Do you remember April?
Do you remember watching TFC on television back in those winless/goalless nights? A struggling team that did not seem to have had enough time together to gel and had new players arriving every game?
It was a convincing arguement for time travel Saturday night as the TFC went from the Father's Day world-beaters to the team of April right before your very eyes.
Dobson and Forrest on Sportsnet were able to comment a million times that nothing was going TFC's way (was it foreshadowing when Forrest called TFC "Canada" in the early part of the game?). It was a combination of ugly and listless for most of the night. Then towards the end it threatened to turn chippy as the frustration level increased. It is hindsight talking, but I think that some late substitutions would at least have given some players a rest and made it look like TFC was not throwing in the towel.
Rather than report all the gruesome details and write something that I may later regret, I leave you with...
The Still Kicking Questions
1 What is the health of Greg Sutton? The Mo Johnston interview seemed to indicate that there is real concern that Sutton's season may be at an end. OMG - what happens now?
2 What is it about the New England Revolution that allows them to own the TFC ? Accumulated score is now NE -7 TFC -0. They were missing Twellman and more to Gold Cup duty. They seem solid in every position and have an ability to finish in the box that allows them to make something out of nothing or close to nothing.
3 Am I the only one who thinks that Mo Johnston and NE Revolution coach Steve Nichol look very alike. I am suspecting that Nichol wears glasses just to ensure that viewing audience knows which brother they are looking at.
4 Why is the team so thin? Where is the player who can come off the bench- the super sub? When things seem listless and ugly TFC turns to?
5 Is this an omen for the road trip? There has to be a way to shake things around and change the TFC road story. Does TFC have a third jersey yet? Order one.
6 Did Jeff Cunningham take the night off or was he just waiting for Andy Welsh to cross the ball?
7 Watching that motley militia behind the advertising signs fire their muskets convinces me all the more that the TFC nickname should be the Redcoats so that we have the opportunity to fire back. One day. Who would want to throw a seagull at a revolutionary?
8 It is wonderful that Mighty Mo has been clear about the goal being the playoffs, but man, that is hard to dream about after tonight.
9 Shouldn't the TFC game have been the antidote for that Canada-US robbery?
PS - Cheers for Marvell Wynne being called up to the US team for the Copa America.
10 Can we go back to Father's Day now?
2 comments:
Very nice post. I was impressed how easily they were able to carve out our defense so often. We were lucky not to concede 6 goals and unlucky that we couldn't score 1 (Cunningham screwed up).
Our east-west defense has been pretty bad all season and last night was a prime example.
NE effectively shut down our wingers with good pace and marking. They had a solid defensive line, and we were trying to penetrate to no avail. It was a very frustrating game for players, staff and fans.
This will be an interesting week of training for TFC, as Mojo will have many decisions to make. In continuing his pursuit of new players, and the absence of Wynne, small roster changes won't be unlikely. Johnston will also have to deal with his goalkeeper situation. The 24 year old Djekanovic in his current state is fine as a back up GK, but not yet ready for long term starting XI.
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