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Posted by
Steve Bottjer,
June 16, 2012
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@bottjerRNO
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Toronto FC 0 – Sporting Kansas 2
The Prelude to Battle
With the end of the International break, Toronto FC were back in action on Saturday night. While the names in the starting eleven were most of the usual ones, the Head Coach patrolling the sideline was different, as Paul Mariner’s reign at the helm of TFC began with one of the more challenging assignments in Major League Soccer – playing away against Sporting Kansas City.
After lining up in a 4-3-3 in the majority of matches played under previous Head Coach Aron Winter, TFC took to the field in a 4-4-2 formation, with Danny Koevermans and Ryan Johnson playing off of each other the two strikers up top.
After spending the last couple of weeks away with the Canadian Men’s National Team, midfielder Julian de Guzman and left back Ashtone Morgan started this on the bench.
The Opening Forty-Five
Toronto FC got off to a slow start in this one, as they looked very much like a team that had not played a competitive match in several weeks. On the other hand, Sporting Kansas City looked very much like a side that was in their element playing at home and with a focused and firm grasp of how they wanted to approach this fixture on the pitch.
With Sporting generating all of the early chances, TFC were actually somewhat lucky to not be down a goal or two early in the half, as a very animated Paul Mariner looked intent on leading his team with authority from the sideline.
Kansas City dominated play in the opening half, with a whopping 78% possession through the first eighteen minutes. The home side was rewarded for that possession in the 18th minute when former TFC midfielder Jacob Peterson found C.J. Sapong, who made no mistake in authoritatively scoring the opening goal of the game.
Toronto engineered their first scoring chance of the half in the 29th minute when some nice penetration and a dangerous cross by Ryan Johnson required some perfect defending by Kansas City to clear the ball before Jeremy Hall could get a foot on it just in front of the goal line.
The Reds came even closer one minute later when Torsten Frings split the K.C. defence with a perfect pass to Eric Avila, who was extremely unlucky to see his shot beat keeper Jimmy Nielsen but then hit both goal posts before bouncing back out.
Kansas City doubled their lead in the 35th minute on a corner kick when an unmarked Julio Cesar scored on a brilliant volley.
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New coach, new formation, 3 week break, excellent opponent ... am not going to judge Mariner's TFC by this game alone #TFCLive
- @RedWineRoz |
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The Second Half
Ashtone Morgan came on to replaced an injured Adrian Cann to start a second half which ended up being much more evenly played than the first.
The two teams would trade chances for the final forty-five minutes with TFC actually generating more dangerous opportunities but unable to break through for a goal.
Peterson had a decent chance to make it 3-0 for Kansas City in the 57th minute, but Milos Kocic was more than up to the task and overall did his job in terms of giving his team an opportunity to work itself back into the match.
Toronto’s best chance of the half came in the 70th minute when Luis Silva sent Danny Koevermans in alone on Nielsen, but the Dutchman could not beat the Dane one on one.
The Reds came close again on a few more occasions, but could not find as goal, as this went into the books as a fairly comfortable victory for Sporting Kansas City.
The Final Word: Mariner will be different from Winter, but will TFC be better?
It was always going to be tough for TFC to come away from anything in this match, as even the most seasoned and organized teams in the MLS often struggle when playing against Sporting at Livestrong Sporting Park. With Paul Mariner looking to overhaul TFC’s tactical approach for more on the pitch success, the next few weeks are going to be a time of transition for the Reds and they were the second best team on this night.
That said, Toronto worked hard, showed some fight and passion and, most importantly, got better as the night went along. While the types of missed defensive assignments that have plagued TFC through all of their six previous head coaches were again conspicuously in evidence on the two conceded goals, the fact of the matter is that with a couple of lucky bounces, Toronto could have come away with a draw in this one.
The next few weeks will be a study in contrasts, as Paul Mariner is clearly going to lead TFC in a very different manner from Aron Winter did. It is only one game, but the early suggestion from this match is that while TFC will likely be playing in a more straightforward and direct manner than they did over the last year and change, they could end up being more competitive on a game by game basis. They are likely as far off as they ever have been from competing for an MLS Cup, but the Red’s performance in this match was moderately encouraging nonetheless.
Maybe the most exciting aspect of this game was the animated and passionate figure that Mariner cut on the sideline. It looked like Danny Koevermans and Ryan Johnson were feeding off the energy and engagement of their new Head Coach and, if that energy and passionate fight can transfer throughout the entire squad, Toronto FC could very quickly find a new identity that could give their supporters something to latch onto.
From a player personnel standpoint, it will be interesting to see which players will see prominent minutes under Mariner and which might see their roles reduced. Terry Dunfield, who was one of Toronto’s better players in this game, looks he could be a player who will thrive under his new skipper. Conversely, Joao Plata did not see the pitch in this game and while his game often looked tailor made for a Dutch style 4-3-3, it remains to be seen as to where he will fit in as a cog an English style 4-4-2.
TFC Line-up
30 Kocic
25 Hall
12 Cann
4 Henry
27 Eckersley
22 Frings
19 Lambe
8 Avila
23
Dunfield
9 Johnson
14 Koevermans
Substitutions:
(46) Morgan in for Cann; (62) Silva in for Avila; De Guzman in for Lambe.
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