Toronto FC - 2024 Season Thread

[Kingston]

Turf seems to contribute.  NER also tends to have a lot of injuries.

What also contributes is TFC's tendency to sign older players.  Let's look at the current people out with injury:

Insigne - 32

Laryea - 29

O'Neil - 30

Petretta - 27

Servania - 25

And, recently, Johnson (34) and Osorio (31).

Gomis is questionable, too, and he's only 22 but the list definitely skews older.  (I mean, for soccer players.  30 something is hardly ancient for the rest of us.)

[Gian-Luca]

5 hours ago, BearcatSA said:

But are you really "missing" Servania and Petretta?  Judging from comments on here and on other fan forums, those two absences would be considered addition by subtraction.  

From what I have seen, I would take Petretta over Rosted as the left-sided member of a back three (although both would be behind Gomis, despite the latter getting caught out on the Whitecaps 2nd goal last weekend). Petretta's main weakness is not offering much attacking-wise or going forward. But that's minimized if he's in a back three rather than wingback.

I'm not even sure who TFC plays at left wing-back now with Laryea, Petretta and Spicer all out injured. Maybe JMR shuffles to the left and Franklin goes to the right with Kosi Thompson replacing O'Neill in the back three, and with absolutely nobody on the bench who can replace any of them due to half the roster being injured.

As for the earlier debate about this being Herdman's team or not...perhaps the most disappointing aspect of TFC's loss to Vancouver was that the goat horns for the majority of the four goals can primarily be placed on the heads of the people Herdman brought in. Flores is pretty much 100% at fault for the first goal (that's what I get for publicly praising a Honduran pre-match), Longstaff at 70% with 30% contributory negligence on the 2nd, and the same percentage on the fourth goal for Spicer at 70% (I give Sean Johnson - not a Herdman signing - 30% for just watching the ball go in when it looked like he had time to run over and make sure it didn't, but he seemingly figured "ah, why bother, we're down 3-0 anyway". I'm not sure who is to blame on the 3rd goal, whether that is coaching or someone not being in a better defensive position - possibly it was supposed to be Mailula, who was seemingly the last man back, and appears not to be anywhere as quick as I think we were led to believe - it's one thing to not be able to catch up to Gauld, it's another to also be overtaken by Osorio (who has never been especially fast) in the pursuit.

[Unnamed Trialist]

23 hours ago, Gian-Luca said:

From what I have seen, I would take Petretta over Rosted as the left-sided member of a back three (although both would be behind Gomis, despite the latter getting caught out on the Whitecaps 2nd goal last weekend). Petretta's main weakness is not offering much attacking-wise or going forward. But that's minimized if he's in a back three rather than wingback.

I'm not even sure who TFC plays at left wing-back now with Laryea, Petretta and Spicer all out injured. Maybe JMR shuffles to the left and Franklin goes to the right with Kosi Thompson replacing O'Neill in the back three, and with absolutely nobody on the bench who can replace any of them due to half the roster being injured.

As for the earlier debate about this being Herdman's team or not...perhaps the most disappointing aspect of TFC's loss to Vancouver was that the goat horns for the majority of the four goals can primarily be placed on the heads of the people Herdman brought in. Flores is pretty much 100% at fault for the first goal (that's what I get for publicly praising a Honduran pre-match), Longstaff at 70% with 30% contributory negligence on the 2nd, and the same percentage on the fourth goal for Spicer at 70% (I give Sean Johnson - not a Herdman signing - 30% for just watching the ball go in when it looked like he had time to run over and make sure it didn't, but he seemingly figured "ah, why bother, we're down 3-0 anyway". I'm not sure who is to blame on the 3rd goal, whether that is coaching or someone not being in a better defensive position - possibly it was supposed to be Mailula, who was seemingly the last man back, and appears not to be anywhere as quick as I think we were led to believe - it's one thing to not be able to catch up to Gauld, it's another to also be overtaken by Osorio (who has never been especially fast) in the pursuit.

It is an interesting take, though of course probably not fair to place blame that way. You could also argue the newer guys need more time to fit in.

But I would say Sean Johnson was not very sharp either. Maybe he was rusty coming off injuries. It could be a valid question, whether Gavran might prove to be better (apart from me preferring to see a Canadian (Croat) if the level is not clearly different. Did folks really think Gavran was fully competent?

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

 

[Unnamed Trialist]

After watching the first half last night, I can see how limited that TFC roster is. Especially as I saw it, a decent linking player. Was thinking , someone like Airfield. Kerr is being asked to do way too much, he's not bad at all but he's too green still. 

The defence isn't very solid but it's a typical MLS defence nonetheless.

[costarg]

7 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

After watching the first half last night, I can see how limited that TFC roster is. Especially as I saw it, a decent linking player. Was thinking , someone like Airfield. Kerr is being asked to do way too much, he's not bad at all but he's too green still. 

The defence isn't very solid but it's a typical MLS defence nonetheless.

I haven't managed to watch the last 2-3 games, damn recording won't work, so need some help....  isn't Osorio the linking guy or is he really playing that high up and doesn't drop?  If so, is the formation actually working or has Herdman added yet another dimension to chess?

[Unnamed Trialist]

47 minutes ago, costarg said:

I haven't managed to watch the last 2-3 games, damn recording won't work, so need some help....  isn't Osorio the linking guy or is he really playing that high up and doesn't drop?  If so, is the formation actually working or has Herdman added yet another dimension to chess?

I saw him playing way up high first half yesterday, sometimes pressuring the ball the highest of anyone. At least he looked fit; but I find it a waste for him to be pressuring CBs as his role, at his age, just tires him for any other useful tasks. For me, it would make more sense to have him behind Kerr, and working that area behind him. 

[Kingston]

That was a very disappointing finish when an (acceptable) away draw seemed to be in the cards.

I was unhappy with the boneheaded pass to the other team in the 85th minute.  Also, Charlotte had an xG of 0.9.  Since his return, Johnson has not performed favourably compared to how Gavran performed in his absence - Johnson has yet to come up with a goal-robbing save.

Game eight last season was a draw at home against Atlanta for our 9th point of 2023.  We are now at +1 on the season.

[mtroads]

On 4/15/2024 at 7:43 AM, Kingston said:

That was a very disappointing finish when an (acceptable) away draw seemed to be in the cards.

I was unhappy with the boneheaded pass to the other team in the 85th minute.  Also, Charlotte had an xG of 0.9.  Since his return, Johnson has not performed favourably compared to how Gavran performed in his absence - Johnson has yet to come up with a goal-robbing save.

Game eight last season was a draw at home against Atlanta for our 9th point of 2023.  We are now at +1 on the season.

That was Coello with that weird pass across the top of the box. Gomis was slow to react, but a weird pass to play. I'm surprised Coello hasn't gotten more of the Marky Delgado treatment from fans. Seems like his passing from midfield leads to a number of turnovers.

[anthony7]

31 minutes ago, mtroads said:

That was Coello with that weird pass across the top of the box. Gomis was slow to react, but a weird pass to play. I'm surprised Coello hasn't gotten more of the Marky Delgado treatment from fans. Seems like his passing from midfield leads to a number of turnovers.

Ya, it was a mistake by Coello. But like Herdman said in post game, he shouldn’t be in that situation in first place. Why isn’t ’Invisible Osorio’ asking for the ball so Coello can have an out. Like the guy is suppose to be a captain and yell out for that ball. Osorio is completely washed and needs to be replaced with a true #10. Like watch the replay again it’s pretty pathetic.

[Kingston]

24 minutes ago, anthony7 said:

Ya, it was a mistake by Coello. But like Herdman said in post game, he shouldn’t be in that situation in first place. Why isn’t ’Invisible Osorio’ asking for the ball so Coello can have an out. Like the guy is suppose to be a captain and yell out for that ball. Osorio is completely washed and needs to be replaced with a true #10. Like watch the replay again it’s pretty pathetic.

Possibly because his out was to pass back to the outside again?  There was nowhere Osorio was going to be able to be by that point in the play where the Charlotte attacker wasn't going to be in the line of the pass.  You might as well ask why wasn't any other player in a different position to give Coello an out.  That was just a dumb pass by Coello.

[phresh]

25 minutes ago, anthony7 said:

Ya, it was a mistake by Coello. But like Herdman said in post game, he shouldn’t be in that situation in first place. Why isn’t ’Invisible Osorio’ asking for the ball so Coello can have an out. Like the guy is suppose to be a captain and yell out for that ball. Osorio is completely washed and needs to be replaced with a true #10. Like watch the replay again it’s pretty pathetic.

What's pathetic is your constant hammering of Osorio when the team is defective elsewhere, Longstaff is jogging along and then rages on the bench after getting subbed off at the 70th minute. I am also suprised Coello isn't being criticized, it is the most basic passes the guy's messing up, 20 yards sideaways, 15 yards backwards, turning into pressure, losing duels in bad areas. And this is guy who's known for his passing and technical ability, he isn't fast at all and can't recover after making a mistake . Another thing, unrelated, I'd rather see Gavran start over Johnson, I think he's completely overrated by many TFC fans

[Kingston]

12 minutes ago, phresh said:

Another thing, unrelated, I'd rather see Gavran start over Johnson, I think he's completely overrated by many TFC fans

Based on recent form, I'd give Gavran the gloves on Saturday.

[Metro]

17 hours ago, Kingston said:

Possibly because his out was to pass back to the outside again?  There was nowhere Osorio was going to be able to be by that point in the play where the Charlotte attacker wasn't going to be in the line of the pass.  You might as well ask why wasn't any other player in a different position to give Coello an out.  That was just a dumb pass by Coello.

It was a dumb pass but it if it hit the target Gomis, or even went behind him, Gomis gets to it.  That pass was so in front of Gomis, it was essentially a pass to the Charlotte player. 😞 

[Kingston]

This Saturday's game is as close to a must-win as it is possible to have so early in the season.

We're playing at home against a 1-5-1 NER team with its own injury problems.  Not only that, but New England has scored just five goals in seven matches while allowing even more than we have.

[anthony7]

On 4/18/2024 at 7:43 AM, Kingston said:

This Saturday's game is as close to a must-win as it is possible to have so early in the season.

We're playing at home against a 1-5-1 NER team with its own injury problems.  Not only that, but New England has scored just five goals in seven matches while allowing even more than we have.

Im expecting Mark Anthony Kaye to have a game after what Herdman said to him. Calling it now.

Edited April 19 by anthony7

[Kingston]

51 minutes ago, anthony7 said:

Im expecting Mark Anthony Kaye to have a game after what Herdman said to him. Calling it now.

What did Herdman say to him?

[anthony7]

4 minutes ago, Kingston said:

What did Herdman say to him?

Basically, that he was trash and not good enough to play for the national team anymore.

[kacbru]

Herdman the magical motivator strikes again. 

[nolando]

13 minutes ago, Kingston said:

What did Herdman say to him?

https://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/article/kaye-downplaying-drama-aiming-for-fresh-start-with-canadian-mens-team/

[Kingston]

That does have to be hard for MAK to hear.  That said, he wasn't particularly lighting things up during his time at TFC so I'm not sure Herdman was wrong.  I suppose it depends in part on how the message was delivered.

Edited April 19 by Kingston

[costarg]

20 hours ago, Kingston said:

That does have to be hard for MAK to hear.  That said, he wasn't particularly lighting things up during his time at TFC so I'm not sure Herdman was wrong.  I suppose it depends in part on how the message was delivered.

To be fair, outside of Laryea, was anyone "lighting things up at TFC"?  

[narduch]

 

 

[narduch]

 

 

[Big_M]

tied for second in the league in the number of players out on injury...only good thing is new england also has five out...shouldnt risk it with a 30yo bernardeschi either...at most you bring him off the bench