In other words, I think we did a surprisingly good job offensively, but I also think we got very lucky defensively. Bernardeschi was a nightmare
MLS - May 11 - Toronto (Away)
- Thread starter LionNYC
- Start date
Me too. It was a big gamble. Either they knew Bernardeschi was going to go to his left and O'Toole was told to not get beat to his left and he'd get help, or they wanted to make sure Bernardeschi didn't get to the end line and cross into the box and they'd take their chances with him cutting inside into traffic.
Kevin was certainly angled to defend the end line. He was never going to be able to stay with Bernardeschi going the other way.
I am usually behind gray when he gets criticism but I thought he was really poor this game, besides the giveaways that led to the goals he seemed to not want the ball and stunted progress whenever he got the ball throwing his hands up on routine build up, when he is on defensively he is a beast but he also had a lot of defensive lapses, not saying that is the last I want to see of him, but not his best night
Bernadeschi cutting inside was like Robben going left at times, I imagine o’toole thinking “surely he won’t cut inside…oh wait.”
Yeah he was doing the right thing on that. Wolf should have had Petretta but he was ball watching. Poor coverage but also a well-taken strike.
In the realm of even bad news is good news, there is no mention of our game nor the Cushing controversy in any of the three major New York papers.
Actually the Post ran an article today. I didn't bother to link it, because it really didn't mention anything we didn't already know and I get the impression no one cares about newspaper articles anymore.
nypost.com
NYCFC coach accused of previously punching teenage Toronto player ‘in the face’ after latest brawl
There was some lingering tension between NYCFC and Toronto FC, and that all boiled over in a brawl after the final whistle Saturday.
nypost.com
I thought Bernardeschi was a major threat all game; just so good and dangerous. I also thought O'Toole did a really good job to limit him.
This. Grey was where he was supposed to be. Someone didn't track Petretta running into the box, and that appeared to be Wolf. Despite Wolf's two assists (and his run on the first one was glorious), he had some bad moments in this game as well. Hopefully, he knocks those out as he gets back to playing regularly.
Interesting video. A few thoughts
- For anyone that's going to watch this turn the sound off or have your ears assaulted by possibly the most annoying people ever
- It's interesting how calm it was before everything got out of hand. TOR also seems exclusively focused on the ref at the start of the video. Seems like our guys could have just gotten out of there at that point.
- It would be a lot easier to sort out who is involved at different points if both team's staff weren't all dressed in matching black and white jackets. Good luck to any MLS person who has to try to sort that out from videos.
- When watching these types of sports "fight" videos I am always entertained by finding the players that just casually want no part in it. Santi and a few others just saunter away like this is stupid and I'm not getting involved. I respect the guys that don't get involved because 99% of professional sports scuffles are always stupid "hold me back" pretend tough guy nonsense.
it looked like (without any deep analysis) that TFC were going after the refs and nick went over to thank the refs and words were said maybe? then some of our players/staff went to back nick up and then it escalated quickly from there.
all very stupid to me. even if some guys went to back nick up, they should have just pulled our guys away and walked off. no point in showing any aggression. just walk away and protect yourself.
will be interesting to see what comes of all this from MLS with the allegations against nick and the inevitable fines and suspensions coming from this scuffle
I would hope we'll hear something today or tomorrow since there are games on Wednesday.
Knowing MLS, we'll get word at like 6pm on Wednesday about who's suspended for the game.
He got a really, really tough assignment and handled it as well as could have been hoped. He didn't get burned to the end line and he managed to make enough of a pest of himself when Bernardeschi cut inside to prevent disaster. Really solid.
And he makes about $85k. Bernardeschi makes $6.3 mm.
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I'm curious how MLS will deal with the punching allegation against Nick. It's such a serious accusation. If they think it's possibly credible they have to investigate. If they are not going to investigate then they have to say something in support of Cushing along the lines of we have no evidence of this. You can't just let an accusation like that go. I'm not a PR person but I can't think of a smooth-it-over type response that stays neutral and makes it go away.
regardless of how credible they think it is, they have to respond to it. TFC headcoach and captain made it public. MLS has to address it somehow whether they launch an investigation or not.
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If it’s not true, and I don’t think it is true, it’s such an irresponsible accusation because something like that can also fck with a guy’s livelihood and reputation on a long term basis.
The game write up and weekly roundups like Doyle have mentioned it in passing, but there’s no stand alone article.
My guess is they are still figuring out official response.
