Toronto FC 2 - 0 Kansas City Wizards, and some weekend review

Yesterday at BMO Field, I witnessed in person, with 20,044 other people, the best 90 minutes of football Toronto FC has put on the pitch in its brief history.

Amado Guevara has been, in his 3 appearances in MLS this season, thee best attacking midfielder in the league. Ysterday afternoon he was all over the pitch causing defenders problems and back tracking to help out our defense. Not to mention his clinical finish on the first goal and his free kick which was truly world class.

Don't worry. I will not forget to mention the outstanding defensive work in the midfield of Carl Robinson. Is he worth that $325K salary? He earned every penny of it yesterday. This guy is finally playing his natural position and he is doing it incredibly.

As for the match - when we were still goalless at half time I was a little concerned as I thought about last week's second half against RSL. The same thing didn't happen again though. The Wizards did play better in the second half but the best player on the pitch that day, Amado Guevara, came forward and proved to be the difference. All in all, we had the fun of play for a majority of the match and I am very pleased with the result.

As well, Marco Velez didn't do too badly. He might finally be adjusting. The competition for our centre back position will be very good for our back line.

Another positive is that the Footy Blog @ the Score finally has way more positives than negatives. Well done Joe!

The only negative from yesterday I could think of was Jeff Cunningham. He comes on in the 65th minute and stands around waiting to the perfect ball. Amado Guevara, playing up front with him, was still running his ass off chasing down defenders while Cunningham was either standing around or missing sitters.

Here are my final player ratings for the match:

Greg Sutton: (8) Came up trumps when called upon, especially with a match winning save on Trujillo.
Marvell Wynne: (7) You can really tell he likes playing in the defense more than the midfield, especially with Rohan Ricketts.
Tyrone Marshall: (7) Solid. Didn't really notice him, and when you are fullback, that can be a good thing.
Marco Velez: (7) Surprised me this week - both by his inclusion in the squad and his solid play. A good outing for the Puerto Rican. He will have to work hard to keep Tebily and James out of the squad.
Jim Brennan: (7) A typically solid match by the skipper. Now if only the rest of the league would take notice of his solid play.
Rohan Ricketts: (8) I really like this guy. He has pace and can run at defenders. Possibly our most exciting player.
Carl Robinson: (9) Yes, nine. He was outstanding in the middle. Never caught out of position and constantly snuffing potential Wizards' attacks
Maurice Edu: (7) He was solid this match and is really forming a formidable midfield partnership with Robbo.
Laurent Robert: (7) He was a bit of a passenger today but did well when called upon.
Amado Guevara: (10) Do I really need to explain this rating? How is this guy NOT getting paid DP money?
Danny Dichio: (6) He was pretty ineffective with only a few decent headers and nod ons to applaud.

I'm not going to rate our substitutes, but, did anyone take a look at our bench yesterday? Brian Edwards, Todd Dunivant, Julius James, Olivier Tebily, Jarrod Smith, and Jeff Cunningham. I hope I'm not the only one impressed by that depth (yes, in MLS, that is considered depth).

On to my brief but brilliant MLS weekend review. I managed to catch bits and pieces of the DC/RSL match and the Columbus/Houston match. I'm still not sold on Columbus, but after a 1-0 home win over the Dynamo, 4-1-0 is a nice record to have after 5 matches. DC avenged their 4-0 loss to RSL with a 4-1 win at RFK Stadium. If any of you haven't seen the highlights, check it out. Marcello Gallardo scored a pretty sweet volley. The LA derby produced 7 goals, 3 of which went to Landycakes. The Gals beat the Goats 5-2 in an exciting affair. The biggest surprised from that match was that Becks only had 1 assist. Are the Galaxy finally becoming more than a two man show? The only remaining match this weekend is @ 3:00. The Quakes are playing the Red Bulls. For us TFC fans, find an online stream if you can. We play the Red Bulls on Thursday @ BMO.

MLS Week 4 Recap

Thanks to MLS Live TV I was able to take in a few more MLS matches this weekend. For those of you debating purchasing the $20 season access to hundreds of matches available online - if you want to get to know the league better - do it, it is definitely worth it.

Anyways, whenever I get the opportunity to watch multiple matches like this I'll be giving a brief review of the weekend that was. So, here is my first MLS weekend in review...

Obviously we beat RSL 1-0 in the first match of the weekend - if any of you need a review on that one I would suggest scrolling down, or, leaving the cave that you live in. The second match of the weekend was at Giants Stadium with the the Revs visiting the Red Bulls. Down ten men and losing 1-0, the Revs tied it on a free kick by Jeff Laurentasdlfhslth (who really knows how to spell his name). The match finished 1-1. Khano Smith did his usual sulking routine when he was subbed off. NYRB looked pretty bad. Altidore scored a goal that he had to make for himself. Angel only played the first 45 before re-aggravating his injury. I also watched the Beckhams v. Houston Dynamo. Landycakes scored twice because of Becks' crosses. Houston scored twice because LA sucks. This equals a final of 2-2. Go figure the Galaxy had "men of the match" instead of "man of the match." I guess they want to make sure Becks or Landycakes don't feel left out.

As for the matches I didn't watch...the Rapids are back to the Crapids. A 2-0 home loss to San Jose confirms this. Ronnie O'Brien scored the first for San Jose and assisted on the second. The Wizards beat the Fire 1-0 at Toyota Park. Hopefully on Saturday we can show the Wizards that there is "no place like home". Chivas have lost two on the bounce - this time a 2-0 loss to FC Dallas at the HDC. Kenny Cooper notched his fourth of the season. A few days ago on a Thursday night the Crew beat DC United at RFK Stadium. What is up with DC? All that new talent and nothing to show thus far. I would expect that to change - after all, they did start 0-3-0 last year.

Click here to view the standings thus far. As for next week? We will obviously be looking to make it 3 wins in a row against the Wizards. As well, Chivas and LA will battle it out in the over-commercialized Honda Super Classico. As well, DC will look to avenge a 4-0 loss to RSL as they play the Mormons at home. The Thursday night match up features the Revs v. the Hoops.

Toronto FC 1 - 0 Real Salt Lake: Arriving back at BMO Field in style...

We're 2-2-0. We have four home games in a row now. Ricketts, Guevara, and Robert finally got their taste of action together and we are only going to get better. I'm going to keep this brief because if I don't I will ramble on and on about how ecstatic I am at our result, the immediate impact of our new signings, and how the team is beginning to show its potential already.

Player Ratings:

Greg Sutton: (8) - He was never really tested and was up to the task when asked upon. A clean sheet on his birthday. Congratulations.

Marvell Wynne: (7) - Made some nice plays and contributed with some nice runs. A solid game from Marvell.

Tyrone Marshall: (7) - He came up trumps today. A solid performance with some great, hard-nosed tackles.

Marco Velez: (5) - His best performance of the year, though it is hard to imagine his performances getting worse. He still looked somewhat out of his element, but I congratulate him on his efforts today.

Jim Brennan: (7) - A standard, solid game from our captain. He linked up on a few occasions with Robert quite nicely.

Rohan Ricketts: (8) - Lacked the final product but showed us a small glimpse of what we will see from him. His runs today were a treat to watch and they will only get better.

Maurice Edu: (8) - Edu must really love having Guevara, Robert, and Ricketts ahead of him as they have freed him up a lot in the middle. Mo, well done sir.

Carl Robinson: (7) - Similar to Edu, just more patient. I would have loved for him to finish one of his two opportunities.

Laurent Robert: (8) - He was right near where I sit in the first half. He seemed to always be in the right spot, getting onto the right balls, and sending in nice crosses. Definitely worth his goal.

Amado Guevara: (7) - Somewhat anonymous in the second half, Guevara was a strong presence in the middle of our attack in the first 45 minutes. He is willing to take a shot and see what happens - something we really need.

Danny Dichio: (7) - It's only a matter of time until Robert and Guevara link up with the big man. RSL defenders kept a close, physical watch on him all match.

The subs (Dunivant, Smith, Cunningham) didn't see enough of the ball for me to rate them.

My final thoughts? Alright boys - we've beaten the Galaxy, and a much improved Real Salt Lake. Next Saturday is a real test. The Wizards are an established team in the league and if we can beat them I think we will really go on a tear this year. Let's beat the Wizards and show that we don't need teams like L.A. to get wins.

Toronto FC v. Real Salt Lake - Match Preview

Image courtesy of Daylife

The home opener is less than 24 hours away and it has been a long time coming! For the first time in our clubs brief history we have the potential to be at .500 (aside from our quick 0-0-0 start, of course). As well, Rohan Ricketts will make his debut on the right flank - and yes - he will have an impact. Here is my preview of tomorrow's match:

How will Toronto line up? I would say in a 4-2-3-1.

---------------------Sutton-----------------------
-Wynne------Velez------Marshall---Brennan-
---------Robinson----------------Edu-----------
Ricketts----------Guevara--------------Robert
---------------------Dichio-----------------------

MLSnet.com is reporting no injuries and I would like to see Julius James in place of Velez, however as of now, it looks like Velez will get the nod. Cunningham will see action in this game, it is just a matter of when and at who's expense. I would guess that Carver has plans similar to those from Sunday's win over the Gals - sub Dichio off around the 60th minute and get Cunningham's fresh legs out there to burn the tired defenders.

RSL is arriving after dismantling DC United 4-0 at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Utah. DC seems to have some sort of jinx in Utah as they have found good results hard to come by. RSL definitely is a different team than they have been for the past two years and are highly improved. Kenny Deucher, formerly of Gretna, should lead their attack with Fabian Espindola. They also have Robbie Findley available therefore are not short of options up front. If you've read the Score's footy blog, you've read that an open admission from an RSL fan that the team is weak along the wings in defense so they will need to keep a close eye on the speedy Rohan Ricketts and try to prevent Laurent Robert from having time and space to shoot or cross.

I know this has been brief but I don't really care to go too much into detail about RSL because, well, it's RSL. So, how do I think it will pan out?

TFC 3 - 1 RSL

Robert will score a free kick while Dichio will nod home a cross from Rohan Ricketts. Amado Guevara will score a cracker from open play as well. Robbie Findley might find the net right at the end for RSL.

I have a good feeling about tomorrow, though I do not underestimate Real Salt Lake.

Patrick Kluivert as our DP?

I know you've all read it on the Score's Footy Blog, but I figured I might as well post it for good measure. The new striker we had heard rumblings of? It turns out it could very well be Patrick Kluivert, the all time leading scorer for the Oranje. Numerous other sources are reporting that Kluivert is in talks with the club, though these sources could be basing their reports on what James Sharman wrote in the Footy Blog.

I'd assume Kluivert would take up our DP slot. A risk worth taking? I would say. The guy can finish, he has pace, and he has experience.

Before I get myself too excited, I will wait for a confirmation and leave you with this wonderful compilation of this goals:

Robert / Guevara / Ricketts - Worth the wait?

This post will illustrate the utter truth in our agonizingly empty off-season followed by the past 14 days of potential greatness:

Looking back on the pre-season, we had a left winger, an attacking midfielder, and a right winger all on trial (among other players in other positions). The men in question are Kiki Musampa (I recall a thread on the RPB Forum debating whether or not we should spend DP money on him), Victor Pacheco, and Martin Brittain. The Mo-hating continued when, after the O'Brien trade, Musampa was "asking for too much", Pacheco was sent packing after a 45 minute stint in the match against San Jose, and when Brittain showed very little promise.

Look at Toronto FC now. We have picked up a left winger in Laurent Robert, an attacking midfielder in Amado Guevara, and right winger Rohan Ricketts. Let me ask you guys something: Does anyone miss Ronnie O'Brien right now? Are you guys upset at all that we didn't shell out the cash for Kiki Musampa?

I had faith in Mo, and I am proud to say it now because he has signed three quality midfielders. Here is a quick mathematical formula to figure out how we are now in the midfield, and how we could have been:

(LM) Laurent Robert > (LM) Kiki Musampa
(CAM) Amado Guevara > (CAM) Victor Pacheco
(RM) Rohan Ricketts > (RM) Martin Brittain

For the mathematically impaired, ">" means greater than.

It is as simple as that. We've already seen what Guevara and Robert will add to the team once they settle in. Ricketts will get his turn in front of a packed house at BMO Field.

We are a work in progress, however have made strides of this progress in the past 2 weeks. I'm not getting ahead of myself. I realize Carver still has to make it happen on the pitch. The potential though? It's there - and we can expect Robert, Guevara, and Ricketts to flourish in our midfield.

4 days, 13 hours until the home opener. Will we be 2-2-0 by Saturday night? Looking ahead, it is an exciting time to be a TFC fan.

TFC 3 - 2 LA Galaxy - Match Report

Image courtesy of Daylife

We, the allegedly Lowly Toronto FC beat the LA Goldenballs today. If we are lowly, what are the Gals? Don't get me wrong - the Galaxy had some good chances, including Landon Donovan's sitter that he put wide - what takes more talent Landon: scoring on an open net or missing one? A debut goal for Jarrod Smith and goals from the big man, Dichio, and Jeff Cunningham sealed the deal today.

There was no Rohan Ricketts in the starting eleven, and I was somewhat surprised to see Jarrod Smith in the squad. What effect did our new playmaker, Amado Guevara, have on the match today? A good one. A very, very good one. A sublime ball to Dichio lead to our first goal of the match as Guevara later began to control the match in the second half As well, a 40 yard screamer from Laurent Robert was too hot to handle Steve Cronin giving Jarrod Smith a tap in header while a long ball in the 88th minute presented Cunningham with the third goal.

Hats off to Mo for bringing in some quality talent and hats off to John Carver for putting it together on the pitch. Guevara seemingly controlled our game in the second half and provided many quick and skillful passes. Once he can establish himself in the centre of our midfield we will really see what Amado can do.

Any negatives from this match? Marco Velez. I trust Julius James will start at centre back in the home opener against RSL because Velez (who should be known as "the pylon") was at fault on both goals we conceded. Landycakes beat him one on one in LA's first and he handled the ball in the area to concede the penalty. As well, Abel Xavier wasn't in the Galaxy's starting eleven. That would have made things even more fun. The commentary was atrocious as well. Since when is a win 2 points in soccer? Why was the heat such an excuse for the Galaxy - I don't think the temperature was different for the Toronto players?

Our offense was good and will only get better as Guevara and Robert settle in and as we add Ricketts into the frame.

I remain upbeat ahead of Saturday's home opener against Real Salt Lake and get even more excited that we will have Rohan Ricketts on the right side. RSL should not be under estimated though after dismantling D.C. United 4-0 at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday night.

Nonetheless, we go into a 5 game home stand with a record of 1-2-0, something that we can look to improve upon, especially at BMO Field.

New faces for Hollywood?

According to this article, Amado Guevara is just hours away from completing his much anticipated move to Toronto FC. What is standing in the way? I've heard of two obstacles yet to overcome: 1. TFC acquiring his rights from Chivas and 2. TFC agreeing to personal terms with Guevara. I suppose it would either have to be one or the other. According to SoccerByIves we could potentially see him on the pitch at the Home Depot on Sunday for our match against the Galaxy. What about San Jose's chances? I kind of think that if they were remotely in the picture for Guevara at least one news article might have mentioned it. None have.

Honduran reports from Monday morning stated that Guevara would be joining Toronto FC on Thursday, and Carver's quote at the top of this post says we might see something on Thursday. Coincidence?

Another player who has completed at least one training session with the Reds is Ivorian Olivier Tebily. I've watched him play for Birmingham City a couple times and he didn't stand out - but he wasn't bad. I have enough faith in both Mo and Carver to not sign a "Xavier-esque" player but one who will be effective for us.

What about Rohan Ricketts, you say? Everything you need to know is in the "Ask Big Bruva" thread on the RPB Forum. His cousin has been giving us some insider information and as far as we know, "things look GOOD." In order to sign Ricketts, a right midfielder, we'd have to waive one of our SI's - and according to Big Bruva, this has already happened.

Who could this waived player be? My money is on Andy Boyens. He hasn't featured in 2 poor performances by our centre-halves and is still below Julius James in the pecking order. If we do in fact sign Tebily, he would fall further down said pecking order.

For those who haven't listened to the Footy Show's latest podcast, Mo has allegedly been given the green light to go get a DP, who would most likely be a striker. James Sharman said Mo's apparently already been talking to someone specifically. Dutch striker Patrick Kluivert played for Newcastle during John Carver's last season at the club and I think many people forget that Kluivert is the same age as van Nistelrooy (32). Purely my own speculation, but I think Kluivert would fare well in MLS.

DC United 4 - 1 Toronto FC - Is this result a reason to worry?

To answer the question in the title of this post, I will simply say: "No." D.C. United didn't come out firing on all cylinders last night. They didn't come out playing their best football. We came out playing our worst football.

Their first two goals weren't due to attacking prowess and brilliance. It was our own flat footed defending that gifted them a 2-0 lead.

We came out, and within 25 minutes had conceded twice and were down to ten men. Even despite all this, we created a couple of quality chances. If Jeff Cunningham hadn't missed that sitter of a header from about 6 yards the entire complexion of the match would have changed. At that point in time we still had 11 men on the pitch and were playing stride for stride with United.

That, my friends, is what we can take out of last night's match. For 5 minutes we were terrible and it cost us. Harmse's red card was salt in the wound. D.C. were good money for their two last goals and they really took it to us and used the man advantage very effectively.

I spotted two real positives for us last night:

1. Greg Sutton. I think our questions and debates over our starting goalkeeper have all been answered by his performance yesterday. All 4 goals he was hung out to dry and his save on Emilio's header was one of the best I've seen in a while. He was pure class last night
2. Laurent Robert. Jet-lagged, short on match fitness - who cares? He was very creative and confident on the ball. Out of three free kicks within shooting range two were on goal and the other deflected for our throw in. I think he will definitely bring a lot to our club.

Last night is NOT a reflection of our team. It was a poor performance. Every team has them. If you recall in our 4-0 defeat to New England in our second match last year, we barely created a half chance. Tonight, even down a man, we still had some minor attacks.

Let's look at our next 2 fixtures: Los Angeles Galaxy and Real Salt Lake.

The Galaxy did win their last match against San Jose. If we were given San Jose at home in our second match I think we'd be 1-1-0 as well. With Ricketts and Guevara definitely in the picture as well as the possibility of a new striker all for next Saturday we could open up L.A.'s poor defense. Provided, of course, that we can come out playing real football.

Our next match is the Home Opener against Salt Lake. I don't think I need to explain why we should win this one - especially if we have Ricketts and Guevara.

So, we could be 2-2-0 going into a stretch of 4 straight home games after the match against RSL. It will be up to us, as supporters, to make BMO a fortress for our team. Can you imagine 6-2-0 after the home stand? Or, even 4-3-1.

With transfer rumours surrounding our team almost daily we can expect some new talent and some good results.

Welcome Laurent Robert to TFC!

Some much anticipated news has been made official. The first of a supposed string of trades and signings has been made by Toronto FC in the form of former Newcastle winger Laurent Robert. Robert, who is 32, is familiar to our head coach, John Carver, having worked with him while at St. James' Park.

Too old, you say? Let's see - Blanco is 35, Becks is 32, Schelotto is 35 and Reyna is 34. All of these players are pretty effective when they play for their MLS sides.

Laurent Robert brings some attacking flare down our left flank, something we have never had. He can be looked to to score some wonder goals as well and could be our set piece specialist. The somewhat criticized O'Brien trade is suddenly looking like a bargain. Right now, it looks like we got Laurent Robert and a first round draft pick for Ronnie O. Now, I liked Ronnie when he was here, and wish him all the best in San Jose, however, Laurent Robert is simply better than him.

Who could be coming in the near future? Rohan Ricketts and Amado Guevara. Suddenly 2008 isn't looking so bad for our boys. We are expected also to add in Martin Brittain for some depth down the wing.

Let's be sure to give a special welcome to Laurent on the 19th at BMO and show him that TFC is the place to be.

I'll leave you with some Robert highlights from his time at Newcastle to drool over...Cheers guys.