TFC vs Real Madrid - But At What Cost?
By: Colman O'Meara |
12 Comments
The King’s Club. The White Ballet. The Galacticos (but not the Landycakes version). Rumour has it that one of the world’s most storied clubs is coming to town on August 7th. They are so special that MLSE has agreed to lay down real grass over the turf for the game in order to protect the precious knees of their numerous stars. Some of the big names that play for the Spanish runner ups and Scouse/Catalan doormats are Iker Casillas, Pepe, Sergio Ramos, Raul, Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez, and Gonzalo Higuain. Of course, they also seem to have a special deal with the Dutch National Team, who have given them half of their starting XI: Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Ruud van Nistelrooy.
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Category: Toronto FC
Tags: Adrian Serioux, Amado Guevara, Arjen Robben, Barcelona, Carl Robinson, Carlos Tevez, Chad Barrett, Cristiano Ronaldo, Danny Dichio, Dwayne De Rosario, Gonzalo Higuain, Houston Dynamo, Iker Casillas, Independiente, Jim Brennan, Juventus Turin, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Landon Donovan, Liverpool, Marvell Wynne, MLSE, Nana Attakora, New York Red Bulls, Pachuca, Pepe, Rafael van der Vaart, Raul, Real Madrid, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Sam Cronin, Sergio Ramos, Stefan Frei, Toronto FC, Wesley SneijderTwittergate
By: Colman O'Meara | 6 Comments
As you probably know if you’ve been reading this blog over the past few months, my school went on strike during the winter, which has caused my exam stress to be in late May instead of mid April. While my thoughts have been on Toronto FC as much as ever, I have been spending much more time labouring over economics than writing about the beautiful game. Since my last exam is on Monday, consider my first year essentially complete! I am now free to devote myself entirely to TFC (and my summer jobs) for the next three months. Watch this space during that time and beyond.
While I’m sure you’re all well informed about TFC’s results over the past month (stellar in CL qualifying, good in MLS), some personnel developments have also not been covered on this blog. Most importantly, we’ve seen the emergence of Nana Attakora as a starting central defender. While he is listed as a right back, he has stepped into his new role admirably, and is deservedly in the first XI ahead of Marco Velez. If you want to hear about how he would not be ready to play regularly this year, you have to look no further than my season preview.
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Category: Toronto FCTime for Revenge
By: Colman O'Meara | 3 Comments
While this season has been going quite nicely for the most part, the many defeats of the past two years still sting for Toronto FC fans. Possibly the worst of all was the 1-0 home loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps on Canada Day 2008. This loss (combined with a tie at Vancouver and a tie against the Montreal Impact) ensured that TFC did not win the Canadian spot in the CONCACAF Champions League. Instead, the Impact was able to bask in national glory as they reached the quarterfinals (though the glory turned into humiliation due to a shocking second half at Santos).
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Category: Toronto FC“It” to be doing the pimping in T.O.?
By: Colman O'Meara | 5 Comments
You know you’ve made it big when you get a mention from the Special One himself!
It seems fitting to ask:
Would you like to see “It” replace Chris Cummins at the end of his interim job?(online surveys)
Check back later today for a postgame of the Reds 1-1 draw with Columbus.
Until then,
BE CHAMPIONS!
Category: Toronto FCCan the Reds keep on Crewsing?
By: Colman O'Meara | 2 Comments
This afternoon brings about the second instalment of the now annual Trillium Cup. While this league-created competition has been received by fans with reactions ranging from derisive laughter to outrage (over the extent businesses will go to in order to generate interest in their product), it is undeniable that the Crew is TFC’s biggest rivals, and that our games against the Yellow Football Team are always interesting (though they have never led to 3 points).
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Category: Toronto FCThe Future Has Cumm
By: Colman O'Meara | 4 Comments
What everybody expected following the two superb wins last week has now been officially announced: Chris Cummins is the new head coach of Toronto FC. He will be assisted by Nick Dasovic. Otherwise, the coaching staff remains intact: Paul Winsper will remain on board as the resident fitness guru, and Mike Toshack will continue to work with the keepers.
As I write this, I’m watching the Q&A session of the press conference live on TFC TV. Cummins is hinting that he will stick with the 4-3-3 (assuming he has three fit strikers), but that he is willing to change his formation depending on the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. He also said that he isn’t viewing this as an interim employment, but that he will coach until he is asked to leave (I’m paraphrasing here). Similarly to John Carver, Cummins seems like a stand up guy, who will find rapport with the fans.
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Category: Toronto FCCan Stop the Wiz?
By: Colman O'Meara | 2 Comments
Fasten your seatbelt and ensure that your seat is in an upright position - it’s the fastest game preview EVER! A mere 10 hours from now, the Reds will take on the Kansas City Wizards at beautiful BMO Field. In the wake of John Carver’s sudden resignation, Chris Cummins and Nick Dasovic will take the reigns on an interim basis. If you’re interested in this type of thing, it will be the first time ever TFC will be coached by a Canadian.
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Category: Toronto FCBreaking News: Carver Resigns
By: Colman O'Meara | 5 Comments
Sorry there wasn’t a post game after the win against Chivas, but I’ve been extremely busy at school. However, this is too important to ignore: 20 minutes ago, news broke the TFC coach John Carver has resigned for personal reasons. That’s all we know so far – I’ll keep on updating throughout the day as we find out more.
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Category: Toronto FCReds to Challenge League-leading Chivas USA
By: Colman O'Meara | 7 Comments
Since the first game of the season, it has gone decidedly pear shaped for Toronto FC. With only two points in the last four games, TFC has dropped out of a playoff spot (though fans wiser than me would frown upon looking at the standings before the tenth game). As you are undoubtedly aware, the Reds are coming off a loss to finish off their home and home series with last place FC Dallas. In this game, both Adrian Serioux and Dwayne De Rosario went down with injuries late in the second half. Serioux is fine, and will start tonight, but De Ro has a small tear in his hamstring. John Carver is predicting that he will be sidelined for up to four weeks. All in all, this is about the worst start anybody in Toronto could have imagined.
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Category: Toronto FCI Can’t Barrett any Longer
By: Colman O'Meara | 9 Comments
I don’t care that he scored a goal on a clear breakaway – he should have had three. It’s very nice that he sometimes makes nice plays to hold up the ball – it would be much nicer if he didn’t let his man stroll away from him in the box to score on an uncontested header. In short, I feel that Chad Barrett is in large part responsible for TFC’s 3-2 loss tonight against FC Dallas.
However, he is by no means the only culprit. I am usually much fairer to referees than most fans (as I ref myself). While I am aware that refereeing in MLS is often shocking, I give credit when it is due. Tonight, it was not. Two horrible calls led to two Dallas goals (though Mr. Barrett helped out on one of them). Dallas’ first goal resulted from a free kick cross, which was then headed in by Drew Moor after Barrett let him go. However, the free kick should never have been given in the first place. Referee Tim Weyland inexplicably blew his whistle after Adrian Serioux cleanly won the ball off a Dallas winger. The Hoops’ third goal came on a late penalty kick after the ball struck Marvell Wynne in the arm.
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Category: Toronto FC
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