For the second straight game, Chris Cummins and Nick Dasovic ran the sidelines for us. The sudden resignation of John Carver was the talk of the team before this one - I didn't even get around to a match preview.
The 4-3-3 worked again, as we beat the Kansas City Wizards for the second time this season. The team didn't look as dominant as it did against Chivas on Wednesday. In the early going, we didn't carry possession like we did against the Goats, and in all likelihood, this could be attributed to Carver's resignation. In the end though, this game speaks to me about moving forward. Under Chris Cummins' 4-3-3, we are 2-0-0, with two clean sheets.
Starting Eleven and Player Ratings
The team was unchanged from Wednesday's win over Chivas. After surprisingly going 90 minutes earlier in the week, Danny Dichio was in the starting eleven again, and he was on the pitch for 90 minutes again. Marco Velez retained his spot in the centre of defense ahead of Kevin Harmse.
The 4-3-3 worked again, as we beat the Kansas City Wizards for the second time this season. The team didn't look as dominant as it did against Chivas on Wednesday. In the early going, we didn't carry possession like we did against the Goats, and in all likelihood, this could be attributed to Carver's resignation. In the end though, this game speaks to me about moving forward. Under Chris Cummins' 4-3-3, we are 2-0-0, with two clean sheets.
Starting Eleven and Player Ratings
The team was unchanged from Wednesday's win over Chivas. After surprisingly going 90 minutes earlier in the week, Danny Dichio was in the starting eleven again, and he was on the pitch for 90 minutes again. Marco Velez retained his spot in the centre of defense ahead of Kevin Harmse.
-------------------Frei---------------------
Wynne-----Velez-----Serioux-----Brennan
-----------------Robinson------------------
---------Cronin------------Guevara--------
Vitti---------------------------------Barrett
-------------------Dichio--------------------
Wynne-----Velez-----Serioux-----Brennan
-----------------Robinson------------------
---------Cronin------------Guevara--------
Vitti---------------------------------Barrett
-------------------Dichio--------------------
Frei 8, Wynne 6, Velez 6, Serioux 7, Brennan 6, Robinson 7, Cronin 6, Guevara 7 (Harmse NR), Barrett 6 (Ricketts NR), Vitti 8 (Attakora NR), Dichio 7
Overall Thoughts
Man of the Match: Pablo Vitti. He deserved a goal. Heck - he deserved two or three. He might have missed a few, but he did so after beating two or three Wizards defenders. The goals will come for him. I wish I felt I could say the same about Barrett.
Overall Thoughts
For the second straight match against the Wizards, I thought we were better than them. With some of the chances that we were able to create, it really could have been three or four nil in our favour. All you need to do in order to beat Kansas City is give Davy Arnaud no room to shoot from about 30-yards.
Pablo Vitti was fantastic, mainly in the second half. He was amazing on the ball, and would have had a goal-of-the-season contender just seconds after our first goal if he hadn't pushed it just wide of far post. There were countless times where he would go up with a defender for a 50/50 ball and come away with, and he'd somehow beat a man after that yet. Once DeRo is fit again, Chad Barrett can take a seat. Vitti is showing that he has more skill and a better touch.
You could say that Vitti should have finished a chance or two yesterday, and compare that to how Barrett's missed. There's a difference in the misses though. Missing a chance after you've beaten two defenders is a lot different than missing a chance that's been served up to you on a silver platter. Let's pretend Vitti had been in the match in our 1-1 draw with FC Dallas - I wonder what the score would have been then...
Speaking of our strikers, Danny Dichio has been a nice addition to our starting eleven over the past two matches. He's old and he's slow, but MLS isn't known for having strong central defenders, and very few in this league can handle him. Even Jimmy Conrad had trouble - and that's saying something. His workload is lightened by having two strikers and Amado Guevara around him. Each of Vitti, Guevara, and Barrett look better when they can knock the ball into Dichio and get a return ball.
Marco Velez deservedly started ahead of Kevin Harmse again. Velez 2.0 is looking a lot better thus far than Velez 1.0 ever did in 2008. He looks calm and composed, and I have to give full credit to him. He's had his fair share of criticism over the past year or so.
One of the highlights of the match was Kevin Harmse completing three passes in a row. That is just about unheard of.
I can't close this match report without mentioning Stefan Frei's play in goal. He made some world class saves yesterday, and two clean sheets in less than a week must be a nice confidence booster for the rookie, but he looks so composed that you'd think he's been playing for five or six seasons now. I think it's time to ask the question: What's going to happen to Greg Sutton and his $165K salary?
The next chapter in our club's history has begun, and at 2-0-0 and two clean sheets with Chris Cummins running the sidelines, things are looking pretty good. Perhaps Cummins deserves a chance coaching the team? Next up is a home match against the winless Columbus Crew. Columbus winning is soooooooo 2008.
Pablo Vitti was fantastic, mainly in the second half. He was amazing on the ball, and would have had a goal-of-the-season contender just seconds after our first goal if he hadn't pushed it just wide of far post. There were countless times where he would go up with a defender for a 50/50 ball and come away with, and he'd somehow beat a man after that yet. Once DeRo is fit again, Chad Barrett can take a seat. Vitti is showing that he has more skill and a better touch.
You could say that Vitti should have finished a chance or two yesterday, and compare that to how Barrett's missed. There's a difference in the misses though. Missing a chance after you've beaten two defenders is a lot different than missing a chance that's been served up to you on a silver platter. Let's pretend Vitti had been in the match in our 1-1 draw with FC Dallas - I wonder what the score would have been then...
Speaking of our strikers, Danny Dichio has been a nice addition to our starting eleven over the past two matches. He's old and he's slow, but MLS isn't known for having strong central defenders, and very few in this league can handle him. Even Jimmy Conrad had trouble - and that's saying something. His workload is lightened by having two strikers and Amado Guevara around him. Each of Vitti, Guevara, and Barrett look better when they can knock the ball into Dichio and get a return ball.
Marco Velez deservedly started ahead of Kevin Harmse again. Velez 2.0 is looking a lot better thus far than Velez 1.0 ever did in 2008. He looks calm and composed, and I have to give full credit to him. He's had his fair share of criticism over the past year or so.
One of the highlights of the match was Kevin Harmse completing three passes in a row. That is just about unheard of.
I can't close this match report without mentioning Stefan Frei's play in goal. He made some world class saves yesterday, and two clean sheets in less than a week must be a nice confidence booster for the rookie, but he looks so composed that you'd think he's been playing for five or six seasons now. I think it's time to ask the question: What's going to happen to Greg Sutton and his $165K salary?
The next chapter in our club's history has begun, and at 2-0-0 and two clean sheets with Chris Cummins running the sidelines, things are looking pretty good. Perhaps Cummins deserves a chance coaching the team? Next up is a home match against the winless Columbus Crew. Columbus winning is soooooooo 2008.
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6 comments:
Sutton needs to be moved--but who'll take him at that salary (a lot by MLS standards)
Barrett is still valuable as a left wing player to pressure the D and create chances for others
Vitti has the Argie skill in close-play. A pleasure to watch.
Harmse is being used the way he should be--as a d-mid/squad player-- in the last twenty minutes with a one goal lead he makes more sense out there than Guevara
"One of the highlights of the match was Kevin Harmse completing three passes in a row. That is just about unheard of."
hhahahahaha so true. Harmse makes me more nervous than Velez right now.
I am growing tired of the quick on the trigger -short sighted comments on Greg Sutton. Mo has been trading for allocation money regularly to manage the cap. We know the cap will be different next year anyway, so why panic ? A veteran keeper backing the rookie seems wise to me
Look at Montreal last year, they ended up with a total of 12 Canadian/Concacaf games. I fear that the same people wanting a Sutton trade would be howling post trade if Frei was injured this summer or seemed tired in September after playing too many games...
I thought Barrett had a great game on the wing, he set in 3-4 great crosses, 1 that resulted in the goal and another 2 that Dichio should have finished. He also came back and won balls for us, he may not be scoring but he is playing a big role on the team right now.
stillkicking,
I don't think my comment about Sutton was short-sighted. It was thinking more long term. For instance, next year, when Frei has a year of experience, maybe then Sutton will be expendable because of his salary.
I don't mean to be harsh or critical. I guess I tire of when a player has a bad game there is a call for a trade and when a player has a good game, his backup gets the trade suggestion...Sutton has just turned 32 this month, which is a great age for a keeper (esp. when the other Canadian who is a starting keeper in the MLS is 41).
I guess I call it short term when fans are judging players on their pay cheque instead of their ability. Garber's recent comments in the NYTimes...
“Fans want to see stars. They want more games on TV and they want an increased quality of play,” “That’s good for us. We’re in the soccer business.”
...makes me think this is not a guy who is going to stay status quo on the salary cap when negotiating this off season.
Two things I don't know- salary cap over the next three years and how many Canadians TFC must have on their roster over the same time period.
What I know is Sutton has ability. He may one day be replaced by a younger Canadian, but right now I want that mythical younger guy playing somewhere else and the vet Sutton on the TFC bench. Maybe even let Sutton play against Vancouver and Montreal...
ps the better Frei plays the more MLS would be interested in selling him- with a Swiss passport he would be easier to move to Europe than an American or Canadian born player...
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