Saturday, April 5, 2008
DCU-TFC: The Canadians are coming
Toronto FC's visit to RFK Stadium tonight should be an interesting affair for both sides. In this fixture last year, the expansion Reds surprised the D.C. fans by grabbing an early goal in a brave first-half performance against first-place United. But the floodgates opened after halftime when a peeved Tom Soehn brought on Jaime Moreno and Ben Olsen (who he'd been resting after the team's Copa Sudamericana exertions) and United tore open TFC for a 4-1 final result.
How intriguing, to recall that D.C.'s experienced duo had to come off the bench to rescue the league leaders (at that time chasing the Supporters' Shield) from an embarrassing home setback to a cellar-dwelling expansion team. This season, it's becoming fully apparent just how much United depend on Moreno and Olsen -- for leadership, ball possession, attacking imagination, midfield tenacity, all-around clutchness...you name it. Soehn mentioned this after training yesterday. He's clearly ready for someone else to step up:
"It’s been difficult losing Benny and Jaime through this stretch. They’re veteran guys who’ve been through these type of tournaments, and they’re looked upon as leaders on our team," he said. "But you have to move on from that. We feel we’ve built a deeper team to adjust, and the expectations on now some of the other guys is a little higher, and we have to live up to that."
TFC is still figuring things out under first-year head coach John Carver, and -- compared to the menacing Mexicans from Pachuca -- should provide a relatively compliant punching bag for D.C. as the Black-and-Red try to get their act together. But you never know. The mere fact that Soehn AND several of his players used the phrase "it's not the end of the world" in reference to the prospect of losing or drawing this match is enough to suggest that they may not be 100 % focused on it.
The RFK pitch is in magnificent shape but the grass will be slick, which could 1) help United to play at a higher pace and run Toronto out of the building, or 2) equalize what is surely a significant talent gap between the two sides and give the Canadians a better shot at the upset.
I'll leave you with a few words from D.C. 'keeper Zach Wells, a thoughtful guy who, I think, put his finger on a big aspect of his team's recent struggles when we talked on Thursday.
"What needs to change? I mean, lots of stuff. Concentration on free kicks, having confidence on the ball, organization for 45 minutes each half – just kind of staying focused for a full 90 minutes and making the other team have to earn their goals as opposed to, you know, giving up near post cross-shot things and giving away easy chances."
How intriguing, to recall that D.C.'s experienced duo had to come off the bench to rescue the league leaders (at that time chasing the Supporters' Shield) from an embarrassing home setback to a cellar-dwelling expansion team. This season, it's becoming fully apparent just how much United depend on Moreno and Olsen -- for leadership, ball possession, attacking imagination, midfield tenacity, all-around clutchness...you name it. Soehn mentioned this after training yesterday. He's clearly ready for someone else to step up:
"It’s been difficult losing Benny and Jaime through this stretch. They’re veteran guys who’ve been through these type of tournaments, and they’re looked upon as leaders on our team," he said. "But you have to move on from that. We feel we’ve built a deeper team to adjust, and the expectations on now some of the other guys is a little higher, and we have to live up to that."
TFC is still figuring things out under first-year head coach John Carver, and -- compared to the menacing Mexicans from Pachuca -- should provide a relatively compliant punching bag for D.C. as the Black-and-Red try to get their act together. But you never know. The mere fact that Soehn AND several of his players used the phrase "it's not the end of the world" in reference to the prospect of losing or drawing this match is enough to suggest that they may not be 100 % focused on it.
The RFK pitch is in magnificent shape but the grass will be slick, which could 1) help United to play at a higher pace and run Toronto out of the building, or 2) equalize what is surely a significant talent gap between the two sides and give the Canadians a better shot at the upset.
I'll leave you with a few words from D.C. 'keeper Zach Wells, a thoughtful guy who, I think, put his finger on a big aspect of his team's recent struggles when we talked on Thursday.
"What needs to change? I mean, lots of stuff. Concentration on free kicks, having confidence on the ball, organization for 45 minutes each half – just kind of staying focused for a full 90 minutes and making the other team have to earn their goals as opposed to, you know, giving up near post cross-shot things and giving away easy chances."
Comment posted by Charles Boehm @ 10:30 AM 
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