That’s what I vaguely remember too.Originally Posted by DinamoTFC
That’s what I vaguely remember too.
Just about held it together, I think we needed a gritty defensive game after last week. I was harsh on Rosted he was good in the second half and the free header off the corner in the first half wasn't actually his man like I thought it was at first, he was just the only guy closing down.
Kaye superb defensively throughout but his passing got really erratic towards the end. Also was out of position a bit on the goal and couldn't get back in time to make a good enough block. He's not usually a 90 minute player so we really need another body who can play DM/CM.
The only reason I can think of why Bob would take Ayo off is he may have been winded after his goal-saving defensive run but still think that was a waste of a sub and hope we haven't shot Akinola's confidence since I'd rather him start at this point. Mbongue was ok in his cameo fwiw - a bit raw but has some speed and ability.
Atlanta only really had a couple of good chances (the wide open first half corner and the Giakoumakis goal which should have stood). Everything else was routine for Johnson though that's partly because he was in complete control of his area throughout, something we haven't had in forever. It's nice to have a proper keeper and leader back there.
Of course if the offside was called back like it should have been and we lose this is all a moot point lol
FWIW...
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/mclachbot/status/1632211297889599490
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/mclachbot/status/1632211247029530624
I will take the point; they held on! Though TFC/BBradley still haven't won since AUG23?
Not to rain on the anti-MAK parade, but he passed at an 80% completion rate tonight, eight points better than Bernie and Petretta. And he was defensively very good.
I post this to echo it's sentiment... get a grasp of the defensive issues then work on the transition to attack... building our momentum from the back...
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/Total_TFC/status/1632219395350048768
The weather for the home opener next week looks like it could be nasty.
Well... I understand Bobby Firmino is available.
Last edited by Mr. Inbetween; 03-05-2023 at 12:36 AM.
Does anyone know how I can watch the full game on Apple tv?
Have you subscribed?
you can complete 99% of your passes - as far as I'm concerned, if that 1% is egregious, it's not a good day
I think that's a bit unfair, but anyway, nothing he did today was egregious anyway.
Ill just say, there is no way we can't be starting MB... He's like our only midfielder who can effectively distribute the ball from defense to attack.
Defensively I like what I see from this squad. Bill and Bob built from the back out.. which was the right call. We are still missing 2 key pieces though. We need basically a young (24 year old) Michael Bradley and we also need a clinical #9. Not sure if Diomanda or Akinola are going to pass the test.
But if we can get to June / July at a .500 record before we bring in some solid reinforcements we should be in good shape to make the playoffs.
How do people like Servania so far?
Osorio has been very quiet, hope the home crowd can fire him up next game.
3 points at home next weekend and we are in decent shape.
When a DM makes a bad pass, its a liability for a team with slow midfield.
That having been said, we lived through 2 seasons of Delgado figuring out how to pass the ball at speed.
People forget that Delgado was not a great passer either - until he learned to trust his instinct and pass things quicker. Mids moved from being offensive minded to having more defensive responsibilities have that problem I've noticed.
Yes I did...I even watched last week's game on replay. The Atlanta game wasn't available. Weird
That was a terrible game from us and the result shouldn’t confuse us. Bernie with a bit of brilliance, Johnson was fantastic, but seriously, on another day, they get 5.
We are exhibiting serious weaknesses in MF. All that extended possession, all those open shots from middle distance…
Bradley can't run anymore, and is being left in the dust 10 times a game.
I have been the biggest backer of Kaye, but he didn’t look good yesterday, whatever the stats say, he failed the eye test. Defensively, no way do I agree that he was solid there. He was losing his man repeatedly… he has the pace but he is losing every battle on positioning. He also had that terrible gaffe in the 35th minute, clearing a ball in the box right to an Atlanta player, that Atlanta should have converted.
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
Starting to agree with the midfield being the problem - Servania is good but not THAT good, we need a good 6 and fast.
Long term playing like that would be suicidal.
Thankfully, nobody else in the league plays like Atlanta does.
We get "play it out from the back and allow the ball to methodically move forward" Wilfred Nancy's Columbus next week. No way we are playing the same approach.
BTW, went and saw the Berna goal. Started with some footwork by SJ & 2 passes later, the ball is on Berna's foot with 4 rushing 4. We ain't the only ones with defensive midfield issues it seems.
Yep. And let’s not fool ourselves, we are consistently playing that tight middle block of 3 to avoid teams isolating Bradley 1v1. I’ll be interested to see how we handle teams with more pace on the flanks, because we’re asking a ton from our fullbacks at the moment in terms of defending and counting on the CB’s to win all the aerial challenges from the balls whipped in.
if the midfield can’t defend in a flat 4 on occasion out of fear of Bradley losing individual battles, the whole team will get disadvantaged.
Last edited by ag futbol; 03-05-2023 at 11:07 AM.
The thing is we don't know because we give the ball away so damn much in all phases of possession
https://worldsoccertalk.com/tv/mls-s...ST-421428.html
Watching the highlights back and thank God for Sean Johnson. Seemed like every chance they got came off a sloppy pass or turnover by a midfielder.
What did we learn from Atlanta's goal? If you take the initiative and shoot towards goal, you may get a deflection or two and the ball is in the net, when will TFC coaches not stress that to certain players seem to never shoot on goal, and will always pass it backwards or into trouble. Do we not practice striking the ball from distance outside the box,ffs
spot on. Our midfield is non existant. Totally outposessed, we were bunkered for our dear lives...and if not SJ keeping us in it, a moment of Fede magic, plus a bit of luck on the VAR goal...not sustainable at all.
And we gave up the free header at the end of the first half...complete break down in coverage again...normally that is in the back of the net.
Happy with stealing a point, but the midfield is attrocious and again even when gassed MB doesn't come off. He barely moves out there....
Oso just not playing well...and Kaye also, no idea what he is doing out there.
I think we were watching different games. And I'm not sure ignoring relevant statistics is a great argument.
Kaye's defensive line from yesterday on whoscored.com
5 tackles
3.5 interceptions
1.5 fouls
3 clearances
2.5 succesful dribbles
overall rating 7.43
He was our highest rated player, just ahead of Bernadeschi at 7.35 and MB at 7.21
They scored one goal, on a double deflection. We played a deliberately defensive tactic and it mostly worked.
It wasn't pretty and it basically ceded control of the game to Atlanta by giving them the wings and then forcing them to score off crosses or long shots. But it worked pretty well.
Where we broke down was up top. Diomande and Akinola were both very poor, Mbongue a little lost in his short appearance.
Oso had a bit of a mixed bag, too.
I think people are seeing that we're still lacking cohesion and smooth flowing play somewhat, as half the team doesn't really know each other, and extrapolating disaster from it. We were much better yesterday than in week one, by a country mile. They had a gameplan, they stuck to it, it almost came off with three points. As it is, Atlanta played their guts out and only got a tie at home.
jloome I luv ya... but
Kaye had numerous turnovers, almost too many to count. MB was just getting overrun in transition.
The one goals against... I mean, how many high quality chances did we concede? 10?
Here is my problem with just using the stats. As I said, the turnovers somehow don't make it in. But it's bigger than that. To use an obvious recent example that most of us examined to death, the Canada v Belgium game, Canada had a 2.67 xg but I felt that this was way over stating the reality of the situation, because xg weights shots from distance equally, and, while Canada had a lot of shots from distance in that game, they were relatively low quality. Last night was the opposite - Atlanta had at 5-7 high quality shots from distance, where guys had time, space, the GK moving, and defenders out of position. Guys in this league make those shots, even if TFC never seem to. So Atlanta's xG, and dominance, was therefore way understated. Like, by a mile. Atlanta last night probably should have an an "true xG" of at least 3 goals. Allowing that level of dangerous play should cost the Toronto players marking the responsible Atlanta players more.
Atlanta's good possession in MF was the story of the game. That, and Johnson. The ratings of Kaye and Bradley are laughable.
Last edited by ensco; 03-05-2023 at 01:32 PM.
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
Kaye had 1.5 unsuccesful touches and 0.5 lost possessions.
That's confirmed by two different stat agencies, whoscored and fbref.
Seriously, he had a poor stretch of passing in the second half, where he gave the ball away five times in a row or something, and that is biasing how people see his overall game.
But overall, he was 32 of 40 passing and had one shared lost possession. So he absolutely did NOT have numerous turnovers, almost too many to count.
And Michael had 3.5 tackles out of 4, and was dribbled past 0.5 times.
I get that it was a passive tactical strategy with little interest in possession. But what you are suggesting is factually not what happened.
In point of fact, the point-blank header than Johnson saved was the only serious threat out of their shooting, other than the deflected goal, which was going out but clipped off Hedges' back. Parrying two long shots from outside the box does not mean either posed a threat to go in. They weren't miracle saves, they were basic. The close-in reaction stops were both good... but also both were coming back for offsides.
Our backline played the offside line really well. They had two other chances down low in the box and both were offsides.
I will not argue against the notion we have problems up top and are slow in the mid. But that's why he set up this way against a very fast team.
And I will reiterate Kaye's defensive numbers, which are undeniable:
5 tackles
3.5 interceptions
1.5 fouls
3 clearances
2.5 succesful dribbles
overall rating 7.43
Those are pretty damn good numbers for someone who allegedly played badly. Borderline miraculous.
Last edited by jloome; 03-05-2023 at 01:46 PM.
Bob’s loyalty to Kaye and the very obvious nepotism towards his son will cost us points this year bank on it.
Love this post well done ensco , you clearly have a good eye for what’s going on out there, and good for you for saying fuck it to bullshit statistics, well done man
I'm having a hard time buying anyone in our mid field played well when we set up with a game plan to completely cede possession to Atlanta in an attempt to stifle their attacks and they still ended up with many clear sites on goal and but for luck, goalkeeping excellence and referee incompetence would have scored at least 3. We sacraficed everything in attack in order to stop them getting space and chances and they got both
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