Matchday 10 - TFC @ San Jose - Match Discussion Thread

[James]

Date: Saturday, May 29
Kickoff: 10:00pm
Broadcast: Rogers Sportsnet (Ontario & Pacific)

Come on, road points!

San Jose is in pretty good form so far this year and are unbeaten in their last four (3-1-0). They've lost just one of their 4 home games. That loss was in the opening game of the season, when they dropped a 0-3 result to RSL. Since then, they've shut out New England (2-0), Colorado (1-0) and New York (4-0!) at Buck Shaw.

So...it won't be easy.

[Tuffy]

C'mon you REDS!!!!!!!!!!

[fwiffo]

San Jose is in pretty good form so far this year and are unbeaten in their last four (3-1-0). They've lost just one of their 4 home games. That loss was in the opening game of the season, when they dropped a 0-3 result to RSL. Since then, they've shut out New England (2-0), Colorado (1-0) and New York (4-0!) at Buck Shaw.

Damn it - can't we give them Garcia back again?

I also heard they won or drew with Seattle in Seattle (maybe it was a win?). I honestly have no expectations. Hopefully De Rosario is not gassed out.

[Auzzy]

Yeah, San Jose beat Seattle 1-0, in Seattle, last Sat. May 22nd. Now, mind you, stats (from MLS) for that game:
- Shots 18 - 3 in favour of Seattle;
- Shots on goal 3 - 1 in favour of Seattle;
- Corner kicks 11 - 3 in favour of Seattle.

So San Jose got one goal from the one shot on goal, and that's what counts! Still, what a difference a year makes, when you think of teams like NY, San Jose, Seattle, ... and maybe even Toronto?

Personally, I would be happy with a tie, but I haven't watched enough of San Jose this season to know if more might be possible.

[James]

Seattle isn't a good indicator of anything right now...they're kind of middling so far this season, with 3 wins from their first 10 games. Not quite the storm-out-of-the-gates start they had last year.

Fact is...San Jose has been a much improved team this year vs. last, when they had just one win and seven losses and sported a -11 GD in their first 10 games.

Live chat is open!

[James]

So...not only do we end up with 3 points on the road, we also have...wait for it...a POSITIVE GOAL DIFFERENTIAL!!!!!!!

I honestly think - and please correct me if I'm wrong - that this is the FIRST TIME we've ever had a positive goal differential in league competition. Seriously...

Also, Chad Barrett's celebration was the best I've seen in TFC history. Yes, better than Carl Robinson's pixie dance in '07 against Dallas.

[James]

[Auzzy]

^ Yup, incredible but true what you're saying, James!

Funny, Preki doesn't like the long-ball game, but that's what lead to all three goals yesterday. I guess sometimes it works. I'll take a positive from that though: this team still has lots of room to grow & improve -- and I have confidence that they will. I was amazed to hear from Preki's interview: apparently TFC is the league's 2nd-youngest team (in terms of average age of players)!! There were already some great periods of ball control & movement by Toronto yesterday, but they were having problems linking those into enough bona-fide goal scoring opportunities. Often too much hesitation before the shot or the final pass. That will definitely get better with more practice & more time together.

Some people will highlight that San Jose had way more shots than TFC last night. However, that's exactly the same kind of game that San Jose won on the road last week, against Seattle.

Toronto also overcame some really lousy officiating. Although the ref gave TFC a break on a small number of important plays, mostly he was calling garbage against Toronto. Many of the fouls he called against Toronto were total BS.

We had a good time at Scallywag's last night.

[fwiffo]

Sorry mates, I still have a residual cold and thought I'd give the medication (no, not alcohol) another shot and just kept dozing in and out; barely managed to watch some of the game much less type on live chat.

I did see the first goal though. I hope one day we get to do that celebration in New England. Barrett worked a lot but didn't seem to get anywhere special that night. I really think De Rosario brings out the better in Barrett. Cheeky goal celebration.

Sanyang - again poor passes once he wins the ball in the first half. He needs to work on that. I'm not sure if he feels pressured to get rid of it but he tends to give it away once he gets the ball outside of our defensive box. Once De Guzman was on, he didn't have as many distribution touches.

Speaking of which, I was watching the US web cast and when our manager put De Guzman and De Rosario, the US announcers had no idea who they were. I forgot to exact saying but it was almost as if they were impressed with De Guzman's quality.

Shall I stop praying now every time Garcia takes to the pitch? From what I could tell, he didn't give away any goals again. Is he all of a sudden reliable?

Saric with a yellow - I'm not surprised but when I read other boards saying Preki teams play dirty, I keep thinking of Saric, Gargan, and Usanov.

Frei stopped a lot of shots last night and unfortunately many of them were free headers. I don't know if Frei has a 5 leaf clover or something but he's doing a great job with this reaction saves. If the Earthquakes had Huckerby or someone with any finishing, I'm sure the story would have been a lot different. Joe Cannon came into the game with a pretty good record if I remember. That sun worked in our favour in the first half.

I'm happy we got 3 points. Things are going our way. Is it De Vos who says when a team is lucky, it's because we make our own luck? So if I was manager, whatever the team is doing, keep doing more of it.

Is it the long weekend or has Earthquake attendance gone up? It looked pretty full. At the same time when Barrett fires his musket, there is a baby stroller in the top right corner of the video clip. Dobson said this was where De Rosario used to play? Hope up & coming Toronto players have the chance to play on TFC grounds now rather than go away to get a pay cheque.

[Auzzy]

fwiffo, I agree, Sanyang is much better when JDG is on the field. That way Sanyang doesn't have to worry about distributing the ball much. He can focus on his "destroyer" job which he does very well. (What he did against Shalrie Joseph in the last NE game was impressive.)

I would put this partly down to age & experience. Sanyang is still only 18 years old. I bet he does a much better job of passing in practice. Hopefully with time & more competitive experience, he mind & body will be better in sync, even under game-time pressure, and his passing will improve.

Does anybody know why Preki was having a nervous breakdown, at the 90 minute mark, as there was a free kick against Toronto? Was he pissed about the 3 extra minutes given? Or did he only want 3 guys in the wall? Or something else? I was sure he was going to kill someone, it's the craziest I've ever seen him.

[fwiffo]

What happened in the end when De Rosario got the last goal? The highlights don't show it clearly. It sounds like Joe Cannon went up as a player and we cleared it long for De Rosario? I figure old legs Cannon would only sit at the halfway mark of the pitch and not be too caught up if he did have to move back.

I would put this partly down to age & experience. Sanyang is still only 18 years old. I bet he does a much better job of passing in practice.

I agree. That's why I said a game back that I wish Robinson was around to help him out - not because Robinson is a great distributor but with the mental aspects of the game. I have to say, he is a good find. I am going to grudgingly respect Mo for that. I thought Gomez was a better find last year but Sanyang has turned out to be a better fit for the team's needs now. Physically, he looks way bigger than me now - much less than when I was 18.

[Auzzy]

What happened in the end when De Rosario got the last goal? The highlights don't show it clearly. It sounds like Joe Cannon went up as a player and we cleared it long for De Rosario? I figure old legs Cannon would only sit at the halfway mark of the pitch and not be too caught up if he did have to move back.

There were two free kicks for San Jose in a row, past the 90 minute mark, about half-way into Toronto's half. Cannon actually came all the way forward & was in the Toronto 18-yard box as an extra attacker for the free kicks. The first time they lucked out, with Toronto immediately being called for another foul, and Cannon stayed up in attack for the 2nd free kick. The 2nd time, Sanyang blocked a San Jose attempt, stole the ball, and left it for LaBrocca, who immediately sent a heads-up pass to DeRo streaking into the San Jose half.

You can actually see Cannon, in white, in the highlights after the 2nd free kick. He almost gets his head on the ball, wipes out, and the rest is history. Screenshot:

[Auzzy]

Something I noticed: the stats from ESPN for Saturday's TFC game, are quite different from the stats on the MLS website:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id= ... et&cc=5901

http://www.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter-re ... conference

Weird, no?

[fwiffo]

One of the people counting stats could have had my cold and dozed off at certain moments

OK - so I get it. Cannon basically gave up having the pace to run the stretch of the pitch to go back to goal. We should put up a poll about the squad when the World Cup break starts on the state of TFC.....and then compare it with all the moaning that happened leading up to the home opener.

[PureTFC]

Dobson said this was where De Rosario used to play?

I'm not sure that was the same pitch where the old earthquakes used to play. Think he meant just that Dero was with SJ then the team became Houston.

Sangyang was making mistakes typical of inexperience from what I could tell. I think when JDG comes on, he gives Sangyang a better outlet to move the ball to. The other guys still are a little static at times leaving him isolated and almost forced to try an make a bad pass. Lots of positives though.

Happy to see one touch passing starting to occur on a more frequent basis too. Good to know our bench has actual starter depth to it now.

[kcharito]

I didn't watch the match due to the time difference, and some other problems.
I am glad though that the team gets confidence, we are still good in counter attacks, and i think that till now, we are the big high-flying surprise of the MLS, considering the majority of moves that the team had, and the bad start of the season.

I hope we keep playing clever and with confidence.

And of course, De Ro's MVP play continues...he deserves to play at the playoffs (at least)

GO TFC!!!