Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Puerto Rico 0 - TFC 0, PR Islanders go on to group stage CONCACAF CL


That was frustrating. That was maddening. I am sweaty and annoyed. I feel that I just spent an hour trying to will the ball into the net. I will write much more tomorrow. For now I can sum it up.

IF YOU CAN'T SCORE, YOU CAN'T WIN.

Here goes the much more tomorrow... and I freely admit that much of this is hindsight, but I will feel better when I have let loose.

I have a few questions. They are mainly about tactics and substitutions. Coach Cummins had to know that going into the game in Puerto Rico that goals had to be scored. So why stick with the same tactics that failed in Toronto the week before? TFC was sailing down the wings with Vitti, Wynne, Brennan and second half Chad. When has this worked? Puerto Rico might as well have chosen Toronto's strategy and tactics.
After Chad Barrett was put in Cummin's doghouse after the New England game, why was he the first player off of the Toronto bench?
Sure Guevara was a flop, but he had to be tried. I was not happy to see Sam Cronin come out or if Robinson is going to hang back and link with the defenders, why not take a defender out?

Am I the only fan that thinks that O'Brian White coming on in the last minutes of a game is a substitution that has resulted in nada (he has an uncanny ability to go invisible - makes me think of Star Trek) and should be saved for another year? Give him a start or save him for games where TFC is winning.
Am I the only fan that thinks that Emmanuel Gomez showed enough energy and hustle against Puerto Rico in Toronto that he deserved to be a second half substitution? Even though he is a defender, I say put him in as a forward and hope his height is an asset.
Am I the only fan who is tired of TFC's lack of depth and the below max roster (TFC should have 20 Senior and 4 Developmental, my latest count has them at 21. If the developmental list is full, and I have Frei, Ibrahim, Gomez and Gala on it, that means that they have room for three more players on their Senior list). Add Attakora, Cronin, Sanyang to that list and you have quite a youth movement. Is there a cagey veteran who can play the wing available? Sign him up.

I am not up to date on the salary cap, but if most of the summer an offer was on the table for DeGuzman, gotta be room for some signings.
As for Mo's rule that his designated player must be under 30 and Canadian, let's hope that he came up with that one to lower the asking price that somebody/anybody out there is demanding.
I think that Trout is so right. If this was what TFC had to offer, our bank accounts have been spared the group stage. But mark my words, storm clouds lie ahead. This home and home format that Toronto just faltered at, is exactly what lies ahead in the first round of MLS playoffs should TFC manage to squeak into a spot.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

you can sum it up the same way for the canadian national team.

Trout said...

Well, I won't miss the money I would have paid to TFC to see them lose in the group stage. No wonder I sold my foosball table at the garage sale last weekend.

Anonymous said...

PLAYERS- No desire
COACH- No clue
REF- No eyes
No more Champions League
Now after Friday nights Bul*sh*t game against Real Madrid there should be no more distractions and all focus should be on making the playoffs. The DC United game is a critical three pointer at home with one week to prepare !!!!!!!!

SECTION220

Anonymous said...

What a fucking horrible game! I am glad they did not make it to the next round they did not deserve it! How can you lose against that fucking mediocre team puerto rico? I just can't believe tonight's performance... Disgrace

Anonymous said...

Hard to stay . . . loud, in the stands after this shit.

Wentworh said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Wentworh said...

Montreal losing the QF's is looking impressive ain't it.

I guess they must be laughing their asses off at TFC right about now.

Anonymous said...

wentworth, PR went farther than Montreal did. the two games we just wasted our lives on were dreadful and PR is not that good, but they were strong defensively and that is how they advanced so far last go around. they do deserve some credit.

Mike said...

Well said. I like the part about O'Bian turning invisible. I find myself asking the people around me if he is on the field. It is like he uses Harry Potter's invisibility cloak.

Anonymous said...

When you state that PR is dreadful, what does that make Toronto FC?

Logially- even worse.

And thanks for proving that this defeat against PR is much more of a choke than MTL's OT loss last year.

And call me when Toronto FC get past the first round of the CL.

But then when they do, it'll matter to you and the opposition will have been fantastic.