First game - meet your FC

Who are these guys ??

Just thought I would write my random observations in honour of the very first game. Overall I was more impressed than put off. Craig Forrest called the fan reaction " pleasantly surprised" and I will give him that to some extent.
It seems that years of cheering for Canada has been the best prep for Toronto FC fandom. The great Canadian tradition continues - great goal keeping, solid defenders and a midfield that are dogged defenders, but not thrilling when they have the ball. Then you cap it off with strikers who are often missing in action.

First half impressions....

Sutton looked solid and strong. The Chivas goal was a surprise and came from a quick pass rather than sustained pressure. You get the feeling that Greg Sutton will win some games all on his own..

Andrew Boyens looks like a hell of a player. Putting a rookie at right back when you are only playing with 3 in the back is either crazy or shows courage. Boyens pulled it off well.

The midfield looked crowded and they did not seem to play together well. Welsh had some runs down the left, but Carl Robinson was on the invisible side. Nagamura contributed a great shot.

Buddle and Eskandarian were speedy up front and both had real opportunities to score.


Second half

Miguel Canizalez was booked result of a smart foul that only lead to Sutton making a smart save.

Even when Chivas had the majority of play, you did not feel that the FC back three were being stretched out of their positions or that Chivas had any attacking tempo.

Conor Casey comes in for Welsh, so Mo goes with 3 strikers.

Casey with his shaved head, could he be Dr. Evil ??
Edson Buddle did not seem to be making runs into space to get passes.

Marco Reda played a good game. It was worrying to see him go off. Jim Brennan will need to be strong.

Nagamura was booked for a knock that the Chivas player treated like a savage attack.

Buddle looked worn out and a step out of position whenever the ball was in his vicinity. Eskandarian (call him Esky - he has a talkative and friendly blog on the official FC site ??) had a burst of energy and a wild shot late in the game.

Then Chivas broke through with a thunderbolt. What was that celebration by Kljestan, pulling at the blades of grass- will anyone try that with Field Turf ??

Next game Saturday April 14th against the New England Revolution.