Probably good.Originally Posted by leedsandTFC
If it was a tear, they'd have known immediately from the scan and declared him out for a while. But muscle strains are unpredictable in recovery length, so there's no point guessing a return date. Still more likely to be sooner than with a tear, however, so...
Per Molinaro Insigne has been in training, although working apart from the team. That's a good sign.
Another MLS.com blurby analysis of SKC:
What we’ve learned: The attacking pieces aren’t enough…at least not in the 4-3-3.
Before Saturday’s game against the LA Galaxy, no team in MLS touched the ball in the attacking penalty area less than SKC. Without much dynamism coming from Peter Vermes’ front three and without a true creator in midfield, Kansas City have looked flat for most of 2024.
The 4-2-3-1 shape that Vermes ran out against the Galaxy, though, could be a solution. Getting Alan Pulido and Willy Agada on the field together will make life more difficult for opposing center backs.
i looked at our schedule and after sat we have two games in a row on turf.
if there's anything there still, wouldnt be shocked if he sat those two (doubt how much he would have played on van/charlotte turf regardless).
On TV it certainly looked like 24k. I was actually surprised how full it looked given the weather and traffic warnings beforehand. They had a shot of the west stands that looked almost full, and that new stand in the north end looked decently full too, as well as the south, of course, and then the east looked about 75%.
I can actually believe 24k.
Yeh, if we are getting 17-24k on a night like that, Saturday night games are not changing due to our demands.
There are systemic issues underneath that of growth through youth & equity for parents of small children but that's not going to win out.
This match can/should be won; with or without Insigne. Points to be banked. The next two turf matches, with or without Insigne, if TFC take at least one or even draw on both, I’ll be ecstatic. The club would then be positioned phenomenally.
Something that has to be talked about with Toronto FC - they're doing a lot of the little things right.
As of right now, TFC is 4th in tackles, FIRST in win rate on challenges and 2nd overall on made challenges, and sixth in blocks. They are top-third in take-ons, all of this despite having a lot of defensive touches relative to other teams in the league as of right now.
We still have room to grow - we're too easy to dispossess, and we're poor at taking care of the ball offensively. But man, it's exciting.
I can only go by my own data points.
To me, it looks a lot closer to 17k than 24. If you take the latter number, it suggests just over 3 out of every 4 seats were filled. Doesn’t exactly look that way from the wide shots of the grandstand.
In my division of my company, we had 15 seats sit empty. Nobody wanted to deliver these to clients with the weather and Go Train situation.
Even here, among the diehards, several people sat this one out.
I thought it was still pretty decent attendance on the day given the circumstances but they’ve been stretchijg the truth about gate numbers for a while and last weekend was just one more example.
Plus, if Herdman is able to fix youth development, the skies the limit.
Heads up! To all Toronto EastEnders, seems…
‘There will be no subway service on Line 2 between St George and Woodbine stations on Saturday, March 30 and Sunday, March 31, 2024 for track work. Shuttle buses will operate’.
i live at woodbine but it's far easier just to go to danforth go station and take the go train anyways
I was worried this would happen last week! And really add to the fun.
Thanks for the heads up, go train for me then.
No Insigne at training today. Likely rules him out for tomorrow.
Make that 6 weeks.
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/JohnMolinaro/status/1773748986643419478?s=20
If only we had a winger like Shaffelburg who could fill that LW role
Luckily, we at least have Spicer.
This is what happens when you sign players in their thirties. The Insigne contract was the dumbest contract in TFC history. I hope the club has learned a lesson here, but I doubt it.
^ I don’t think signing players in their 30’s is inherently bad. However, in a league like this one, where the travel is long, the scheduling is irrational, and the occasional playing surface is dogcrap…it seems a bit foolish to make someone over 30 who already is managing minutes to stay healthy the cornerstone of your team.
Just a thought, and maybe I’m way off here, but Berna seemed to turn it up even more after Insigne subbed off. Maybe this is an opportunity for Berna to step it up.
Losing Insigne again is unfortunate but I also feel like he is somewhat easy to replace in the new system. Osorio moves to his spot and Berna moves to Osorio's. Kerr or Owusu up top.
I suppose we could also see Longstaff beside Osorio and Berna at wingback.
Losing somewhat like Long or Flores for longer I kind of feel would be a greater impact to the structure of the team.
Who are the wing backs? Is Petretta back?
Last edited by SenorDingDong; 03-29-2024 at 02:35 PM.
Petretta trained on his own today, per Neil Davidson.
Probably JMR and Spicer start.
I think we can slot Osorio in but he's not the scoring threat Insigne is.
Let's face it, unless Bernie starts playing like a prime number 10 and both attacking and supplying goals, and Owusu or Kerr steps it up, we desperately need one more solid, quick goal threat.
Thinking on it, I expect Herdmann will do this then to see the strongest XI.
--‐----------kerr----‐------------
--------osorio -- longstaff------
Spicer - coello - Flores- berna
---- rosted - long- mabika------
I don't think he's going to sit JMR, the way he's playing, unless he wants to give him a week. And at his age, he doesn't need the break.
I suspect Coello will sit, Longstaff will slide into the mid next to Flores and Bernie will go next to Osorio in the dual attacker role.
But maybe he sees Longstaff as a more 10 than eight or six in this league.
Coello was really good his last game, but we sacrifice cover and athleticism when he's on in favour of technique. Might be better used later in games.
With Mabika subbed for O'Neill if it gets dicey? I can see it.
FWIW - Herdman presser
https://www.torontofc.ca/video/train...-march-29-2024
Thinking…
--‐----------Owusu-----‐--------
---Bernardeschi-—Osorio----—-
—Spicer—Coello—Flores—JMR—
---- Rosted—Long--O’Neill----—
————-—Johnson——————
Longstaff has some good qualities, but playing him as a 10 is a waste. I'd personally deploy JMR on the right, Spicer on the left as wingbacks and have the 10s be Oso and Bernie. Probably start Prince upfront and bring Kerr on in the second half to run at the tired legs.
Is Johnson back to full training?
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