You guys pretty much summed it all up Will curtin keep Harris there all year like he did with cj last year. Being the last guy to know what change to make? Accam wasn’t bad because of a hernia last year. He is now just bad. I’m worried about santos. Do they play that rough in Argentina? First four minutes he was in he had four fouls and a yellow. He won’t last 20 minutes if he starts.
Seeing my optimism brought back just emphasizes how bad this loss really is. First game, or not, that was an awful mess of a match for the Union
Not sure why Fabian is being called out for a bit of embellishment - after a blatant off the ball body check that even the homer Canadian broadcast team accepted was a yellow. When their defenders crumpled with every aerial challenge. The space given to Bradley for the 2 goals are surely a major embarrassment for a professional team. If that is allowed to happen again, Curtin, Tanner and all have no place managing this team.
The TFC announcers initially said that the referee was one of the best young refs in the league. It took them awhile to catch on, but even they were amazed Bradley was getting away with all his dissent.
The 4-4-2 diamond was all “we want to control the center of the pitch” and they didn’t. I’m not sure they tried, it was awful. The ball movement in the second half was as bad as its ever been here. Scary thought- what if Jones really sucks? What if he never thinks the game at speed and improves? I don’t blame Curtin for Jones not playing, I blame Jones. Even Jimmy has to know Haris sucks, so it must mean Creavalle is actually ahead of Jones. McKenzie is the same. I’m 0.00 impressed with U20 selections if at the end of the day you’re not beating out late round college picks. We’ve given these guys more slack because they’re HGs but a full 90 of consistent good play seems missing. Did Bedoya play? I don’t think they mentioned him all day. Or was he tracking back to bail Gaddis out? If that’s a sixth place team, it’s quite the indictment for 7-12th.
The announcers said McKenzie picked up a knock in training and was out due to that issue. Is Fabián as slow as he looked? The relay team of Bedoya, Medunjanin, Ilsinho and Fabian seemingly would have a hard time placing at the Senior Games.
Damn right. His tackle on Picault was card worthy. Gets one for "lightly tossing Fabian to the ground", as a TFC claimed to me on twitter. Won't get one for dissent, even though he kept jawing at the ref. He wasn't the cause of the Union losing this game, but the guy sure as hell didn't help matters. Hahaha. Told my youngest about these when I got home (disclaimer, he's a pizza junkie). He can't wait for the next home game I take him to.
Pretty frustrating game...was super excited getting ready for the season and then this game took all the wind out of my soccer sails...anyway, ref was bad, but it's not the only reason they lost...how the hell they just let MB crash the box and have a wide open shot on the first goal is unacceptable. New formation will take a couple games, but I'm not sure Jim had the best 11 out there for Saturday. SKC away this weekend should really be a hum dinger...
Well, they do have a Champions League match on Wednesday, so maybe they rest a few regulars on Saturday?
Went to Steve's on recommendation of multiple people and quite enjoyed it. Thanks for the suggestion. Cheesesteak is also good on a long ass drive back to Canada. As for the game itself, your FO really needs to fire Curtin. TFC did do a bit of switch in formation as during preseason and CCL games, TFC was playing 4-3-3. Then Vanney decided to switch to something like 3-4-3 on attack and 5-4-1 on defence. But it looked like Curtin just didn't adjust to TFC tactics. I saw so many predictable TFC passes to one of overlapping wingbacks and Union players just basically stood and let this happen. If Union 4-4-2 diamond is suppose to choke TFC midfield, I barely saw any pressure on Bradley who is the key guy that allows TFC to cycle the ball to whatever flank. And let's not talk anymore about Bradley's late runs into the box. Actually, it was more of a stroll to score a brace. I think the Union can make the playoffs with the players right now, but it's the coaching that just sucks. Anyways, I had fun in Philly and I'll have to come back for more through experience. Good luck with the rest of the season (and fire Curtin).
https://www.philadelphiaunion.com/post/2019/03/03/premier-ortho-photos-game-union-vs-toronto It's funny to see three (of four?) pics of Bradley not in the run of play, but talking to the ref.
I guess by now Bradley has played in enough Concacaf games that he has seen the value of incesently whining to a referee who is clearly in over his head when you want to waste time. If only he'd been able to find the back of the net that one time down in Trinidad...
Possession was in the middle and offensive thirds for a lot of the first half. Better than last year's possession in the defensive and middle thirds. Where was the high press? I thought they were selling a playing style for 2019 rather than a tactical option. I thought Rosenberry was expendable b/c Tanner was high on Mbaizo. Tactical choice to play Gaddis b/c they knew TFC was going to attack down their left side? What's that say about Mbaizo's defensive skills? If Medunjanin doesn't think his role has changed from last year to this, who's supposed to cover runs through that huge defender-less gap in the middle of the park? It wasn't there last season.
to expand on this... by my count, 23 games against TFC all time. 6 wins, 6 draws, 11 losses. Aside from the Red Bulls, TFC is the team we've struggled the most with in our history in the Eastern Conference.... (excluding Atlanta who we've only played 4 games against) Our Red Bull is arguably better if you include Open Cup games. 9 Wins, 5 draws, 15 losses to RBNY. Our NYCFC sample size is only 10 games, but that's not trending great either.... 3 wins, 1 draw, 6 losses. Best performances in competitive competitions all time are against the Fire and Revs. Chicago: 12 wins, 4 draws, 8 losses New England: 14 wins, 4 draws, 7 losses