Amazing what the Hard Times Can Reveal
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Have at It People
Amazing what the Hard Times Can Reveal
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Have at It People
Can we send TFC II instead?
Well Berne has the day off next Saturday so...I'd start him and kill the tie off in the first 20.
I am not expecting us to wrap this up in 20 minutes. I bet this game is a dogfight.
Anyone who knows Cup football in Europe knows. Minnows don’t roll over in these away second legs. This is the shop window. Catch someones eye here, and a St Laurent player could get picked up in CPL….
"There are some people who might have better technique than me, and some may be fitter than me, but the main thing is tactics. With most players, tactics are missing. You can divide tactics into insight, trust, and daring." - Johan Cruyff
Also a good chance that this is the last game for awhile in a TFC kit (due to injury returns) for:
Mabika
Mailula
Thompson
Rosted
So expect these guys to play hard, as well. Throw in guys who will be fighting for game time: JMR, Spicer, Etienne, Coello, Franklin & TFC is using this game to get these guys playing their hardest trying to impress.
I think those 9 guys alone will run over CS St. Laurent. This is their opportunity to follow through on the 401 derby.
Throw in Kerr into that mix as he's fighting to show Herdman they don't need to go out & get another striker & I think TFC walks all over their semi-pro opponent.
As long as they give them purpose for this game, this game will be over in the first 20 mins.
Staniland, Sharp, Batiz? Maybe Ayari or Yhtallo?
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/JohnMolinaro/status/1792612692441837797
I can't believe he won't play Mailula even when we're up 4-0.
I'm sorry, I love our manager for what he's doing, but I think every manager has blind spots, players who they dislike for reasons that aren't particularly logical.
I see Mailula's obvious shortcomings athletically (he's not that quick) and maybe he's too much a defensive liability, and we just don't see it because he's never out there.
But I also see a forward who has better movement, positioning and passing that DeAndre Kerr. Who gets into dangerous positions and can interplay with people around the box.
And the South African league produces too much talent for it to be written off as sub USL or so lesser that his prior record counts for nothing.
My neurodiverse cynicism toward how neurotypical people are impacted by strong biases says it's something like that.
When Steve Cooper wouldn't play Richie at Forest despite both training-watching journalists and teammates saying he was doing well, my first thought was "football guy, strong biases, won't play a player from MLS, because he only made league two himself, and won't want to admit it's a superior league."
By the second time we could've given Mailula a shot and didn't, I was thinking "short guy syndrome, thinks it affected his own chances of being a player, can't see his upside because Mailula's tiny."
Now, normal/neurotypical people might think that sounds ridiculous, but I've lived with you irrational fuckers (I say it with love) for 54 years, and people allow small subliminal biases to divert or impact their judgement all the time.
I see his shortcomings. But he has strengths, and he isn't being given a chance to prove it. I believe the old football tradition is true: if you play someone and they play well, they should keep getting chances. He's played well in his limited spots, scored a goal and set up another. He should get chances.
Having said all that, I will acknowledge I'm only seeing half the picture. Maybe he's an arrogant little dick or something.
Poor passing is a no no at this level - Malilua's passing, to me, is an issue. He routinely hits balls without enough power assuming players will be in certain spots - letting him get the ball is an effective defensive technique.
He doesn't "routinely" do anything; he's played for us six times, and had two starts
He's only made four pass attempts this year and two of them were incomplete. One was long, the other he left short.
But leaving one pass short is not "routinely"! Hyperbole, Og. Last season, he had 15 attempts and completed 13 of them, each averaging 13 yards.
So there's no evidence that he's a bad passer. In fact, I'd argue on the visual test, he's better than multiple other players.
But again, 19 total passes in his playing time for us is just evidence he isn't actually getting any time.
Not sure if the stats were kept in the cup matches but he's passed more then 4 times in those games.
Watching him in the cup matches is where I was getting my information.....we will see tomorrow night but he's had issues and its not just being bullied off due to his size.
I think Batiz already has had his max four short term deals already.
Remember The Man, The Legend, The Goal 5-12-07 and All That #9 Left On The Pitch, Thanks For The Memories !!!
Fede and Insigne both playing, Herdman said yesterday. Insigne needs the minutes and Fede's out on the weekend, and he wants to keep them game ready.
Curic Edwards and Dumitru signed for tonight...fourth and final short term agreement of the season for Dumitru
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/TorontoFC/status/1792994401024643205[COLOR=#353C41][FONT=Inter][/FONT][/COLOR]
Wow, Scotty Bowman, really keeping his fitness up for a guy in his 90s.
Good to see the yutes getting starting time.
Herdman seems to really rate Dumitru. Was the first guy to get the short term treatment and has actually got some game time. Wouldn't be surprised to see him signed to a first team deal in the near future.
Also, surprised about Curic getting a look. He genuinely underwhelms me whenever I watch TFC II.
Insigne and the kids is an interesting approach - I'm assuming with Insigne its to give him minutes towards building up stamina. That and otherwise it would be Kobe as captain.
Franklin is gonna basically become an emergency bench player when Richie is back. That sucks for him.
Big game 3 of preseason vibes in the stands and on the field.
This could get ugly if they don't try actually covering our crosses.
Gavran pissed at his defenders there.
Our defenders have gone to sleep. Didn't even try to block that shot.
If it wasn't our easiest way into the CCL, I'd be down with US Opening this tournament.