Big happy crowd leaving.
Again, anyone who says there is no interest in this crud team is just wrong.
Nelson tries to dribble past opponents too much. He also doesn't drive to the line enough for a guy with his speed and dribbling capabilities.
Start the car?
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/GameFlowxPG/status/1530726190486536192?t=Mxphzxbb20m9X2zGwaCTQQ&s=19
Hey I'm looking at the bright side: Westberg definitely had a chance to work on his game-fitness and alertness today, amiright?
It was interesting watching the two teams line up in their defensive shape, especially towards the end. Chicago (who aren't world or even league beaters) would assume a pretty defined shape, no big gaps, wings covered well enough, and always one player ready to burst forward to intercept passes.
TFC, on the other hand, if & when they got back in numbers, did not seem to have a clue how to line up. A couple of times they were in a straight line right across the back. That means every pass back outside the box was dangerous. Or they would leave Shaqiri or another dangerous player completely open at the far side of the box (again and again and again).
To me, it's beyond needing to swap a few chess pieces. I'm happy with the win, I can see that it would be entertaining especially in the stadium. I don't expect the young players to be perfect, especially if they're noticeably trying, and not acting like they're something much bigger than they are. I don't even expect the team to be very good overall.
But this total lack of organization goes beyond a couple of players. I think the few senior players available in defensive midfield and in central defence aren't good at organizing others (and often even themselves). And Bob Bradley hasn't been able to impart a organizational scheme that persists from practices into games. (Of course that's hard with so many young players, but does it have to be this hard?) Again I don't see how the rumoured players coming in will help with that. I really hope we're in for a surprise, and that there will be 1 or 2 new players coming in those positions that we totally didn't expect.
Last edited by Auzzy; 05-28-2022 at 09:11 PM.
There were arguments about defensive shape pretty much all game long. Even a few discussions post game
No capo? Are we dead?
I thought that when we had the ball it was fast, just like each half, and that you can score at any time. Thats why, when they had the ball and were aggressive alot nothing really happened for them and we were already up. therefor, we need to make sure if we can coitnue good play and formations are right, we can climb the standings.
Hmmm....you know, I get its a Saturday night & not many people are in here but why is it when we win, even an unconvincing win like that one, certain people never come in here to say something?
Gameflow analysis
chicago 3.3 goals
toronto 1 goal
Chicago / Toronto
Possession 62/38
Shots 33/5
Total passes 498/317
passing accuracy % 82/73
Corners 8/1
crosses 33/4
This game is quite possibly the biggest drubbing I have ever seen of one team putting on another team
Last edited by stevep; 05-29-2022 at 01:04 AM.
Just watched the highlights of this game. Have to say I was not expecting us to win, but glad we somehow pulled it off. Looked like a good crowd and Poz seemed committed, so good news on those fronts.
Let's hope it's the start of something ... but man, our defence.
There was lots of great energy going forward last night. Kerr is a nice surprise, I don’t think I heard anyone even mention him at the start of the season.
What a difference with/without Osorio. Anyone know if his early exit was precautionary or injury?
Not a great game but really entertaining at the same time. What happened to O’Neill? We struggled more when he came off. Nelson is a project who is way to casual in our own end but his speed is something need. Shaqiri looks like he has definitely lost a step or two, still a great player but I get why he struggled with Lyon now. I prefer the purple kit to the black and white one. I wonder who gets the next start-I’m hoping Q
No sport on earth more consistently rewards the undeserving team with a result more than soccer, watched two games yesterday Champions league and TFC both games were won by the team that looked inferior. Chicago who sits dead last in this league came to our house and took the game to us. Season is coming to the halfway mark and scratching my head at how Bob Bradley is turning this team around for the better, I don’t see it.
Looks about right, we were awful. Overrun in midfield and at fullback all game. We're lucky Chicago are notoriously bad finishers (and apparently cursed against us - they haven't beaten us in 7 years!) because any other team would have put more than two in, including Chicago most days. Our goals were lucky too - a goalkeeping error, a soft penalty, and a wonderstrike. None of this is sustainable
We got rid of our only defensive midfield stud in Delgado and replaced him with nobody so that Priso could develop into a starter, despite the fact we was coming off a long-term injury and has literally never played a full 90 minutes for the first team. Today with only MB4 as a defensive minded midfielder (and we all know what his shortcomings are) BB didn't put Priso in until the last 10 minutes. Is he injured again? Not rated (he's not been lights out or anything but we still look more defensively solid when he plays)? There's no other defensively adequate midfielder we can put in with Osorio and Okello injured and Thompson having to play RB.
We need to hit on all four of those summer signings and one of them absolutely has to be a DM/CM.
This league is full of parity. We're a rebuilt team full of kids and we play like one. That doesn't mean we don't have enough individual skill to win a few games.
We're one game out of a playoff spot and we haven't had any mid-season reinforcements yet. Perhaps people need to stop whining and consider where this team would be if Curtis and Armas were still here.
"We won, but the way we won proves we SUCK."
What a Toronto fan entitled statement.
If we're winning at all right now, we're doing so typically with a team two-to-three years younger than the one we're playing. We're basically starting at least four guys in every game who would NEVER be starting, as they're just not ready, on a fully built team.
But we knew that coming in. So what are people whining about? A lot of armchair gm's who clearly have little to no understanding of the difficulty in quickly rebuilding a team.
We won, our top DP played without pain for the first time in four games and scored two goals, and Q played, almost certainly preserving the win with two late saves. Plus we had a goalie in who can distribute again.
But hey, if despite all that you're still bitching, I imagine nothing short of a treble is going to make you happy.
Haha, yes, all very fair.
This is the tough part at the moment. We’ve all wanted to see our youth players get a chance and shelve the mediocre, MLS-vet cores of the past. Tough to watch them learn and I admit I’ll complain in the moment but when it’s done it will likely be worthwhile.
Something to consider… Maybe none of Thomson, Petrasso, Kerr, or Nelson end up starting once we have our first choice team in place. But are any of them particularly out of place as backups? Everyone, with the exception of Nelson looks sturdy enough to do the job. And with Nelson, there’s enough upside where I think you continue to find him some minutes to develop.
Nelson has a very high upside. People who can't see past his poor decisions are missing the fact that he's a 19-year-old. His passing last night was, on occasion, pretty exceptional. He has a huge toolbag and he's already at the point where he could be a backup.
I'd say all of the new/young players are good enough for backup duty other than Chung and maybe Kosi Thompson, who has a huge toolbox but feels badly out of position as a fullback. He's just not good defensively at all. Chung's read of the game is just too slow. He's exposed constantly. Thompson is deputizing for him and looks lost as a fullback.
The big thing that jumped out at me was this match was the first time in about 2 months that there was not a short term signing from TFC II. For while there was 1-4 of them week in, week out. Hopefully that a sign things are getting better.
Remember The Man, The Legend, The Goal 5-12-07 and All That #9 Left On The Pitch, Thanks For The Memories !!!
Cause he consistently makes the choices we know are an issue
- doesn't track back at pace
- stop & dribbles around a player rather then use his speed to get to an area & often then gets bumped off the ball
- does not use the overlapping runner
- attempts to dribble out of trouble in front of our own box
He's got a lot of potential but his downside cost us a goal in this game...
He's a work in progress, I get it. But his downside is infuriating because the choices being made look selfish (might be wrong) - he's trying to be Poz & Oso & he isn't there yet
*******
On another note, Kerr keeps getting better each game
Last edited by OgtheDim; 05-29-2022 at 01:16 PM.
Fair enough
************
People should watch BB's presser afterwards.....he's really talking about learning a lot & "this is a big project" & about mentality
https://www.torontofc.ca/video/postg...ey-may-28-2022
Also, talks about Poz not training much for a couple of weeks before this game.
Oso - they don't know what it is but are trying to find out. NT makes the call right now as to whether he goes to CANMNT camp.
O'Neill - was concerned about dizzyness.
Asked about "did you challenge Kerr" by Molinaro, "I challenge each of these guys each day".
Talks from there about "emptying the tank:
Right at the end, they left in the Singh question about Poz contract that BB refused to talk about.
REALLY good use of 9 minutes of your time, people.
Last edited by OgtheDim; 05-29-2022 at 01:32 PM.
Hope O'Neill is alright. I thought him and Salcedo were stellar dealing with the barrage of crosses thrown into the box in the first half.
I will never understand complaints about Nelson tracking back. He’s an out-and-out winger, if you’re relying on him tracking back or marking runners then you’re misdirecting complaints to Nelson that should be on the midfield/fullback.
Presser is a good use of time as well btw