South Stand Report : Toronto v Colorado
Colorado Rapids as the Caribou of Colorado.
Damn I hate the rain. I’m on the GO writing this portion of the report and it just started spitting. Sometimes, just sometimes, it’s just too far to come to stand and get soaked. If I lived closer, less of complaint.
Anyways. #preGameRanting
Today is armed forces appreciation day. It’s the time of year where Toronto FC asks its customers to donate the tickets they paid for to give to the armed forces so then the franchise can pander to nationalistic tendencies. I’m not against the military by any stretch, but if the franchise wants to do this each year, maybe they could donate their largely unsold tickets. Or even get the scalpers they’re in cahoots with to pony up. I’m sure the military would appreciate a block together than the piecemeal donations of people who likely couldn’t make it. #justSayin
I digress. #tooLate
Toronto is coming off an uninspired performance on Wednesday where they played poorly and earned nothing at the playpen pitch that was Yankee Stadium versus New York City FC.
1′ – Perquis with some outstanding pointing and hand gesturing as the ball rolls towards Konopka. Early man of the Match candidate?
6′ – Giovinco has a go from long way out.
10′ – Giovinco has a go from long range and the Colorado keeper volleyball sets it to make the save.
15′ – GOAL – Giovinco takes the ball from 30 yards out, bullies his marker away, runs it to the top of the box, lets a low shit go and Clint Irwin doesn’t quite get a hand to it and trickles through.
ROBINS 1, FAKE SWEDEN 0
18′ – GOAL – Giovinco this and Giovinco that. Osorio lays a ball off for Seba, one touch and picks a corner. Boring. Unimpressive #kidding #legend #MVP #noOneBettaThanSeba
ROBINS 2, FAKE SWEDEN 0
33′ – Perquis just running away with the man of the match so far. Good marking and a solid tackle and no own goals.
36′ – Altidore gets on the end of a big cross and heads it just wide of the far post. Perquis still running things in the back.
38′ – GOAL – corner from Giovinco finds the head of your Man of the Match, Damien Perquis. Glorious. Started as a joke, now we’re legit. Keep your head Damien…
ROBINS 3, FAKE SWEDEN 0
40′ – Konopka stops a chance on the doorstep.
41′ – GOAL – Sanchez corner finds Dillon Powers‘ head and Konopka waaaaaay off his line, and into the unguarded net.
ROBINS 3, FAKE SWEDEN 1
45′ – YELLOW – Morrow goes into the book for a clumsy tackle
47′ – Altidore has a go at goal and whiffs it. Rebound finds Giovinco who sends it across to Robbie Findley where the ball lands on his feet then rolls out of bounds. Seriously.
49′ – it looks like it’s going to rain. Everyone is getting their ponchos out. It’s just misting. Nothing to worry about.
51′ – OMG it’s going sideways. My left leg is absolutely soaked. Where’s our roof that they promised? Where? Answer me!
From here on in, the note pad remained in the pocket. Findley came off to a thankful applause (that he’s off) for anyone else. Giovinco was in the middle of a tirade when his substitution took place. Delgado who came on late was booked for time wasting in a throw in, which seemed a bit harsh and misbooked.
Full Time : Toronto 3, Colorado 1
Man of the Match : Perquis hands down. His pointing was on mark, as well as marshalling the backfield. And then there’s that sweet goal.
Goat of the Game : Findley. I may never understand him.
Ref Rating : 2 out of 5. Harsh bookings and blown calls were a bit too frequent
Kit Spotting : Toronto kit with someone’s name as “Johnny” and number 5
I Am Not The Gaffer But… : I would have started Bendik but the subs were well timed and Findley came off earlier than usual.
In Case You PVR’d It : first half, exciting. Second half, wet and a bit frustrating.
The man of the match thing for Perquis started as a joke but we were cool with the decision once it went in the net. As long as he didn’t do anything disastrous, he had earned it… I adore Colorado’s away kit. Sure they look like a buttery Sweden, but it’s gorgeous. I realized that the overwhelming majority of kit combinations (shirt & shorts) are matching (same colour shirt & shorts). Wikipedia tells me that of the 42 combos, 13 are mismatching. Hope Toronto reintroduce that look sooner than later on any kit… Altidore has to be the most polarizing player on the roster right now. He can bag three goals over two games, then go invisible for three games, then set up a few in a game. His inconsistency drives me nuts. I do see his value, but have difficulty appreciating his value in a team that craves consistency… Seriously, this roof thing we’ve heard about, where the Fagundez is it?… That’s two games in a row for Konopka, caught in no-man’s land on a cross and makes an absolute hash of it. I will admit that I am pro-Bendik, and I will admit that the differences between the two are minimal but I prefer to have Bendik’s perceived flaws than Konopka’s…
Player Ratings : Konopka 6, Delgado 6, Williams 6.5, Perquis 8.5, Morrow 6, Findley 4.5 (Warner N/A), Bradley 6.5, Cheyrou 6, Osorio 6, Giovinco 8 (Zavaleta N/A), Altidore 5.5 (Moore N/A)
September 20, 2015
as if the goal wasn’t enough to seal Perquis’ man of the match, he then went off on kurt larson in the dressing room after the game. #Legend.
He did look aggressive in a determined, focused way, much more vocal and organisey than I remember seeing him before. Guess he had a chip on his shoulder after recent criticism.
Good job we won really, what with montreal, orlando and new york winning as well. Big day (that ultimately changed nothing other than chipping a game off everyone’s games remaining stat) in the race for 6th. Also, DC lost again, now down to 4th, only 5 points ahead, fading fast and still with ccl commitments to occupy them. they couldn’t could they?
September 20, 2015
Looks like the Reds found a team weak enough down the centre for take advantage of for at least one half.
Yep, Perquis did assume a Cesar-like posture with flying kisses and rose petals flitting down around him. Perhaps I should refer to him as kaiser or czar of defense? Get us into the second round of the playoffs and I just might.
Bradley, Oso and Cheyrou all controlled the ball against the Rapids midfield and even had consistent positive movement.
September 21, 2015
yeah, was very odd that colorado’s midfield just gave up so much space for giovinco to run at the defence. defence didn’t want to commit to a tackle and get beat so just backed off, and voila lots of long shot opportunities for him. got lucky on the first where irwin really should have done better, the second was a lovely move and finish. all in all, ‘colorado are a stingy defensive team’ seems like a bit of a sham.