Auro better not go down injured....otherwise its Morrow on the right basically being an inverted FB going forward.
Vancouver in Montreal tonight
Fully expect Montreal to win that one. They will be tied with us but played 2 more games.
For some reason, I'm expecting a 0-0 tie...
Doniel own goal klaxon
Montreal win 2-1 because a Tos goal for Vancouver got called back for infringement. Tos did well at points and set up the one goal Vancouver did have that counted. Neither side as a whole played all that well. With this result, Montreal knocks TFC out of a playoff position, for now.
Athletic story about Houston's woes - paywalled.
https://theathletic.com/1171290/2019...ns-for-change/
Biggest takeaway - Houston actually drawing only 3-4K a game & its most diehard of fans are leaving while the team says they want to build a bigger supporter section (Houston has been bringing in paid for drummers for years now)
What they need is an owner to come in like KC did, and totally revamp things. KC was getting less than 10k attendance at the old ball park yet look at them now.
One problem with single entity is that an owner can make money from revenue sharing (ie SUM revenues) even if he runs his team into the ground, so there's not much incentive for a cheapskate owner to run things well.
In post Pozuelo news
Genk made it to the Champions League 32 group - they are in a group with Liverpool, Napoli & Jesse Marsch's unbeaten Salzburg Energy Drinks
whats with all the MLSPA profile pics
"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
The Athletic put up a profile piece on John Bostock today. Following his career and all the stops he's had. Here's what he said about TFC:
Following that flurry of loan moves into all three divisions of the Football League, the chance to play in MLS with Toronto – where he was part of a squad that also included Robert Earnshaw – helped Bostock learn something about competitive spirit.
“Canada was my last loan, when I was still at Spurs. That was under Ryan Nelson, the former Spurs player. He was head coach there at the time,” says Bostock. “He got the manager’s job at Toronto and he asked me to go over there and play.
“It was interesting, having four or five months out there, all of which was valuable experience.
“Canada is very different. MLS had a stigma attached to it at the time, but going out there to play and compete was brilliant and compete was the right word. The Americans and Canadians have the same frame of mind out there – competition is absolutely everything. In any sport, it is all about winning.
“Seeing the way they prepared and went about their work was a real eye opener for me.
“I am glad I experienced it, I have fond memories from my time in Toronto.”
Ryan Telfer decided to join Trinidad and Tobego after not getting a call up from Canada. He's now cap tied to them
With only a few games left in the regular season, it looks like the Montreal Impact is the only team that we are playing until the end including a tough game against the New York City FC, and then the Columbus Crew in October. We already have a playoff spot, so we need to continue to win, do you guys think its possible to make the playoffs???
I'm in the "I don't think its going to happen camp" The defence has too many issues & I see some weakness right in front of them with way too much attempting to pass it out when sometimes it should just be hoofed to the sides.
The test for me is these next 2 games. NYC is the best in the East right now - Colorado, since they fired their coach back in the spring, has been playing like a playoff quality team - Fraser has made them even better (and he knows us). I think we go through that with 0 points and put the pressure right back on this team (and it can't handle pressure right now).
The Voyageurs is another matter - we won't win that easily but that is a MUST for this organization and it will be all hands on deck for the 2nd game here.
I am not sure people are getting the joke re Telfer. He made a rational decision.
T&T qualified for the WC only 12 years ago (ie in Telfer's lifetime, unlike us) and aren’t all that different than us. A bit lower in the rankings right now, and unlikely to make it to WC 2022, but how likely is Canada, really?
Their manager played in that WC and was a key player for a very good Swansea team for years, and frankly has a better pedigree than Herdman.
"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
There have been a few guys around this quality that have switched to smaller national teams. One was a former TFC player who subsequently played in RSL’s system (name escapes me).
Anywho, we’ve picked up our share as well. Arfield and most recently Eustáquio (who is a big win).
I’m okay with it.
This is how a number of players feel, where who you represent is who gives you the biggest advantage.
Some of us feel that the country that actually gave you your advantages deserves you representing them, rather than your grandfather's country, and would respectfully disagree.
Now I've seen it argued that Canada is so deep in his position that Telfer couldn't even hope for a sniff at the CMNT. In that case, it's understandable. However, he shouldn't count as a "domestic" player any more for the CPL. The whole purpose of having the CPL is to help the CMNT.
MLS is a tough, physical league, that emphasizes speed, and features plastic fields, grueling travel, extreme weather, and incompetent refs. - NK Toronto