Unbelievable , Vanney easily could have lost this game , I assume you're joking .... With the team we have vs who started for Montreal this should have been an effortless win
Last edited by jazzy; 08-24-2019 at 10:01 PM.
It's great that we won and all, but we need to establish some form.
I need to hear from Vanney about Pozo. It'd better be a fitness issue.
"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
Poz looked fired up when he came on. Gallardo and Benezet had some nice moments finally.
I feel like Delgado scoring and then morrow getting the squeaker is going to get some momentum for us. This was just the game we needed. Everyone got meaningful minutes, we played well for the most part and pushed back after a stunner of a goal.
We needed the W and we got the W. Can’t wait for the next massive game.
Too many people in this thread comment but lack full context. My advice....as a fan, try to attend more games in person and not just watch on television. The prism of TV doesn't do justice to the reality of game play. Just my 2 cents.
"Failure simply isn't an option at this stage. TFC pushed its chips to the middle of the table when it splurged on Bradley and Defoe and reinforced its bet by making savvy acquisitions elsewhere. This collection of players is capable of delivering on the promises made during the close season. There are no more excuses available for TFC. Only success will continue the process of atoning for the past and establishing a higher standard for the future." FOX Sports
Fun night to be in 126. Were those Montreal employees in the box?
2nd half pitch seemed tilted. Glad they kept coming wave after wave, not giving up.
I was at the game tonight in person, and while we squeaked through with a win, it was just that, we squeaked through. Delgado’s goal was nice, but the second goal was a bit of a garbage goal. We did the same thing we have done so many times—dominated possession but weren’t threatening the net, and then the other team scored on us. I didn’t see that threat or urgency until Poz came on in the 2nd half. What kind of tactical play is it to leave your best player on the bench? I have said it, and will say it again, for those who think that Vanney is some sort of tactical genius, how was it that we barely beat a weakened Montreal side tonight, in a game that was life or death for us? Is that your definition of genius? We could easily have lost tonight, though as I said earlier, thank god we didn’t.
You can hold Bush accountable for both goals. We were lucky tonight. Much better energy. Much better play. But squeaked through.
I just don't get it. Sorry, yes we won but why did TFC park the bus after taking the lead? If anyone remembers a point in the game around the 86th minute we had a free kick near the byline around 25 yards out. Bradley stood behind the ball and has an OPEN, wide OPEN Poz on the line waiting for the pass to attack. Bradley stood there like a stump and decided to play the ball back. wtf, ATTACK, go for the jugular.
Also, Bradley for a 2nd or 3rd time this year almost lost the ball outside our own 18 yard box. For all his running this year most of it is useless runs. His passing has been horrible. Can't dribble at all.Bradley has past his expiry date. Time for more playing time for Fraser, imo.
And did Toledo basically tell the VAR official to fuck off with his non penalty call? Toledo maybe thought he was being showed up? I would like to know how many times a referee has ruled against a VAR review?
Either way I have always diliked Toldeo and today's performance proved it.
There are some things that you just can't see unless you are in the stands.
And don't get me started on how TSN shapes how a game is perceived through its coverage.
***
Got the win. Was by far the better team on the night. Lots of fire shown. Going to just take this & move on.
this looks like total domination to me
https://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/ma...l-impact/stats
as per usual the other team gets one shot and scores on that shot
Interesting.
On Twitter they had Bradley as
Most touches
Most chances created
Most long balls completed
Most crosses completed
Most passes
Most passes completed
Most distance covered
Most best of everything
I think we take for granted all the excellent stuff he does.
for what it's worth he led all players in the audi index tonight
https://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/ma...act/audi-index
I was also at the game, and I agree, as did a bunch of guys around me. Montreal was missing some of their best players. That game was much tighter than it should have been, and we were fairly lucky. Leaving your best player on the bench for half of the match is the one problem. The other is that the key attacking pieces (Pozuelo, Altidore, Benezet, and Gallardo) have barely played together. Today they only got 15 minutes between Poz coming on, and Gallardo coming off. This guys gotta be insync like a well-oiled machine as we hit crunchtime in this season.
Montreal did almost nothing all night. One non closed down guy & a couple of close in chances - when we get that, people on here say we are awful. Well, last night, Montreal was awful. They couldn't get the ball to their forwards. They had no width (apart from one play in the first half where Mavinga did his thing). There was no midfield work worthy of MLS level.
When we do that, its all Taz emoticons & Vanney out & Curtis' suck etc.
When they do that against us, we are lucky.
How many chances did we have the first half - chances we were not creating for most of this season? Width, speed that could get in a cross. Jozy doing his thing.
Shoulda been 4-1.
Oh, and loved the TIFO.
I was at the game. We totally dominated and Montréal didn’t get a sniff - yes they are depleted but they also were highly motivated. A little bit of inability to finish - possession and threat not incisive.
The guy next to me commented that players were walking in the last ten minutes of the first half after we lost the ball - overconfident perhaps - and that’s what Marky did on their goal - he gave up on his coverage. That changed after their goal with some real urgency on the pitch, just like the first 30 or so minutes of the first half.
There was some excitement with Gallardo’s penetrating runs. I’d like to see him and Shaff on the field at the same time.
Benezet to me plays the same position as Osorio. Looks a tidy player but now we have him Poz and Oso with similar ways of playing when what we really need is a second striker to replace Seba.
I understand the need to play Delgado and Deleon with the two wingers given the uncertainty about their defensive skills and commitment. Brave call or crazy call; not sure. But you have to play a formation going forward that gets Poz on the field; I like 4-2-3-1 (Bradley and Marky or Deleon; Poz with Gallardo and Benezet or Oso) or 4-1-3-2 (with Benezet and Jozy up front or Poz and Jozy). Only way to get Poz and the TAMs on the field at the same time
Last edited by MightyDM; 08-25-2019 at 08:01 AM.
You definitely see the game better in person imho.
A guy like Bradley, his game doesn’t translate as well on TV. I am not surprised to see the stats show he had a great game
"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
Yes Montreal was awful for long stretches. Because they're not great anyway; and they're even worse w/o some of their best players. Yes still it was closer than it needed to be. For long stretches, it played out like some other frustrating TFC games: lots of possession, but missing the final good ball and/or poor finishing. And ending as a tie or lost game based on a small number of chances of the opposition.
Not sure if you're referring to me, but I don't think I've ever said Vanney out (yet I'm worried it might happen, and he sometimes frustrates me). For me this was an example of Vanney over-thinking things. The same kind of decisions that have cost us in many other games, came close but didn't cost us last night. I wouldn't call him a tactical genius after that game, until things work more consistently, and in more difficult circumstances.
I thought Benezet and Gallardo were a breath of fresh air, and even did more defensively than I had been lead to expect. Gallardo can do well in the high press with his great speed; Benezet with a last-ditch tackle near our goal, and some other good work to contain Montreal, and to help win the ball back. In offense, both are players that can take on & beat players, with speed and/or guile. And as they attract & take on defenders or midfielders, they free up others.
Almost everyone played quite well last night, most of the time, and for me that was a good sign for the future. And hopefully all our best players get more time and more familiarity / consistency together.
Shoulda been 4-1, and mighta been 4-1, if Pozuelo had started (and maybe also Shaffleburg coming on sometime after the 60th minute, just to kill them off with even more speed). I don't go all ra-ra after winning on a tight score against weak & weakened opposition; I like to still debate and learn from that. (And dropping points in a well-designed game with good effort, against a superior team or against some wonder goals, would also be worth a good debate, and no reason to get despondent.)
Last edited by Auzzy; 08-25-2019 at 07:55 AM.
Fair enough Auzzy - wasn't referring to you on the Vanney out thing.