I need a good shot of Jozy's reaction to Pozuelo's chip. I need it.
Well I’ll be. I was hopeful Poz would come in and deliver a decent enough performance to keep the naysayers back. But holy hell.
For all those comments that came in saying TFC aren’t going to spend any money, that MLsE only care about hockey, that we’re going back to the early TFC years what do you say now.
We’re not going to win every game like this but I think it is clear that MLSE cares about this team performing at the top and Poz is going to help us unlock teams as well as VV ever did. I feel like he’ll bring this team together more than Gio did as well which is even more exciting.
What a debut.
Giovinco had some pretty amazing games; as far as regular season games go, this performance from Alejandro has to possibly be the best ever. He did everything.
Pozo at 27 and 4 million > Giovinco, 32 and his wage demands. We'll see it how plays out over 34 games and playoffs but pretty confident MLSE made the right investment here.
That was beautiful.
That was simply....
I have been following giovinco games.
The Al halil games pop up on my cellphone. I think it has been 6 games in a row gio hasn't scored.
Well, alrighty then.
I loved near the end, we're up by a bunch of goals to nothing, NYC tries a breakaway down Auro's side. Auro is probably tired as hell after running all game, but he harassed the NYC player like crazy near the half-way line, w/o committing a foul, and totally killed their play.
Someone mentioned our swagger back and I have to agree. Not juston the field but you could feel it in the stands, even at 1-0 at half the mood was good, you knew we we seeing a new positive team. If this keeps up look for tickets to start to become in demand again.
Fcuk me, that was amazing.
That was an incredible performance from Poz. I can't remember the last time we dominated a game like that (Probably 2017).
We also have lots of TAM available to reinforce and improve. A winger and a defensive player at 1 million a piece and we are the best team in MLS again.
However, I will say all the "Giovinco who?" stuff on twitter is leaving a sour taste in my mouth. Seba is a TFC legend. What he did for this club can be measured in trophies, MLS records, fan interest and front page headlines. No need to pretend he never mattered to us.
Anyway, great night!
That’ll do for me....
Some truly outstanding passages of attacking play from TFC tonight, capped off with a really world class third from Pozuelo (It was so good I learn to spell his name right) If he can maintain his stamina throughout the season (Bearing in mind hes almost played a full season in GentJ and we can keep Jozy fit, we should be looking forward to an exciting season ahead on the attacking front.
It was of course a superb debut by the Spaniard topped off by his second goal which was just absolutely sweet. Let’s remember Johnson is no mug of a goalie either, and to chip him like that was just utter class. I’ve never been a fan of the ‘Panenka’ but that one in particular seemed to hang in the air for an eternity. I’d much rather a player take a decent run up and put his laces through it when it comes to PKs, but you can’t complain about the outcome. I’m not sure the old ticker could stand many more like that one tonight. It’s only one game I know but he strikes me more as an attacking midfielder rather than a playmaker in the Vazquez mould, but hopefully this will help compensate for the Giovinco goals we’ll undoubtably miss this year. I still think we need a replacement for the Italian, maybe not quite at the same level, but let’s spend our GAM & TAM on a forward with a proven record he can score in this league. Otherwise its Akinola & Boyd as back ups for Jozy, not enough if we’re to make serious challenge for the MLS Cup.
I’ll spare you all the moans as it doesn’t seem right after a four goal victory and a masterclass from our new designated player. However the real test of whether or not we can be contenders this year will come in two weeks time when we travel to Seattle. I still hadve reservations about our ability to defend as a team, but we’ll leave that for another time. It must be said though NYCFC were horrific tonight and it’s amazing how far they have fallen so quickly from the Vierra/Villa era. However, as the saying goes, you can only beat what’s in front of you, and the Reds certainly beat their opponents tonight in a convincing manner (you have to wonder all the same how the second half would have gone had Medina buried that chance early in the second half rather than smack the post) In retrospect VAR got everything correct tonight as frustrating as it was not to get the first two ‘goals’. Absolutely no doubt they got the Altidore penalty call spot on. Although I think the big man might have embellished it a tad, he was clearly being hauled back by Callens, which stopped Jozy from getting in place to get a header on goal
So, onwards and upwards TFC. Let’s hope this great start in term of points means we’re going to enjoy another 2017 type season. If we address a few of our problems, I see no reason why we can’t. I certainly feel a lot better after tonight’s performance than I did two weeks ago
COYR!!!
Player Ratings
Bono:6
Auro: 6
Moor:6
Mavinga:6
Morrow: 7
Delgado: 5
Bradley:6
DeLeom:7
Osorio:5
Altidore:8
Pozuelo:9
Chapman:7
Akinola:4
Boyd: 4
i know now it will be hard, but let’s not compare the two. Completely stellar first game, still can’t figure out if he is left or right footed. It is true the whole team looked better. I know the paneka and the chip were sick but imho it was the small things, unlocking Jozy at least three times, the quick touches at midfield to keep possession that were mesmerizing.
i will always love Gio and I think he got bad advice but we have a new era and let’s hope this is the first of many remarkable nights.
Oso and Deleon look rock solid on the left and right but look out if we add pace and one more defender for depth to this team.
Come on You Reds!
Don’t want to put a downer on a great night but I can’t agree with that at all. Give me Betashour every day of the week. Yes he did great in the assist for Chapman, but that was his sole contribution all night from my perspective. He is a horrible player defensively, it’s like playing without a full back at all sometimes. The middle third is probably where he makes his greatest contribution, but too often he breaks up attacks by stopping and playing a sideways pass to a midfielder rather than hit the by line and whip over a telling cross. He is a player I just can’t take to. Last year I thought it was because of VDW, but if it wasn’t for the contributions of DeLeon our right flank would be completely impotent.
Last edited by General Woolfe; 03-29-2019 at 10:19 PM.
That performance, and those highlights, will drive the fence sitters back into BMO. I know it’s early, but we have exciting football
Wow, what a debut! Poz was brilliant. That second goal is definitely up there in all-time best TFC goals.
Even though NYCFC was not very good, that felt like a last-2017 TFC domination. If we get a few more TAM signings and stay healthy, this team will go far.
I’m pumped for this year.
wow. That was something else. Looks like the team that was last season has been erased from memory. Can't find anything negative after watching that game.
I saw some auro criticism earlier in this thread which to me is hilarious. Auro played awesome and had some real brilliant moments tonight. I think a large part of that is due to pozuelo. Its like his presence alone has lifted the spirits and confidence of this team. You could see it in osorio too. I think hes the one player who's going to benefit the most from the pozo addition. Although maybe Jozy will disagree.
Pozos smile and humility are going to go a long way in this town.
We will lose games.
He will make mistakes and go out of form.
But that attitude is going to bring in a LOT of people.
That Panenka was premeditated. Arrest Pozo for first-degree murder on Sean Johnson!
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/KristianJack/status/1111812887977312256
I think the opta stats for this game more than back that Auro had a good game.
This may well be down to football philosophy. I noticed you rated Morrow higher on the opposite flank. He is literally where the attack goes to die on most plays down the left side. Players are pleading for him to make more aggressive runs or setup for simple 1-2's but he isn't capable. As soon as he hot-potato's the ball to his teammate in the corner, he turns into a statue, offering no option but a negative pass backwards. However, he's conservative with his positioning and rarely caught out defensively. That said, the only real chance NYCFC had this game Morrow does a terrible job closing out Medina, who walks straight inside and hits one off the post.
Dust settles on this game, Auro literally has twice the pass numbers Morrow does and a much higher passing percentage because his teammates know they can give him the ball and he'll keep it moving. Somebody else makes the runs forward and Auro finds them the ball, Morrow is looking backwards for the easy pass because his range is limited. His teammates realize this too, so unless he's in a good amount of space they rarely use him as an outlet. He's also a bit behind the play offensively in terms of his positioning and anticipating the play.
Now that said i think both guys are usable fullbacks in this league. But you can't compare the defensive presence of a guy who is tasked to get forward a huge amount each game with another who is basically an after thought in the final third despite poaching the odd goal.
Last edited by ag futbol; 03-29-2019 at 10:51 PM.