team was already pretty good around him in that game. As Vanney said, he 'played within the team,' fit right in with what they had already been doing, and filling the role VV used to. Even though he had a great game, it really didn't feel like he was 'carrying' us in the way that, say, Darwin Quintero has to carry Minny or Piatti has to carry Montreal.
And that's what makes us so good and dangerous IMHO. We won't be over-reliant on him, just as in some ways we weren't over-reliant on Giovinco (we had a decent record when he was out in '16 and '17).
Weather Network saying 11 C / feels like 10 C, sun & clouds for game time in South Parkdale. Shirts AND shorts off!
Auro questionable for this game, tightness in the hamstring area. They should go easy with the guys if there are any concerns; avoid the injury issues from last year. How do they line up if Auro is out? Perhaps 3 in the back with Ciman; plus DeLeon on the right wing (or sliding to RB if they want to morph that into 5 at the back).
Or 4 at the back, with DeLeon at RB, and both Delgado & Chapman starting in midfield? It's too bad because DeLeon has been a real motor going forward, as well as breaking things up & helping in defensive midfield.