Saturday, February 25, 2012

Coach WInter and the 7 subs

It good to see the team in action, even though the quality of the streaming picture did not always allow the viewer to identify the players. I think that we fans want the team to look in mid-season form as of yesterday. The prospect of playing LA in a big game only a week from Wednesday might be cause for concern considering that most players looked rusty. Coach Winter does not seem to be concerned with anything beyond giving some game time to the maximum amount of his squad. When Frings scored the tying goal there was no hint of putting short term goals ahead of long term ones. Those seven substitutes were on the field within seconds and it was a chance to squint to see the new faces in camp. Maund seemed to be in the thick of things on the defending side. Cordon and Stinson had some success going forward.
Stefan Frei looked good and kept Toronto in the game.  Frings and Plata had some nice moments.  We are hoping nice moments will abound in the dome.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Winter (the season) begins to fade...new season on the horizon

I am fond of February. It is the first month of the off-season when you can finally say 'TFC game next month". That, and the signs that days are getting just a little longer, are important to me.
Now since I blogged that TFC was using the pre-season stage to shed some players, they turned around and signed two defenders. Ecuadorian Geovanny Caicedo and Chilean Miguel Aceval are the players in question. If you read the forums, the way that I read the forums, you have been reading rumours about the arrival of these two guys for months now. I hope they are the solid, sensible defenders that we have been lacking for years now.
Oh and just as training camp opened, it was announced the Richard Eckersley had signed with the club thereby ending his loan status. It was the good offseason news that we fans had hoped would be paired with the return of Plata, and so it was good news all around.
So now it is a countdown until the preseason tournament. For the first time ever Toronto has skipped Charleston, South Carolina's tourney and is only participating in the Pro Soccer Classic in Florida at the Walt Disney World resort.
TFC games schedule
 Feb 25 vs Orlando City Soccer
Feb 28 vs B.K. Hacken (Swedish club)
March 1 vs FC Dallas
Both Vancouver and Montreal are playing in this tournament, but it must be group based and the only way TFC would meet them would be in a final or a consolation final game. That's ok, the rivalry with B.K Hacken will make that match the pinnacle for me.....