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.
Another down weekend, with Montreal on a bye, but still plenty to discuss – the top three spots go to Doneil Henry, Will Johnson, and Rob Friend with a special nod for Kofi Opare.
Find out what they did to deserve recognition and who else earned their keep this week.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Doneil Henry
Doneil Henry returned from the knee injury that forced a three-game absence in Toronto FC’s 1-2 loss at home against New England – it was his fourth start of the season.
Reunited with Steven Caldwell, Henry had a very tough afternoon, playing a role in both Revolution goals.
It was his giveaway – a weakly-hit, telegraphed ball intercepted by Lee Nguyen - that led to Patrick Mullins equalizer in the 24th minute:
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And it was he who lunged into a block of Mullins shot in the 81st minute, leading to Nguyen’s winner from the penalty spot a minute later:
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Post-match his disappointment was palpable:
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Aside from those rather obvious missteps, Henry had a very solid game.
The Brampton, Ontario-native completed 51 of 60 passes, won four headers and a tackle, had one attempt on goal – a diving header in the 84th minute that he could not keep on target, made thirteen interceptions, eight clearances, and five recoveries, committed six fouls (mostly in his running battle with Mullins) and suffered one, losing possession ten times.
Will Johnson
Johnson continued his ever-presence in Portland’s midfield in their 3-2 win over Portland on Saturday – it was his ninth-straight start of the season.
With the Timbers still in search of their first win, Johnson was very conservative in his approach to the match – his passing chart indicates how rarely he ventured forward, opting to sit very deep, orchestrating the defense and springing attacks from a safe distance, such as when he nicked a loose touch off of Chris Rolfe and fed to Diego Valeri on the counter – Gaston Fernandez would put his shot over the bar:
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He did have two shots on goal – both blocked; one from a free-kick that smashed into a wall that stole a few yards at the last second – much to Johnson’s frustration.
A frustration – perhaps borne of the desire to end the eight-match winless start – that reared its head again when Darlington Nagbe failed to find him on the pull-back after skipping past two defenders, shooting into the outside netting on one of Johnson’s selected forays forward:
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The Toronto-born midfielder completed a near-perfect 41 of 46 passes, won six headers and three tackles, has two shots, both blocked, and made five recoveries and three clearances, while losing possession five times.
Post-match he commented on the finally getting the win, “It was huge. The relief and the feeling that you feel when you score a 94th-minute winner like that is something that is hard to put into words. It’s why you play the game. It’s the best feeling in the world, it’s fantastic. You kind of black out, nothing else matters and you just start running around going crazy. It’s a blur, but it’s fun. That’s why we play.”
Rob Friend
Friend made his second start of the season in Los Angeles’ 1-0 loss at Colorado on Saturday – a third-straight appearance having factored from the bench in their previous two matches.
Paired up top with Robbie Keane, Friend was a physical force up top, occupying both Drew Moor and Marvell Wynne for large swathes of the match.
He nearly played a role LA opening the scoring within two minutes, when he challenged Wynne for a ball that fell to Landon Donovan on the right side of the box. Donovan’s shot would be saved by Clint Irwin, while Moor blocked Stefan Ishizaki’s follow-up on the line:
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And, had he made the run to the far-post in a 39th minute attack, he may have gotten on the end of another Donovan move, as the ball rolled through the goalmouth – for which Friend was remonstrated a little by his teammate:
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Despite that, it was Friend who won his side their best chance to equalize, when he dueled with Moor over a bouncing ball at the edge of the Colorado area, getting position on the defender and drawing a desperately high boot from him, then making the most of any contact to win a penalty:
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There was some debate over whether contact was made – where was that ‘skill’ when playing in CONCACAF, eh? – but either way, Keane would miss the spot kick in the end.
Friend would make way for Samuel in the 76th minute having put in a solid shift in his fifth appearance for the Galaxy.
The Rosetown, Saskatchewan-native completed just 16 of his 29 passes, but won a staggering sixteen headers, had three shots – all headers, one on and two off target, and suffered two fouls, while turning over possession fourteen times.
Jonathan Osorio
Osorio made a second-straight start for Toronto in their loss to New England – it was his fourth start of the season.
From his position on the left-side of the midfield, Osorio was instrumental in most of the Toronto attacks, cutting inside to get involved in the build-up and helping them to win the possession battle for the first time this season.
All the injuries in recent weeks have prevented TFC from fielding a regular starting lineup and that unfamiliarity led to players getting in each other’s way on more than one occasion. Just minutes into the match he did very well to drag a pass from Jermain Defoe into a good shooting chance, only to run into Gilberto in the box, preventing either from making the most of the opportunity:
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That fifth minute chance was indicative of Toronto’s short-comings on the afternoon – getting in the right positions, but failing to take advantage of those situations.
The Toronto, Ontario-native completed 46 of 57 passes, had one shot – off target, sailing high and wide in the 59th minute, won four of his five tackles and three fouls, and made six recoveries, while conceding possession eleven times.
He had a run in with Lee Nguyen late in the match near the Toronto corner flag, where the New England midfielder appeared to put a strong hand into his midsection and appeared to tweak his hamstring that left Osorio hobbled for the close of the match – he is listed as doubtful for Wednesday’s Voyageurs Cup match.
Kyle Bekker
Bekker made his fourth-straight start for Toronto on Saturday afternoon – it was his fifth appearance of the season.
It is noteworthy that despite many of Toronto’s recognized starters being fit, Bekker held his position in the first eleven, indicating a measure of faith in him, after several strong outings, by coach Ryan Nelsen.
Sitting deepest in central midfield with Michael Bradley roaming a little more forward, Bekker was tasked with controlling the game from the back, initiating attacks and providing additional cover on moments of danger – when Henry committed the turnover that led to New England’s equalizer, Bekker had peeled out to the left to show for a pass, putting him out of position to defend the counterattack.
If Doneil had been a little more patient or played there instead, New England would never have been granted such an opportunity.
The Oakville, Ontario-native completed 50 of 61 passes, won two tackles and a header, made twelve recoveries, five interceptions, and one clearance, losing possession twelve times.
He spoke with TFC TV post-match.
Kofi Opare
Opare made his MLS debut for LA in their loss at Colorado, replacing Omar Gonzalez at half-time.
Taking up the left-sided position in the central pairing, alongside Leonardo, Opare helped to prevent Colorado from finding a second goal to comfortably close out the match.
He did very well to contain Edson Buddle on several occasion, winning headers to prevent the big, former LA striker from finding his 100th MLS goal, though one of his clearing headers fell to Deshorn Brown, who tried to get fancy with a bicycle kick that did not come off.
Opare came to prominence at the end of last season, starting the final five matches of LA’s regular season and exuded that same confidence on the ball and aerial ability that earned him praise and plaudits.
Hampered by an adductor injury through preseason, Opare saw action in four matches with Galaxy II, LA’s USL PRO side, as he worked his way back to fitness.
The Niagara Falls, Ontario-native completed 20 of 25 passes, won five headers and a tackle, made five clearances, three recoveries, and one interception, losing possession five times, in his one half of play.
Bruce Arena knows that in Opare he has a very reliable piece for his back-line – expect him to see more minutes with the first team in the coming months.
Issey Nakajima-Farran
Nakajima-Farran made his fifth appearance for Toronto against New England – it was his third introduction from the bench, having factored in every match since signing with the club in March.
Replacing Jackson in the 78th minute, Issey was much more active than his chalkboards indicate – seriously, he may have broke them as they did not properly track his involvement.
With two goals to his credit, he nearly found a third – on an 84th minute free-kick from Michael Bradley that was met by Doneil Henry with a diving header. As with a chance against Colorado a few weeks ago, Issey was in a better position to get on the end of that delivery, but did not call off his teammate – Henry in this case, Dwayne De Rosario against the Rapids.
The Calgary, Alberta-native, according to the boards, completed his only pass of the match and lost possession once – that is all – which does not seem accurate.
Tesho Akindele
Akindele made his second appearance of the season late as Dallas trailed New York 0-1 on Sunday.
Entering the match in the 79th minute, providing fresh legs by replacing Blas Perez, Akindele did his best to get involved, but with Dallas down a man there was little to be done - he was bowled over in an off-the-ball collision on one break.
In his eleven minutes, the Calgary, Alberta-native completed three of four passes and made one recovery, losing possession twice.
Dwayne De Rosario
De Rosario returned from a hamstring injury to make his sixth-appearance of the season, replacing Mark Bloom in the 87th minute as TFC desperately looked for an equalizer.
In his three minutes (plus stoppage-time, which is not recorded, statistically speaking) the Scarborough, Ontario-native completed five of six passes, won a single header and lost possession once.
He hit one lovely cross-field ball for Alvaro Rey that resulted in Toronto winning a corner – that was wasted by Rey, not getting it past the first man.
The Rest
Nana Attakora, Russell Teibert, and Marco Carducci were unused substitutes on the bench for their respective sides, DC, and Vancouver twice – it was Carducci’s first appearance in the game-day eighteen with Paolo Tornaghi, the usual backup, suspended for entering the field of play illegally.
Toronto FC’s Jordan Hamilton was sent on loan to Wilmington – he saw 29 minutes in their 0-0 draw against Rochester on Saturday. Fellow TFC loanee, Quillan Roberts, earned his first clean-sheet that same match.
Kyle Porter spent the weekend with the Richmond Kickers again, playing 90 minutes in their 1-1 draw against the Rochester Rhinos on Friday.
Jackson Farmer was recalled from his loan at Charleston, perhaps indicating that he could feature in Wednesday Voyageurs Cup.
Patrice Bernier and Karl Ouimette spoke with the media ahead of their match in Edmonton on Wednesday – en francais.
As did Marco Carducci and Bryce Alderson – both of whom, it was announced, will start on Wednesday in Toronto.
Sam Adekugbe appears to have suffered a knee injury, he tweeted the following last week:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Road to recovery</p>— Sam Adekugbe (@SamAdekugbe) <a href="
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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