I usually avoid blaming individuals for conceded goals. I think that this is something the sports media does to simplify things. They try to dumb it down to make it easier for uneducated fans to digest a complicated team game. That said, even I am tempted to put that first goal on Alfaro. If there is better movement in front of him resulting in better distribution options, maybe he does not make the same decision. However, it is clearly a poor decision for a defender to try to dribble into the center of the field there. I find it harder to hang that second goal on Hamid. That shot is at that perfect height where he can't get his hands up to catch it. So, I think his hands are facing down when he tries to save it. His best bet was probably to try to scoop it out of bounds. I would love to hear from the keepers out there, but this is not an easy save. The shot is hit with real pace. Why? Because the dude is running free inside of our box and has plenty of time to strike it just how he wants to. I think that it is Durkin that is a step too slow there. That second goal was not the fault of one player. I would have loved to see Hamid be the hero, but a shot coming in from an unmarked player inside of our 18 is not completely on Hamid, IMO.
I agree with the first part of this. However, I actually thought that the tactics defending the lead weren't bad. I thought DCU struck a pretty good balance. Toronto did have more possession once DCU had the lead, but DCU managed to stay compact and Toronto had very few good scoring opportunities. DCU did not sit back in a low block for extended periods of time. They used more mid block than in the past. This higher line of confrontation resulted in fewer good shots on goal and fewer free kicks in dangerous areas. DCU were less aggressive with the lead, but still high pressed at times. When DCU did win the ball, they still tried to attack and this resulted in several good opportunities to extend the lead. Even though DC had less possession, United seemed to have the better scoring chances. Gotta agree that we could have been better organized to close out those last few minutes, though. Maybe this could have prevented Osorio from running free into the box for the equalizer. For me, overall, the tactics after we scored were pretty good. The coaches gave the team a good chance to succeed. It is up to the players on the field to take their chances and not make foolish mistakes.
They made tired plays at the end, in the heat at the end of a 3 game week, and it's no surprise it was the sub who had the legs to get to goal and tie it up. You really want Hamid to save us there, but he didn't. Is he dropping off, or maybe I'm imagining it? It seems like he's injured or something is up because he can't get down like he once did. That shot by Etienne recently that beat him near post from way outside (it didn't count for offside) was shocking to me. I think something's not right.
Oops. Sorry guys. It was Perruzza with the shot in the box and Osorio on the rebound(?). I just don't know TFC like that .
With every game you have to measure your expectations of player and team performance by different factors. This was a home game against an inferior team struggling for results. In that context we should have been extremely favored to win, and to a lesser extent draw. A loss should have been a lesser probability. So measuring tactics and finishing has to take this into account. A draw is bad, but not horrendous, but given the NYCFC result it's worse than it should be. We're one of two teams with 4 losses at home in the league. Only 4 teams have 3 losses at home. NYRB is in an unusual situation where they have a lot of draws but they are also 5-1-1 on the road (a result pattern we would need to mimic if we want to make the playoffs). We need to start racking up home points if we don't intend to have a winning record away. That means I hope to see maximum effort and a real lineup against NYRB. I can't believe I am even saying that, since playing our actual rivals should simply always result in that.
I get so upset because Ashton has been the “head coach” (not the manager- Ashton has been running training) for the PAST TEN YEARS! How dare he blame the players?????!!!! Un-freaking believable.
Ok, I suppose that’s fair. How about we amend that to “Once again the players lack the mentality and the execution to close out a lead.” I stand by the “Ugh.”