Toronto - Postmatch

[Ulrich]

It took me a bit to adjust to what Domè may or may not yet be doing differently (and maybe I'm still seeing it wrong), but what I seemed to see was that when out of possession we would drop into a 4-4-2, and then in possession we went to something like a 4-2-3-1 during the first half and then some bonkers sort of 1-wide 2-2-4 craziness during the second half.

Beyond that, the biggest change seemed to be that it is now Ring who has the so-called "free 8" role rather than Maxi. I was never happy with using Maxi that way. Ring seems to be better suited to it, but I worry that we are trading out employing him as a terrific 6 for the sake of an experiment. Then again, we scored two unanswered goals in the second half, so...

Also Toronto was terrible.

I can’t figure out why Dome didn’t make two subs in the 80th after that Toronto player went down cramping and five Toronto players (the entire D) bent at the waste to catch their breath. They were completely gassed and fresh legs from Lewis and anybody but TMac could have run them into the ground. I mean, Dome was wearing black and standing in the sun, so he had to know it was hot out there, it just didn’t make sense why we sat on our subs for so long.

 

[Ulrich]

I was sitting 212 right behind the goal for the first half. Berget has some awful passes. Horrible turnover and killed multiple dangerous attacks. The whole area was booing him. This might have been his best game, but that doesn’t make him good.

Gotham Gator as a fellow Gator fan, I would have thought you could recognize bad football when you see it!

I hope your entire area booed Villa when he missed what should have been a fairly open net sitter. I mean seriously, if you can’t see all the good Berget does during the match, then you’re either not paying attention or you just aren’t good at seeing the nuances.

 

[Midas Mulligan]

I hope your entire area booed Villa went he missed what should have been a fairly open net sitter. I mean seriously, if you can’t see all the good Berget does during the match, then you’re either not paying attention or you just aren’t good at seeing the nuances.

I saw him turn down or waste at least as many as he scored.

Also saw him win some good headers. Make some good runs. Make some stupid ones.

I feel no guilt whatsoever saying he should have had at least 2 a/g more (4 hockey points he should have had accounting for him not being perfect).

 

[FredMertz]

Got a chance to sit pitchside today and if anyone is curious about Dome's English, I can say for sure he knows at least two phrases:

Pass the ball!

Push up!

Beyond that, he seemed to mostly only know the players first names.

I did high five him after the game, much to the embarrassment of my wife.

 

[Seven]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1011034801405616129

 

[Ulrich]

I saw him turn down or waste at least as many as he scored.

Also saw him win some good headers. Make some good runs. Make some stupid ones.

I feel no guilt whatsoever saying he should have had at least 2 a/g more (4 hockey points he should have had accounting for him not being perfect).

That’s a fair assessment. We get zero points without him today - nobody else brought their shooting boots. And hopefully a cheeky backheel goal was all he needed to mentally shake the cobwebs - he’s been overthinking every shot the last two months.

 

[Gotham Gator]

I did high five him after the game, much to the embarrassment of my wife.

I’m think I caught that on the broadcast (but not the eye roll from the wife).

 

[Midas Mulligan]

Got a chance to sit pitchside today

Look at Fred. Sitting pitch side. High fiving like Spike Lee.

He coming for you, LionNYC

 

[Gotham Gator]

Gotham Gator as a fellow Gator fan, I would have thought you could recognize bad football when you see it!

Well played!

I hope your entire area booed Villa went he missed what should have been a fairly open net sitter. I mean seriously, if you can’t see all the good Berget does during the match, then you’re either not paying attention or you just aren’t good at seeing the nuances.

I honestly think people are just seeing what they want to see with him at this point. It’s a soccer match. There is going to be plenty of evidence both ways.

I personally was not surprised he bagged a brace. He’s been so close so many times, I have been thinking he’d start getting some in.

 

[Gotham Gator]

I made a mental note of this play when it happened and then promptly forgot about it post game. So, I am glad the Club tweeted it out.

Nice job by Sweat to keep up with Hasler and then win the ball back. That was an insane pass by Giovinco.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1011012262969204738

 

[Shwafta]

Honestly, all the players played really well today. Sweat made some insanely crucial tackles (like the one above), Tinnerholm was an absolute beast at the back AND front like usual, I thought Callens and Ibeagha work just as well as Callens and Chanot. Ofori was quite effective as the metronome, but I thought he could have played a bit better.

Ring I thought had some downs in this game compared to the other players.

Tajouri didn't play his best game, but everyone has a bad game here and there.

Maxi was MOTM along with Tinnerholm, for me.

 

[SoupInNYC]

I can’t figure out why Dome didn’t make two subs in the 80th after that Toronto player went down cramping and five Toronto players (the entire D) bent at the waste to catch their breath. They were completely gassed and Fress legs from Lewis and anybody but TMac could have run them into the ground. I mean, Dome was wearing black and standing in the sun, so he had to know it was hot out there, it just didn’t make sense why we sat on our subs for so long.

Dome really needed to make the subs around 75’ and 85’. The guys were dogging, on both teams. Tajouri-Shradi called to the sideline to be subbed around 70’.

Neither team seemed that interested in going balls out the last 20 minutes or so, the weather had a huge impact on that.

We really needed fresh legs on sooner.

 

[Sabo]

When I saw this game on the schedule when it came out in February I was sure we would be up 16 points on Toronto when it was over. (Sarcasm font)

Really a dominating win over a good team that needs points

 

[Gotham Gator]

Shouldn’t be any complaints that Toronto were poorly done by the result.

 

[Midas Mulligan]

I thought Toronto looked as poor as any team I’ve seen other than Orlando or Colorado.

Most any time I was nervous, i realized it was more about what was on their shirt rather than how they were playing.

Toronto just isn’t good, guys. They may get good. But right now, they aren’t a top 6 EC team.

We should have scored 4-5.

Unlike some other folks, I thought Isi was freaking great, as is the norm.

I thought Ring was a little off it.

Maxi was great. But of all the amazing players I’ve ever seen play (and dont kid yourself, he has otherworldly control, vision and passing ability), he is the absolute worst in the box. It’s just laughable at this point.

ETA: Alex Callens is fucking super man. A top 4-5 player for us from a technical perspective.

I think you make the playoffs with a team of nothing but Callens at all 11 positions. He’s a freak. Best find we’ve ever gotten out of CFG. And it will be hard to top.

 

[Keith Putnam]

Matthew Doyle's take on this match, mostly along the lines of "oh my God what is wrong with the Reds":
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/06/24/armchair-analyst-unions-hard-tfcs-soft-more-week-17

 

[Midas Mulligan]

Let me just say, I’m glad we aren’t seeing much criticism of SJ. That was a horrible mistake in judgment for several reasons.

However, I’m of the opinion an aggressive keeper can make 1-2 of those per year and still save you goals in the end.

Saunders had 2-3 per game and just rarely got burned. SJ makes the right decision almost every time.

That double save at the end was as good of a piece of keeping as you’ll see this week. Navas vs Brazil quality.

 

[Keith Putnam]

SJ makes the right decision almost every time.

As I said in the shoutbox at halftime, just yesterday Manuel fucking Neuer made pretty much the same mistake vs. Sweden.

 

[Jock]

Love that play by Sweaty. He had some good moments in the game, could have scored a worldly towards the end too.

Happy too to start the new man's reign with a win. For most of the first half he was mostly watching and Perez was up and down with papers and the clipboard delivering instructions to the players.

I thought Berget was having a bit of a 'mare up until he coolly backheeled the ball into the net. Interesting that he didn't celebrate, like it was more of a monkey of his back than anything else. Really celebrated his second though, and rightly so, that was a solid finish from a good play.

Probably saw FredMertz getting the highfive on the big screen after the game. That actually struck me as a really nice moment at the time, seeing Dome going up and celebrating with the fans at the final whistle. Was great to see him urging the whole team to come down to the supporters section afterwards too, who were in good voice throughout the game (although now I have no voice).

A good day all told and hopefully soon we'll find out if we have a boss who can figure out how to beat the Jersey Soda Cows.

 

[Midas Mulligan]

One more thing: Elfaith is a total joke. He is as bad as Chapman. How does he keep getting our games when he constantly shits on us?