The Week That Was - October 1st

Here are the updated standings:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3qPRqJFXHoRTFNiUkFxN0FKeDQ/edit?usp=drive_web

Toronto FC

We Won! 4-1!! Against DC United, oh.  Against DC United’s B/C squad, ohh. Bright Dike scored his first, Alvaro Rey scored his first and created an own goal, and Darel Russell had an incredible turning volley goal that is up for Goal of the Week honours.    But against any other team this game would have been completely different.  DC was resting their squad for a game later tonight in the US Open Cup where if they win they will not only win hardware and a spot in the 2014-2015 CONCACAF Champions League but they will pull as I like to call it a “Toronto” where even though you are in last place in your league you are a part of the “Champions” League.  Really though with the defensive lineup put out there of Morgan, Agbossoumonde, Henry, and Bloom any team could rip us to shreds.  So let’s enjoy the win and see it for what it was a meaningless game that is one step, winning games you are supposed to win, of the thousands of steps needed to turn this club around. 

Movers of the Week

Both Portland and Seattle got 6 points closer to clinching a playoff spot in the West through winning their respective games this week while Vancouver gave them the other three points through their loss.  While Vancouver and FC Dallas both got 3 points closer to being eliminated from the playoffs through their losses.  While in the East a rather inactive week occurred with New York, Montreal, and Houston all getting 2 points closer to clinching through draws gaining them 1 point and the highest max points of a non-playoff team dropping by 1.  Chicago was the biggest loser in the East with a draw dropping 2 points and then the 5^th place points total moved up 2 for a total of 4 points closer to elimination.

It really is getting close with all teams in the bottom of half of the west being less than 10 points away from being eliminated.  In the East though it is much more likely for one of the currently non-playoff teams to fight their way into the playoffs my money is on Columbus to beat out Philly for that last playoff spot in the East.

Predictions

Last Week

Philadelphia Union @ Sporting Kansas City	SKC Win	Wrong PHI Win 1-0
DC United @ Toronto FC	TFC Win	Correct TFC Win 4-1
Real Salt Lake @ Vancouver Whitecaps	Van Win	Wrong RSL Win 1-0
Houston Dynamo @ New England Revolution	Draw	Correct Draw 1-1
Montreal Impact @ Chicago Fire	MTL Win	Wrong Draw 2-2
LA Galaxy @ Portland Timbers	POR Win	Correct POR Win 1-0
Columbus Crew @ FC Dallas	CLB Win	Correct CLB Win 4-2
New York Red Bulls @ Seattle Sounders	SEA Win	Wrong Draw 1-1
San Jose Earthquakes @ Chivas USA	SJ Win	Correct SJ Win 1-0

Last Week’s Prediction Record	5-4
All Time Record	47-46

This Week

Chicago Fire @ DC United	CHI Win
Montreal Impact @ Houston Dynamo	Draw
New England Revolution @ New York Red Bulls	NY Win
Sporting Kansas City @ Columbus Crew	Draw
Toronto FC @ Philadelphia Union	PHI Win
FC Dallas @ Real Salt Lake	RSL Win
Seattle Sounders @ Colorado Rapids	COL Win
Chivas USA @ LA Galaxy	LA Win
Portland Timbers @ Vancouver Whitecaps	Van Win

The Week That Was - September 24th

Here are the updated standings:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3qPRqJFXHoRcGhVdkV2R20zaUk/edit

Toronto FC

Before the game, last Friday September 20^th, Tim Leiweke and Toronto FC announced they had found their GM, another MLS Head Office suggestion and former Senior Director of Player Relations and Competition with MLS Tim Bezbatchenko.  With MLS he oversaw the budgets of many different MLS teams and has an intimate understanding of contracts and league rules.  He was brought in here to have control of the budgeting side of Toronto FC’s team and to assist in player selection; he will not be the be all and end all in player acquistion like the “typical” general manager in North American Professional Sports.  So Leiweke has finished putting together one team now the hard work begins trying to turn Toronto FC into a team.

What a team they currently are, and with Jonathan Osorio’s 2 game suspension announced the day before the Kansas City game I knew it was going to be a long day for TFC.  The game ended 2-1 in Sporting Kansas City’s favour not that unexpected but the way in which the game went down was not.  The Kansas City goals were both by C.J. Sapong who took advantage of lackluster defending by Doneil Henry on the first and Mark Bloom on the second.  Toronto also took advantage of a bad pass reception by Aurelien Collin who gave up the ball to Rey who passed to Russell and he slotted it in the bottom left hand corner.  But that was not it for Collin, already sitting on a yellow when defending Alvaro Rey who was making his way along the right side of the 18 yard box Collin deliberately elbows Rey in the face.  Collin looked to see where Rey was before throwing his elbow out, this could have been a red card and was definitely a yellow card but neither was shown.  Furthermore a penalty was not called even though it looked to be inside the box.  In addition to this, in the 91^st minute Toronto had a free kick at about half and sent everyone up, the kick was headed on further into the box and when Justin Braun went up to head the ball on frame Collin tackled him preventing him from getting to the ball and again no card was shown but even worse no foul was given and in turn no penalty.

Here we are with 4 games left and currently the same point total as last season of 23 supported by the higher number of draws this year because we have one less win compared to last year.   And it doesn’t look like that will change much we arguably have one last shot at tying the win total of last year.  That is the next game coming up against DC United but with Osorio and Caldwell out and then all of the injured players it looks bleak.  At least we will have a good draft pick, oh wait we traded it.

Movers of the Week

The biggest movers in the West were the Portland Timbers who through a win vs. Colorado and the highest max points of a non-playoff team dropping by 2 they moved 5 points closer to clinching a playoff spot.  While FC Dallas had the largest drop of 5 points with a loss vs. New York and the 5^th place points going up by 2.   In the East, New York, Kansas City, and Houston were the biggest winners all moving 6 points closer to clinching the playoffs through each of their respective wins versus Dallas, Toronto, and Chivas and the highest max points of a non-playoff team dropping by 3.  Whereas Chicago had the biggest drop through a loss and the 5^th place points rising by 1, they fell 4 points closer to elimination.

The under 10 club makes it return finally with one member San Jose Earthquakes who are 9 points away from being the next club eliminated from the playoffs.

Predictions

Last Week

Colorado Rapids @ Portland Timbers	POR Win	Correct POR Win 1-0
Vancouver Whitecaps @ Montreal Impact	MTL Win	Wrong VAN Win 3-0
Sporting Kansas City @ Toronto FC	SKC Win	Correct SKC Win 2-1
DC United @ New England Revolution	NE Win	Correct NE Win 2-1
Chicago Fire @ Columbus Crew	Draw	Wrong CLB Win 3-0
Chivas USA @ Houston Dynamo	HOU Win	Correct HOU Win 5-1
San Jose Earthquakes @ Real Salt Lake	RSL Win	Wrong SJ Win 2-1
Seattle Sounders @ LA Galaxy	LA Win	Wrong Draw 1-1
FC Dallas @ New York Red Bulls	NY Win	Correct NY Win 1-0

Last Week’s Prediction Record	5-4
All Time Record	42-42

This Week

Philadelphia Union @ Sporting Kansas City	SKC Win
DC United @ Toronto FC	TFC Win
Real Salt Lake @ Vancouver Whitecaps	Van Win
Houston Dynamo @ New England Revolution	Draw
Montreal Impact @ Chicago Fire	MTL Win
LA Galaxy @ Portland Timbers	POR Win
Columbus Crew @ FC Dallas	CLB Win
New York Red Bulls @ Seattle Sounders	SEA Win
San Jose Earthquakes @ Chivas USA	SJ Win

The Week That Was- July 30th

Here are the updated standings:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3qPRqJFXHoROVdPSmxSQ2ZTN1U/edit

Toronto FC

After giving up a soft goal in the 17^th minute, Joe Bendik bounced back making save after save to get Toronto through the early onslaught of Columbus.  This made it possible for Toronto to mount a comeback in the dying minutes with goals in the 87th minute and 90’+4 minute, by Jonathan Osorio and Andrew Wiedeman respectively, to get the win.  New addition Alvaro Rey put in 20 minutes of work coming on as a sub in the 76^th minute and added something new to the equation.  But the biggest change of the second half was Jonathan Osorio being moved into the centre of midfield instead of being out on the wing. This gave TFC an attacking option through the centre of the field, with them playing more of a diamond midfield with one attacking and one defensive midfielder instead of our normal flat line with two central defensive midfielders. This new formations effectiveness was seen in Osorio’s goal where he was able to push up through the centre and latch on to Jeremy Brockie’s laid off pass. 

I hope to see this same formation used in Toronto’s next game vs New England on Sunday.  Furthermore another change that should be made is, if Robert Earnshaw and Danny Koevermans are still injured, Wiedeman should get the start next game beside Brockie.  His great finish on the game winning goal, in my opinion, is worth a lot more than Justin Braun’s recent “workmen” like performances.  When looking at the standings, after this week’s game TFC got one point closer to being eliminated from the playoffs after the Houston Dynamo earned a point increasing their point total as the 5^th place team in the east.  Toronto will have to go on a pretty big winning streak to even have a chance of being in the playoff picture, hopefully this win starts that run.

Movers of the Week

After this past week’s two teams, Colorado Rapids and New England Revolution, moved up into playoff positions as the two Texas based clubs, FC Dallas and Houston Dynamo, dropped down.  No current playoff bound team moved closer to clinching their playoff spot. While, Chivas USA got 3 points closer to being eliminated in the West, while both Columbus Crew and DC United got 4 points closer to being eliminated in the East.

Predictions

Last Week

Columbus Crew @ Toronto FC	TFC win	Correct TFC win 2-1
LA Galaxy @ Colorado Rapids	Draw	Wrong Colorado Win 2-0
New England Revs @ DC United	NE win	Correct NE win 2-1
Real Salt Lake @ New York Red Bulls	NY win	Correct NY win 4-3
Sporting Kansas City @ Montreal Impact	SKC win	Wrong MTL win 1-0
Philadelphia Union @ Vancouver Whitecaps	VAN win	Wrong Philly win 1-0
Chicago Fire @ Houston Dynamo	HOU win	Wrong Draw 1-1
Portland Timbers @ San Jose Earthquakes	Draw	Wrong SJ win 2-1
Chivas USA @ Seattle Sounders	SEA win	Correct SEA win 2-1

This Week’s Prediction Record	4-5
All Time Record	4-5

This Week

New York Red Bulls @ Sporting Kansas City	SKC Win
Montreal Impact @ DC United	MTL Win
Chicago Fire @ Philadelphia Union	Draw
Real Salt Lake @ Colorado Rapids	RSL Win
Columbus Crew @ Houston Dynamo	HOU Win
Chivas USA @ San Jose Earthquakes	SJ Win
FC Dallas @ Seattle Sounders	SEA Win
Vancouver Whitecaps @ Portland Timbers	POR Win
Toronto FC @ New England Revolution	TFC Win