Mood: Curiously calm State of Mind: A lot can happen in 10 games Location: Not at the Air Show
TFC - all of their games are without frontiers - except the fear part There is something to be said for playing out the string. The only pressure on TFC players for the next 8 weeks is to try to ensure that they have a spot on the squad next season. And you know what? That can make for some highly energetic, driven and yes, entertaining football. There are only eight games in MLS play and two away games in CCL play left for our Reds - not a great deal of time for some - but really, that's almost two months of games to be played and hey, a lot can happen in those two months. Things like a scrappy, upstart little team from Canada coming together in triumph to win back the hearts and minds of their fans....sorry, drifted off into 'feel-good movie' mode there. But umm, they could play some good games - really, it could happen! Wait! Where are you going? I'm not delusional, really...hello? Tonight our Reds take on that baby blue team the Kansas City Wizards, Sporting KC in an epic battle between first and worst. Yes, I said epic and I meant it! SKC always seem to be that team that brings out the worst in TFC, not just this season but from the very beginning. Maybe it's the pajama like kits that SKC sport? Some sort of subliminal message that puts our Reds to sleep? Yeah, that's the reason we can never beat them (grasping at straws). And of course let's not forget its compliment of players we love to hate (Jacob "I've blocked half of TFC's fans on twitter" Peterson and that Bunbury fellow) - both of whom are not playing tonight - happy dance! But that doesn't suddenly mean this game is a walk in the park and that our Reds can stroll into Livestrong (or Performance Enhancement Park as some of my rather witty blogging brethren call it) and steal three points. I will consider it a massive victory if they can eke out a draw. As has often been the case this season TFC are coming off a run of several games (three in the last week) and SKC is well rested and have the added advantage of playing at home. And while The Wiz are missing Peterson, Bunbury and backline anchor Aurelien Collin (for yellow card accumulation) our Reds still need to find a way to stop Kei Kamara. If only to prevent more (even if all too true) comments about how TFC resembles a lower division English side what with the long balls and kicking it out all the time...but other than that, he's just plain dangerous up front and has an alarming (seriously, every bloody game?) tendency to score against the Reds. Notice that I didn't even mention Zusi or Sapong or Espinoza...OK, I'll stop - starting to depress myself again and I'm trying the "all is well regardless of outcome" method of coping with the game today.
But wouldn't it be great if they won tonight? Just for shiggles? Even though there is little (OK, very little) to no chance of that happening; it'd be an awful lot of fun. We could celebrate like we won something - parade time! *Crickets* No to the parade then? Hmm...OK, after we win two in a row we'll talk. Hopefully we'll all get to watch something good tonight (Psst, the new Doctor Who is on!) and not have to have epic meltdowns on Twitter...what, just me again? OK, hopefully I don't have another epic meltdown on Twitter - so uh, see you all later? COME ON YOU REDS! Laborious Links: The usual suspects with actual analysis and stuff - The Yorkies, Waking The Red (Duncan, John & James) and Red Nation Online.
Mood: So very tired - hard to maintain a hopeful energy these days State of Mind: Trying to adjust to the new normal - playing badly is the new normal Location: Back from vacationland
The theme song for the past six years for TFC Supporters
Once again into the abyss we go my fellow fans - we really can't have nice things, can we? There is no turning away from the fact that this incarnation of TFC is just not very good; and they're not going to magically get better by the end of October. There may have been a brief moment when things could have come together but coaching changes, player departures, injuries and six years of fan exploitation and team mismanagement by the front office have taken their toll. If you still attend matches (and I know that a few of you are gluttons for punishment like me) you've been witness to more than a couple of lacklustre, poorly executed attempts at playing football by our Reds in the past weeks. It's been frustratingly, mind numbingly depressing to watch. There's little to no joy on the field to be seen from the players, the fan apathy grows more evident each match (hello empty seats) as well as supporter group malaise (hello lack of tifos, empty seats and grimness in the stands). I've spent a fair amount of time in the south stands this year and with each passing week I see resignation that wasn't there before, less engagement and where we used to poke self-deprecating fun at our team and ourselves for our lot in supporting such a team (OK, we still do that - have to laugh or you'll cry) instead you hear anger and frustration - and who can blame them or any other fan that comes to BMO week in and week out? It's wearing and it's tiring and just plain difficult to "get up" every week for a team that always seems to be on a road to nowhere (6 years of confusion and counting). I go to BMO every week thinking (hoping, wishing) that they're going to win - I really do, regardless of my oft pessimistic tone - but this season has taxed my optimistic soul like no other. Saturday's match did nothing to dispel that and in fact coupled with Wednesday's not so sublime effort it has made it worse. The game against SKC pretty much typified what TFC has become: by the end of the game there were a minimum of four players playing out of their normal positions - three of them defenders! - when there didn't need to be. But that's TFC in a nutshell; out of position (out played, out shot, out maneuvered and out done). The game on Saturday was always going to be difficult; coming up against the league leaders was never going to be an easy task, regardless of having 6 players available that weren't in the previous match. It was the players that got chosen and their ultimate placement that caused numerous problems throughout the game The starting XI didn't surprise anyone - even those of us who are not (and likely never will be) convinced that Ecks is a CB - yes, he's filled in adequately but with the signing of O'Dea and the availability of three different CBs I had hope that Ecks would finally get to return to his proper place at RB and that Henry or Williams would start next to O'Dea. But no, coach Mariner likes the idea of a short, speedy, somewhat positionally challenged CB as part of his backline instead of utilizing one of the players that actually play that position. This was especially frustrating when Doneil Henry (playing at right back of course) was subbed off due to a knee injury in the 37th minute - who came on in his place? Logan Emory. What was the composition of the backline after Emory came on? From L-R: Emory, O'Dea, Ecks, Morgan - yes, that's three defenders all playing out of their natural positions. Three. And you could see the difference; especially in the play of Ashtone Morgan - he is going to be an excellent left back but he is not meant to play on the right. You could see the hesitation in his game, the mistakes due to unfamiliarity (and directly led to the foul, that led to the free kick, that led to the goal; sigh) and the team sorely missed the overlapping runs up the left side at which he has excelled this season. This was even more noticeable as time and time again Ryan Johnson (also playing out of position) looked for someone, anyone to send him a ball and let him move forward on the attack. It was a sad state of affairs and one that wasn't necessary. With what is basically a new team (again) why not put the players in their actual positions and see how they fare? This is yet another lost season and even with CCL to potentially lift the spirits of the team and the supporters, the next two months are essentially an audition for the remaining players, style of play (kick the ball, chase the ball) and quite honestly the coach. Although some of those new players should be kept far away from the field unless as a second half sub. I am of course talking about Andrew Wiedeman. I've not been overly impressed Andrew "best touch in the modern era" Wiedeman as of yet. I've referred to him as a puppy; he's eager, he tries hard, has the occasional nice moment and is willing to run, but doesn't quite seem to know what to do with his feet. He was all of that and more on Saturday with errant pass after errant pass and quite frankly just looked aimless. So why (when he was obviously having a terrible game) was he left in for almost the full 90 minutes when there were options (read: Eric Avila) on the bench? With both teams missing chances and an opportunity for points still a remote possibility; why wouldn't you switch things up by taking off an ineffective performer and putting out one that works well with Silva and Johnson? There were some positives to Saturday's match (I'm not completely doom & gloom; yet): Frings rebounded from a disinterested and lacking effort on Wednesday to going back to bossing things and showing some focus and energy. Luis Silva (should have been playing where RJ was imo) continues to show flashes of a very talented future player. And what about new backline bossman O'Dea? I have no real issues with how he played - although I do feel like he wandered a bit much; especially with Ecks as his partner - he made some nice challenges in the air and I can see the potential. However, I'm not ready to crown him king just yet. What I don't want to hear is talk of the moral victory - hey we held the best team in the league to one goal - moral victories do not a team make. I'm not saying I expect my team to win every game (I'm not that silly) and a hard fought loss can sometimes feel like a win; this wasn't that. This was well just meh. That is the only way to describe it. The TFC revolving door roller coaster is still firmly in place and we need it to stop. One year of stability; just one year - that is apparently too much to ask for as a supporter of our club. Regardless of your thoughts on Winter, he deserved - hell we deserved - to see him at the helm for a full season to see what could be done. I'll say the same thing for Mariner. Do I like his coaching style? Not really. But for the sake of any kind of stability in this club either turf him at the end of this season and really start anew or leave him at the helm until the end of next season. Give this version (6.2) of TFC a chance. Maybe they'll surprise us; gods know they haven't yet.
Mood: For some reason fairly optimistic State of Mind: Who needs 1st place? We've got the CDN Women's National Team Location: Still Vacationland
Can we change it to Wayward Sons? Entire team full of wayward...
It's a beautiful day for football - no I'm not talking about the return of the EPL today (although I know you're all glued to the TV right now) - but the return of some gorgeous weather and six of the seven players that TFC were obviously sorely missing on Wednesday night. There's some sort of hoopla going down near BMO as well - The Ex I believe they call it. No, not the Hex; that's a different thing - and some of our Canadian Women's (Bronze medal winning) National Team will be honoured before the game. So I'll say this for the perpetually late faithful: LEAVE HOME EARLY TODAY! A quick look back at Wednesday's effort by our Reds - and it doesn't need to be long because there's not much to talk about. This is what stood out for me on Wednesday night: 1. The first half was terrible. I know you're shocked by this but it really was. 2. In the first half the terribleness was highlighted by the frozen midfield. Zero movement, zero energy, zero setting up the attack - I can't call to mind anything positive. 3. Ty Harden...oh Spork, just no. 4. Frings - could he have looked more disinterested in what was going on? 5. Second half was marginally better - they scored some goals! 6. Hassli got his first goal but then decided to take shots from wherever he happened to be with the ball. I know that fans yell "shoot" but you don't have to listen to them! 7. That second goal was a thing of beauty - one of the best goals you'll see at BMO ever. See? I can be positive! 8. They let the worst road team (and one of the worst teams in MLS) come back and get a point against them; at home. 9. Fans - what is with you? Why can you not make it to BMO for kickoff. Or for the first 10-20 minutes? By the end the stands were fairly full but I'll resist posting another of my "seats dressed up as supporters" pictures that I took just prior to the first whistle. Maddening. I know that our Reds were undermanned on Wednesday but the Timbers are not in any way a team to really fear and TFC let them take that game and do with it what they wanted. Have I mentioned how terrible the midfield was? Is Terry Dunfield really that important to this team? And in a game in which he needed to prove himself I'm sad to say that Avi did not have anything resembling a good game (see terrible midfield) and will likely not see the pitch again this season. Hassli put in a good performance in his first starting appearance for the Reds - other than the "shoot the ball from anywhere" aspect, I'll take this version of Eric "The Red Card" Hassli any day. Although why (hello midfield) more balls weren't sent into him was a concern. The cobbled together defense looked like exactly that. Ecks is Ecks and Morgan was pretty solid but well, never again with that combo OK? Otherwise it was typical TFC; poor start, they woke up after the half but couldn't sustain it. Just another dull, depressing day for the fans. Sigh. Late Links: The usual hilarity from The Yorkies, post-game breakdown from Waking The Red and player ratings from Red Nation Online. On to today's game. Facing our Reds on this beautiful day are the team that we love to hate, Sporting KC (although I always think of them as the Wizards) with Teal "the traitor" Bunbury and Jacob "Captain America" Petersen - although he's injured and won't be playing; silver lining! - on their roster and their pajama-like kits (seriously, they look like baby blue PJs) what is there to like? Yes I know that they're the number one team in the MLS right now and have a fairly potent attack with Kei Kamara and CJ Sapong joining Bunbury up top. Kamara has been a constant thorn in the side of TFC and will need to be marked closely today. TFC will have a much stronger (in theory anyway) lineup today even with Reggie Lambe out with injury. Today will mark the debut (finally) of new CB Darren O'Dea who according to all reports acquitted himself very well in Ireland's game against Serbia on Wednesday and was very vocal at TFC's practice yesterday. Whether he is the answer to righting some of our Reds' defensive woes is something everyone will be watching for today. The new partnership of Silva and Hassli will continue up top and RJ (back from international duty) will drop back to the midfield which should hopefully serve him well. And it would seem that the energy and willingness to hurl himself into games that Dunfield possesses was a missing ingredient on Wednesday; with a couple of new partners in the midfield (likely Wiedeman joining Dunfield, Frings and Johnson) we'll see if that continues to contribute to some sort of success for TFC. Our Reds are beginning another long stretch of playing every three or four days and are already dealing with injury concerns with both Jeremy Hall and Reggie Lambe out for the next couple of weeks. So not only do they need to come together as a new team (again) but staying healthy will be key; especially with the match against CCL rival Santos Lagunas coming up (MLS success is not even a glimmer) as TFC's only chance at producing a memorable end to the season. Other than the hopefully rejuvenated lineup our Reds will have some inspiration before the game as members of the Bronze medal winning CDN Women's National Team will be honoured before the match - likely in front of hundreds of fans sadly - hopefully they ask the ladies for some pointers on how to defend and hang tough against a very strong opponent. It's a gorgeous day out; perfect for watching our team. I hope that for once (and that the lure of the CWNT is strong) that the faithful are out in force before the game to cheer our boys on. Be there or be a parallelogram! COME ON YOU REDS! Link-O-Rama:The Yorkies, Waking The Red (Duncan, Duncan and James) and Red Nation Online.
Mood: Confused/Irritated State of Mind: Getting sick of the TFC Time Machine & Soap Opera Location: The land of here we go again
*Apologies for the lack of blogging (for the 4 or 5 of you that have been wondering that is); life interferes so again, sorry! Although you may not want to read yet more doom and gloom; but if you're still feeling annoyed with the team's performance on Saturday and today's really fun news from Houston then read on...*
Saturday first:
Feeling masochistic? Watch it again...
Well that was shall we say less than fun to watch eh? It's been three weeks since we'd seen our boys play and I for one was hoping to put aside the drama of the Winter firing (yes, he was fired, deal with it) and the Mariner appointment (winner of TFC Survivor) and focus on the next new beginning for our boys in Red. Sadly it would appear that the team did not get the new beginning memo and thought they were supposed to emulate the beginning of this season.
Mariner immediately moved the team away from the 4-3-3 of the previous regime to his preferred (pay no attention to his no systems blather) 4-4-2 with Danny and RJ being paired up top. And the back 4 (which had been performing much better) saw a change with Jeremy Hall in the place of Ashtone Morgan who was being rested after travelling with the CMNT (since he didn't play a minute). OK, so some changes - change can be good right? All I was hoping for was to see the team build off of the positive performances they showed heading into the break and go out and compete. I didn't expect a win - especially not against SKC at home - but I did expect them to fight and show us that they can roll with the punches.
What we got was a horrific defensive performance the likes of which we haven't seen since well 6 or 8 weeks ago. It was an effort (and I hesitate to call it that) that showed zero ability to man mark, clear the ball cleanly and read the play. It was maddening to see the seemingly acres of space being conceded to SKC as they again and again easily got forward into dangerous areas. The TFC defense looking like they'd never playing a minute together, were clearly confused and showed none of the promise from 3 weeks ago. By the time the half was called it was 2-0 for the team in blue. In fact only some nice work from Kocic and a couple TFCesque near misses kept the score that close.
Complementing the defense in a truly comedic way was the ongoing inability of the forwards to score. Yes that two post ping-pong miss by Avila was heartbreaking in its "are you kidding me" aspect; and in fact Avi was one of the few bright spots on the night. However that does nothing to excuse the continuing inability of Danny K. to put the ball in the net. He missed at least two clear chances, not to mention being right there when Avi's ball came off the second post - to me he was operating at half speed (of half motivation) all night. His job is to score goals and he's not doing it; he appears to finally be back at full fitness so when can we expect to see him producing?
All in all it was an uninspiring, underwhelming, amateur performance from our boys. I don't care that Paul Mariner was super animated on the side line all night and that he "coached them for every minute" - the animation level of my team's coach does nothing to convince me that things are moving in the right direction. Especially a coach that thinks his team was sensational with the exception of the first 20 minutes of the game (really Paul? Sensational?). I did not enjoy watching them punt the ball and run around aimlessly for most of the 90 minutes. But they looked better during the second half you say? I said the same thing until I watched the game again; SKC completely let up in the second - they had done what needed to be done and did just enough to keep our boys off of the score sheet.
I will give some ground due to the fact that this was their first game back after the break and that they are adjusting to a new coach and yes, a new system. I'm certainly not ready to write them off - although am I ever? - and think there is an opportunity for the team such as they are to come together. But watching your team go 1-10 amid (and in part due to) continual drama behind the scenes is frustrating as a fan. Here's a musical thought before moving on to today's episode of "As The TFC Turns"...
So today after everyone was coming to terms with Saturday night's underwhelming performance and were looking ahead to Wednesday night's match against the Dynamo, came the news that three of TFC's players had been arrested for public drunkenness and thrown in jail. Seriously; I can't make stuff like this up. The unlikely trio of Miguel Aceval, Nick Soolsma and Luis Silva (check out the mug shots - Aceval's "could care less" to Soolsma & Silva's "what the hell have we done") were out very late at Club Escobar in Houston and ended their night in the custody of the Houston PD. This is not the next step in the team's new beginning that we were looking for. I've heard talk of "boys will be boys" and "hey, who hasn't been drunk in public before" as comments and well I don't agree.
I have nothing against the guys going out to blow off some steam; hell if you played for TFC wouldn't you want to go out for a drink or two (or five or six)? I completely get that, I do. What I question is the decision making by both the players for tying one on and the team for allowing the players to head out for a night on the town that close to a match; shouldn't they be focusing on getting their heads wrapped around the new system and you know, winning? There are questions about whether or not the TFC3 had permission to be out that late (really boys? 3am?) or if they were breaking curfew or whatnot. What it comes down to is this is yet another depressingly embarrassing moment in the club's not so storied history. Another unnecessary distraction for a team that really needs everyone focused on what's happening on the field.
I have no idea what happens next for the trio; I have to assume that some combination of fines and game suspensions is coming their way either from the league or from the team or both. I can't imagine that any of them will suit up for Wednesday's match and in a purely speculative look to the future I can see one or two of them being let go in a bid to save salary - if the three did break team or MLS rules then this is a built in out for Mariner & Co. to dump some players they don't want without having to look for a contract loophole - again, this is purely speculative on my part but I would not be surprised were it to happen. Regardless of the outcome, sadly the TFC soap opera continues and the league continues to laugh at our team; most embarrassing team ever? Sigh, it's never easy is it TFC fans? So, everyone excited for Wednesday? Sigh.
