Reply With QuoteThe CB was Gerard Ladiyou and the midfielder was Murphy Wiredu. All 3 players are from the Italia Shooters.
TFC vs. Independiente (R)
The Argentinian side wins 1-0 on a mid-second half goal coming off a free kick after one of their players flopped over and dived. To be fair to the Ref, he didn't fall for many of the other Independiente dives, including the two they did in the box. Independiente did not look to me as strong a squad as Pachuca did last week, and neither did TFC as they started off with a true B team and by the end of the game had three un-signed guest players on the field.
Independiente provided an un-welcome reminder of why I hate Argentinian football - I can't ever recall seeing such an unsportsmanlike team in a club football friendly. In addition to the constant diving they put the ball into the back of Edwards net no less than three times (!) well after whistle had blown and everyone else on the field had stopped play. In fact one of the occasions was when an second ball was in play and an Indepediente player kicked it into the TFC net instead of out of the play. On no occasions were their players carded, although the Ref did give them a yellow early on (about 5 minutes in) for a player deliberately kicking the ball away before TFC could take a thrown in at midfield. That was also typical of Independiente in this game, a lot of time wasting, kicking or throwing balls away from TFC players on TFC free kicks. I can understand (even if I don't enjoy) a team doing this in a game that means something but this kind of crap in a friendly it was just ridiculous.
TFC fielded Edwards in net, a back four of Gala, James, Attakora-Gyan and Hemming, a five man midfield with Ibrahim, Rosenlund, Edu, Melo and Smith and Cunningham (who is about 8 years older than anyone else on the starting squad) as a lone striker. Edu was the captain, and from a leadership point of view was actually very disappointing. This was a chance for him to take charge and show him to be "the next big thing" that he himself indicates people are calling him in these new ads they show on the scoreboard before the game & during half time, but on today's performance you'd have to say he's still not ready. How the hell he was awarded "Man of the Match" I do not know, but then I've long held the view that the person deciding on these awards must be certifiably insane.
The three un-signed TFC players who came on mid-second half were Frank Jonke (who bore an uncanny resemblance to Lombardo, even down to the same jersey number and more-recent Lombardo haircut, but looked a bit bulkier but slower) and two players who's names I didn't quite catch. One, a #2, was a central defender (which moves Nana out to right back and Hemming into Melo's spot as Joey was subbed off) and a #8 who played wide right coming on for Smith. It has to be said that all three looked somewhat out of their depth but undestandably so since they don't even get to train at this high of a level regularly and obviously not with their teammates tonight either. What was strange is that Killian Elkinson did not see any time tonight, the only dev. roster player who didn't play, and you have to wonder why they are using a spot on this guy if they are going to play three un-signed local Canucks instead of him in a game like this.
And if we can still believe in tomorrow, yesterday will disappear soon enough - IQ, The Wake (1985)
The CB was Gerard Ladiyou and the midfielder was Murphy Wiredu. All 3 players are from the Italia Shooters.
Nice report G-L.
Elkinson didn't play in the Pachuca game either.
It did feel a lot more like a reserve game than the other friendlies. Even Carver wasn't announced as the coach. Shows how seriously they took this game.
Nana A-G was player of the game for me. Looked very strong and fast at the back.
Thanks. I have to say, Ladiyou and Wiredu are two pretty cool names, I hope they get signed to the dev. roster just for that reason alone!quote:Originally posted by jpg75
The CB was Gerard Ladiyou and the midfielder was Murphy Wiredu. All 3 players are from the Italia Shooters.
Carver was up in the press box sitting next to Mo. Most of the TFC regular players were in the press box room next to the room Mo & Carver were in.quote:Originally posted by Massive Attack
Nice report G-L.
Elkinson didn't play in the Pachuca game either.
It did feel a lot more like a reserve game than the other friendlies. Even Carver wasn't announced as the coach. Shows how seriously they took this game.
Good for Cummins anyway to give the Italia Shooters trio a look. You have to wonder if their asses would have been nailed to the bench if Carver had been the coach (given that he made very few subs by meaningless-friendly standards against Pachuca).
I was at the game tonight.
I don't share G-L's distaste for the Argentine way of playing football but Independiente's actions were a bit over the top at times tonight.
Independiente treated this game as a tune-up for its young players. Their starting GK tonight was their normal 2nd string GK and he was replaced by a keeper from their youth team in the 2nd half. Their starting XI was very young. It was more of a reserve side with a couple of veterans. Pachuca played a much more veteran lineup last week, especially in the 1st half. Regardless, the Argentine reserves showed a much higher skill level than our players for most of the night. They toyed with the ball. Almost every Independiente player displayed an excellent 1st touch (i wish I could say the same for the TFC youngsters...). that rocket shot in the 2nd half by the eventual goal scorer (the one that went off the crossbar) was a thing of beauty. Unlucky not to score.
TFC had chances and could not bury them. By rights, they should have had at least 1 goal.
the best TFC players tonight were Ibrahim (Independiente started to key on him after about the 20th minute when they realized he required a little extra attention) and Nana (he was excellent...I am very impressed with this young man...he has a bright future). Julius James was ok (he's a great athlete...now he needs to become a better footballer).
I was VERY disappointed with Melo (he was awful) and Rosenlund (consistently bad first touch, several bad decisions). Gala looked a bit out of sorts playing on Defense but he had a few good moments. Hemming was good and bad (I was impressed with him as a defender most of the time, especially considering he is not normally a defender, but he is too hesitant of a player...he waits too long to make up his mind on the offensive end).
Cunningham was normal Cunningham...mostly crap. Jarrod Smith should have scored in the 1st half but was mostly invisible. he was actually playing as a defender a little in the last 10 minutes of the game.
i was happy to see Jonke, Wiredu and Ladiyou get some game action. According to one coach whose opinion I respect greatly, Jonke could find himself graduating from CSL in the near future. He's got the tools to play for TFC as a Dev player already. If he has the desire and shows the right work ethic, it makes sense to give him a shot with TFC reserves. There is almost nothing seperating him from the young Canadians currently on the TFC Dev roster. I would not be surprised if the spot vacated by Lombardo ends up being used by a player like Jonke. Who knows...Jonke and Lombardo might just flip flop teams.
by the way, TFC played more of a 4-3-3 going forward IMO.
Doesn't sound like there was much of a point to having these friendlies at all? They sounded like a great idea at the time, exposing us to some of our fellow continental clubs, but now what?
I know they have school and whatnot, but I'd love to think Melo, Gala, & Nana could go down to Argentina on loan for a few months to train with a youth team/reserves. Talk about a great experience for an 18 year old.
Not to mention they could learn some Spanish. One of the downsides of the NASL was that we have a whole generation of players with no knowledge of football culture outside NA. Mitchell being a prime example that leaps to mind. I would bet once this current generation of Europe based players give up the boots, you'll see a lot more people remain in the game overseas in coaching and scouting. It would be nice to find away to give our domestic players a chance to further their exposure to international football, foreign leagues, and languages.
It's great to have a domestic club, but it doesn't seem like these kids are making that much progress on the developmental squad. Not to mention, the average good player in Argentina is probably making only $200k a year. With all these international spots, TFC could take a few prospects on loan and put them on the developmental roster. Leandro Depetris is highly touted, as one Rojo example that comes to mind.
There must be something about loans in MLS that I don't know?
^ The whole deal with MLS players going out on loan is a huge mystery to me but I agree these players need to be loaned out for more game action.
The only one that I would not loan out is Nana because I honestly believe he is more fundamentally sound than at least 2 of the defenders ahead of him on the senior team depth chart. It won't be long before he starts getting 1st team playing time in my opinion. Next year, he'll be pushing Marshall and Velez for their jobs.
The rest of them (Melo, Elkinton, Gala, Monsalve and Rosenlund) should go out and play anywhere that the team can find a home for them. I don't care if they play in the CSL at this point because at least they would be playing 1-2 games per week against older players in a physical league. The reserve schedule in MLS is far too inconsistent and essentially meaningless for it to be a good place for players to grow.
Its too bad these players cannot suit up for the occasional game with the Academy team.
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