Dean Mcnulty at the Toronto Sun provides a good breakdown of conditioning problems with Toronto FC players today. I think my reports yesterday, and the score line yesterday in the afternoon scrimmage are reflective of what Sir Mo saw in the morning as well. Most journalists shy away from the soccer side of things and give us fluff pieces so its good to read Mcnulty give us some on field soccer related news for once. Good to hear that Mo saw Richard Asante do well out there as I reported yesterday. NEWS: Jose Cancela was hurt, Maurice Edu in for an MRI, and a new "big player" signing - forward is on the way apparently with European experience. Where would the arrival of this player leave high priced Alecko Eskandarian & Edson Buddle is the big question though?
The most accurate and recent report dealing with current Toronto FC season tix has the club hovering around 11,500 according to Richard Peddie. Expect a jump today due to the schedule announcement.
I have received way too many emails to respond back to regarding the "Chinese Player". By the way the links my friend in Chicago sent of the Chinese Womens National team were very funny. Anyway, he showed very well from my vantage point as a fan, but coaches might not see it that way. You should also remember that you don't see many tackles because of the astro turf at the Soccer Centre. One solid tackle would have made this player think twice about some of the stuff he was pulling yesterday. I can not confirm his nationality as Chinese as I was simply told this was what they were saying in the change rooms. How easy can it be for a Chinese National to get permission to travel abroad for a trial? Unless of course he was from Hong Kong or already living abroad or locally. Who knows.
Also keep in mind that Bob Gansler is an extremely cautious coach, who is defensive oriented. His teams are organized, disciplined but he has rarely been one for creativity and flair. Of course he inherited the incredible Preki, and had some major problems with him over the years - leading to a trade at one point. Former player Peter Vermes who is a director of soccer with the Kansas City Wizards, stated last week that the new coaching staff in KC are looking to move away from some of that negative soccer that has been associated with the KC Wizards of the past few years in order to make it more entertaining for fans. That should give us an idea about Gansler's tactics.
Funny to hear the Toronto players complain about the weather. Canadian Tyler Rosenlund on trial with AIK Stolkholm played in -12 degrees Celsius conditions yesterday in a friendly pre-season game. Doubt that Tyler is accustomed to playing soccer in those conditions given he grew up in British Columbia where the climate is much milder and warmer in general than in the rest of Canada, and that he has been playing college ball in California. He showed well according to my many contacts in Sweden going the full 90. He plays a big game on Saturday that will decide his fate at the club. http://magnusneck.se/gallery2/v/AIK/Syrianska-AIK-2007-02-06/0206-08.jpg.html
Am I the only one who notices how out of shape most MLS coaches are? Save for a few MLS coahes, you don't really see this in Europe. I mean how can Bruce Arena or Sigi Schmid amongst a few others, be taken seriously given the state of their own conditions. Yeah they may be successful coaches but what kind of example are they really setting.
I am still hearing that Honduran Samuel Caballero is looking at coming back to MLS. He holds a precious Green Card if memory serves.
Trinidadian International Striker Cornell Glen was released by the Galaxy last week - wonder if old coach Sir Mo has any interest? What would this blog be without a weekly Trinidadian rumour to chew on?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment