TFC 0-0 with Philly Union at Disney Tournament / strained Laba departure

The past 24 hours have been an emotional roller coaster for TFC fans.

I have been concerned with the quality of play in TFC's preseason games, but yesterday's game against the Philadelphia Union allowed those concerns to vanish.

First of all, the performance of Michael Bradley was excellent. His passing may not be pinpoint yet,  but his coverage of the field and his control of the ball was top notch. He played 90 minutes and whether paired with Osorio or Bekker he was TFC's dominating player.

When you add the flashes of offensive play that were displayed by Rey and Jackson, it was possible to end up drooling at the prospect of Gilberto and Defoe as forwards out in front of this midfield.

I was also impressed with the play of Justin Morrow at left back. His attacking skills, his defending and his overall awareness were well ahead of what TFC has come to expect from Ashtone Morgan. Morgan had some playing time, but the drop in dependability was notable. 

Henry and Caldwell looked solid in the middle. They both seem to benefit from Bradley playing well back in the midfield when defending. The rookie Nick Hagglund played right back and did not look out of place. He has energy, size and looked confident when on the ball. It made me wonder if he will be kept with the team for the season rather than being loaned to Wilmington.

DeRo and Weideman at forward were ineffective and their contributions (or lack of) just underlined how sad the Bright Dike serious injury is for Toronto.  Hopefully in a matter of weeks we are watching Defoe and Gilberto as TFC forwards and the depth concerns will fade a little. It seems likely that DeRo will be making short appearances as a super sub and will be contributing more for V-Cup games.

Saving the keeper for last, Julio Cesar had little to do for most of the game. He looked strong and confident. His distribution of the ball was everything a fan could hope for. Then late in the game when Philly tried to take advantage of the TFC traditional defending fade, Cesar made two stops that made his arrival as Toronto keeper official. Google Translate gives me both "parede" and "muralha" as Portuguese versions of "wall". Somebody help me with the Brazilian....

Then the roller coaster began to drop.

At first the news seemed to be that Laba had been loaned to Vancouver. Then later it was officially announced as a trade for future considerations.

Howls from the fans in the forums, the twitterverse and everywhere else you can imagine was the first response.

Part of me wants to howl too. TFC being fleeced in trades has been a constant background story throughout their history. I understand that having too many designated players put Toronto in a tough position. It is also important to provide context to the howling unhappy fans. TFC fans know the game well and we have been mistreated too many times. Remember that not too long ago we were subjected to the sight of Aaron Maund attempting to learn the holding midfielder role. His positioning was shabby, his anticipation non-existent and both his touch and tackling were woeful. There were many TFC 2013 critics of Justin Braun, but I thought that the clinching argument in his favour was that the team had traded Aaron Maund for him

 So when young Matias Laba arrives it is as if the soccer gods have rewarded us for our patience. Of course we are going to be out of proportion attached to a player who does so many small things right and seems to have the potential to become even greater. A Laba and Bradley midfield seemed to be a reward beyond our wildest dreams. Now, with the trade, it seems that dream has been shattered and the memories of horrible trades have flooded back in.

Time may heal this one. A strong start for Gilberto seems a requirement for success. 

How many days now until that first game in Seattle? I should find a countdown clock for the blog. Bring it on.....

Disney pre-season tournament Crew 3 TFC 1

TFC needs time to gel, time to connect and iron out the creases. I missed the first half so I am unable to give you an impression of Jackson, Gilberto and Morrow.  Bradley looked strong in his part of the second half. However he was not strong enough to drag the others into smart plays and passes.
I am capable of putting this game into perspective. It seemed that everyone on the roster was going to get some time on the pitch.
It is just that losing to the Crew is never a good way to get the ball rolling. Remember last year? The Crew game in the Disney tournament is when Frei was kicked in the nose. This time the entire team was kicked in the pants.

TFC win first preseason game 1-0 over DC

This was the moment where my screen froze

It has been a long winter. Although the conditions were foggy, the commentary was limited and the stream was jerky - it was great to see a TFC game.
The twitter feed informed me that Dike scored a late goal to give TFC the win. The stream ended when it was still 0-0.

Each half saw a different 11 for Toronto. No Jackson or Gilberto yet and of course Defoe does not arrive until the end of the month.

I am not sure of the next preseason game, but I hope the weather clears.

Toronto FC 2014 : Defoe and Dero

Winter is a lonely time for a TFC fan.
Day after day you pursue Toronto FC news through the web as the winds howl and the snow falls. Those long, long winter nights match your dark mood of worry and despair. Rumours and echoes of rumours shimmer everywhere. The promise of 2014 and the bold vision of Tim and Tim seem as distant as autumn leaves. TFC fans have been burned before, so I kept the blog quiet and continued to wait.

Today seems to be the day that the bleak midwinter ends and impatience for season 2014 begins.


The word seems to be that De Ro will return to Toronto this week and Jermain Defoe will be brought on board early next week.

Big news indeed. No big is not big enough a word to describe it.



Dwayne De Rosario
If he has anything left in the tank, DeRo has two powers within him. One is the ability to put the ball into the net and the other is to tear the team and fans apart. If he can contribute without needing dollars and glory, if he stays healthy and is content to play a reduced role - this could be a great way to end a career. I hope this

Jermain Defoe
He needs time and luck. A top level player on a top ten team in England lands here and I fear the view of the media and the casual soccer fan in these parts it that he should hit the ground running. Tear the league apart. Too easy to forget that his own team is new to him. Then add the league, the opposition, the refs....

Then while I was writing this, twitter went into overdrive with the rumour that Michael Bradley would be leaving AS Roma for Toronto. I am superstitious about posting about things yet to be confirmed....

Tim Bez continues TFC - summary of the week

GM Tim Bez introduces Gilberto

Wow. It is has been a week of frenzied activity in TFC land. I blogged about the trade for Jackson, but then thought it best to let the week roll by and then sum it up at the end. Then TFC introduced their new Designated Player Gilberto at a Friday afternoon press conference making my lazy plan look smart.

Gilberto is 24. He is Brazilian and is a striker. He appears to have scoring abilities and potential. So many of TFC's problems in 2013 were due to lack of scoring. Gilberto is expected to be the second fiddle striker. The first fiddle is still to be revealed.

I have forgotten the order of things, so here goes.

-TFC trade Stefan Frei to Seattle for a 2015 draft pick. No fan liked the move, but I give credit to the new GM that he was classy in his statement.

“Parting with a player of Stefan’s caliber and character is always difficult, but as we move forward with our re-shaping of the Club, it is important that we have increased flexibility to make additional moves. This trade provides us with that flexibility,” said Toronto FC General Manager Tim Bezbatchenko. “Stefan is a great player and an even better person who will always hold a special place in the Club’s history. We wish him all the best as he moves on to the next stage of his career.”

-TFC traded with Dallas for midfielder Jackson. A young Brazilian player with a few years in the MLS. Hope he makes friends with Gilberto. Hope he is able to improve his goals to cards ratio.

-TFC traded away Bobby Convey to New York. TFC gets a better pick in the college draft next month as a result of this.

The first round of the re-entry draft went by this week and TFC did not make a selection. The first round is the one where a team would have to honour the existing contract. Next week round two arrives and that one allows you flexibility in contracts. Nana Attakora is available from San Jose. I wonder if he gets a chance at redemption?

Stay tuned for developing roster news. 

TFC trades for Jackson

Not the first Jackson around here

TFC might have gained their first official new player for 2014 today in a trade for Jackson, a midfielder from Dallas.
I am not yet dancing in the streets. Didn't TFC trade for a Brazilian midfielder with KC last winter? An Oscar who never played a minute for Toronto? Here's hoping Jackson contributes more than that. Today was the first day for MLS trades following the Cup. TFC wasted no time.

Time to put a cork in it TFC 1 Montreal 0

Pitch in shadow, sunshine on east stand and downtown and a darkness over Scarborough...

TFC, 2013 vintage, ended production today. It was a victory over Montreal and it could be spun many ways. A good omen or just the curtain drop on a long lost season are the first to spring to mind. 2013 home games began with a victory and ended  just the same. Now if only the

intervening games could be worked on.

I am torn between offering limited praise for TFC or dishing scorn aplenty for Montreal sans Impact. For a playoff bound team with the gift of facing the second worst team in the MLS for their final game, they lacked all conviction. I would rate most the first half in TFC's favour. TFC had their goal but were also going forward with determination and seldom seemed to be rattled on the defending side.

Then the second half began with oodles of TFC attack. The first 10 to 15 minutes should have produced a bevy of Toronto goals to put the game away. The lack of killer instinct has been demonstrated bythe red and grey all season. The tide began to turn though and TFC tried to go into a shell. A few times it seemed that those Montreal shots were going to finally find the target. We have been down that road just a dozen times to many this year.  

Joe Bendik as man of the match was made a sure bet by his victory saving stop, one on one with a blue shirt on his doorstep. If this had been abasketball game we would have heard Jack Armstrong yell ' get thatgarbage out of here" alongside Bendik's resounding stop.

I think that all playoff teams are crossing their fingers and hoping to draw Montreal as their opponent. If they are a team peaking at the right time, they did one hell of a job of disguising it today. They also seemed all to eager to bend the ref's ear on almost every call. The ref was pretty rough, not sure what he saw on a lot of calls.

So beyond Bendik, Caldwell and Henry were steady in the back. Bloom and Morgan were medium strength, some overlaps and crosses in the attack, seldom caught out of position on d. Up front the combination of Earnshaw and Dike was not golden from moment one. Anticipation and understanding were lacking and both of them stuck mostly to solo efforts. The fact that the only TFCgoal was the sly re-direction of an Osorio shot by Earnshaw might be an indication that Dike/Earnshaw needs a lot of work. On the topic of strikers a special salute has to go to Justin Braun. When Nelson opted for a late game formation of 5-4-1, putting Agbossoumonde in

the back and Braun as the sole striker, it seemed that it was bunker time. Braun was superb however, in motion smartly, breaking into space,creating breaks and drawing fouls from a desperate Impact back four.

Saving my concern for last, time to talk TFC midfield. Convey had a better first half than second. Convey could have put one away in the late going, but instead crossed into puzzling space behind the others. Rey was the most consistent contributor, which is probably why he was getting fouled all over the place. Osorio and Bekker in the central midfield were ok defensively, but there was a lack of spark and sizzle when going forward. In the second half they had too many lulls where they seem to take whatever “spin your wheels and go nowhere” pass the opponent gives them. They do not exploit space and create chances for others and they do not draw fouls. Little lateral passes and feeding the wings gets very predictable and stays very tame. Perhaps Osorio is a winger after all, he was lively in the late going when shifted to the wing (Jeremy Hall came into the middle).

So now the offseason kicks in. Months of rumour, speculation and even actual developments. I was asking myself on a philosophical level what is the difference between the season and the off-season?

During the season our suffering is connected to a schedule of home and away games. Thank you, thank you, I am here all week, tip your waitress and try the roast beast.

No, no, that is no way to end the blog. 

The toques are great. It was bittersweet to watch Stefan Frei spending time with the fans after the game. The weather was a surprise, it could have been much worse.