Yesterday was embarrassing. Thoroughly, as a matter of fact. I’ve spent the past year “pumping the tires” of Toronto FC to anyone that would listen, and yesterday took a friend that had been out of the country the entire time to his first game. Needless to say, he was impressed with the atmosphere, even though we weren’t in the supporter’s section, but I could tell after the first half that the play had failed to impress.
And he wasn’t alone.
It was a completely ineffective display on both a quality of play level, and also a results level. I know that the USL isn’t too far off from the lowest level of play in the MLS, and last year this result would be easier to swallow. But we’re not the team of last year, and therefore we should be celebrating a 3-0 victory instead of choking down a loss.
The aforementioned silver lining?
Two weeks the the transfer window, and according to Morgan Campbell Darren Huckerby was at the game yesterday. Readers of the this blog will know that I’m a huge supporter of Darren joining TFC (under the right terms) and I’m very much excited at the implications of him actually showing up here. We’ll have to watch training sessions over the next week to see if he slips in.
Filed Under (MLS, Toronto FC) by admin on June-17-2008
What an unbelievable game by our newest and smallest winger. He truly came out of his shell aand wowed just about everyone in the park last weekend with a great 2-goal performance in under 10 miutes. And both off the left foot, which just adds to the confidence building.
He was always knocked in England for his inability to finish, and admittedly I was beginning to question his finishing.
And, while it may have to do with his adding me as a friend on Facebook last Friday, I doubt it. But I’d love to know what clicked for him in the past month that has him playing out-of-his-mind.
Filed Under (MLS, Toronto FC) by admin on May-23-2008
Had a sobering walk to BMO Field in the light rain of Wednesday night following the European glory that was earned by United and watched by myself and millions of others. I reminded myself that while the resultswere perfect thus far, Toronto was about to face a team that made them look like little boys playing in a Men’s league. It wasn’t that I didn’t expect a win, but rather that the day whad thus far gone so well that karma could play some catch-up.
Not the case. And adding to my delirium was a recently-infrequent goal by Danny “The Bald-Headed-Beauty” Dichio. He showed exactly why he’s still a threat when placed in the proper situation – he’ll created a goal through sheer will and force. In a lot of ways it was as pretty as goals come.
The rest of the game was a bit of a struggle against the weather, the opposition, and the limitations of our current squad. The weather made playing a game that could create face-paced chances for our midfield difficult. The exchange of play between the two teams was often sloppy. But most glaring was the limitations of our forwards and wings. Ricketts looked ineffective, to be kind. I’m hoping the warning stories aren’t true about the kid, ‘cause he should be showing a lot more class given his previously touted potential. Robert was playing well, as far as I could tell, and I think he should have seen a lot more of the ball.
Sutton was as solid as ever and is certainly making a case for Canada’s starting job. Marshall made more than a few key stops and blocks, Wynne was his tenacious self, and Brennan was dependable as always.
And, now, somewhat reluctantly, and admittedly embarrassingly, we come to a subject that I’ve been thinking of writing about for the past three games. It’s hard to admit, but Marco Velez has very suddenly turned from the worst defender I’d ever seen to a dependable, if not very-good, defender. I have no idea what happened either. He was absolutely lost until we came to Toronto, but since…Wow.
He’s been tough, accountable, and at times awesome. He’s shut down some very good players to the point that I no longer cringe when he’s neither the ball – I sometimes even get happy seeing that he’s the once back to make a play.
One of the tempting things about having your own blogs is the ability to revise the history that you wrote – deleting posts such as the one where I wrote a script for Mo to use when letting Velez go, would be one example of something I now wish I hadn’t written. But, I’ll stand by what I wrote as it’s a good testament to how I saw things back then (i.e. a month ago…)
Marco didn’t deserve to start then, but he does now and hopefully he continues to play at this level.
I’ve finally begun to come down off my high from Wednesday. Even yesterday afternoon while sitting at my desk I couldn’t help but hum “Glory Glory Man United.”
But really, what better a day to draw out as long as possible?
The United game, for all the joy it brought, was admittedly a crap game. The first half should’ve seen United up 3-0 and they second half should’ve seen Chelsea score at least two. To those who say that Chelsea deserved to win, I say that in a perfect world where all good attempts on goal are rewarded and no goals are got cheaply, Chelsea was looking at a 3-2 defeat. Going into extra time at 1-1 was, unfortunately, as good as either side deserved on their 90 minute performances.
On the two periods of added time, I would have said skip them because neither side was going to really go all out on the attack, but if we had skipped them I would’ve missed out on the delight of seeing that petulant-man-child Drogba get sent off. What a joke, see you in Italy.
On the penalty-kicks, I can’t say much as I was hiding behind my hands for most of them while waiting for the reaction of the crowd. Ronaldo I did watch, however, assuming it would be safe. Instead it was over-thought and under-taken. It was a poor and even illegal attempt. Terry’s miss, I couldn’t watch, but I almost had a heart attack when I heard the screams.
Not the worst guy ever and probably deserved better. But thems the breaks, and fate had its mind set on a United victory.
I haven’t felt that way over a win in a long time (I’m thinking 2002 Men’s Hockey Gold medal game.) It wasn’t necessarily the ideal win, but it was a fitting win. On the season and the tournament, United deserved their Premiership Crown and European Championship. Congrats to the gents that make getting up on a weekend morning a little easier.
Oh, and Calderon needs to back off Ronaldo. Great quote by Ferguson:
“Real Madrid are not the only club interested in Ronaldo. But the others are not saying so. They don’t get into this nonsense.
Calderon makes that great statement ’slavery was abolished many years ago’.
Did they tell General Franco that? Give me a break.
The simple fact is Cristiano has another four years left on his contract.
United v. Chelsea for the glory of the best team in Europe. I think this will be a fantastic game of pace and skill. Of course, it may end up being a slow and methodical game in the end, but I hope not.
If both teams are running and gunning, I think that United will come out on top. A defensive struggle could go either way but I don’t think Sir Alex is going to allow that to happen.
I’m predicting a 2-1 win for the good guys.
If I had to put money on it, I’d also predict a 2-1 win for Toronto FC tonight against D.C., but what I actually want is a 5-0 thrashing. I was never embarrassed to be a TFC fan last year, but the loss to D.C. in the second game of the season was definitely something to be ashamed of. Make no mistake, however, both teams have shown themselves to be different from the second week squads. Toronto FC is much more strong team defensively and in the midfield. We should be able to contain DC tonight, and hopefully surprise them on the counter. Look for Cunnigham to start today giving TFC that quick attack that will be needed.
That’s it - I can’t wait for these games to start!
This isn’t a season-has-ended-time-for-a-summary-post.
The season hasn’t ended yet for Manchester United as they still have (arguably) their most important match left to play. But, having just won the Premiership Crown (on points, too) it seems like a good time to give some thoughts and a look ahead to the 21st.
When Ronaldo won the PFA Player of the Year I wrote about how he’s matured into a player that deserves respect both for his play and his maturation. He’s just too good at this point for anyone to say that his success is based on anything other than talent and drive. He scored some tremendous goals for the club this year, and if anyone else was in his place I don’t think that United would have walked away with winner’s medals. I have to say, it’s always nice not to have to hate someone anymore. I still wouldn’t rock his jersey though, but that has more to do with loyalty to Ole than anything else…This year, the team supported Cristiano, as he willed another Crown. Argue otherwise. Please.
Speaking of the Solskjaer, it was tough this season not seeing his out there for the first time in a decade. It’s definitely going to be hard to get used to…
Along the same lines – I was very pleased with the maturity and leadership that certain players demonstrated in the absence of Gary Neville. Vidic and Ferdinand became defensice leaders and were phenomenal all season – toughest duo in the EPL. Scholes barked orders all season and Giggs – well, Giggs gets a whole ‘nother paragraph.
Let’s get the obvious out of the way first – Giggs is not the player he used to be. Fine. But, Giggs has the potential to become a great contributor to the team for at least another season, and perhaps more. The role he played yesterday was vital to the win, and I’m not even talking about his goal. In Moscow he will become the most capped-player in Manchester United history and it is that experience that gives him the composure that United will continue to benefit from. He may not have the pace or stamina for a full 90 minutes, but he can play to role of the super-sub (and perhaps make me miss Ole a little less.) Oh, and about his goal yesterday: Fitting. That’s a Semi-final winner for Scholesy and a trophy-clincherl for Giggs – couldn’t script this stuff better.
We also played the year short of a true striker. Let’s be honest, Rooney and Tevez are amazing but neither is a van Nistelrooy type of player. We very much benefited from Ronaldo free roaming but I fear the days when one or more of Tevez, Rooney, or Ronaldo is out. I’ve completely written off Saha at this point. Sir Alex isn’t an idiot (no matter what you may think as a supporter of any other club) and he’ll pick up another forward during the transfer window. Berbatov maybe? Finally?
The mid-field was dynamic, to say the least, this year. I suppose what we were witnessing was a changing of the guard – Scholes will be making way for Anderson and Giggs, increasingly, for Nani. It’s the sad but predictable reality of professional sports. What isn’t always so predictable, or possible even, is a seamless transition. Yet Fergy has managed to ruffle very few feathers with his squad selections and it appears that the players understand their roles. The odd man out, however, appears to be Carrick and his role is the only one that I don’t fully understand at this point. I wonder how he feels…
There’s talk of this squad becoming a Dynasty and I can understand why. Chelsea will look a lot different by opening day next season with many big names rumoured to leave. Arsenal is still too young and inexperienced, and Liverpool is, well, just a fourth place team at this point. Manchester United will be looking to build on this success by filling in gaps that they were already able to work through. There’s depth and a favourable mix of young and old. One more defender and another goal-poacher up front, and we’re laughing.
I know this is predominantly a Toronto FC blog, and I thank your indulgences when it comes to United. There’s one more game to win, yet, so there’s more to come. In between now and then, expect a post about my new, adjusted expectations for TFC’s season.
If they didn’t want me to expect them to win it all, they shouldn’t have started to only drop 2 of the past 12 points….
Pretty much the best that could have been asked for at the beginning of the day. Manchester United win the EPL Championship on points, not just goal differential.
It’s been a long season, but more thoughts on that in a future post. All that matters right now is that we won and Chelsea scum didn’t.
I know we still have Moscow on the 21st (and also, I think it’s a good idea for United to bring their own food - never know how many people Roman owns over there..) but I’ll be posting a season summary between now and then.
So to summarize, United are amazing, Chelsea are scum, and Wigan fans get a thumbs up for recognizing they were seeing the best team in the world and showing their appreciation by applauding the win.
It’s been a long season, but more thoughts on that in a future post. All that matters right now is that we won and Chelsea scum didn’t. 
