Have at It People
Have at It People
This is going to be a rough week for the team. Injuries have ravaged our squad once again, and they have to cross the whole continent twice in 1 week. I don't get why MLS decided to schedule a midweek west coast match against Portland then a home game against LAFC on the weekend; this will take a toll on our squad and test their fitness.
We need 3 points as usual, but Portland will be battling for 3 points themselves. They've lost 3 on the trot after a long undefeated streak, and they'll definitely dominate the game on their home ground. We might stand a chance if they don't have Chara in the midfield. He's good at taking control of matches and plays similarly to Bradley (except he's better defensively). We'll definitely be set up to counter against Portland, but we should be ready for Portland to dominate the game and bombard our goal with fast-paced attacks.
I do hope that Vanney starts us with a back 3, but given the lack of numbers in our team, we might start off with the same diamond setup. I honestly don't get why Telfer doesn't get a sniff at left wing back ahead of Morgan. Morgan always appears unfit and slow, and Telfer has played enough at left wing back to not be uncomfortable there. Regardless, we need to be adept at defending the wide areas as that's where we are at our weakest.
Id be happy with a point from this one. Its going to be a tough one especially with yet another game this weekend.
You got to figure that Irwin gets the start.
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IMO Giovinco and Vasquez won't be playing as it's turf and they have a knock... Preferred if they are rested for Saturday
Statement game here. This is the one. TFC with their backs against it, in an impossible spot.
We win it, and we are back.
"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 mind Jozy & MMMBop* up top & giving Seba the flight off.
*Everytime they speak his last name, this is all I can think of.
TFC are sitting at an 11.8% chance to make it into the playoffs. If they can pull off wins in Portland and vs. LAFC, playoff chances will keep going up (naturally).
http://www.sportsclubstats.com/USA/MLS.html
I think we might be in tough here. Giovinco has some kind of nagging muscle injury and Vanney will probably prefer having him available for our home games than risking him in this one. He reportedly trained in the gym today rather than with the squad on the field, and after his 2nd goal yesterday you can clearly see him wincing twice in the celebrations. Plus him being upset about the field after the game, I'm guessing he pulled something.
Mavinga and Auro both didn't train today either, not even in the gym.
Offensively we might be looking at an Altidore-Janson partnership up top.
Portland went on a massive 15 game unbeaten run - then lost the last 4. They will be ticked after the loss at home to the Sounders.
They are as mentally fragile as us. They love to counter but have problems beating teams who sit back in a block. This game could end up looking a lot like the the second half of the Montreal game.
I am thinking a line-up close to this:
Irwin
VDW -- Hagglund -- Moor -- Morrow
---------------- Bradley --------------
---- Osorio -- Vazquez -- Delgado ---
--------- Janson ---- Altidore --------
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Chapman not VV (nagging injury). Possibly Morgan not Morrow. Morrow isn't quite right, I wonder if he also has a nagging injury
FWIW, team took a charter to Portland.
Remember The Man, The Legend, The Goal 5-12-07 and All That #9 Left On The Pitch, Thanks For The Memories !!!
If Vanney wants to get cute with his minutes from Giovinco and Vazquez then he should take them out early instead of bringing them on late. Let's not have another San Jose repeat.
If they are completely unhealthy that's another thing; but every game here on out is must win. We're not really in a position to "save" there minutes for later; because there may not be an opportunity later
I was at the Impact game on Sat and they had a great first 30 min knocking the ball around like the TFC of the past two years, at the end of the game they looked burned out. Even with Vasquez and Morrow at 60% they look a lot better I understand Seba resting but this like the Quakes match is not the time to play around, If you want to make the playoffs you play to win the game you only have 9 of them left and they are all mostly must wins. It is frustrating beyond belief to have the travel schedule we have had plus the injuries of everyone on the team. VAR costed us about 9 points? But more so is our medical staff guys coming back for one half or one game only to sit out 3 to 4. I hope Seba can travel and play at least a half an hour but i'm not holding my breath. A lot of Portland's attacks come out wide something we have had trouble defending all year I full expect us to come out and bunker for one point. We had 1 shot that game? We need to attack more in road games and play to win. No more of this tactical sit back and try to hit them on the counter because that is Where we are in trouble when Bradley Zavs and Hagglund are ran at because it opens up space. If that is our game plan we lose 2-0 at least.
Jon Bakero is in Portland so one of Seba or Altidore stayed home.
looks like we are playing for the tie here tonight
from bet 365
opening odds for tfc win were 3.0 or 33% chance of a tfc win, now odds 4.0 or 25% chance of tfc win
expected points based on the odds is 1.02 points for tonights game
looks like we are living to fight another day
from now on all the games there is adequate rest time between games and no really far away games, away games RYRB, DC, and Montreal
I don't think we have ever won in Portland.
Did Giovinco travel?
Well Jozy did
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/torontofc/status/1034965724559593472
Philly is dominating DCU. Probably good for TFC.
"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
TFC released lineup on instagram
Irwin
Morrow-Hagglund-Telfer
Chapman-Delgado-Bradley-Fraser
Bakero-Altidore-Janson
Bench: Bono, Morgan, Hernandez, Zavaleta, Akinola, Hamilton, Ricketts
I took a guess at formation based on roster
No Seba, Vasquez, Osorio, VdW, Mavinga
very Champions League MLS match looking squad
Last edited by rydermike; 08-29-2018 at 08:49 PM.
Yeah this is a loss.
Wow, what a lineup. One natural center back
A DC win would maybe have been better, have philly drop 3 -keep them in range, United have three tough games on the trot ATL, and the 2 NY clubs so they are likely going to drop points anyway.
regardless we have to take care of business
Almost looks like we're going with the legendary gitoni/foosball 2-5-3 formation