This was the funniest game I have ever seen. It was stressful until Fred put his shot away and then it just became laughable. It looked liked a contest to see which team could give the ball away more. I have never seen so many balls passed to someone or something out of bounds. Terrible, sloppy play. Slide tackles that didn't even come close to the ball. I swear one time a sliding Toronto player came up short on the ball and continued to scoot along the turf to get to the ball. The Edgell Supporters were literally laughing out loud during most of the match. Toronto even broke the most minutes without a goal record previously belonging to RSL. Congratulations.
I know turf is supposed to make the game faster but the ball and the players looked extra slow tonight. It looked like the players on both sides couldn't get their feet moving because the turf was too soft (or maybe wet according to Max Bretos or Christopher Sullivan). Toronto had a lot of possession but they were less than dangerous with it. A lot of their service went wide or out of bounds. DC looked quite disorganized to begin the game but the defense played well enough to keep themselves out of danger. When Moreno came in DC at least started to show some form and string a few passes together. Maybe I'm sleeping on how much possession Olsen brings to the game because our midfield was unable to hold on to the ball for any decent amount of time.
For inquiring minds, the actual lineup (substitutions):
Perkins
Namoff-McTavish-Vanney-Burch
Simms
Carroll-----------------Fred
Gomez (Mediate)
Addlery (Kpene)-Dyachenko (Moreno)
We won on the road with three regular starters out and Moreno sitting for the first half. We kept a clean sheet which means we haven't given up a goal in the run of play in 5 games. We beat a team we were supposed to beat. These are all good signs even with the lack of chemistry on the night. On the other hand, we need to find someone besides Emilio to score goals and Olsen to keep possession (Am I off on the Olsen=possession theory? Does Carroll=the opposite of possession?).
Side note: Add Carl Robinson to the dirty players list.
Facts and Reality for Match 2.21
1. Kpene looked a little more creative than he has in awhile, no goal yet though.
2. Fred and Gomez didn't really work together, but then nobody really worked together until sometime in the second half.
3. Three points, not particularly beautiful, but three points it is.
4. Burch didn't have a lot of opportunities so we're still waiting for his goal.
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