There’s only one team with 0 GA.
TFC as the last to concede - nobody would have taken that bet
There’s only one team with 0 GA.
TFC as the last to concede - nobody would have taken that bet
Four road points total in 2023.
Zero wins, 4 draws, 13 losses on the road last year.
3 of the first 4 road games last year were draws, and we went into the 4th - the opener at DC- with the lead in stoppage time. Our seeming “grittiness” on the road was, it is hard to remember, getting some positive attention early last year.
This is fun… and … it's a long season.
Last edited by ensco; 03-04-2024 at 07:02 AM.
"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 really enjoyed yesterday’s game, first time in a long time. Loving the new additions to the team. Great saves by Johnson and Petretta!
In fairness, while we scooped some road points early last year, they never played like this. Watching guys hustle to track back when the other team is countering, making last ditch tackles, coming over to help their teammates when the opponent’s best player has the ball… none of that happened with Bradley.
I recall many lamenting how terrible we looked despite picking up points. It was an observation that certainly proved true later.
As you said, it’s a long year and we’re far from the finished product. But there seems to be something to look forward to at least.
This was the only negative for me, he doesn't look like a professional footballer. The commentators covered for him but that play in the last minute was downright embarrassing. He didn't run to the corner to waste time, he did that because even with a yard or two head start and being fresh vs a defence in the 95th minute he knew he didn't have the pace to make it to a one on one with the goalkeeper. It was shocking. I don't know if he's carrying too much muscle or its the injuries but he just doesn't look like he belongs at this level whatsoever any more. I hope he can find a way to improve but it really looks bad right now. I do think we made a huge mistake in our transfer dealings not getting a striker it's by far our biggest need.
Glad to see the win. Enjoyed watching the starting lineup play. Scary thing is we have nothing off the bench and it made things tense. I can’t see us scraping by with nothing coming off the bench. Ayo is not it and neither is Short Shorts.
Post game locker room shot:
I can't blame Ayo for going to the corner in the end. Mature players would do that while other would try to score a goal. Either is fine.
However it does look like ever since Jozy started mentoring Ayo, Ayo has tried to replicate himself into a mini younger Jozy and it hasn't paid off at all. Ayo got thicker like Jozy but slower. Instead of making direct runs like he used to, he plays with his back to goal and fails to do it decently, he also lost all confidence in his shooting and decision making. I do think most of this comes down to the fact he's 15 lbs of muscle overweight which is a lot of mass.
I'll give him few more games under Herdman since even Ayo himself understands his downward spiral, but it ain't looking good at all.
Last edited by DinamoTFC; 03-04-2024 at 09:30 AM.
Starting 11 all played well. Johnson, Flores, Long, O'Neil and the new kid Gomis stood on their head. Really nice to see the intensity. Akinola and Thompson are not MLS quality. We need to get a glimpse of Blessing and Mailula to see what they have. Berna played great, but was gassed defending at the end. Should have been put up top when Owusu was subbed off.
It's muscle weight. Look at that picture above, his biceps are weightlifter size. They're almost the same thickness as some of the nearby heads for fuck's sake.
Maybe they don't want to discourage him from building strength because he had a complete ACL tear and year long rehab.
But his play style depends somewhat on quickness and he's built like an NFL linebacker, not a footballer.
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/TorontoFC/status/1764730356886905095?s=20
If he was built like an NFL linebacker, I wouldn't mind - but the guy doesn't have NFL/CFL/College ball agility either - he can't out leap/muscle people in the air or drive past them using a decent swim move.
As you said, he's built like a weightlifter - that doesn't work anywhere but the gym.
I trust Herdman on this. Kerr is about to get these minutes, and Ayo will have to score 10 or 15 goals for TFC 2 or something to get back in the mix.
"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
Keep in mind that both Cincy and NE played midweek on CCC. So they probably were a bit more tired than TFC