Toronto Postmatch - Goodbye 2016

[Midas Mulligan]

How can Michael Bradley look so good for club and look so bad for country???

Front runner who excels when given wide open space. Still can't believe we didn't sit someone on top of his ass in the first leg.

He's a horrendous defender and turnover waiting to happen. Just have someone close enough that he thinks he might get pressure. But you can't do that in a low block or when you have a 150 year old midfield.

 

[Angela Miller]

NickA could you ever in your life pictured what happen tonight 5 years ago ??

 

[Hobo]

How can Michael Bradley look so good for club and look so bad for country???

He bossed us like a pimp. He was very good tonight.

 

[NickA]

Besides our porous defense, there's not one area to blame. We do not have the skill to handle the press. A 4-3-3 is already an attacking formation that makes the defense a counterattack bitch. We do not have the skill on the back 4 to do that. Ronald shows some ridiculous talent sometimes, then he shits the bed. RJ is a nice player, but no. T-Mac looked slow and out muscled tonight. Villa is a great finisher but he's no Giovinco. Lampard is probably already home. Pirlo is as good as the talent around him. I'm ok with our midfield. We need a legit 2nd scorer and defensive help.

Good strides for our second go. I'm glad we have a team, FO and fan base that gives a shit and expects the best. That's the best takeaway this season. 2017 baby!!!

 

[LIexpat]

Keep Villa, Erik and lampard if he takes a significant cut. Rebuild everything else

 

[Hobo]

He bossed us like a pimp. He was very good tonight.

Or more accurately, we let him.

 

[Midas Mulligan]

Brillant is horrible. Just wanted to point out that he shut me down for the year on the first goal. What a shit piece of defending, especially under the circumstances.

 

[NickA]

NickA could you ever in your life pictured what happen tonight 5 years ago ??

I'm my last post I just said he plays to the talent around him. He is great around great players, but can play equally as bad when the talent isn't as good. I'm ok with the way he played this year, but i don't think he elevated his teammates to where he needed to. How much of that is him, how much is it the players around him? Who knows. His game isn't built for MLS. I'm sure he thought he'd waltz in and spray the ball all over the place, but instead he walked into a fast physical league. He's at a point & age in his career where he can't and shouldn't be the focal point. If he wants to continue playing, go back to Italy and have a nice complimentary role on a winning team. I don't think he'll make the same money as here though. I'm glad I was able to watch him play. It was always exciting. Not sure what is going to happen with him.

 

[Angela Miller]

I'm my last post I just said he plays to the talent around him. He is great around great players, but can play equally as bad when the talent isn't as good. I'm ok with the way he played this year, but i don't think he elevated his teammates to where he needed to. How much of that is him, how much is it the players around him? Who knows. His game isn't built for MLS. I'm sure he thought he'd waltz in and spray the ball all over the place, but instead he walked into a fast physical league. He's at a point & age in his career where he can't and shouldn't be the focal point. If he wants to continue playing, go back to Italy and have a nice complimentary role on a winning team. I don't think he'll make the same money as here though. I'm glad I was able to watch him play. It was always exciting. Not sure what is going to happen with him.

Well my feelings to Andrea and this forum are on the first page of this thread worth reading !!

 

[Keith Putnam]

I'm proud of what this team accomplished this year. I hope Vieria and the FO can take an honest look at our obvious flaws (both in roster, and in being tactically over-ambitious given our roster) and turn us into conference champions in 2017.

 

[Gavin23]

We play an attacking formation but play out the back in term of tactics. Not to mention we lack the personnel to properly play out of the back.

We get away with it against teams that don't press us. When they do, we get destroyed.

All on PV. Ruined the first leg and despite a decent formation for the second, tactically we seemed unchanged. Total disgrace.

 

[NickA]

Well my feelings to Andrea and this forum are on the first page of this thread worth reading !!

I did read it. Very emotional lol. I agree that his style of play is better suited in Italy...but this isn't on him...our defense sucks.

He did give me a wink when he was coming off the field by the corner flag though...so I got that memory lol.

 

[Kjbert]

I love all of you guys. Incredible second season. Trying to not let these last two games ruin it for me. I think PV learned a lot these last two games. All in, if you told me 18 months ago that we would be on the cusp of qualifying for CCL through our regular season performance, I would have taken it. Very important offseason. The success of this year probably makes this winter window even more important than last winter. We've now set a high bar for ourselves. Let's see what they do.

 

[Tom in Fairfield CT]

SO excited for the great season we had. So many positives. Hats off to TO they are a very good team and playing well at the right time. NO shame in losing to them, as has been said.

That out of the way, Villa got 30 touches in game 1 i'd be surprised if he got that many tonight. Bad game planning if TO can completely shut you out of getting it to your best player. They forced us to the wings in both games and we did nothing with that. Pirlo looked like shit again tonight, and i think hes the typ of player that you live and die with. If he is off, you are done. I will say I think the dumb ass three man back line took Iraola away from Pirlo and allowed teams to choke him off like they did before AI moved to midfield. Hopefully Vieira learns from this crap, and they get us a younger DP or allow mIx out of purgatory.

Exciting and short offseason, and Red Bull were out before we were!

 

[canchon]

Brillant is horrible. Just wanted to point out that he shut me down for the year on the first goal. What a shit piece of defending, especially under the circumstances.

And promptly put any chance of a comeback to bed when he lost Giovinco and had to pull him down in the box. Way to go.

 

[Kjbert]

Mix will never wear an NYCFC kit in a competitive match again.

 

[Ulrich]

I don't know what PV says to the team during the week and before each game, but he needs to hire a motivational speaker to give him pointers because With the exception of a game or two this year we have never come out with any sustained intensity, or more often like tonight, no intensity. I put these two losses squarely on him, his coaching, and his tactics. Not quite sure what the bench was since there were only two offensive subs out of them all.

Oh yeah, the ref was atrocious too - he set the tone of the game 2 min in not calling the studs on Lampard's ankle. Just call an even game and don't be afraid to give out cards.

Their keeper had a hell of a game on a couple of those saves, not that us scoring them could have walked back half a dozen.

Now that our season is over, the team owes us fans/supporters an explanation on Mix. He's the only guy on our team that has ever flustered Bradley.

 

[Ulrich]

And promptly put any chance of a comeback to bed when he lost Giovinco and had to pull him down in the box. Way to go.

He didn't pull him down. He stuck his leg out and grazed Giovinco. The guy goes down in a soft breeze. Yes he made contact but it was weak to call as he went to ground really easily.

 

[canchon]

That was a beat down tonight - NYCFC didn't even belong on the same field as Toronto. The team couldn't even put on any early pressure (the ball was in the defensive third for the first 6 minutes before Giovinco got isolated on Brilliant, made a good play and it was over).

Way too much to discuss in the offseason, but several questions about the game:

1. The team committed to playing out of the back, but it was cringeworthy - the team could not get it out of their own end...the passing crispness was awful, compared to Toronto who would get the turnover, two quick passes and off to the races. The speed of play was so slow.

2. Much has been made about Toronto and their 3-5-2...it didn't seem that PV changed his lineup at all - which led to the mismatches across midfield. You had players dribbling into triple teams. Awful.

3. The fitness level seemed way off...NYC was late to every ball, was muscled off the ball easily and seemed a step late the entire game. You can nitpick the ref and a couple of early calls (plus wasn't Jozy offside on the third goal?) but that isn't why they lost.

4. This game is example A of why your DPs need to be your best player. Compare Giovinco, Altidore and Bradley - the people who pretty much drove the Toronto side - to Villa (who never touched the ball), Pirlo (injured and ineffective) and Lampard (not fit and ineffective). That is why NYCFC got blown out.

Hurts to know that there was a path to MLS Cup not through RBNY - NYC most likely would have matched up well vs Montreal. The secret to beating City is out - stack midfield and press. There is not enough talent to play out of the back against a team with a strong midfield or who can press.

 

[Hobo]

I would have given Chanot and Brillant a hatchet and told them to go to work on Gio and Jozy in the first 15 mins. Set out our stall early and get Bradley to bite. But I'm not a coach so, fuck it, don't listen to me. Hey, look, it's Thanksgiving soon!