TFC Fall To The Energy Drinks 3-0, Lose Seba And Continue To Regress

Well that was fun.  Oh wait, no it wasn’t.  What a mess.   And I was poorly prepared having not nearly enough booze in the house to deal with that match.  Due to a confluence of anniversaries, power outages and work none of the VMP crew were really prepared to write a post-match for this game.  But that’s OK, because TFC didn’t come prepared to play.  So here is my point-form post-game for your perusal:

The Goals:

1. Bradley Wright-Phillips scored.  Not just once, but three times (4′,25′ and 27′).  In fact he scored the fastest hat trick in MLS history.  You know who had the previous fastest? DeRo.
2. Who was responsible for the goals?  You can assign one to Morrow, one to Moor and one to Perquis and then add a sprinkling of Beitashour in for all three.  TFC’s defense regressed in the worst possible way and let one of MLS’s top scorers – and a frequent scorer against Toronto – just stroll around and do what he wanted.  Moor and Morrow were both poor; with Moor having just a nightmare of a game.
3. After the first goal, hell after the second goal you’d think they’d mark him differently but no.  You’d think they’d watch Sacha Klejstan, but no.  The first goal should have put them on alert and they managed to stave off the constant Red Bull press until Seba came off and then they fell apart.

Seba:

1. Seba had the armband tonight and we’d all hoped a giant, point to prove chip on his shoulder as well.  Instead in the 22nd minute we saw him take off the armband and signal to be subbed out. Fucking fantastic.  The only DP we have and the source of all our goals (pretty much) and he’s hurt.
2. Once Seba was subbed off – for Ashtone Morgan no less! – TFC struggled for the remainder of the first half to get anything going.
3. He’s apparently strained an abductor muscle; but according to Vanney post-match it’s not too bad.  Regardless it is doubtful we see him before the Galaxy game on the 18th.

The Red Card:

1. Possibly one of the most ridiculous acts I’ve seen by a player when in the 42nd minute Gonzalo Veron jumped – not just lunged – but jumped, studs first at Marky Delgado.  He may have gotten mostly ball but also got Delgado, and regardless was absolutely a red.
2. Did TFC take advantage of being up a man?  Sadly no.

The Second Half:

1. ALL THE CANADIANS: By the end of the second half there were six – count ’em six – Canadians on the pitch.  Among them Jordan Hamilton who finally got some meaningful first team minutes. Minus Will Johnson (who’ll be away on international duty next week) expect to see all of them in the lineup for TFC’s home leg of their Voyageurs Cup semi-final series against the Impact.  Morgan, Osorio and Hamilton all had solid games; either trying to set up goals or attempting them.  Chapman wasn’t on long enough to really rate, Babouli had a sub-par game and Johnson was likely asked to do too much in this game.
2. The finishing: So many chances for Toronto in the second half.  Who – to be fair – did play much better in the second half, owning possession for most of the half.  However they missed chance after chance; overall they took 19 shots to the Red Bulls 7 (with 7 of them being on target).  So regardless of better play and the bulk of possession, shots were going wide or being easily saved.  Toronto had multiple opportunities to close the gap and didn’t.
3. The Penalty:  Just after the half started Lovitz drew a penalty in the box.  Huzzah!   Will Johnson (sure why not) steps up to take it and Scores! Huzzah!  Oh wait, apparently there was encroachment (but no mention of Robles roaming all over the place) and the goal was called back.  Cue the classic poorly taken, easily saved second attempt.  SIGH.

Look, this game more than any other this season serves to underscore how unbalanced this squad is.  But even more than than – because lots of squads are unbalanced – how unprepared they are to respond to challenges, to even the smallest amount of adversity.   Gone is the mature, smart, defensively sound play of the beginning of the season; gone is the fun they seemed to be having.  This is a grim and confused team right now.  And when Will Johnson leaves to play with the Canadian team – and if Benoit Cheyrou isn’t ready to play – they are woefully devoid of leadership on the pitch.  I’m fine with a team being a youth project, if that’s what their intent is.  However this is team is allegedly built to challenge for an MLS Cup and right now they look like anything but.  I know that it’s only one game; except that it comes after that insipid home stand.  Hopefully the break in MLS games will help – although they’ve got two Voyageurs Cup games coming up – but something needs to change and fast, or this season is going to go off the rails very quickly.