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Tuesday, March 6, 2012

THE MATCHUP: Raise the roof!

We built a house on Bremner Boulevard...

TORONTO VS. LOS ANGELES
CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTERFINAL - 1ST LEG
 
SKYDOME - WEDNESDAY 8PM
TV: SPORTSNET (ALL REGIONS)
 
THE KICKABOUT:
Biggest. Match... oh you know the rest. It's the match that got us through winter. Arguably one of the biggest club football matches in Canadian history. Yes, it's "Davy Knickers and The Boyz" against our beloved Reds in front of approximately 45,000 people in The Artist Formerly Known as SkyDome.
 
The CONCACAF Quarterfinal marks only the second time a Canadian club has progressed this far in the continental competition. Playing what many would consider the most star-laden club in North America since The Cosmos of the 70's, makes it that much bigger. Most of North America, including Galaxy themselves, seems to have written off TFC before the first whistle but perhaps thousands of devoted fans, Astroturf and the phallic power of the CN Tower can produce an upset that would make MLS' promotions department weep.
 
What does TFC have to do? Play hard from the first minute - not take 20 minutes to warm-up. It would be surprising if Galaxy don't try to strike early to take out the crowd so The Reds need to be on their toes immediately. Aron Winter's squad need to channel that crowd energy and fight off the nerves as well as take the game to Galaxy. Bruce Arena's team has too much firepower to sit back and try to weather the storm. They need to be brave, not hide Torsten Frings into oblivion as Ty Harden's babysitter and take their game to LA... win, lose or draw.
 
MANUFACTURED DERBY NAME: "Biggest 1st Leg Ever"
 
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
TORONTO: Stefan Frei, Torsten Frings, Danny Koevermans
LOS ANGELES: David Beckham, Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane
 
THE ODDS:
- Every, single Galaxy tactic aimed directly at Ty Harden: EVENS
- Chad Barrett cramping on Galaxy bench: 3-1
- Joe Carter scoring winning PK for TFC in extra time: 50-1
 
WHO ARE YA?
The star-filled Galaxy is easily MLS' most talented club on paper. While their ability to constantly sign stars above and beyond their DP limit is curious to some, many justify it with good financial management and the appeal of California. Vociferous defenders will yell "ALLOCATION!" and "WAIT FOR THE UNION SALARY LIST" in response while painting those who question it as bitter conspiracy theorists. Of course league documents could never be questioned could they? In response to the questioning, Galaxy has laid out their next few signings in a transparent way:
 - ALESSANDRO DEL PIERO: $40,000 and all-you-can-eat coupon to all Southern California Olive Garden restaurants 
 - RONALDINHO: $37,000 and an orthodontist
 - FRANK LAMPARD: Get Andre Villas Boas fired then $43,000 and a meat pie goal bonus
 
TOMORROW'S HEADLINE: "CHAD BARRETT TAKES SHOT ON GOAL - DOZENS INJURED ON 500 LEVEL"

11 comments:

  1. agreed! they call themselves real fans then talk shit about the own players?? ha WOW NO LOYALTY! go LA

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  2. Poor Harden, wow isnt he the only american that Aron has kept around. Doesnt that say something for that kid. Hes obviously one of the best defenders they have. Maybe its those kind of guys you should be cheering for rather then the so called has been superstars like frings and kouvermans. you call yourselves fans and then bash your own Team?? I know when torsten plays in the back it is because the formation has changed and Eckersley and morgan move up the field high as midfielders therefore you have 3 in the back with frings. LA with try to run thru your midfield and that is their tactic.

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    Replies
    1. This is rich... we're the "dumbass yorkies... with no lives" yet the one guy has a conversation with himself.

      Should I repeat it again? At least I'm not having a conversation with myself pretending to be 'a bunch of people'.

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    2. Who likes tacos? I know I do.

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  3. I see the Western trolls don't understand sarcasm, good writing or proper fans. Go back to dreaming of Becks & the boys and let the rest of us enjoy. But thanks for stopping by!

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  4. OMG, the Yorkies are being hacked by Anonymous! Call the CIA!

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  5. Wow - 5 "Anonymous" posts and "replies" within 10 minutes. If you want to pretend to be more than 1 person maybe you should wait more than 30 seconds to replying to you own post. There's only one "dumbass" on this page.

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  6. Dear Anonymouses,

    While we make a point of rarely replying to anonymous comments that lean on foul language and frat boy insults to back up their arguments, we thought we'd address some of your problems with this post.

    Firstly,"bashing" or "talking shit" about the team: wanting the team to not play scared and go after LA on their own turf seems far from bashing to us, more a recipe for competing.

    As far as comments about Ty Harden: we support every TFC player but we are not in the habit of blowing smoke up anyone's ass and pretending that Harden is the second coming of Franz Beckenbauer. He is a decent MLS back-up at best and having Frings forced into a sweeper role behind him negates one of the best midfield engineers of the past 10 years. It is our opinion that this is a waste of Frings talent and playmaking ability. Are we a bit hard on Ty? Yes - but he wouldn't be a starter on many MLS teams nor if Cann or Williams was healthy or if Caicedo had got up to speed. We like Harden as part of TFC but we want the best for our club which has had many "ok" players sold to us as "stars".

    Finally, as far as loyalty goes... it would be a strange habit to spend as much time on this site and at the stadium supporting our club if we weren't loyal to them. We will not change in writing what we feel for this club and wanting them to be the best and not just "good enough". Sorry if you don't enjoy our take on things but we are sure there are many other sites out there which will tell you what you'd like to hear. Hope you are as loud in your support for TFC tonight.

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  7. Just thought Id throw out my opinion cus I am a soccer fan and had a chance to meet that Harden last year. I only brought him up because thats who I saw you were dogging. However, I could care less and dont want to argue. I like toronto fc but am a Chicago fan. I did see you guys didnt protect Cann or Williams during the draft and Montreal didnt want either even when they are healthy. Saw your other centerback was cut. Anyways go Fire but will be hoping toronto beats LA tonight. Hope you guys have some offensive threat, dont think defense is a huge issue with the team you have. cheers, JR

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