No pressure Torsten
IN THE TUNNEL:
A few days after suffering one of the most humiliating losses in the club's history (and there's a few to choose from) TFC continued its "Places De Ro Played Tour". Tonight it was the always difficult Robertson Stadium - home of Houston Dynamo. Whether it would be the oppressive heat or the usual strong home form of the Orange Crush, TFC would be up against it with one game left B.F. (Before Frings)ON THE PITCH:
1' - A glorious sunny Texas night in Houston. Players ready, space shuttle in orbit, guns holstered. Kick-off...
10' - Having Richard Eckersley forced into the CB role hurting forward movement out of the back as it did against New York
15' - 75 minutes Before Frings
19' - You really expect to see Marco Van Basten playing in those Houston kits
23' - Neither team owning possession but Houston looking slightly more business-like
28' - Dynamo MF Je-Vaughn (seriously) Watson tests Stefan Frei from long-range
31' - YELLOW CARD: Eckersley picks up his fifth warning after a rash tackle meaning he will be suspended vs. FC Dallas. A cardboard box being considered to play CB
40' - 50 minutes Before Frings
45' - A half mostly muddled in the midfield comes to an end with TFC's rag-tag defence managing to hold the few Dynamo efforts at bay
HALFTIME: HOUSTON 0 - TORONTO 0
50' - GOAL: Danny Cruz flies past Danleigh Borman at the end of a very fast Dynamo counter attack and easily beats Stefan Frei
HOUSTON 1 - TORONTO 0
55' - Decent attendance considering Houston was nuked back in 1996 by President Thomas J. Whitmore during the alien invasion
59' - SUB: A poor night for Danleigh Borman ends with a replacement by Gianluca Zavarise. Yourassowsky drops to the LB role
63' - YELLOW CARD: Alan Gordon warned after late challenge on Andre Hainault. The two have been at handbags all evening
65' - 25 minutes Before Frings
67' - YELLOW CARD: Mikael Yourassowsky for being Mikael Yourassowsky
68' - SUB: Jacob Peterson puts in a decent 70 minutes on his return to action and is replaced by Nick Soolsma
71' - Someone get TFC a cardiologist because there is no sign of heart on the pitch
75' - Nick Soolsma makes a great individual run into the Dynamo box but no finishers available to take advantage. Paging Danny Koevermans.
79' - Dual Dynamo attacks thwarted by two big saves from Frei
80' - GOAL: On the ensuing corner, the ball drops too easily to Geoff Cameron who seals the win for Houston
HOUSTON 2 - TORONTO 0
84' - 6 minutes Before Frings
88' - Houston fans chanting "Canada Sucks". Could be worse - they could just shoot us
90'+ - If there was a heart monitor on TFC, the ref's final whistle made it go completely flatline
FULL TIME: HOUSTON 2 - TORONTO 0
IN THE BATHS:
The most alarming thing about tonight's damp performance from Toronto was how they failed to pull up their bootstraps after taking a pasting in New York. While the lack of skill due to the combination of injury and just being a poor team are explainable - the tremendous lack of heart shown tonight must bother Aron Winter. While the usual suspects like Eckersley and Alan Gordon hustled as much as possible, their lollygagging teammates nullify any hard work. While we've joked about Frings and Koevermans' imminent arrival, can their pedigree change the spirit of this club? Or, are more massive changes needed. The transfer window countdown is indeed on.
PLAYER RATINGS: Stefan Frei 6.5 / Dan Gargan 6 / Richard Eckersley 6.5 / Ty Harden 5 / Danleigh Borman 5 (Gianluca Zavarise 6) / Mikael Yourassowsky 6 / Tony Tchani 6 / Jacob Peterson 6 (Nick Soolsma 6.5) / Javier Martina 5.5 / Joao Plata 6 / Alan Gordon 6.5
THE YORKIES' TFC MAN OF THE MATCH: Alan Gordon. Barely.
TALKING POINT: Is a Frings actually two defenders? Discuss.
Major Torsten - the countdown's on
Posts
How can anybody in the midfield and attack "earn" a 6 tonight? How many saves did Tally Hall make? ZERO! Houston could have played the aforementioned cardboard box in goal and still have won this match. Maybe Peterson gets a 5.5 for being his first game back after a long layoff, and the same consideration for Gordon, but the other guys were non factors at best. Tchani was piss poor, Your-ass-off-sky was poor (especially after he went to LB), Martina is simply an athlete and not a footballer regardless of his overrated Ajax pedigree, Plata is hitting the wall during these summer doldrums, Soolsma is the opposite of Martina (has some skills but no athleticism). No quality in any department this evening.
ReplyDeleteA team is a team and not at all dependent on two the infusion of new DP signings amongst the cattle.
ReplyDeleteApathy on the team and in the stands is a psychological condition that has descended amongst us all. My money is on massive attendance drops.