Debriefing for Match 12.20: At Toronto FC

Toronto FC 0 : 1 D.C. United

Six Word Novel Recap

Toronto's still scoreless, but Fred isn't.

Media, Traditional and Otherwise

The Toronto Star, Morgan Campbell: "The guy in the Toronto FC jersey didn't look too out of place seated among reporters at the news conference following Toronto's 1-0 loss to D.C. United last night. Cover the soccer beat awhile and you'll learn some reporters advertise their biases. But the moment he opened his mouth he blew his cover.
"Excuse me, sir," he said to Toronto head coach Mo Johnston. "I'm a Canadian resident. I'm a forward. I can hel-,"
"Next question!" Johnston said, dismissing the man with a wave of his right hand as staff escorted him from the room."
The Globe and Mail, Larry Millson: "That is seven games without a goal and eight without a victory. It makes a run at a playoff spot in the final eight games of the season just that much more unlikely although Toronto entered the game six points away from the final playoff spot."
The Washington Post, Steve Goff: "With three regulars back home and another on the bench, United (12-6-3, 39 points) received an early goal from Brazilian midfielder Fred, an outstanding performance by goalkeeper Troy Perkins and a gritty defensive effort to secure its fifth straight league victory and keep pace with Eastern Conference leader New England (12-5-6, 42)."
MLSNet, Mark Polishuk: "In spite of being outshot 12-5 by Toronto, D.C. managed to capitalize on its lone shot of the first half and extend the club's winning streak to five games. United improved to 10-0-1 this season when scoring first."
BlackDogRed, BDR: "I thoroughly agree with Soehn and management that of the three games in this road trip, this was the game to sit the injured. In the race for both Supporters and, barring that, home field in playoffs, Dallas and Chivas are six point games, and while yes, yes it did disrespect Toronto, if one of these games could be stolen with both the team's scorer and team's heart left behind in DC, this was it."
Poplar Point Perspective: "Can we end the Dyachenko experiment for 2007? Unimaginative, uninspired, and unskillful. And Addlery was completely unable to control the passes he was given, passes Moreno and Emilio are able to handle regularly. I don't understand why Kpene was not give the start over either of these options."
The Edgell Supporters: "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."

The Good

1. Three Points: United went in, got all three points, and got out. That is something that they didn't do earlier in the season. Nothing spectacular, but nothing horrible, an early goal, and solid defense. I will take it. It won't be nearly as easy against Dallas or Chivas but hopefully they can do it there too.
2. Depth?: This was a game where DC didn't play great but didn't start Moreno, Olsen, Gros, Boswell, or Emilio. That shows a lot of depth and apart from a few moments I don't think that I ever really noticed it. United wasn't playing well, but I have seen them play like that with everybody healthy and starting, so it wasn't that big of a drop off. It wasn't the best game for some of the people filling in, but it could have been much worse.
3. Traveling Support: With all the talk about Toronto supporters it was good to see a nice large traveling contingent of La Norte, Barra Brava, and Screaming Eagles. I don't know how many were there but the FSC commentators said there were 100 of you guys. I am thinking you were just loud enough to be considered 100 Toronto fans.

The Bad

1. Forward Depth: The Addlery/Dyachenko combo did not work out so well. It was just ugly for a large part of the first half. There are some rumors that DC is trying to trade for some forward depth. I am not sure how wise this is due to locker room culture and continuity, but there is no question that it is now United's shallowest position.
2. Dictating the Game: United was resting a bunch of people with knocks and didn't have it's top 11 playing but still allowed Toronto way too much possession. United needs to do better dictating the play in away matches. Toronto's anemic offenses may not have scored on DC, but if United takes an early lead in Dallas or LA, they probably won't be able to bunker their way to victory.
3. Canadian Ref: I don't know his name and I really don't care. I don't even care that he is Canadian because I think it was more incompetence than favoritism. He just didn't get any of the small (or large) fouls off the ball or after the whistle was blown. Brennan should be fined for his shin to the back of Gomez's head. I don't really know how the ref missed that one, but by that time I wasn't surprised.
   

Man of the Match

Perkins. Fred had the goal and the defense did well to make sure he didn't have too much to do, but when he was called on, he was up to the challenge.

Karma Bank

I really don't know how these things are supposed to work. +1 for Fred's goal. +1 putting up with Toronto's fouling, -1 for some ugly soccer. +1 for the game. Don't know where that leaves us for the season.

Final Thoughts

It was an ugly game but United got what they wanted. Playing without Benny or Emilio was going to be tough, and it was a tough game. Hopefully with everybody ready to go they can get some points at Dallas and LA before coming back and facing a rested New England in a match at RFK that will have huge standing ramifications.