Season Opener
Game 1 is in the books and it was pretty much what I expected.
The team has no width and our back line is just as bad as it ever was. I really don’t know if the onus Preki here as he allegedly liked what he saw from Nick “The Problem” Garcia in preseason but shit, how bad were those back passes?
The first Columbus goal was a great header that we couldn’t have done much about, but that second goal was just dreadful. Another through pass with no coverage led to an open shot chance for Columbus. It was the third time it happened (not including some close call offsides) and I don’t blame Frei at all for coming out. He had to try something because anything is better than being in the firing range without a single defender to support.
Final was 2-0, but really it could have been 4 or 5. The only saving grace is that we have a two week break until game 2. It’s going to be a lonnnnnng season.
Carl Robinson Gone!
According to tweet by Ives
I guess it had to happen with the glut of holding midfielders you just knew Robbo was likely to get the axe given his age and salary. Rumor has it that we’ll still be on the hook for part of his salary so we could end up paying Robbo to play against us… what a crazy screwed up system the MLS is. Even if he does end up at NYRB, Robinson will remain my favorite original. Yes, more than Dichio and Brennan.
Shine on, you crazy diamond.
2010 Full Schedule Released
The Reds have released their 2010 season schedule including the Voyaguers Cup dates (in itallics):
March
03/27 - Saturday at Columbus 4:00 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
April
04/10 - Saturday at New England 7:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
04/15 - Thursday vs Philadelphia 7:00 p.m. ESPN2/Deportes
04/18 - Sunday at Colorado TBD DK, MLSnet.com
04/25 - Sunday vs Seattle 2:00 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
04/28 - Wednesday vs to Montreal Impact at 8:00 p.m.
May
05/01 - Saturday at Real Salt Lake 9:00 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
05/08 - Saturday vs Chicago 4:00 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
05/12 - Wednesday at Montreal Impact at 8:00 p.m.
05/15 - Saturday at LA Galaxy 10:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
05/19 - Wednesday at Vancouver Whitecaps at 10:00 p.m.
05/22- Saturday vs New England 4:00 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
05/29- Saturday at San Jose 10:00 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
June
06/02 - Wednesday vs Vancouver Whitecaps at 8:00 p.m.
06/05 - Saturday vs Kansas City 4:00 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
06/09 - Wednesday vs Dallas 7:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
06/26 - Wednesday vs LA Galaxy 7:30 p.m. FSC/FSE
July
07/01 - Thursday vs Houston 7:00 p.m. ESPN2/Deportes
07/10 - Saturday vs Colorado TBD DK, MLSnet.com
07/17 - Saturday at Philadelphia 3:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
07/31 - Saturday at Kansas City 8:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
August
08/07 -Saturday vs Chivas USA 4:00 p.m. TF
08/11 - Wednesday at New York 7:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
08/21 -Saturday vs New York 1:00 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
08/28 - Saturday vs Real Salt Lake 7:00 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
September
09/04 - Saturday at Dallas 830 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
09/08 - Wednesday at Chicago 8:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
09/11 - Saturday vs D.C. United 4:00 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
09/18 - Saturday at Houston 8:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
09/25 - Saturday vs San Jose 4:00 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
October
10/02 - Saturday at Seattle 3:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
10/09 - Saturday at Chivas USA 10:30 p.m. FSC/FSE
10/16 - Saturday vs Columbus 4:00 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
10/23 - Saturday at D.C. United 7:30 p.m. DK, MLSnet.com
The one thing that strikes me about this schedule is that it is VERY heavy from the end of April to the beginning of June. In total there are 11 games crammed into a 5 week period shortly before the league takes a break for the World Cup. I’m definitely thankful we’ve gotten right of that plastic pitch because we’re going to need all the help we can get to stay fit down the stretch.
No commentsJohn Carver Resigns
Right out of the blue. No reason given other than “personal reasons.” The fact that he couldn’t come out and say Newcastle was surprising given his reputation for forthrightness.
The Footblog has the presser
No commentsThe Five Stages of Grief
vs 
It’s taken me four days to digest what happened at BMO field on Saturday and like most TFC supporters I have gone through the Kübler-Ross five stages of grief. It went a little something like this:
Denial - How can this be happening? Its the expansion team for christ sakes!
Anger - I don’t see how we stand a chance of winning against 12 men anyway. A rope, A tree, Let’s hang the referee!!
Bargaining - Just give me a goal, that’s all I’m asking for.
Depression - What a terrible effort, they looked like the 2007 squad out there. This stinks.
Acceptance - Well it was just one bad result and its far from the end of the season. We still have 27 more matches to go!!
Now on the game itself, we played an all around terrible game. I can single a few people out like Ricketts being slow and giving up the ball too many times, Barrett for being completely useless and Harmse and Serioux for being outclassed and being able to move the ball effectively out of our zone. I could go on but it was generally a let down from all angles. After Seattle went up our half assed efforts to lob the ball up field into high winds predictably didn’t work out, never mind the fact that Seattle was more organized from opening kick off to the final whistle.
TFC should look a lot better against Dallas not just for the fact that they look like a weaker squad than Seattle but for the fact that a lot of the pressure of the home opener has dissipated. I’m hoping Carver and the boys will be able to take something from the loss because just having a better squad than last year doesn’t guarantee anything other than higher salaries.
No commentsThe Harmse Hand Ball
There’s been a lot of talk about whether or not it was a bad call. At first sight I wanted to call BS (as general bias prevails) but after watching it a few times it looks like Schelotto was just exploiting a weak player inside the box. I feel these two shots tell the full story:
and
Even if he was trying to get out of the way, it looks like a pretty easy call to me.
Full video after the fold.
TFC gifted point on the road
vs. 
Toronto FC went into (semi) hostile (due to a 1500+ red army) territory and claimed a point from the defending MLS champions. TFC had trouble creating chances as Columbus had our offense contained throughout the match, although the second half showed a lot more promise after a key personnel change. Kevin Harmse filled his quota for bone head moves by conceding a penalty. Granted he made an effort to get out of the way of the ball, the point still ramains that you shouldn’t run around inside the box with your arms flapping about. This is why Andrea Lombardo was never a defender. If it weren’t for a Gino Padula own goal we may not have received the point. Credit goes to DeRo for delivering the difficult ball.
The point is we got a point. And now for some player ratings (after the fold):
No commentsTFC take 3 points in KC
Toronto FC looked strong and in charge in Kansas City as they cruised to 3-2 win. With DeRo up front and Vitti observing from the bench, John Carver opted for more youth in the rest of the line up. Kevin Harmse did in fact start ahead of Marco Velez while Sam Cronin filled in the vacant winger role with remarkable poise.
Guevara and De Rosario showed a lot of promise working together creating chances and pouncing on rebounds. If this chemistry continues then TFC certainly will be a forced to be reckoned with.
However the key to a successful season will be in depth as it will be tested for the first time for the Columbus match up. Both Guevara and Robinson will miss action due to international commitments. With a confident Sam Cronin, a versatile DeRO and the likes of Johan Smith and Fuad Ibrahim on the bench, I think TFC will have an easier time than a Columbus team with some of its
star power missing (Hejduk, Moreno and Oughton on international duty and Rogers questionable due to injury).
Montreal Limp Out of CONCACAF
Ever wonder what it would look like if you and 10 friends took on a professional squad? It might look a little something like the last 20 minutes of the Impact - Santos quarter final.
At the end of the first half L’impact were cruising with a 4-1 aggregate lead including 2 precious away goals. From the beginning of the second half things began to unwind and eventually with TFC drop out Adam Braz at the helm, Montreal managed to pull off the biggest collapse I have ever witnessed in organized sports.
Props to Carlos Quintero for his 2 stoppage time goals, his skills were deffinately deserving an 11 second long “GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!”
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