Not a bad result tonight - but our defensive problems are not over. Hagglund looks about 65% with the strapped up thigh. Zavaletta has regressed. That was one of the worst games I've seen from Morrow in 2 years. Has he gained weight when he was injured..looks far from fit? Delgado has really lost his way - I'm not sure how you get this mojo back?
I agree. Zavaleta really seemed to be affected by his long layoff, as he's giving the ball away much more often since then, and also looks rustier defending. Morrow looked out of it or unenthusiastic at times today, which is unusual for him. He didn't even jump for the one headed chance that KC had. I thought Delgado looked a little bit better today than recently, but nowhere near where he was on better days last year.
take the point and run.but that zava/haggs combo have been brutal.kc should of had 4 or 5 goals tonight.
I agree about the Zavaleta and Hagglund combo. But Morrow also looked weak on defense at times tonight. And until we sign new CBs, and/or get others like Mavinga back & at 100%, the whole team needs to react and help to protect our defense. Stuff like:
- Don't give away possession cheaply, putting the defense under more pressure;
- When Bradley is roaming all over, then somebody else has to sit back in midfield and shield the defense (and probably Bradley shouldn't roam so far, especially when TFC is up a goal);
- Press the other team. Defence has to start with our forwards. Sometimes they did do that tonight; other times they didn't even try;
- Don't give the opponents so much time, in midfield and on the wings, so they can whip in perfect crosses or take long shots all day, like they did tonight & in the previous game vs. Minnesota.
When TFC defended well as a team tonight, they looked much better, and they weren't giving Zavaleta & Hagglund so many chances to screw up.
I know that you are blaming Vanney for this (you've clearly never liked him), but seriously even Pep Guardiola couldn't make depth level players at best like Hagglund or Zavaleta not make mistakes. I don't agree that it's the coach.
The problem is that instead of getting defensive depth, Bez rolled the dice on Aketxe and lost. We've paid for it since the CCL. It's on the GM and he'd better fix it when the trade window opens.
This is a good result, but it only really means something if it leads to more positive results.
So the team has to take the positives from this and try to carry them over to the next game.
Remember when cooper would CONCACAF a game down to hold on for the win?
We should have replaced that.
Hamilton is finally coming around, i called it. Give The kid 3 or 4 consecutive games and he will shine. He had an excellent gamd
One other good thing...Chicago, Orlando and Philly all lost (even Columbus). Only Montreal won. So we made up a point on three teams between us and a playoff spot. Sometimes it is hard not to get discouraged, but one step at a time :-)
Last everyone said they were great players and this was the deepest team in the league. I think someone called me out saying Zavaleta could start on any team when I suggested Vanney protected him over Edwards for family ties.
I mean Vanney and Bez are supposed to be amazing.. They didn't bring in any CB over the off season so they much be confident that they are fine. If Vanney and Bez are great then you must be wrong about Hagglund and Zavaleta.
So either they have failed in not realizing we needed CB Depth, or they are wrong for assuming Hagglund and Zavaleta could handle it. We brought in two Defenders and resigned Hernadez. So they must have assumed we were fine. Deepest squad in the league... Can get the results any time. These are things people were saying about this same group last season. Now that they are losing it is excuses... oh it's not Vanney or Bez's fault for not bring in depth players to fill the roles we need.. no it is injuries. The Simple fact is Edwards should still be a Red, Zavaleta should have been opened up and we could have pulled in a good CB in the Offseason as Vanney had planned to play what was basically a 2 6 2 at the beginning of the year.
I don't like Vanney. Frankly I think He, Bradley and Gio need to move on. Gio has been playing worse and worse each season. Bradley I suspect is part of the mentality issue, and Vanney is a one trick pony. Teams improved in the off season. TFC didn't. Most of the league knows just press hard Vanney doesn't have an answer to that. Or rather than finding an answer he is still sticking to the same old same old.
Bez said he wouldn't fire Vanney because it would be insanity to keep doing the same thing over and over again. Well TFC must be crazy then because they keep doing the same things game in game out.
The season is a write off. Bez should be looking for a new coach in the off season, and two new DPs.
Still the V cup to play for. Glad they escaped with the point. Glad there's another match before V cup.
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
You're really not giving these guys enough credit for the role they played in our championship season. Pretty much everyone we fielded at CB did an amazing job. Week-to-week they kept opposing forwards extremely quiet with little fan fair. Is part of that spill over from Mavinga's individual brilliance, bradley's shielding, and Moor's leadership? Sure, but they still deserve credit and played well in their own right. Looking back at the expansion draft I wouldn't have done anything differently. The value of dependable (or so we thought) CB is above that of a fullback. And at LB we had plenty of cover.
Coming off a championship year I'm willing to be pretty forgiving about our shortcomings but clearly mistakes have been made. I think principally the signings we made in the off season were the wrong ones. We went around chasing luxury parts when the smart money was on the spine of the team. I'm not going to disagree that we need a new CB at this stage. All of Moor, Zavaletta, and Hagglund are struggling to keep up with the pace of the game. We need a first choice guy to stand next to Mavinga and organize the backline. The others can still be relied upon as backups. The need for another quality striker up top is obvious and I think a proven defensive midfielder to pay when Bradley is unavailable is also warranted. Fraiser is great, but it's going to be a few years before he's truly ready to start.
Management should been more aware of all this. It was obvious Moor is aging and Giovinco's effectiveness from open play has been regressing (needs a good strike partner at all times).
Last edited by ag futbol; 07-08-2018 at 11:28 AM.
the family ties and friendship thing have to stop,with zava and delgado they have been awful the last month or so,injuries to jozy and mavinga have been killers,they would probs have at least 6 to 9 more points with them in the lineup.
Gio needs to move the ball faster and more often. Despite everything else, we would have had 3-4 more serious goal scoring chances but he held on far too long. Plus if he started to do that, it would open up space for him.
Also, really too bad Ricketts couldn't knock it by the CB who was hurt. SKC kept playing, so he was within his rights to, but played it far to tight. Just needed to put it down the field and he was in alone.
Very disappointed by the goals and the run of play just before that. Happy for the tactical adjustment and for Hamilton.