I could have ended almost every night with those words over this season. It's confounding as a fan to watch them this year. I struggle with each passing game - wait, TFC doesn't have a passing game - to find the passion and joy I once had when watching the team that I love. I can handle watching my team lose - well that's obvious as I've been watching TFC for six years - as long as they put forth the effort. What I'm having shall we say difficulty with is the unsettling trend of sleepwalking through the first half (and beyond) that has plagued the most recent stretch of games. Add to that the still oft confusing lineup and substitution choices by Mariner and what you get is our Reds still firmly occupying the MLS basement with little to no hope in sight that they might climb out. Let's get the negatives out the way first (there will be positives; honest):
Andrew Wiedeman again? Really? Why was he back in the starting XI after that sub par performance on Saturday? Was he being rewarded because it was his birthday or because Mariner is convinced of this mythical "best first touch in the modern era" that he's witnessed - because we certainly haven't. Wiedeman put in another quite frankly terrible effort and should not see the starting XI again anytime soon.
RJ in the midfield. I'm not sure why this experiment continues. It is obvious that he does not perform well that deep - he is not a midfielder, nor a winger and is at his best when playing up top.
Silva up top. Luis is a talented young player with speed, a lovely touch and completely at ease in playing as the attacking midfielder (and played worlds better when he dropped back in the second half). He doesn't need to be up top with Hassli in order to score goals, but putting him there takes away what game RJ has and that in effect puts the entire team down a man.
Sleep-walking through the entire first half (and then some). There's nothing enjoyable about watching the two or three players actually putting forth an effort getting more and more frustrated while their less engaged teammates sleepwalk through the game.
Dicoy Williams. While I was delighted to see a more logical back four, it became apparent fairly quickly that Dicoy is just not ready to be out there. He's been a long time away from regular play and obviously needs to be worked into the starting XI slowly.
The Jeremy Hall (and Aaron Maund) sub. You know what I'm going to say here; where in the hell was Eric Avila? Other than firmly nailed to the bench; again. In a game where TFC couldn't find it's way past the midfield with a map wouldn't it have been nice to see a creative player out there; being you know, creative?
The long ball. Boy oh boy isn't that fun to watch? And based on tweets from John Molinaro today we can expect another year or so of watching our Reds tire themselves out running aimlessly after the ball. Exciting!
There's more but I don't want to depress you further.
Positives! You didn't believe me when I said there would be positives did you?
Ecks. MOTM for me and pretty much anyone I've talked to. Back in his rightful place at right back, Ecks was a huge (OK, he's short but you know what I mean) force to be reckoned with throughout the entire match. Not only did he bounce back from a boot to the face and two elbows to the head but he kept going after losing one of his boots - that's right, he kept playing - that's effort. But more than that was the energy he brought to the field; one of the few who played the full 90 as though he was actually hmm, trying to win. Astonishing!
Quincy Amarikwa. I've not had much to say about Dr. Q but last night he was a difference maker (maybe he should have played earlier?) and TFC finally came to life once he came onto the pitch.
Umm...OK I'll give Darren O'Dea a bit of love. Again a solid effort from O'Dea and seeing him be vocal and challenge in the box is great. But he needs a solid partner (not named Eckersley) to truly put the TFC defense back together.
Yeah - I've got nothing else.
That was fun right? Do you feel better after reading the positives list? Yeah, me either. And believe me that negatives list could have been ever so much longer. It's a (not even complete) illustration of what an uninspiring, underwhelming performance our Reds put in against Columbus. The laundry list of frustrations from the fans continues to grow and for those of you (like myself) that continue to show up at BMO Field each week you can see they're voicing that frustration by just not showing up for games. Unless this team can at the very least show that they can put in a sustained effort for a full 90 minutes - see, I'm not even asking them to win; just bloody well try - the spot the empty seat game will become the spot the empty section game very quickly. So I say again to our boys in red - Wake Up! You also have to ask (or at least I do) what part the lineup and style of play choices made by Mariner are playing in TFC's taking up permanent residence in that damp, unpleasant MLS basement (they should just call in a decorator and be done with it). I realize that depth is not a word that can really be used around TFC all that much but you can only look at the players being put out there each game so often without thinking maybe, just maybe someone else should be given a run out. And the less said about the long ball the better. Besides, as I said it's not going away any time soon so we'd all better learn to love it. What's sad for me about this season - other than the relentless losing, revolving door and continuing mismanagement - is that I'm slowly losing my optimism. I'm the hopeful one among my blogging brethren (as I was reminded of earlier today) who back in the day was always sure that things were going to work out; that this year was going to be better. In fact I'm the one they tease and poke fun at for my insistence on looking on the bright side. I'm not one of the SSH that will give up my seats next year and I'm not going to stop going to games. But I want that feeling back again; where I was so excited about going to see my team play - every game was an event! Now, I'm still excited but it's a dulled, tarnished excitement - I just want that happiness back - for me and for my fellow fans who's expectations get lower and lower with each passing week. I don't expect playoffs (hell, I never did for this season and I don't for next), I just want them to try, to rise above all the behind the scenes nonsense they've had to deal with; to become more than the sum of their parts. I want my team back. See you on Tuesday? Low Links:The Yorkies, Waking The Red, Typical TFC, RNO and RNO again.
Mood: Ecstatic mixed with disbelief State of Mind: Did that really happen? Location: Super hot supporter's couch Anxiety Level: High - have we lost Danny?
Let them concede goals!
What a game. It's hard to believe that so much happened in just 90 minutes - OK, 102 minutes thanks to the insane amount of added time. Goal, shambolic defending, Danny hurt, Milos standing on his head, shambolic defending, 12 minutes (yes 12) of added time, RJ can't finish and THEY FREAKING WON!!
This game had a lot of underlying stories heading into kickoff - Mariner's return to his old stomping grounds, JDG being traded, the Rev's AJ Soares pretty much guaranteeing a win and the little matter of TFC never having won in Foxborough.
The game started out well for the Reds when Luis Silva put one past Revs keeper Bobby Shuttleworth after some very nice work from Reggie Lambe. Our Reds up 1-0 less than 10 minutes into a game? Fantastic. But no one I was watching with was satisfied; TFC does not generally inspire confidence these days, even when they score first. But they surprised us. Lots of nice play through the middle, some actual decent passing and they kept pressing.
But then in true TFC fashion they started going to pieces putting on a fantastic combination of shambolic (what, I like the word, sue me) defending and a maddening inability to finish (can we please enroll RJ in a finishing school of the non-charming variety?) at the opposite end. And yet, yet they were still up 1-0. Thanks to some sublime goalkeeping from Kocic our Reds continued to hold the lead - what alternate universe was this?
Then came the most devastating moment of the game; no not a Revs goal, but Danny Koevermans down on the pitch clutching his knee after a collision with A.J. Soares in the box with less than 10 minutes left in the half. He was stretchered off and from all indications it doesn't look good at all for the finally fit and in form striker. This is one of the scariest and most upsetting things I've seen as a TFC fan; because as Danny goes so go the fortunes of TFC. Prove me wrong RJ....TFC have no secondary scoring threat and unless Ryan can figure out between now and the end of the month how to actually put the the ball into the net, things are going to revert back to very ugly for our boys.
Newest Red Andrew (Andy the eye candy) Weideman came on in his place and while yes he's a forward; he's one with very little experience and likely did not expect to play for his new team quite so soon. He did not acquit himself very well when he first came on the field - although this is not surprising, first game, he's hardly played this season - and by the end of the game had shown a few nice touches but he's still very much an unknown quantity and hardly expected to step into Danny's boots.
The second half was quite frankly terrifying to watch - and why was Aaron Maund given a run out, why not put Avi out there? The Rev pretty much owned possession and spent the majority of the half continually pressing and attacking the Reds goal. If not for some outstanding work by Ecks and Kocic (MOTM in a stellar performance) at critical moments as well as some decent play by Logan Emory and the rest of the back line this game would have (and honestly should have) been lost. But at the end after seven minutes (SAF must have been in town) of added time in which I don't think I dared to breathe as I waited for the inevitable (and patented) TFC last minute goal concession, the ref blew the whistle and unbelievably, wonderfully the Reds had won.
This was by no means a game to hold up and say ooh, look at how well they played, look at the progress! No, this was one of those "how in the hell did they manage to hang on and come away with three points?" kind of games. Not only did they win for the first time ever in Foxborough but they won one of those games that have always bitten them in the past - I did not expect them to come away with more than one point on this day and on any other day this team would not have come away with the win. But every team gets at least one of these wins on the season and finally it was TFC's turn. Certainly they and we the fans will not quibble at 3 points (on the road!), a clean sheet and back to back wins (it's not a streak) - I'll take all the positives I can get.
What happens next is still very much in the dark; there are signings coming but are there attacking players being looked at; as all of the focus has been on securing an experienced CB to anchor and organize the defense. No one could have anticipated that Danny would go down, but RJ's lack of finish has been apparent for most of the season. Patience is being asked for and I'm fine with waiting as this team does not need yet another knee jerk signing to temporarily bandage its wounds. The woeful lack of depth on this team is not a new issue but seems highlighted in neon this season; reinforcements are needed and soon. Hopefully our patience is rewarded with smart signings and a chance to rebuild (for this is a rebuild, not a 'tweak') for next season. So, see you on Wednesday?
Mood: Optimism rising State of Mind: It's too hot to think Location: About two feet from the fan - gods I miss A/C
Well alright then. Wednesday night TFC went deep into the heart of Texas, on the most sacred of American holidays and emerged more or less unscathed. In the midst of a punishing schedule and the oppressive, Toronto-esque heat the Reds once again came away with a point to keep their unbeaten streak at 5 games. Was this the best game that TFC have ever played? Not by a long shot. But they managed to do enough to continue the road trip with some confidence heading into the City of Brotherly Love on Sunday.
Wednesday night's game started like far too many of TFC's game this season, with the team looking flat, disorganized and generally shambolic. And in true TFC "what's defense" fashion a complete lack of man marking on a corner allowed Zach Lloyd to head in the first goal after only five minutes had passed. Also discouraging to watch was both Brek Shea (and his terrible hair) and Fabian Castillo pretty much run wherever they wanted time and time again.
But they Reds managed to put some semblance of defense together and kept the Hoops off of the scoreboard for the rest of the half. And in the 31st minute after some pinging about the box Danny managed to put a ball from Eric Avila past Kevin Hartman with a lovely little flick and once again the boys had managed to equalize instead of completely collapsing and conceding. Game on!
The second half saw Dallas try to press the advantage; but instead of wilting under the pressure our Reds actually pulled themselves together and showed some nice defensive shape and grit. Jeremy Hall appeared to have realized that Castillo was going to continue to be blow past him unless he stuck to his shadow, Ecks put in his best performance as the stand in CB and Terry Dunfield decided to emulate some of his favourite hockey players by sacrificing his body and eventually his face to keep the Hoops at bay. Even better was that they kept attacking instead of falling back to just play for the point; instead they continually moved up the field to try and make it three.
The Reds were definitely much improved in the second half and came within of whisker of going ahead when Soolsma just missed a lovely ball. TFC were actually quite enjoyable to watch in that second half. Led by stand out performances from Danny Koevermans who not only scored the goal, but has shown some really nice movement all over the field of late (yay for match fitness!), Milos in net and Torsten (other than the free kicks, please no more!) was again excellent for the team. What most impressed me was that they got better in the second half; they settled down, held their shape and didn't let up - a nice improvement that I hope continues.
Really my only issue with Wednesday's match other than the first 30 minutes of so was the way Mariner used (or didn't use) his subs. There has been much talk of managing minutes for this team as they are in the middle of a punishing few weeks schedule wise and yet other than the sub for Avila - who did not shine against his former team in one of his worst performances of the season - the other subs were very late in the game even when it was obvious that players were fatigued and had obviously stopped being effective. You could see the immediate difference when both DeGuzman and Soolsma came onto the pitch; I have to wonder what the outcome would have been had they been given more time to influence the game.
However I will happily take a point on the road from a team that in times past would have crumbled and left it's fans once again frustrated. Although soon they've got to find a way to win these games, but for now equalizing and getting points will have to do.
And once again still marring some good on the field performances by TFC is the ongoing drama surrounding Joao Plata. Even though the TFC front office continued to state that they were still working on a loan deal this piece from mlssoccer.com and this from Waking The Red obviously show something quite different. It is frustrating as a fan to see this sort of ongoing confusion still happening from those that run the team. I don't really have much more to add to what I said earlier this week and the comments by Duncan in the piece at WTR really sum it up. Tomorrow is a brand new day, week etc...fingers crossed for a few days of drama free TFC - let's just watch them play, distraction free - OK?
