Canadian Content MLS Round 07 – How did our Canadians do in MLS this week? - 24th Minute

An extension to Canadian Soccer News’ MLS Week in Review, this article provides a closer look at the performances of the Canadian players who saw the pitch this week.

As suckers for getting on the score-sheet, Issey Nakajima-Farran and Rob Friend take the top two spots this week, while third could go to any number of players for strong, if unspectacular, outings this round – special mention for Maxim Tissot, who made his first appearance of the season for Montreal.

Find out what they did to deserve recognition and who else earned their keep this week.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

Issey Nakajima-Farran

Issey made a second-straight start for Toronto in their 2-1 loss at Dallas – he has appeared in all four matches since joining the club three weeks into the season.

Constantly swapping wings with Jackson, Nakajima-Farran was lively, battling hard with Dallas left-back, Jair Benitez, in particular – Issey would be shown a yellow card for a shove on the defender in the 55th minute, as the two dueled for the line in pursuit of the ball; it was a call that could have gone either way.

His most significant contribution was undoubtedly his goal in the 21st minute that gave TFC a lead as the two sides exchanged a multitude of corners through the early going. Kyle Bekker hit a short corner of sorts, pulling a low ball back to the high post area where Michael Bradley arrived to flick goal-ward. It appeared as though Dallas would clear, but Jackson won the footrace and laid a ball down the left-side of the box for Issey, who saw his first crack at goal blocked.

Fortunately the rebound returned for a second attempt that deflected off the shin of Je-Vaughan Watson and beat Dallas keeper Chris Seitz:

It was his second goal of the season.

Later he would play a lovely long pass to spring Gilberto, but the striker was called offside on a night that fortune did not favour Toronto.

The Calgary, Alberta-native completed 15 of 26 passes, took two shots – both on target, one blocked, the other deflected for the goal, won six headers and a tackle, committed three fouls and suffered one - seeing his first yellow card in MLS for that tangle with Benitez, and contributed two recoveries and an interception, while losing possession twelve times in his 81 minutes on the pitch.

He would make way for the fresh legs of Andrew Wiedeman with time ticking down.

Post-match he spoke with TFC TV.

Rob Friend

Friend made his fourth appearance of the season for Los Angeles in their 2-2 draw at Vancouver – it was his third appearance from the bench and second in as many games.

Entering the match for Stefan Ishizaki in the 72nd minute, shortly after Darren Mattocks had leveled for the Whitecaps, Friend would have an immediate impact, cushioning a header from a long Omar Gonzalez ball into the box down for Robbie Keane, who reinstated the Galaxy’s lead in the 77th minute:

He was credited with an assist on the play, his first in MLS.

Four minutes later he would once more look to feed the Irishman with a tidy pull-back, but Vancouver keeper David Ousted was equal to the task this time, before having a look himself in stoppage-time with a header over Jay DeMerit:

The Rosetown, Saskatchewan-native completed thirteen of fourteen passes, won three headers – one of which was his shot on target and another the assist, won two fouls and made one recovering, while losing possession just once in his eighteen minutes on the pitch.

Afterwards he spoke with the media about not being in the starting lineup: “Yeah. Bruce wants to start with a diamond and we’ve been playing well like that. The time that I get, I need to make the best with it. Personally I’m happy with that. Obviously a goal would be nice. The goals will come, I know they will. I think I’ve been a bit unfortunate not to get the goals. But all in all, 20 minutes, I can hold my head up today.”

And on making his return to Vancouver: “Fantastic. I love this city. I had about 25 people, family and friends here, so I saw them all after the game and it’s fun to be back. I’ve enjoyed the 24 hours so far.”

Will Johnson

Johnson made his seventh-straight start for Portland in their 1-0 loss at Salt Lake, continuing his streak of having started every game this season.

Back on the road, Johnson was much more reserved in picking his spots to go forward – most of his forays did not come until the final stage of the match with the Timbers chasing the game.

In tandem with Diego Chara at the base of the midfield, Johnson was again solid, limiting the effectiveness of the likes of Javier Morales and Kyle Beckerman – it is telling that Ned Grabavoy’s winner came down the side of the pitch that Johnson did not occupy.

He was definitely pumped up for the return to his old stomping grounds, having spent five seasons with Salt Lake, showing some excellent hustle to steal a lazy Tony Beltran throw-in deep in Salt Lake territory and send a dangerous cross through the goal-mouth, just beyond the reach of a teammate in the opening phase.

Otherwise, he mostly contented himself with stifling the opponent, getting in the way of crosses – a Sebastian Velasquez cross deflected off him and on target, but did not overly trouble Donovan Ricketts – and mopping up trouble areas, such as when Morales’ juicy rebound sat momentarily in the box after hitting the post.

Once behind, Johnson cautiously went forward, and was a little too deep to really be troubled by Alvas Powell opting to shoot rather than pull-back – though it caused him to drop to his knees in frustration:

Similarly, he would look for a wide pass when Sebastian Fernandez tested Nick Rimando from range, drawing a brilliant save from the keeper – head in hands once more; he really wanted to snap that winless streak against his former club.

The Toronto, Ontario-born midfielder completed 43 of 48 passes, won two headers, committed two fouls and suffered one, and made nine recoveries, five clearances, and an interception, while losing possession six times.

Afterwards his fighting spirit brushed aside any platitudes about playing well: “I’m a little bit sick and tired of hearing that; it’s all about results. We have to step up and make plays, and there are plays out there that are there to be made. This is professional soccer, and when we get in those big moments we look like amateurs. So we have to face the reality that we have to be better.”

Adding, “Defensively, we kept the ball, we frustrated them, but attacking-wise, it’s not good enough. You’re never going to win a game if you can’t score goals, so we’ve got to find a way to do even better than we did. For me, it’s not good enough. Saying that, we did well, but that seems to be the case every single week now. So it has to change. It’s just quite simply not good enough.”

Kyle Bekker

Bekker made his third-straight start for Toronto in Dallas – it was his fourth-straight appearance for the club since the injury bug started to bite, somewhat forcing Ryan Nelsen’s hand in selection.

As one of three central midfielders, alongside Michael Bradley and behind Jonathan Osorio, Bekker was less involved than he had been in previous matches.

He exhibited that same knack for being in the right place after leaving space for Mauro Diaz to run and feed Fabian Castillo with a pass, but tracking back to be in position to cut out the cutback in the early goings.

With TFC under serious pressure from corner kicks, Bekker was one of the players closest to Matt Hedges when he scored the equalizer in the 37th minute and perhaps he could have won the initial header, but Hedges was not his man, having escaped the attentions of Justin Morrow to ghost in behind Bekker at the near-post:

He had one rather tasty free-kick opportunity from deep that sailed on Chris Seitz, backing the keeper into making a catch on his line, prompting Bradley Orr to protest that it had crossed the line, but to no avail.

And he put a very strong shoulder into Stephen Keel deep in the Toronto box on the play that led to Blas Perez’ winner in the 88th minute:

Keel may have otherwise been the one to put in the finish, though there was some risk of the referee pointing to the spot on the physical play.

The Oakville, Ontario-native completed 28 of 34 passes, won three headers, had one shot – the sailing free-kick on target, committed and suffered a foul each way, and made five recoveries, three interceptions, and a clearance, while conceding possession six times.

Russell Teibert

Teibert made his fifth-straight start for Vancouver in their draw against LA – it was his sixth start of the season, having missed one match through injury.

Released from his defensive duties of the week before, Teibert took up a much more attacking posture on the left-side of the midfield, cutting in-field to operate through the middle in attack, but was still wary of LA’s threat, tracking back to pressure Landon Donovan after Andy O’Brien’s poor clearance fell right to one of the Galaxy’s most dangerous attackers.

Going forward he latched onto a long ball from Jay DeMerit out of the back, but had his cross cut out by Omar Gonzalez and kept Dan Gargan, LA’s right-back, honest for much of the first half – though Teibert was partially at fault for LA’s opener, pressing deep into the middle to confront Marcelo Sarvas, leaving that wide open space that Gargan sauntered into:

He was replaced at half-time by Kekuta Manneh when Carl Robinson opted to switch up the tactical game-plan for the second half.

Prior to the match, Teibert relished having another go at the Galaxy after a strong outing last week and reflected on his breakout two-goal performance against LA last season:

Jonathan Osorio

Osorio return to TFC’s starting eleven after missing the last three matches with a hamstring strain – it was his third start of the season.

Playing as the most advanced of the midfield trio, Osorio looked a little off the pace – no surprise given the time away from training. Nelsen noted afterwards, “[bradley] hasn’t trained in a while, same with Jonathan Osorio. We’re running on fumes in terms of what we have available for options. It’s great they both got through the game and now we’ve got a couple weeks where we can get a rest, get healthy and move on.”

But still he was very important to any possession Toronto did manage – something Dallas was well aware of, hacking him down with abandon. One time Michel surely fouled him with a blatant chop, only for the referee to ignore the foul. Osorio was not best pleased and gave the official an earful after staying down for a moment, for which he got a talking to from the clueless arbiter.

The Toronto, Ontario-native completed a very tidy 25 of 27 passes, won two headers and a tackle, suffered two fouls and committed one, and made seven recoveries, while losing possession seven times.

He also spoke with TFC TV post-match.

Patrice Bernier

Bernier returned to Montreal’s starting lineup in their 4-0 loss at Kansas City after entering from the bench in the previous three matches – it was his third start and sixth appearance of the season.

Prior to the match, Bernier commented on their winless start to the season - “You have to dig deep within yourself. It’s not just about pulling off nice moves and making nice passes. We have to do the – how can I say? – not-so-pretty soccer stuff: the duels, the 50-50 balls, the battles we seem to lose, allowing other teams to capitalize. Everyone has to look at themselves and know they can give something more.”

Stationed deep in the midfield, as part of a two-man shield in front of the back-line, alongside Callum Mallace, Bernier was as swamped as the rest of the team was with the rampant Sporting attack.

They managed to keep pace through the first half and perhaps should have taken a lead – Marco Di Vaio missed a good chance and Bernier could not dig the ball out of his feet in time to spring the Italian on another break, though he did manage to find Felipe before the attack fizzled.

Bizarrely, Bernier appeared to be marking Aurelien Collin on KC’s first goal that was looped into his own net by Mallace – which seems a ridiculous mismatch on a Matt Besler long-throw:

Bernier was constantly putting out fires, twice intervening on Collin’s attempt to turn for a low shot from the top of the box – a play that would eventually lead to KC’s second goal of the night. He also started some, such as when an under-hit pass was gobbled up by Benny Feilhaber leading to chances for Dom Dwyer and Graham Zusi:

His frustration at the match was evident, kicking the turf in a rare show of anger at the flow of the match as wave upon wave of Sporting attack poured forward.

The Brossard, Quebec-native completed 29 of 44 passes, won six headers and a tackle, losing another, committed two fouls and suffered an equal number, and made six recoveries, 2 blocks, one interception and one clearance, while losing possession some sixteen times – an outrageous number for him.

Post-match he commented, "We started the game well, we were working hard but then they scored on an unfortunate own goal. In the second half, there were too many moments where we didn't rise to the occasion. With the way we started the season, we aren't in a place where we could come back after having two goals scored against us."

“[After] the second goal, although we kept pushing, we were dismayed and we’re not at a stage where our play develops and we can start over, change the momentum, score a goal, make it 2-1 and push. I really don't know what to say about that second half. We really have to take our responsibilities, get going and put double the effort we’re putting in.”

“At 1-0 down, we probably [could have scored], and we played really well in the first half. We were solid defensively, played on the counter and created chances. We limited, more or less, their chances – they were mostly throw-ins or corners. I don’t know what to say, but we really need to look at ourselves in the mirror, for if we want to get out of this, we must give nothing, nothing away.”

Karl Ouimette

Ouimette made a second-straight start for Montreal after an impressive outing against Chicago last weekend – it was his third appearance of the season, and did not go as smoothly.

Aside from the own-goal, the Impact managed to largely hold Sporting at bay through the first half, though there were signs of trouble, as Dwyer was allowed a free-run at Troy Perkins to challenge for a Zusi cross, foreshadowing what would come in the second.

From his position as the left-sided centre-back, Ouimette was left far too isolated on KC free-kicks, with Collin once getting on the wrong side of the defender before having to deal with both Collin and Dwyer alone on another launch – signs of danger growing.

He was shown a yellow card – his first of the season – in the 73rd minute after a tangle with Dwyer; he was booked for persistent infringement, racking up six fouls, five in the second half.

From the ensuing free-kick, Zusi would play a ball over the head of Jacob Peterson, leading to Dwyer’s first goal from the low cross – Ouimette was a little slow to react to the movement of the striker, letting him get in front for the finish:

And then he gave the forward far too much space on another Zusi cross that led to his second:

It was a tough afternoon for the entire squad to be fair.

The Terrebonne, Quebec-native completed 28 of 36 passes, won four headers and two tackles, losing a further two, committed six fouls and suffered one, made seven recoveries, five interceptions, and one clearance, while losing possession ten times.

Maxim Tissot

Tissot made his first appearance of the season for Montreal in their poor showing at Kansas City – it came a bit of a surprise, as he had not even been on the bench for a match this season.

That rust was evident rather early, as Tissot was nearly exposed by a Feilhaber ball inside for the speedy and sharp Sal Zizzo to run onto, but Perkins was equal to the challenge – it was the first, but not the only time he would be tested by that pace.

It was Tissot who got sucked out wide by Peterson on Zusi’s cross and was then unable to get in a block on the cross that led to Dwyer’s first and he was also as culpable as Ouimette on allowing Dwyer the space to get on the end of his second.

The Gatineau, Quebec-native completed 28 of 37 passes, won three headers and a tackle, committed and suffered a foul, and made seven recoveries, two interceptions, and two clearances, and lost possession ten times.

Montreal made the same mistake that TFC was guilty of at times last season – of leaving two young defenders exposed alongside each other (think Doneil Henry and Ashtone Morgan), though they had little choice as rookie Eric Miller was on the other side of Matteo Ferrari.

The Rest

Kofi Opare, Nana Attakora, and Jordan Hamilton were all unused substitutes on the bench for their respective sides, LA, DC, and Toronto.

Kyle Porter was back down in Richmond, scoring for the Kickers in their 2-2 draw against Pittsburgh. It was his second match on loan (though no official word was ever mentioned in the club literature). He now has three goals through two matches for the club, having notched a brace in his first match on loan, back on April 5th, helping the Kickers win 3-1 also against Pittsburgh.

All video and quotes courtesy of MLSsoccer.com

Each week James takes a look at the contributions of Canadians in the league and the league as a whole.

You can follow James on twitter @grawsee or read more of his writing at Partially Obstructed View

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Canadian Content MLS Round 07 – How did our Canadians do in MLS this week?

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