Sunday, March 20, 2011

The day after... TFC v. Vancouver

So the supporters groups are up in arms, at least taking sides, after the Slaughter at Empire Field. I would like to advise everyone to STAY CALM. It's the first match of the season.

Keep in mind that, unlike the case with TFC, the Whitecaps are a long-established organization, so despite this being their first MLS match, the club already has a preferred playing style and an established game plan. Something TFC still hasn't been able to muster here in its fifth season.

Still, it's largely a brand new side in Vancouver, but realistically it's the same boat in Toronto. Maybe even more so with the complete front office cleanout from last season. On top of that, Mo and Preki didn't leave current management much to work with.

At the end of the day, it's one match out of many more to come. Granted, TFC didn't look very good, but there is certainly room for improvement and some players had solid individual performances.

The Good

Dwayne De Rosario

Looks like he will be filling his familiar Midfield floater role, bringing a very offensive minded presence to the midfield from either wing, or the middle, where ever he sees fit. This is where DeRo is most effective, allowing his creativity to shine and open up plays for his teammates. Tracked down a lovely lob pass from Santos to score TFCs first.

Maicon Santos

There's not much that needs to be said about that left-footed blast in the 74'. Let's face it, the guy has the ability to pull goals out of nothing with that kind of left foot, and we've seen it before. Great vision shown to set up DeRo's goal too. Unfortunately his number of touches were limited by TFCs overall poor midfield play.

The Bad

Adrian Cann and Nana Attakora

The anchors of our back line were a mess for most of the match. Seemingly lost on each Vancouver drive, you could see them scrambling about the field as if they were unsure of who to cover, or what to do. Winter's new style of play will put an awful lot of pressure on these guys. If TFC is going to succeed they will need to make the adjustment faster than they have showed.

The Ugly

Ty Harden

Toronto FC has a long and storied history of terrible defenders, but Ty Harden may have put in the single worst performance in Reds history. Outmatched on strength, footspeed, and field smarts, we may as well have slapped a red shirt on a wooden dummy and called it a day. The dummy would have had less turnovers. Now it's not necessarily fair to pin all of the turnovers on poor Harden, he almost never had any options to pass too as TFCs midfield pulled a Copperfield-esque disappearing act almost every time they had a chance to clear, which leads me to...

TFCs midfield

With the exception of De Rosario, the other players lined up as "midfielders" had as much impact in the match as I did from my couch at home. Jacob Peterson had some quality touches early, but his lack of ability is evident on just about every play. Nathan Sturgis was completely invisible all match, while Dan Gargan just couldn't seem to figure out if he was supposed to line up as a defender or a midfielder and ended up playing as neither. Without this important linkage from the defence to the attack, TFC spent the majority of the game hoofing the ball upfield only to have it pushed right back in to their zone. This resulted in Vancouver's 11 corner kicks and plenty of quality time on the attacking side of the ball. Combine this with a struggling back line and you have a recipe for disaster!

Some positives...

Despite being stuck in neutral for most of the match, I can see where Winter's system is taking us. With JDG in the lineup at his comfortable holding midfield role, he will be able to fully utilize his distribution ability, unleashing the killer through-balls that we are used to seeing from him on the MNT to provide service to the 4-man TFC attack. This ability was sorely missed last match.

While a quality player at holding midfield is the keystone to this attack, strong play on the wings can provide substitute in its absence. While Sturgis and Peterson just weren't up for the task, things improved slightly when Yourassowski and Zavarise came in as substitutes. At the very least they brought energy, speed, and aggressiveness to the pitch. While their quality of service remains to be seen or judged, this style of play on the wing will do well to support a 3-man front. I hope to see them both in the starting lineup for next weeks home-opener vs. Portland.

Keep faith TFC fans. Give Winter some time to instill his system into his new charges. The confusion on the back line will only dissipate, and give way to an effective and exciting transition game. TFCs new Dutch attackers are still largely unknown commodities given the poor play by TFCs midfield last match. The season is far from over, in fact, it has just begun.

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