robertmac43
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Toronto FC: Toronto FC/Canada Soccer Discussion Thread - WC Qualifiers continue
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robertmac43
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TMLeafer
Rest in Peace Johnny Bower
Phew, offside again.
I missed most of the first half, listened to it in the car and didn't hear Altidore's name once in like 15 minutes.
I know he needs one chance and hope he can come through.
I missed most of the first half, listened to it in the car and didn't hear Altidore's name once in like 15 minutes.
I know he needs one chance and hope he can come through.
trellaine201
Registered User
TMLeafer
Rest in Peace Johnny Bower
SeaOfBlue
The Passion That Unites Us All
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just saw the score RIP
I didn't watch the entire game, but they did not even deserve to make it to extra time. They deserved to lose 3-0 (if not more).
Just looked slow and old... And I think there are a few too many guys who are slow and old.
trellaine201
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Cloned
Begging for Bega
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Hopefully Omar won't be on this team next year. Mavinga looked pretty poor too.
And Gallardo is completely useless for what he gets paid. Could he take any longer to shoot in front of goal?
And Gallardo is completely useless for what he gets paid. Could he take any longer to shoot in front of goal?
CabanaBoy5
Registered User
Absolutely pathetic effort but who didn’t see this coming, they only won one of their last five games. When your best players couldn’t complete a pass (Pozuelo has never looked this bad) you’re not going to win. Bradley and Altidore are done. Omar is beyond bad, he looks so awkward. Oh well, it was a difficult season for them being homeless and all.
TMLeafer
Rest in Peace Johnny Bower
Yeah we may/should see a lot of changes next season. I can see Priso playing much more. Time to move on from Altidore, Piatti didn't do much either. I'm OK with Bradley on a non-DP contract and we need 3 new CBs.
robertmac43
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Tough game, De Leon really should have put his chance away but even then we were simply beaten today.
Sucks we had the injury bug and couldn't get a good run together as a healthy unit. Hopefully we come back next year and get to play at BMO!
Sucks we had the injury bug and couldn't get a good run together as a healthy unit. Hopefully we come back next year and get to play at BMO!
trellaine201
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robertmac43
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Clark4Ever
What we do in hockey echoes in eternity...
We were outplayed and deserved what we got. Then again, we were predictably out of sync after such a long layoff between games.
The league needs to rethink it's current playoff format. The top 2 seeds in the East got upset in their first playoff game against inferior opponents, and it's not a coincidence.
Outcoached, outplayed. The long layoff helped our guys nurse their injuries, so we can't really look at it as a negative. They were out of sync, but this loss was just a repeat of the way they had played coming into the playoffs.
Hopefully we never see Gonzalez in a TFC jersey again. Slow in judgement and mobility. Not since Nick Garcia have a I seen a more inept, unathletic footballer.
Hopefully we never see Gonzalez in a TFC jersey again. Slow in judgement and mobility. Not since Nick Garcia have a I seen a more inept, unathletic footballer.
Hard to play your 1st game in over a month as a playoff game so Pablo Piatti and Richie Laryea get a pass from me ... they were very good all year but it was asking too much of them too fast ... and it affects Poz as he needs to play off of other skilled creative guys and when those 2 are not doing anything he is easily controlled ... da great thing about Seba is he could create with only Vas ... and there are no Maradona's (RIP) (one man gangs in MLS) ... Poz looked bad in that game but he will be fine again when 2 above are back to normal pace
But we got serious problems here folks ... Omar was complete garbage and cost us MLS Cup last year when 2 guys beat him easy for goals (that was his only playoff game last year) and this year he has been garbage every single game and he cost us with another 2 left foot move again this playoffs ... very big mistake in player judgment to pay his transfer fee and sign him to big $$$ (he is on team next year too before his contract is done) ... he has no speed and he has no feet only a header left for da big guy ... he will sit on bench next year as a costly ornament ... liga was happy to get rid of him and now we all know why
But bigger issue is Bradley ... he just can't keep up ... he did send a couple nice balls up but we need more than 2 a game from central midfield against a weaker opponent ... I don't know if he knows he is done but he is done ... cap my cap this one is really hard as you bleed RED ... it is very hard to win games when you get destroyed in midfield ... and we got totally destroyed in midfield by Nashville an expansion team... maybe he has to play defender in place of Omar
On bright side our tender is rock solid and kept team in game in game we should have lost by 4 goals ... and he is paid far less than our backup tender ... wow what a disappointing end to season
But we got serious problems here folks ... Omar was complete garbage and cost us MLS Cup last year when 2 guys beat him easy for goals (that was his only playoff game last year) and this year he has been garbage every single game and he cost us with another 2 left foot move again this playoffs ... very big mistake in player judgment to pay his transfer fee and sign him to big $$$ (he is on team next year too before his contract is done) ... he has no speed and he has no feet only a header left for da big guy ... he will sit on bench next year as a costly ornament ... liga was happy to get rid of him and now we all know why
But bigger issue is Bradley ... he just can't keep up ... he did send a couple nice balls up but we need more than 2 a game from central midfield against a weaker opponent ... I don't know if he knows he is done but he is done ... cap my cap this one is really hard as you bleed RED ... it is very hard to win games when you get destroyed in midfield ... and we got totally destroyed in midfield by Nashville an expansion team... maybe he has to play defender in place of Omar
On bright side our tender is rock solid and kept team in game in game we should have lost by 4 goals ... and he is paid far less than our backup tender ... wow what a disappointing end to season
robertmac43
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I don't think the bigger issue is Bradley. He is slower now, yeah. It was also a tough year for his health and his match form, which should be better under normal circumstances. He still plays a great ball and gives coverage for the back line, he just won't be as nimble getting up and down the pitch. An energetic B2B midfielder would be nice to add so Bradley can focus more on defense and ball progression.
Clark4Ever
What we do in hockey echoes in eternity...
The reality is that most of our core players are in decline. We need to get younger and quicker.
I hope you are right but I would not be putting any $$$ on that bet. Guys are beating him easy with speed now. His defense is tactical but he is an easy beat 1 on 1 today like Omar. But maybe a top notch DP at midfield partner with speed could change da paradigm. Certainly it is NOT Osorio or Delgado as we have all seen. Altidore is done so we could let him go and find a midfield DP.
robertmac43
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I don't think we need a DP mf to fix the problem, there are plenty of serviceable MFs that could be had without using that DP spot. Hypothetically if Jozy was to move on I would want to use that DP spot on a different striker, Akinola likely won't be here very long and we are going to need quality on the front line for Piatti and Poz.
Greg Vanney unplugged: On a 'most difficult' season and what he’s learned about TFC - The Athletic
Team bonding is part of what I assume the goal of playing floor hockey is. But how did you avoid your coaching staff, and your team, just hating each other given the amount of time you spent together?
It was interesting because we ate meals together, we were together every meal, basically. We tried to make as many things as informal as possible in terms of being able to pop in and eat when you wanted. And we didn’t do many team meetings outside of stuff that we had to do — we would do a pregame meeting and preparation meeting for the opposition. But I was very, very cognizant of not trying to get together and meet too much and talk tactics too much, or do any of these things where it just forced people into the same space over and over and over.
Even if we were at (BMO Training Ground in Toronto), and people were going home, we probably would have done a lot more in terms of our preparation. But I was just really cautious about overkill when everybody was together just so much.
I think (TFC director of sports science) Jim Liston and the sports medicine staff do a nice job of mixing things up and having different games that the guys will play the day after the game. Things that are fun, they’re competitive, but they’re not soccer, and they allow for more stories and banter and things that guys will talk about for the next 24 hours or so that just keeps things light and fun. It was a real exercise in trying to balance too much soccer and too much of each other with just trying to balance mental health and keeping guys at ease and all that kind of stuff.
(Assistant coach) Jason Bent is also our “DJ Soups.” Every Thursday he would DJ down in the lounge area and it was just for us. He played music every Thursday, and some guys would be playing poker. There were lots of things that kind of organically came together as we got settled in.
You touched on this, but in Hartford, what did that situation allow you to do as a coach that you might not have been able to do otherwise?
It was team bonding times 1,000. I thought it was hugely successful for our younger players — for Jayden Nelson, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Julian Dunn, Luke Singh. These guys were in residency with our professional team for months, and so their ability to be around pros and to see them work and train every day, and then when they’re not training in the afternoons, they were working with our performance and physical staff and sports science staff. I really felt those guys grew up a lot in that environment. And I’ve seen them each progress over the last couple months just by being in there. And that’s something you can’t duplicate if you’re at home with a residential setup.
How is your team different now heading into the playoffs than they were at the beginning of the season, which feels like a lifetime ago?
It’s a good question. The year has provided some growth together. At the beginning of seasons, even though our team has been together for a while, there’s still a couple of new faces here or there getting used to tendencies of each other. And you only get that through the course of a season, and you gain experiences through the course of the year that either help you when it comes time to play some of these big games, where you build confidence together, and you go through struggles together and all that that kind of culminate towards the tail end of the year. Those are the things where our younger players have definitely improved. They have the ability to contribute a little bit more now. There’s some excitement that those players have that is nice.
Ralph Priso was another player I didn’t mention who has come an incredibly long way; who is going to be a very good player for this club. Now, I don’t look down the bench and go, ‘Oh, all we have is a bunch of young kids.’ We actually have some kids who are capable of impacting the game. And so it helps the team to get a little bit deeper through more experience. Things like that, I think, are the ultimate thing.
Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley are two constants of the Greg Vanney era. They both spent a lot of time on the sidelines this season. How did the locker room dynamic shift this season? Because, to me, those are two of the most prominent voices on the team.
Others guys’ voices and personalities will definitely step up or become more prevalent. There’s guys, for sure — out of respect for those two, in particular — that maybe are less vocal, or just are supplemental leaders that when your primary leaders, for example, aren’t involved, those supplemental leaders step up and take up bigger leadership roles.
I put the armband on (Jonathan Osorio) because of his time here, and he’s played in a lot of big games here. I think he stands for a lot of what the club is about, and as a Canadian player who’s come through. For him, it was me challenging him to be more vocal and take responsibility, which he does, but he does it usually with his playing, and I was looking for him to also do that verbally with the team. It’s something he wanted, and something he’s ready for. And so I asked for that.
And guys like Pozuelo — he has been a captain — Laurent has a huge personality, whether he’s on the field or not on the field, he’s got a big personality. Zavaleta, he’s got a big personality in the group. He helps a lot. A lot of guys fill in those spaces when Michael or Jozy aren’t there, per se.
Team bonding is part of what I assume the goal of playing floor hockey is. But how did you avoid your coaching staff, and your team, just hating each other given the amount of time you spent together?
It was interesting because we ate meals together, we were together every meal, basically. We tried to make as many things as informal as possible in terms of being able to pop in and eat when you wanted. And we didn’t do many team meetings outside of stuff that we had to do — we would do a pregame meeting and preparation meeting for the opposition. But I was very, very cognizant of not trying to get together and meet too much and talk tactics too much, or do any of these things where it just forced people into the same space over and over and over.
Even if we were at (BMO Training Ground in Toronto), and people were going home, we probably would have done a lot more in terms of our preparation. But I was just really cautious about overkill when everybody was together just so much.
I think (TFC director of sports science) Jim Liston and the sports medicine staff do a nice job of mixing things up and having different games that the guys will play the day after the game. Things that are fun, they’re competitive, but they’re not soccer, and they allow for more stories and banter and things that guys will talk about for the next 24 hours or so that just keeps things light and fun. It was a real exercise in trying to balance too much soccer and too much of each other with just trying to balance mental health and keeping guys at ease and all that kind of stuff.
(Assistant coach) Jason Bent is also our “DJ Soups.” Every Thursday he would DJ down in the lounge area and it was just for us. He played music every Thursday, and some guys would be playing poker. There were lots of things that kind of organically came together as we got settled in.
You touched on this, but in Hartford, what did that situation allow you to do as a coach that you might not have been able to do otherwise?
It was team bonding times 1,000. I thought it was hugely successful for our younger players — for Jayden Nelson, Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, Julian Dunn, Luke Singh. These guys were in residency with our professional team for months, and so their ability to be around pros and to see them work and train every day, and then when they’re not training in the afternoons, they were working with our performance and physical staff and sports science staff. I really felt those guys grew up a lot in that environment. And I’ve seen them each progress over the last couple months just by being in there. And that’s something you can’t duplicate if you’re at home with a residential setup.
How is your team different now heading into the playoffs than they were at the beginning of the season, which feels like a lifetime ago?
It’s a good question. The year has provided some growth together. At the beginning of seasons, even though our team has been together for a while, there’s still a couple of new faces here or there getting used to tendencies of each other. And you only get that through the course of a season, and you gain experiences through the course of the year that either help you when it comes time to play some of these big games, where you build confidence together, and you go through struggles together and all that that kind of culminate towards the tail end of the year. Those are the things where our younger players have definitely improved. They have the ability to contribute a little bit more now. There’s some excitement that those players have that is nice.
Ralph Priso was another player I didn’t mention who has come an incredibly long way; who is going to be a very good player for this club. Now, I don’t look down the bench and go, ‘Oh, all we have is a bunch of young kids.’ We actually have some kids who are capable of impacting the game. And so it helps the team to get a little bit deeper through more experience. Things like that, I think, are the ultimate thing.
Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley are two constants of the Greg Vanney era. They both spent a lot of time on the sidelines this season. How did the locker room dynamic shift this season? Because, to me, those are two of the most prominent voices on the team.
Others guys’ voices and personalities will definitely step up or become more prevalent. There’s guys, for sure — out of respect for those two, in particular — that maybe are less vocal, or just are supplemental leaders that when your primary leaders, for example, aren’t involved, those supplemental leaders step up and take up bigger leadership roles.
I put the armband on (Jonathan Osorio) because of his time here, and he’s played in a lot of big games here. I think he stands for a lot of what the club is about, and as a Canadian player who’s come through. For him, it was me challenging him to be more vocal and take responsibility, which he does, but he does it usually with his playing, and I was looking for him to also do that verbally with the team. It’s something he wanted, and something he’s ready for. And so I asked for that.
And guys like Pozuelo — he has been a captain — Laurent has a huge personality, whether he’s on the field or not on the field, he’s got a big personality. Zavaleta, he’s got a big personality in the group. He helps a lot. A lot of guys fill in those spaces when Michael or Jozy aren’t there, per se.
robertmac43
Forever 43!
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robertmac43
Forever 43!
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TMLeafer
Rest in Peace Johnny Bower
I wonder if it was entirely his choice. I think the time was right but I'm still a bit surprised. What an incredible run when you take a step back and look at it. Curious where he's headed next.
Maybe it also means big on field changes next year? End of an era.
Maybe it also means big on field changes next year? End of an era.
robertmac43
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