Cup kept Cup raised TFC 2 Montreal Impact 1

A June evening approaching the stadium

Well, the blog is back. Due to a busy life and the pursuit of some other fine things in life (Airstream trailers and travel to Wilco's Solid Sound in Massachusetts) this blogger missed two games. The first leg in Montreal was televised and I missed it. The home game of TFC vs New England was also missed. No blog posts, but I followed along as best I could.
So I walked to BMO Field last night wondering if I had lost ground and worried that TFC would have wrinkled without my gaze upon them.
No worries at all.
The Bradley - Vazquez combination continues to make the TFC midfield a thing of beauty. Mavinga continues to be solid, I thought it was due to Mavinga that Montreal's late addition of Oduro amounted to nothing. In other years Oduro could use his speed to exploit space down the wing. Over and out with Mavinga.
It was a strange game with Montreal getting a first half goal out of a minimum of shots, chances and possession. TFC always looked the better side and just lacked finish on a multitude of chances.
The second half changes of Delgado for Osorio and Altidore for Ricketts made a big difference.

For me, the key action in the run of play leading to the winning goal is not Giovinco's finish, although mighty sweet that was, but his reaction to blatant foul #456 from a Montreal player just seconds before. If you watch the replay you see him grabbed by the shoulder from behind and taken to the ground and he bounces back up in a micro-second to follow the play into the near post channel. At that point in the game all TFC players knew that ref Gantar had lost the plot, that his calls were scattered and without pattern. 

It might only be a case of my being a cranky old man, but I have a theory that TFC lack only one player in their roster. A cranky man. Not a starter, but somebody the opposition knows is taking names and numbers all game long. No intent to injure, just a seeker of justice. For every liberty taken with or hard foul against a TFC player, that MLS refs seem to tolerate to an extreme degree, Cranky Man gives back what TFC has had to take.
I felt that Damien Perquis and Benoit Cheyrou played the role recently.  I am happy with Cheyrou's role this year and it is almost impossible for the team's elder statesman to also be the cranky justice seeker...

So weeks of road games and the Gold Cup national team departures make the first half of July a low profile time for TFC. Some travel plans will make my blogging a mystery. 
Have yourself a Happy Canada Day and remember....


All for One.

Dusty victory, a team too subtle? TFC 2 DC United 0

Yes, I am difficult to please.
Yes, TFC scored two second half goals and secured another home victory. They stay top of the Eastern Conference with 32 points (16 games played - 9 W 2 L 5 T) but only one point ahead of surprising Schweinsteigered Chicago.

Still I was a little haunted by TFC being shut out by New England on the road a few weeks ago. Altidore and Bradley missed that one for USA duty. TFC had scoring chances by the bucket in the first half and at the very least should not have been held scoreless in that game.
So this weeks old haunting combined with a scoreless first half last night had me worried. Here was TFC back at home, Altidore and Bradley back on the field, and a touch of rust and dust was to be expected. This starting 11 had not been on the field together for a while.
When the subtle touches, the close passes, the sweeping long passes to move the point of attack and stretch the defending team are moving with a beautiful flow, TFC are a sight to behold. Yet sometimes it feels as if they are one measure short of a goal of the week candidate and that only a work of art will do. Have we fans been spoiled? The five goal demolishment of Columbus setting too high a standard?

TFC were clearly the better team tonight, but DC United 2017 have been struggling. They are currently last in the Eastern standings. It might have been a classic case of playing down to weaker opponents or it might have been that dust and rust from not playing together. I worry that is more a matter of lesser teams defending with bodies in the box and TFC letting their tendency for finesse get the better of them. For all my love of the finesse game, sometimes you have to score ugly.
In the coming summer transfer window, would I trade Armando Cooper, the finesse player deepest on the midfield depth chart and lately not even gathering dust on the bench, for a hulking brute forward? Certainly. Are you reading Mr. Bezbatchenko?

The goals from Altidore and Hamilton, both set-up by Giovinco, were moments of skill and daring. Yet it was also concerning that Altidore, Giovinco and Bradley all picked up yellow cards last night. I was not comfortable with the ref last night and once again worry about our finesse team being roughed up and the ref only seeing the response. Michael Bradley now misses the New England rematch due to card accumulation.
Special mentions - Chris Mavinga was worth the price of admission last night. His bold defending, all timing and laser like feet, was a thrill to watch. He had a better game than Victor Vazquez, I felt. Since they are both the dazzling newcomers to TFC this year, I tend to compare them. Vazquez might only be guilty of establishing a supreme standard with his performance against Columbus. Michael Bradley was strong defending and positioning, but his long passing was falling back into the spraying wildly around the field category. I wore my USA shirt in honour of his superb goal against Mexico last week. Good things happen when you retain the threat of shooting the ball from surprising locations. That is surprising locations on the field of play, not surprising locations in the nation of Mexico.

I will miss the New England game due to being away in, of all places, New England next weekend. It's not soccer related. I am a long time dedicated fan of the band Wilco. Although they are from the Chicago area, they hold a music festival every two years in a small Massachusetts town named North Adams (at an incredible site- the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art or MASS MoCA). The festival is called Solid Sound , I have not missed one yet and 2017 is no exception. So I am not sure if I will blog or even be able to follow the game. Maybe I will beg a guest blogger to fill something in for me. Trust me, I want TFC to destroy New England. With their Trump friend owner and their hollow NFL ambiance home field, I put them above Columbus recently on my despised rival list.

Until the next time, All for One.

Muskets amok NE Revs 3 TFC 0

I dislike the New England Revolution.
They have a Trump loving owner.
They play in a stadium designed for NFL football on a surface designed for NFL football.
They have a goal scoring ritual that has a half dozen men dressed as American Revolutionary War chaps fire muskets after the home team scores a goal. I can't quite put my finger on why I find that deeply irksome, but I do. Maybe over glorification of military?
Oh and their head coach, Jay Heaps, often looks like a maniac and I remember him as a stormy player too...

So having NE Revs defeat TFC irks me deeply.
They caught TFC on an off performance night and defeated them 3-0.
Toronto FC had too many goal scoring opportunities elude them in the first half.
A clear header from Vazquez, a goal post hit by Morrow, a screaming shot from Cooper off the crossbar and Edwards not running onto a cross from Vazquez all spring to mind.
Seba Giovinco was Mr. Invisible

I am too deeply irked to write much more. Heavens, even Cheyrou looked slow and wayward in his passing tonight!

TFC do not play next weekend. They next play at home on June 17th. That should give them (and me) some time to get this one out the system.

grrrrrrr....

Capital punishment TFC 4 Ottawa Fury 0

Blue skies, nothing but blue skies -BMO on the brink of June

TFC played the second leg, the home game versus the Ottawa Fury in the Canadian semis last night and had little problem defeating them in a fairly lopsided game. The first half was mostly one of Ottawa frustrating and TFC looking frustrated. Then late in the half Endoh put one in off of a Fury defender (after Jordan Hamilton made a pinpoint cross from a "trapped out on the wing with a defender on his back" spot) and then seconds later it was Vazquez putting in a cross perfectly to Endoh's head and TFC had two goals. After that the Fury had to put all of their efforts into keeping tabs on TFC and the minute prospect of an Ottawa goal just faded throughout the second half.

It was a pleasure watching Vazquez and Cheyrou use the midfield as their canvas. They both find space to operate. They move into positions prior to getting the ball, they welcome pressure once they have the ball and they find ways, subtle and surprising, to move from the pressure and keep their dribbling and passing options open. They seldom seem to hold the ball too long, due to their ability to read the landscape around them.  The Fury had no equivalent. Marky Delgado scored as he went unmarked down the middle of the field. Seba Giovinco scored and you felt that he had spent his second half playing time getting back into shape and taking target practice.

The next MLS season game is this weekend against New England. The Revs have not had a strong start to the season and it is possible that TFC could go into this contest with a case of overconfidence. Thumping Ottawa just might contribute to the attitude problem. Bradley and Altidore have gone off for USMNT duty and will not be playing for TFC this weekend, same as last night. Giovinco might be rested to keep him off the artificial surface and Coach Vanney has done the same with Vazquez this season. No word on the leg injury to Tosaint Ricketts that had him come out of the game late in the first half last night. After the New England game Saturday TFC have a break in the schedule and do not play again until June 17th. The starting line-up for TFC will be interesting.
Stay tuned.