It certainly has been a whirlwind week for Toronto FC supporters - and definitely not in a good way. First, we put in our worst performance of the season in Houston, losing 3-0 to the Dynamo. Three days later, we basically threw the Voyageurs Cup away (okay, we can still win it, but...) in Vancouver losing yet again to a USL opponent, and now we have confirmed that Toronto will be playing Real Madrid, however the tickets will not be included in our season ticket package. Great.
Today, amidst protests, we will try to turn our attention to a potential three big points against the LA Galaxy. Anything less than a win today will be seen as unacceptable by many TFC fans, myself included. The Galaxy may be unbeaten in nine, but they've won just one of these nine matches, and are missing the heart and soul of their team in Landon Donovan.
I'm unable to attend today's match because of a recent knee surgery, so I'll be providing a matchday commentary here as I watch the match on television.
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FULL TIME - LA 2 - 1 TFC. Poor finishing is yet again to blame for today's loss, and when you throw in Marco Velez' pathetic defending, you have a pretty bad looking club. Here's the thing though: We knew ahead of this season that our finishing wasn't too great and that our defense was bad. Where are you now Mo Johnston?
90+3 - Harmse has a shot from 30 yards. It sucked. Why on earth is he shooting from there when we NEED a goal?
90+2 - Gomez gives away a cheap corner from a pretty bad header back to Frei. Not the best time to make those rookie mistakes. Another three minutes of stoppage time left.
88' - The good news is that Gomez has a monster throw in. The bad news? We need two goals, not a good throw in.
86' - Subs update: Johann Smith has come in for Pablo Vitti (about 5 minutes ago) and Emmanuel Gomez has come in for Chad Barrett. Gomez making his MLS debut here.
84' - LA is just passing it around now. We've had 16 shots today and scored on only one of them. Something has to be done about this very, very soon.
80' - I just got a twitter update on my phone about our international friendly (yes, the real one). "We're losing, so here's something to get happy about...River Plate..." This is ridiculous.
77' - GOAL Los Angeles. Edson Buddle gets behind Marco Velez and slides it in past Stefan Frei. I hope Mo Johnston is on his phone right now looking for a new centre half...
73' - Tony Sanneh is down hurt again. He was just on a stretcher, but now is up again. Dig a hole and bury him? Looks like he's coming out. Leo Griffin is on in his place.
70' - A bit of pressure from the Galaxy now. Omar Gonzalez is almost gifted a goal by an errant header from Adrian Serioux, but he shoots wide. We need to go forward and win this.
67' - Stefan Frei saves Chad Barrett and Marco Velez' asses, saving a free header at the far post from Alan Gordon.
66' - Rohan Ricketts has been good since he's come on, sending in several good crosses, including the one that lead to the goal.
63' - GOAL Toronto. A beautiful cross from Rohan Ricketts is headed off the post by Marco Velez. Donovan Ricketts is there to save Robbo's follow up but he can't get in front of Dichio's header. It was ugly, but it all counts the same. LA subs out Mike Magee for Stefani Miglioranzi.
61' - Chad Barrett runs around AJ DeLaGarza to the byline and sends a ball across the 18 that Ricketts can't put away. Corner to Toronto.
60' - Very offensive set up right now. Harmse, Serioux, and Velez are forming a back three with Robinson sitting in front of them. Everyone else is up attacking.
58' - Big opportunity for Rohan Ricketts here. He's been wanting more playing time and after having a little to no effect on Tuesday, it will be interesting to see what he can do in his half hour today.
56' - Brennan is hurt. Ricketts is on in his place. I'm going to guess that Sam Cronin slides back to left back and Ricketts plays on the wing where Cronin was.
53' - Harmse with a good cross in but Barrett has his volley blocked by a defender. That was probably goalbound.
51' - After a scramble in the box LA clears. DeRo with two chances to send it across goal but no one on Toronto could get on the end of it. De Rosario looks like the only TFC player who wants to score today.
46' - And we're underway in the second half. Early free kick to Toronto.
HALF TIME - LA 1 - 0 TFC. It was a typical Toronto first half at home. A poor goal conceded, a lot of possession, and a few sitters missed. When is Mo Johnston going to address our need for big-name striker? Here's hoping for something special in the second half.
44' - Yellow card to Kevin Harmse. Who knew you couldn't push someone from behind? Apparently Harmse didn't...
42' - Pablo Vitti with a shot from 30 yards just over the net. Lots of power, but still not testing the keeper.
38' - A second straight corner for Toronto. We really need to capitalize on one of these.
37' - I don't think Chad Barrett has completed a pass in this first half.
34' - Pablo Vitti with is saved from close range. He definitely should have done better to equalize, but that miss wasn't near as bad as Barrett's. Toronto still with a majority of possession.
31' - Corner to LA. Robinson cleared it brilliantly. As we turned to take it up the field, Tony Sanneh receives a yellow card for a tackle on Vitti.
28' - It's all us now. LA hasn't really done a lot since about the 10th minute. If we had any other striker on earth besides Barrett it would be 1-1 right now. Toronto with possession in LA's half.
26' - Chad Barrett has a breakaway saved by Ricketts. He is arguably the worst finisher we've ever had...including Adam Braz.
24' - Another header by Dichio, this time from a corner kick. There wasn't enough power on it and Ricketts saved it very comfortably. Eddie Lewis is down hurt.
22' - Header over the bar by Dichio off of a cross from DeRo.
21' - Close chance for us. DeRo sends it in for Vitti who heads it towards Dichio but Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts gets their first.
19' - Corner to Toronto. LA manages to clear for a Toronto throw.
17' - Shot by Dema Kovalenko sent over the net from about 15 yards.
14' - Adrian Serioux just decked Eddie Lewis. Kinda surprised there was no card on that one.
13' - LA has picked it up a bit since their goal. There is a lot more bite to this Galaxy team than I expected. Full credit to Bruce Arena for that.
10' - Free kick by De Rosario saved comfortably along the turf by Donovan Ricketts.
9' - Yellow card to Omar Gonzalez for a foul on Danny Dichio. Free kick to Toronto from about 20-25 yards.
7' - Wow. Danny Dichio just got on the end of a long ball.
6' - GOAL Los Angeles. Alan Gordon with a free header at the far post. Terrible defending by Marco Velez - nothing unusual there.
4' - Toronto carrying the play so far. No clear opportunities yet. Not much shape to any LA attacks yet.
1' - Galaxy kickoff. Everything looks nice and sunny. Seems like everyone missed the memo to boycott wearing official team apparel today...
Game On!
Pre-Match
4:07 PM - Finally we have some lineups. Here is our starting eleven: Stefan Frei, Jim Brennan, Marco Velez, Adrian Serioux, Kevin Harmse, Carl Robinson, Sam Cronin, Pablo Vitti, Dwayne De Rosario, Chad Barrett, Danny Dichio. Here is the Galaxy's starting eleven: Donovan Ricketts, Todd Dunivant, Omar Gonzalez, AJ DeLaGarza, Tony Sanneh, Eddie Lewis, Josh Tudela, Dema Kovalenko, Alan Gordon, Chris Klein, Mike Magee.
3:33 PM - Pregame show is live on CBC. They're talking about how Pablo Vitti needs to score soon. If you had to pick between him and Barrett, who would you keep? Easy answer...
1:42 PM - There is of course a full slate of World Cup Qualifiers today. England were 4-0 winners in Kazakhstan, while Japan became to first nation to qualify for next summer's World Cup with a 1-0 win over Uzbekistan. The Netherlands can join them if they beat Iceland later today. In CONCACAF, USA takes on Honduras tonight in a match that will put two TFC boys against each other - Marvell Wynne for the States and Amado Guevara for the Hondurans.
12:49 PM - The Houston Dynamo did us a favour last night by beating Chicago Fire 1-0. Stuart Holden scored his third of the season for Houston, with Canadian Andrew Hainault being credited with an assist on the goal. A night before, DC United beat the Red Bulls 2-0 at RFK Stadium. New York has fallen to 2-8-3 on the season, and have yet to score a goal on the road. We face them twice in a row at BMO Field (June 13 and 24). Looking ahead at today's match and then the next two against New York Red Bulls - all at home - I will have a serious problem with this team if we are not 7-4-4 in three week's time.
Today, amidst protests, we will try to turn our attention to a potential three big points against the LA Galaxy. Anything less than a win today will be seen as unacceptable by many TFC fans, myself included. The Galaxy may be unbeaten in nine, but they've won just one of these nine matches, and are missing the heart and soul of their team in Landon Donovan.
I'm unable to attend today's match because of a recent knee surgery, so I'll be providing a matchday commentary here as I watch the match on television.
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FULL TIME - LA 2 - 1 TFC. Poor finishing is yet again to blame for today's loss, and when you throw in Marco Velez' pathetic defending, you have a pretty bad looking club. Here's the thing though: We knew ahead of this season that our finishing wasn't too great and that our defense was bad. Where are you now Mo Johnston?
90+3 - Harmse has a shot from 30 yards. It sucked. Why on earth is he shooting from there when we NEED a goal?
90+2 - Gomez gives away a cheap corner from a pretty bad header back to Frei. Not the best time to make those rookie mistakes. Another three minutes of stoppage time left.
88' - The good news is that Gomez has a monster throw in. The bad news? We need two goals, not a good throw in.
86' - Subs update: Johann Smith has come in for Pablo Vitti (about 5 minutes ago) and Emmanuel Gomez has come in for Chad Barrett. Gomez making his MLS debut here.
84' - LA is just passing it around now. We've had 16 shots today and scored on only one of them. Something has to be done about this very, very soon.
80' - I just got a twitter update on my phone about our international friendly (yes, the real one). "We're losing, so here's something to get happy about...River Plate..." This is ridiculous.
77' - GOAL Los Angeles. Edson Buddle gets behind Marco Velez and slides it in past Stefan Frei. I hope Mo Johnston is on his phone right now looking for a new centre half...
73' - Tony Sanneh is down hurt again. He was just on a stretcher, but now is up again. Dig a hole and bury him? Looks like he's coming out. Leo Griffin is on in his place.
70' - A bit of pressure from the Galaxy now. Omar Gonzalez is almost gifted a goal by an errant header from Adrian Serioux, but he shoots wide. We need to go forward and win this.
67' - Stefan Frei saves Chad Barrett and Marco Velez' asses, saving a free header at the far post from Alan Gordon.
66' - Rohan Ricketts has been good since he's come on, sending in several good crosses, including the one that lead to the goal.
63' - GOAL Toronto. A beautiful cross from Rohan Ricketts is headed off the post by Marco Velez. Donovan Ricketts is there to save Robbo's follow up but he can't get in front of Dichio's header. It was ugly, but it all counts the same. LA subs out Mike Magee for Stefani Miglioranzi.
61' - Chad Barrett runs around AJ DeLaGarza to the byline and sends a ball across the 18 that Ricketts can't put away. Corner to Toronto.
60' - Very offensive set up right now. Harmse, Serioux, and Velez are forming a back three with Robinson sitting in front of them. Everyone else is up attacking.
58' - Big opportunity for Rohan Ricketts here. He's been wanting more playing time and after having a little to no effect on Tuesday, it will be interesting to see what he can do in his half hour today.
56' - Brennan is hurt. Ricketts is on in his place. I'm going to guess that Sam Cronin slides back to left back and Ricketts plays on the wing where Cronin was.
53' - Harmse with a good cross in but Barrett has his volley blocked by a defender. That was probably goalbound.
51' - After a scramble in the box LA clears. DeRo with two chances to send it across goal but no one on Toronto could get on the end of it. De Rosario looks like the only TFC player who wants to score today.
46' - And we're underway in the second half. Early free kick to Toronto.
HALF TIME - LA 1 - 0 TFC. It was a typical Toronto first half at home. A poor goal conceded, a lot of possession, and a few sitters missed. When is Mo Johnston going to address our need for big-name striker? Here's hoping for something special in the second half.
44' - Yellow card to Kevin Harmse. Who knew you couldn't push someone from behind? Apparently Harmse didn't...
42' - Pablo Vitti with a shot from 30 yards just over the net. Lots of power, but still not testing the keeper.
38' - A second straight corner for Toronto. We really need to capitalize on one of these.
37' - I don't think Chad Barrett has completed a pass in this first half.
34' - Pablo Vitti with is saved from close range. He definitely should have done better to equalize, but that miss wasn't near as bad as Barrett's. Toronto still with a majority of possession.
31' - Corner to LA. Robinson cleared it brilliantly. As we turned to take it up the field, Tony Sanneh receives a yellow card for a tackle on Vitti.
28' - It's all us now. LA hasn't really done a lot since about the 10th minute. If we had any other striker on earth besides Barrett it would be 1-1 right now. Toronto with possession in LA's half.
26' - Chad Barrett has a breakaway saved by Ricketts. He is arguably the worst finisher we've ever had...including Adam Braz.
24' - Another header by Dichio, this time from a corner kick. There wasn't enough power on it and Ricketts saved it very comfortably. Eddie Lewis is down hurt.
22' - Header over the bar by Dichio off of a cross from DeRo.
21' - Close chance for us. DeRo sends it in for Vitti who heads it towards Dichio but Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts gets their first.
19' - Corner to Toronto. LA manages to clear for a Toronto throw.
17' - Shot by Dema Kovalenko sent over the net from about 15 yards.
14' - Adrian Serioux just decked Eddie Lewis. Kinda surprised there was no card on that one.
13' - LA has picked it up a bit since their goal. There is a lot more bite to this Galaxy team than I expected. Full credit to Bruce Arena for that.
10' - Free kick by De Rosario saved comfortably along the turf by Donovan Ricketts.
9' - Yellow card to Omar Gonzalez for a foul on Danny Dichio. Free kick to Toronto from about 20-25 yards.
7' - Wow. Danny Dichio just got on the end of a long ball.
6' - GOAL Los Angeles. Alan Gordon with a free header at the far post. Terrible defending by Marco Velez - nothing unusual there.
4' - Toronto carrying the play so far. No clear opportunities yet. Not much shape to any LA attacks yet.
1' - Galaxy kickoff. Everything looks nice and sunny. Seems like everyone missed the memo to boycott wearing official team apparel today...
Game On!
Pre-Match
4:07 PM - Finally we have some lineups. Here is our starting eleven: Stefan Frei, Jim Brennan, Marco Velez, Adrian Serioux, Kevin Harmse, Carl Robinson, Sam Cronin, Pablo Vitti, Dwayne De Rosario, Chad Barrett, Danny Dichio. Here is the Galaxy's starting eleven: Donovan Ricketts, Todd Dunivant, Omar Gonzalez, AJ DeLaGarza, Tony Sanneh, Eddie Lewis, Josh Tudela, Dema Kovalenko, Alan Gordon, Chris Klein, Mike Magee.
3:33 PM - Pregame show is live on CBC. They're talking about how Pablo Vitti needs to score soon. If you had to pick between him and Barrett, who would you keep? Easy answer...
1:42 PM - There is of course a full slate of World Cup Qualifiers today. England were 4-0 winners in Kazakhstan, while Japan became to first nation to qualify for next summer's World Cup with a 1-0 win over Uzbekistan. The Netherlands can join them if they beat Iceland later today. In CONCACAF, USA takes on Honduras tonight in a match that will put two TFC boys against each other - Marvell Wynne for the States and Amado Guevara for the Hondurans.
12:49 PM - The Houston Dynamo did us a favour last night by beating Chicago Fire 1-0. Stuart Holden scored his third of the season for Houston, with Canadian Andrew Hainault being credited with an assist on the goal. A night before, DC United beat the Red Bulls 2-0 at RFK Stadium. New York has fallen to 2-8-3 on the season, and have yet to score a goal on the road. We face them twice in a row at BMO Field (June 13 and 24). Looking ahead at today's match and then the next two against New York Red Bulls - all at home - I will have a serious problem with this team if we are not 7-4-4 in three week's time.
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