Marvellous Goal not enough against Dynamo

By: Colman | September 30th, 2008

When Saturday’s final whistle blew in front of 20 074 fans at BMO Field on a rainy afternoon in Toronto, two things had just become clear - TFC had delivered their best performance in months, and the MLS playoffs will be played without the Reds this year. Like so often this season, TFC could have won the game with a little more luck. However, a horrible lack of communication between Greg Sutton and Hunter Freeman (though most of the blame lies with Sutton) led to an undeserved Dynamo goal which caused TFC to lose two much needed points in the standings.

John Carver (who was with the team only before the game and at halftime) sent out the following team:

Sutton - Freeman, Harmse, Marshall, Brennan - Wynne, Robinson, Guevara, Ricketts - Barrett, Dichio

His idea to create more offense by putting Wynne in the midfield for Freeman backfired in every way possible - Freeman scored an own goal, and Wynne only scored when he had returned to his usual right back position.

Player Ratings:

Sutton (5/10) Made some great saves, and even improved on his positioning on crosses, but not letting Freeman know he was coming out before the goal is all we’ll remember.
Freeman (6/10) Not to blame for his comical own goal, but not as strong as he was in the past few games. Even when he was pushed up to midfield late in the first half, he was not able to create much offensively. His first touch was atrocious at times.
Harmse (7/10) Had a strong performance in his first game at centre back (where he replaced Marco Velez). Made several good tackles, and helped to limit Houston to long range shots.
Marshall (6/10) Made several strong tackles, but displayed very weak distribution. An up and down afternoon.
Brennan (5/10) Lots of weak touches and passes, especially in the first half. Not many good crosses. Never really gelled with Ricketts.
Wynne (7/10) Wasn’t able to establish himself early on in his midfield, but later scored a magnificent goal and stopped several breakaways using his blazing speed. Crossing still needs lots of work though.
Guevara (6.5/10) Had a couple of close misses with some first time shots from outside of the box. Otherwise, a quiet game from Amado.
Robinson (7/10) Gets all the credit for keeping DeRo quiet throughout the game. Has never had great passing, but you can’t argue with his defensive play this season.
Ricketts (4.5/10) Remained invisible throughout, and was rightly taken off for Johann Smith with 20 minutes remaining. One of his worst games of the season.
Dichio (5/10) Not a great game from the big man - didn’t win much in the air, wasn’t able to hold the ball on the ground. Some weak clearances from the back. The whispers are getting louder that this is Danny’s last season on the field.
Barrett (6/10) Was able to get loose from his defender several times, but couldn’t get his shots on net. His left foot especially is shocking. Again wasn’t able to last 90 minutes.

TFC now travels to New York to face the Red Bulls, who just lost 5-4 at home to Colorado. Preview later this week.

Come on you Reds!

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• jon |  September 30th, 2008 at 1:54 pm

  
  
  

  You are an idiot…Sutton deserves more credit, he kept TFC in that game. A player never heads a ball back with out knowing EXACTLY where the keeper is…if it was suttons fault then you are basically saying head balls, offensive or defensive should never be goals.

  Posted from United States

  

• Colman |  September 30th, 2008 at 3:01 pm

  
  
  

  “If it was suttons fault then you are basically saying head balls, offensive or defensive should never be goals.”

  That makes no sense. Sorry.

  If you watch the replay, you will see that Sutton charges out of his net blindly without opening his mouth. He then calls for it while Freeman already has his head on the ball. For a keeper who is always stationary on his line to suddenly come out without letting his defenders know is clearly his mistake.

  Also, how did Sutton keep TFC in the game? He made one save on Brian Ching, who had already been shut down when Harmse when he took the (rather weak) shot. He made a stop on DeRo, who shot from about 30 metres out. That’s it.

  Posted from Canada

  

• JoeSoccerFan |  September 30th, 2008 at 4:39 pm

  
  
  

  Agree with Jon, it is nuts to suggest that was more Sutton’s fault than Freeman’s. It is easy now to say that Sutton should have been more vocal, but he probably didn’t think anybody would head the ball to a keeper blindly.

  Posted from United States

  

• Colman |  September 30th, 2008 at 6:02 pm

  
  
  

  Just rewatched the play - came to the following conclusion:

  1) The entire situation starts with Sutton absolutely screwing up a clearance.
  2) Hunter Freeman has his back to the net (he is defending the incoming ball and has to be facing forwards). He does not see Sutton, and as the ball is coming directly at him, can only assume that Sutton is staying on his line.
  3) Sutton comes, but keeps quiet until the ball is already on Freeman’s head. He also acknowledges this in a post game interview (He called, but called too late).
  4) The keeper is the player on the field who has the best overview of what’s going on in front of him - this is why he should constantly be telling his defense/midfield about situations they don’t see. However, there is no such leadership from Sutton on the play.
  5) Freeman decides he’ll just head it back (as far as he knows, Sutton is on his line). It seems as though Freeman is cleaning up after Sutton’s gaffe - until the very moment the ball touches his head, which is when Sutton calls it.
  6) Too late. 1-0 Houston.

  I am willing to give Freeman a bit of the blame - nobody was stopping him from communicating with Sutton. Also, why didn’t Tyrone Marshall tell him to clear it? But overall, I feel that Sutton has to take 80% of the blame for it.

  Oh well. Let’s move on.

  Posted from Canada

  

• Peter Katsiris |  October 1st, 2008 at 9:12 am

  
  
  

  Well Joe, to think that nobody heads the ball back is utter stupidity. Blame lies on both players, but a good chunk of it is solely Sutton’s fault. Joe and Jon, I suggest both of you brush up your knowledge of football tactics before you critique Colman’s ratings again. You are entitled to your opinion, but somebody has to tell you when you are WRONG.

  Therefore, Sutton’s 5/10 is just desserts for Mr. I cannot communicate.

  Posted from Canada

  

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