For the one of you who reads this blog and do not live anywhere near here, Canada is a magical place that has some rather dysfunctional weather systems. Take this past week. We had days where you leave the house for work in a light winter jacket, and by the time you’re ready to head home, you might not need a jacket whatsoever. Then the following day it’s cold and geting colder. And wetter.
And I’m not prepared for this.
Toronto is unbeaten coming off a win over Vancouver two weeks ago and they’re up against another unbeaten Sporks side.
I will say, shit weather and decorative canopies aside, it’s good to see the footie family again. Friendly faces, hand slaps and hugs around. Welcome back ladies and gents.
On To The Match :
So it was too drizzly and cold and wet so I didn’t take any notes. So here’s what I remembered.
Bradley turned someone inside out while clearing the ball from the back.
Osorio nearly had a goal of the year candidate by trapping a ball, faking out a defender, and then firing a bar over the bar from 12 yards out.
Irwin got hurt and came out around the 40 minute mark.
Halftime Mood : cold, soaked and a bit bored
Giovinco took a free kick and nailed the crossbar. Duncan rolls his eyes.
It got more exciting near the end of the match.
Then it ended. Then I thawed and dried out.
Full Time : Toronto 0, Kansas City 0
Man of the Match : Michael Bradley was entertaining the hell outta me by mugging players and out dribbling them. Was half expecting him to sit on the ball at the half-way line to taunt defenders, but didn’t. Also Raheem Edwards, had an excellent match.
Goat of the Game : Irwin for getting hurt. Kidding. Seriously, nobody was terrible but Ricketts was invisible.
Ref Rating : 3 out of 5.
I Am Not the Gaffer, But… : I might have taken Osorio out earlier, but felt he made the right moves and keeping Edwards out the whole game was spot on.
In Case You PVR’d It : you can skip the first half.
Poor Osorio. He was in the right place, right time, but unfortunate finishing. Should’ve had one at least… It was nice to see they kept the weather from MLS Cup from last season… I really hope I didn’t almost win the free jersey giveaway but lost by leaving early. Best kits are often free… Nothing gave me as great a pleasure as watching Dwyer shank his shots. Shadenfreude is nice… Seriously, if anyone has a private box they’d like to donate to the Vocal Minority, we would gladly accept it. Especially on terrible weather days.
Player Ratings : Irwin 6 (Bono 7), Zavaleta 6, Moor 6, Hagglund 6, Beitashour 6, Bradley 7, Edwards 7, Osorio 6 (Cooper N/A), Vazquez 6.5, Ricketts 5.5 (Altidore 6), Giovinco 6.5
Unused Substitutes : Cheyrou, Delgado, Mavinga, Chapman
April 2, 2017
It was bad to the bone, Friday night, on the cold, cold, shores of Lake Ontario. Those opening day Blue Jay games at old Exhibition Stadium were conducted in at least daylight hours.
Oso and especially Vazques were wandering all over the central pitch. That approach had some punch on the left side because of Edwards’ rigid structure in playing his wing position. It didn’t work well on the right side with Beitashour. The right side was riddled with “no where to go”, out numbered situations and plain off no one playing their position. That is why Ricketts was invisible as he had no service.Giovinco even started to drop back in front of the back 3 to get his service, followed by pointless parallel runs across the pitch in isolation. I was hoping to see the old north-south-1-2 to generate a breakthrough. And yes Oso needs to see his striker coach., please.
Vanney is also going to have to figure how to get through the clutch-and-grab his best players have to endure without much more than distant midfield free kicks awarded. Altidore was tagged with a retaliation foul after the obligatory molestation from KC.
Reds by and large are playing a tempered style early this season, play for a tie rather than a win. At least, it seems that way.
So Edwards is tight and structured and that led to good opportunities. The rest of the team need play the same way even if the they are cold to the bone (their disinterest really showed 2/3 into the game).
April 3, 2017
BTW – Vasques defends like a matador, a swirl of his cape and the attacker is bye him. Perhaps the cold set in on him too deeply.
Agree with your MotM assessment.