U-Sector – The Original Toronto FC Supporters Group

More of the Same

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Opportunity lost.

TFC really needs to figure out how to play on the road in MLS. For 15 or so minutes in the first half, it seemed as though the mojo that Toronto had recently found (in Honduras) would continue to be on display at beautiful brand new Red Bull Arena.

The Reds were looking the livelier of the two teams. Toronto was passing with purpose, making smart runs, and keeping the ball away from New York’s double-headed monster in the form of Juan Pablo Angel and Thierry Henry.

In fact, for the first half of the first half, Toronto — kicking it old school in red shirts and white shorts, a far better look than the drab monochrome that they’ve settled on since the final game of 2007 — appeared to be the team deserving of all the hype that New York’s been getting lately.

Then two things happened.

New York scored against the run of play, and Chad Barrett got hurt.

The Red Bulls goal, courtesy of Joel Lindpere via a hustle play by Henry and a perfectly-placed chip by Seth Stammler (!), took the wind out of the sails of an up-to-that-point chipper Toronto side. Barrett pulling up lame with a hamstring strain was the torpedo that took care of the rest of the boat.

From that point on, it was typical TFC road soccer; aimless passes to nowhere, boneheaded defensive miscues, and fruitless long balls to the forwards.

Why Toronto is so terrible away from BMO Field is a subject for a much broader investigation, but specifically why TFC flamed out so spectacularly last night is easier to break down.

First off, the Reds have just completed a gauntlet of matches that saw them criss-crossing the continent to the tune of nine games played in just over a month. Regardless of the improved squad depth since the beginning of the season, the core is still playing the majority of each game, and that will eventually take its toll.

No, it’s not an excuse for the lackluster play, but it does help explain why the side couldn’t sustain the torrid pace to the game that they started with.

Also, Barrett coming out of the game immediately changed the Toronto attack, as in there was no more. With Maicon Santos staying at home with a knee ailment, Barrett was paired with Dwayne De Rosario up top, and the duo fed off each other’s energy to cause New York’s defence problems in the early going.

When Barrett subbed out and Mista came on, the work rate of the TFC forward partnership was immediately cut in half. Mista is still, for all intents and purposes, in pre-season form, and while his vision and touch are vital weapons in his arsenal, his speed and hustle game (or lack thereof) is nowhere near that of the young Americant. With an attack that is seemingly built on Barrett’s ability to draw defenders away from De Rosario and Julian de Guzman, Mista’s early entry into the game was a precursor to the direction-less play that would define Toronto’s attack for the final hour.

Not that the other forwards were of any help. One thing Mista does well is send a cutting through ball into the final third, and unfortunately the count is now up to two (consecutive) games in which a sublime Mista feed to a teammate has been severely screwed up by the player on the receiving end.

On Saturday, De Rosario blasted a beautiful pass from Mista directly at Chivas keeper Dan Kennedy, wasting not only a great feed, but also a nice juke move from the Spaniard to get himself free.

Yesterday it was O’Brian White’s turn, the Jamaican flubbing the pass by trying to take an extra step or ten rather than firing a first-time shot at backup Bulls’ keeper Greg Sutton. White’s ultimate offering wasn’t even on frame, mostly because by the time he had gotten the shot off, a New York defender had made his way between the Toronto striker and the goal.

White’s hesitation epitomized the entire second half for Toronto. Truth be told, New York was not much better on the night, as the Red Bulls almost seemed to want to keep TFC in the match. That makes it even more frustrating.

When all was said and done, the teams split possession evenly, had the same amount of shots on goal, and generally sleep-walked through the match (the first 20 minutes aside).

The difference between the two teams was Lindpere’s strike, and the fact that New York was missing four starters, while Toronto could reasonably claim to be missing two (the merry-go-round of defensive midfielders notwithstanding).

The return leg in ten days will also see the return of those missing in action for both sides, and will ostensibly feature a much more in form Thierry Henry. And no Julian de Guzman.

Catching New York just got a lot harder, and it didn’t have to be that way.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Pros and Cons for the match played between Toronto FC and New York Red Bulls on August 11, 2010:

PROS

• The first 15 minutes. Toronto clearly wanted to strike first, and showed no fear in trying to do so.
• Mista’s passing. Eventually someone won’t screw it up.
• Keeping the score close. Hey, at least it wasn’t 5-0, right? Right??
• The red-white-red TFC colour scheme. Can we please keep that over the boring all-red get up? In fact, I’d like to see the dark grey shorts matched up with the white away shirt, as well.

CONS

• More road woes. Seriously, it’s getting hard to write the same thing over and over again.
• Aimless “link-up” play. Booting the ball to a slow-as-molasses Mista and a dog0tired Dwayne De Rosario is never going to work.
• O’Brian White. All of his confidence is gone, culminating in his house league hesitation on a fine through ball to set him free.
• Jacob Peterson. Can you please put a single effen shot on frame for once?
• No Julian de Guzman for the reverse fixture. New York’s mids will have a field day on the 21st if someone doesn’t step up in JDG’s absence.

HIGHLIGHTS

Posted by Rudi Schuller