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Posted by
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March 7, 2018 |
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Aaron Nielsen
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@ENBSports
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As Toronto deals with the disappointment from the season opening loss, they quickly need to focus on what might be their most difficult game of the season. I was somewhat surprised by TFC's line-up against Columbus, only because most players were coming off a draw with Colorado to advance to this game hosting UANL Tigres and have the away fixture less than a week later. To be fair, this is a normal schedule for most of the top teams in the world, although with the game against Columbus not meaning much in terms of Toronto FC making the 2018 MLS playoffs, one would have thought Greg Vanney might of rested more players outside of Drew Moor.
Hopefully the poor result in the home opener will motivate the players even more for Wednesday. In terms of the Columbus loss, to me it looked like a case of some players getting used to each other, a bit of bad luck highlighted by Giovinco near miss in the second half, as well as getting used to a new scheme by MLS opponents in giving Toronto possession (TFC had 58% of the ball on Saturday) and hoping to gain opportunities on the counter attack. Columbus also did a good job of both limiting Giovinco's touches as well as closing down the full backs, forcing TFC to attack from the center.
I expect a different type of game on Wednesday as Mexican side UANL Tigres are very comfortable on the ball and like to play with possession. In 40 games over the last calendar year, UANL Tigres have averaged 57% possession in games and they achieved this by averaging 490 passes per game. Toronto over the same period averaged 33 more passes per game, but only had 52% possession against MLS opponents. This tells me that Toronto likes to play a quicker game than Tigres and can be effective, especially if they look to break once in possession against the Mexican side.
Toronto's main concern will be to be aware of the UANL attacking options. Tigres have four world class players in attack if they wish to play a 4-4-2 system that they've used recently in Liga MX play. Frenchman Andre Pierre Gignac is upfront with Argentinean Ismael Sosa, while on the wings they will likely employ Ecuadorian Enner Valencia and Chilean Eduardo Vargas. Their career goal total and experience reflect this potency with Gignac having 177 goals in 426 games, Sosa has 85 in 320 career games, while ex-West Ham player Valencia has 69 career goals and Vargas, who played in the Bundesliga, Premier League and La Liga, has 50.
Arguably this isn't Tigres best lineup, because it means two of their highly skilled midfielders will not be starting, whether that be Argentinian Lucas Zelarayán or Mexicans Jesus Duenas, Javier Aquino, Jurgen Damm. Duenas seems to be out of favor at the moment as he was rumored with a move to MLS over the off season, although has the qualities of a Victor Vazquez in terms of both maintaining possession and creativity on the ball. All four midfielders can create chances for anyone on the pitch, including themselves.
Tigres biggest weakness is probably their defense, although that being said they are very experienced and also very comfortable on the ball. This is highlighted by the 35 year old Juninho who has played close to 300 games with Tigres and averages 80 touches a game and never loses possession while on the ball. To help an aging defense, Tigres recently brought in Frenchman Timothee Kolodziejczak, who played with Nice in France and Sevilla in Spain. Argentinian keeper Nahuel Guzman has been ever-present in net since joining Tigres in 2014 and has played 5 times with the Argentina senior national team.
In preparation for this match up I watch the past handful of games for Tigres. I my opinion, they are not as slick as they were say a year ago when attacking variables were only comparable to other well known global clubs like Barcelona, PSG and Liverpool. Despite this, they are currently 4th in the Mexican LigaMX Clausura with a 5-3-2 record after beating out local rivals Monterrey to win the 2017 Apertura Championship, They have been playing with sense of confidence, almost allowing teams to attack them, as shown in Sunday's 2-0 win against Veracruz where they were out possessed 53%-47%. Although the most interesting sidenote from my perspective is how much Toronto has been mentioned in the Mexican broadcasts, especially Giovinco's name, so I don't feel Tigres will take the series lightly, especially the game in Toronto.
For me this is the most exciting Toronto FC match up in the clubs history, even above the MLS Cup win over Seattle because of where I feel UANL Tigres rank on the World Soccer stage and their overall quality of players. I'm hoping Toronto gives a good performance both at home and in Mexico and advance to the next round. I wouldn't put Toronto FC as favorites but I do feel we have a good shot, although I feel it is critical to get something from Wednesday's game. If we can get by the Tigres in the two game series I would put Toronto as favorites to win the CONCACAF Champions League.
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Aaron Neilsen is a co-founder of Prospect XI (Prospect Eleven), a scouting network and online magazine dedicated to tracking/highlighting young players that refer to as "prospects" as well as their development pathways both within North America and worldwide. Follow PXI via www.prospectxi.com or on twitter @ProspectXI.
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