Game two of the season and the home opener. We did better than I expected in game one and I'm cautiously optimistic about this one at home. I'd be more optimistic if it wasn't New England who seem to trip us up even when we're doing well. Pozuelo doesn't arrive until the next day. That's okay as it will probably be better for him to get some training time with the team before his first match rather than hop off the plane and into the lineup. I'm hoping to see Hamilton start up front again after a good performance in Philly. I'd like to see more solidity on the back line than last game.
Is Altidore playing? Hamilton played well in Philly (excluding that breakaway he missed) but I worry that they are both the same style player if they play together relying more on size than skill and they use their bodies well to hold possession. This is where Giovinco and Altidore were so dangerous together because they had very different skill sets that complimented each other so well. I'd imagine on a corner or any cross into the box, all the attention on Altidore might free up Hamilton but I can't see them having the same nice plays between them that we were used to seeing from our two strikers in past years. Perhaps we need to play a 4-5-1 and just use Hamilton off the bench.
According to this from TFC: https://www.torontofc.ca/post/2019/03/13/tfc-insider-will-jozy-play?autoplay=true he should in be on the game roster but it is questionable whether he will start.
So a second game in which there are a lot of problems to point out but also a second game in which they secure the three points. Great goal by Akinola. Good to see both Hamilton and Atlidore score. We can't spot the opposing team a penalty every week. On Hamilton's goal: Was that just a blown off side call (on Chapman) or is there some nuance in the rule that I'm missing?
It was a bit of both. There was a recent change to the offside rule that says that it's not offside if the defender makes a play on the ball (or some wording like that). And since the defender touched the ball, he technically made a play on the ball. But it was pretty controversial to allow it. The commentators all felt it should have been called for offside. Even Vanney did as well.
Thanks. I guess if that's the rule now then it's okay but it seems a bit sketchy to call it a play when the defender was more or less hit by the ball while on the ground.
Vanny said he didn't like the rule. I don't think he opined on whether the rule was correctly applied or not. And a lot of the commentator comments were about whether they liked the rule, more than whether it was correctly applied or not. Perhaps someone can link to the text of the rule being applied here?
The law in question is Law 11(2). Here's how the National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association (U.S. high school refs association) is instructing their refs to call it:
I reviewed the highlights and the defender was back up again when the pass was made and did mishit the ball. I don't necessarily like this but it does seem to have been called correctly. As a defender, I'm not keen on being in a position where I think a player is offside but now have to decide whether to try to intercept a pass (and potentially put the player back on side if I mis-kick it) or leave the pass and hope the player actually is off side.
Ah yes, I stand corrected, their complaints were about the rule itself. Although I thought KJ thought that it was called incorrectly
Maximum points from the first two game it doesn't get much better then that. It is nice to see Hamilton take this chance that has been given to him, many like myself figure his days at the club were numbered and was going to be a future CPL player after last season.
He's definitely making an argument for continued playing time even as Altidore returns to health and Pozuelo enters the line up.