Mornin'
No TFC News today.
MLS playoffs better with Becks
SUNSHINE
Mornin'
No TFC News today.
MLS playoffs better with Becks
SUNSHINE
a canuck coed girl
Evil will always triumph over good because good is dumb.
The Dynasty Continues - RWN - Champions SoctoberFest! '11, GoTFC Supporters Cup '10. Indoor Cup '10, '09, Niagara Cup '08 & '09. Be Champions. 6 for 8 :)
^ Oh Canada!
mornin d
wow 2016 and things are looking up --- come on you reds lets go
For those of you who want stats about fouls - congrats to Sam Cronin for winning one of the categories:
http://usasoccer.blogspot.com/2009/1...ards-2009.html
Vitti even managed to draw some fouls against Real Madrid. He's got some skills in that department!
Just spoke to Tom Anselmi at length. He backs Mo 100%. Story to follow....
John
http://twitter.com/JohnMolinaro
GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR
Kasey Keller Seattle Sounders FC
Donovan Ricketts Los Angeles Galaxy
Zach Thornton Chivas USA
FAIR PLAY AWARD
Kasey Keller Seattle Sounders FC
Pat Onstad Houston Dynamo
Steve Ralston New England Revolution
COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Brian McBride Chicago Fire
Ben Olsen D.C. United
Zach Thornton Chivas USA
DEFENDER OF THE YEAR
Geoff Cameron Houston Dynamo
Jhon Kennedy Hurtado Seattle Sounders FC
Chad Marshall Columbus Crew
REFEREE OF THE YEAR
Alex Prus
Ricardo Salazar
Kevin Stott
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Stefan Frei Toronto FC
Omar Gonzalez Los Angeles Galaxy
Chris Pontius D.C. United
COACH OF THE YEAR
Bruce Arena Los Angeles Galaxy
Sigi Schmid Seattle Sounders FC
Robert Warzycha Columbus Crew
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Kasey Keller Seattle Sounders FC
Freddie Ljungberg Seattle Sounders FC
Fredy Montero Seattle Sounders FC
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Jeff Cunningham FC Dallas
Landon Donovan Los Angeles Galaxy
Shalrie Joseph New England Revolution
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Probably deserves it's own thread. But here it is anyway.
http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_b...ists.html#more
"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
I know that it looks like it is Galarcep who created this list. But he is reporting the MLS Awards Finalists not the Soccer by Ives Finalists. He appears to the be first to report this - scooping MLS itself - who does not appear to have this list available on its site yet.
His own rookie of the year and defender of the year are here http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_b...-gonzalez.html and here http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_b...f-cameron.html
"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
What about last year for San Jose?
Anybody want to take any bets on it happening for Philadelphia next year?
there's a lot going on with that franchise in Seattle beyond the tampering for Sigi:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...ounders12.html
Still, I wish MLSE would play fast and loose like that.
John Molinaro posted his Anselmi story now:
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/stor...-johnston.html
You could hardly blame Toronto FC general manager Mo Johnston if he felt as though a bull's eye was painted on his back.
The Scotsman has been the subject of a nasty string of abuse from fans and media alike ever since the Reds were embarrassed 5-0 by the last-place New York Red Bulls on Oct. 24, a result that put paid to the team's hopes of clinching its first-ever playoff berth.
...
I call bullshit on this. This has never been the model of success for MLSE. Why now?"Our expectation was to build this team from the ground up, and that meant accumulating assets young players, a strong roster of veterans that would serve us well over the long haul, even if that meant at the expense of winning in the early going."
And how many losses did all of those teams have? Talk about rose coloured glasses."We finished one point out of the playoffs. We had 10 wins. There are three teams that made the playoffs with 11 wins, and two that made it with 12 wins. The best team in the league had 13 wins, so it's not a blow-it-up situation," Anselmi explained.
Whatever I guess. Mo is at the helm for another 2 years. We'll see what happens.
It really seems to be one more year and see what's going on then - there are likely many outs in the contract for MLSE.
But what are they talking about, "never expected to make the playoffs the first three years," they have zero experience with expansion teams and zero exerience with MLS. They had no model for this.
"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
Do you mean before next season starts? It seems unlikely there'll be any changes before then. Looks like they're going to get the new coach in here and see how it goes. Unless they have trouble signing a coach. It would be interesting to know what kind of offers they'll be making.
I knew it. The day after the debacle in NY I said that MLSE would think the team missing the playoffs was because of bad luck and that a "tweak" here and there will get them in the playoffs. Standard MLSE M.O., aiming to sneak into the playoffs is their goal, not to actually build a winner.Blowing up the team and starting from scratch would be overkill, according to Anselmi. The MLSE vice-president believes the final league standings prove that all that's needed in order to build a young Toronto side into a playoff contender is a few tweaks.
We're screwed. This guy has no clue.
Nice. Way to aim low. This organization is a joke. If they didn't expect to get into the playoffs, why was everyone saying it was a goal of the team at the start of the season? These people make no sense."Our expectation was to not make the playoffs the first three years. We didn't think we would," Anselmi stated.
Anselmi says 3 wins and a few points here or there like its nothing. An extra wins would have been a 30% increase. If the Leafs increased their win total by 30% they would be near top spot in the conference this season as well. The season is shorter so a few wins/points here and there don't sound like much.
He doesn't mention we finished only 4 points ahead of last year...when we were last in the conference.
Animals Eaten:
pig, cow, lamb, moose, chicken, quail, kudu, ostrich, kangaroo, octopus, alligator, rabbit, shark, springbok, goat, bison, boar, caterpillars, turkey, fish, lobster, crab, oyster, prawn, antelope, camel, eel, squid
What's the old expression? We have nowhere to go but up? That's where we were last year, and yet they are making it sound like Mo is a genius for getting us to 12th place and 4 more points.
A dead monkey could have done that.
While we can debate the Seattle vs. Toronto in regards to the football infrastructure that was in place prior to joining the MLS, the one thing that is not debatable is the lowered expectations from MLSE.
Perhaps it's more difficult making the jump from expansion team to playoff team in one unlike perhaps a USL team making the jump to MLS, still by year three you figure you should make the playoffs your goal, no?
Ok, throw out year one. Fine. Expansion team, no continuity, still learning the ins and outs of the league, whatever.
Last year the team finished 4 points out of a playoff spot. I mean the goal of making the playoffs should have been last season!
This year it should have been the playoffs PLUS winning a round.
But with lowered expectations comes less accountability. Or rather, no need to be accountable. I mean, expectations are scary. OOOOO!
"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
^ Well, this is on Scotty Bowman's Wiki page: "On August 3, 2007, it was reported that Bowman was offered the position of President of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Bowman later appeared in an interview on Hockey Night in Canada on January 12, 2008 confirming that he was very close to taking the job only to be turned away by Richard Peddie." So, a little discrepency there. Weren't there also some seriously conflicting stories about Ken Dryden and Bob Gainey and MLSE?
So, I can certainly understand someone's reluctance to sign with MLSE - especially with the line today about the low expectations. How do you come in to coach in an organization like that?
So, the league can talk to Peddie all they want, can they talk to his bosses?
"Our expectation was to not make the playoffs the first three years. We didn't think we would," Anselmi stated.
What do I say to this ? Anselmi you are now part of the problem. Congratulations...from now on, you and Mo go in the same sentence. Mo & Anselmi MUST GO.