Colorado 1 - TFC 0 Boring.Undisciplined.pathetic

Stillkicking is lost in the North Woods this weekend, so I’ll be filling in for the time being.

What is there really to say about this game? Personally I had a new experience during this one, I managed to sleep through most of the second half, something I have never done before. At least during a TFC game. Fortunately I missed both the Colorado goal and Amadou Sanyang’s second yellow. I think I spared myself extra anger and frustration.

Aside from the poor marking on the Casey goal, the defense played rather well, but with the back four accompanied by Wynne, Cronin and Sanyang in the midfield there was an awful lot of defensive experience out there. Naturally the flip side of having so many defensive players on the field is a lack of attacking players.

Now, Pablo Vitti has been improving every game, but I think the general consensus is that he isn’t yet the attacking menace we expected. Chad Barrett’s difficulties have been well documented. That left DeRo for the attack, and as much as he has been TFC’s MVP this year, he does tend to take the fate of the team on his shoulders, sometimes without the desired result. So, the attack flounders on many occasions. A question here (and I know lots of other people have been asking this) why not start Dichio and Gerba up front? Then, Barrett and Vitti are there to provide a different look and fresh legs later in the game. When does the “he did really well in training, so he should start” excuse become just so many ineffective words?

Was Cummins playing for a draw with this lineup? It seems likely. Is the possibility of one point on the road acceptable this late in the season with so much at stake? I’m not too sure. At the beginning of this three game home stand, 9 points seemed to be a real (if optimistic) possibility. Should we be disappointed with the team’s performance? Looking back, I think so, 1 out of 9 possible points doesn’t seem like a successful trip. Poor performances in Colorado and Los Angeles, and a hard luck point in Seattle were far below what this team can accomplish. What lays ahead will determine the final season outcome, will TFC gain enough points in 6 games (three at home) to flow through the bottle neck of playoff contenders, or is the chance already gone? Next week’s fixture at BMO field with Colorado will go a long way towards answering that. I just try to keep in mind that New York and San Jose are two of the final three games of the season, should be 6 guaranteed points there, right?

In other notes, if you follow Stillkicking’s blog regularly you may know that I like to follow the play of certain players on and off the ball during home games. I have been interested to follow Amadou Sanyang’s play, and was looking forward to next week’s game to watch him, I suppose that’s out for now! I can, in my mind, forgive his red card yesterday, as he is young and plays aggressively, both traits which Chris Cummins has been lauding over the last few weeks. This is the kind of thing that happens to players with aggressive streaks. Serioux’s red, on the other hand lacked the professionalism of a veteran player.

Finally, I have to address the Julian de Guzman rumour that Kristian Jack at the Score has brought back into focus. If he has indeed been signed, I have a few questions. Will de Guzman actually make a difference at this late point in the season? And, will he actually make the first team in the next 6 games because his fitness level must not be as high as some of the existing players because of his lack of playing time. I was interested to see that Carl Robinson made the trip, but not the bench. I know there is an injury concern, but will he be the one to make way for JDG?

Trout