Toronto, Dempsey, and thanks to Dom Kinnear...

THE TORONTO EXPERIMENT

"Attacking is the reward for playing defense." - Ryan Nelsen, Toronto FC manager.

The new look Toronto FC (the 7th incarnation?) are underway, and they got off to a cracking start, getting all three points on the road in Seattle. But what did we learn from the first 90 minutes of action?

1) Michael Bradley is going to have his hands full:

From the first kick, Bradley was a man on a mission. Trying to be everywhere he could, putting out every fire in defense, starting or taking part in every attack. "He just has to be Michael Bradley." Ryan Nelsen said, of what would make his new midfield general successful, and at the start, he wasn't trying to be Michael Bradley, he was trying to be three of Michael Bradley.

Once he settled into the game, Bradley looked much more like the player TFC believed they purchased. Playing box to box, covering the back four, chasing down balls, and breaking upfield on the counter. The issues looking to the future though could be in the need for Bradley to be quite literally everywhere, as he was in the early stages of the match. A goal, then a two goal cushion allowed him to relax, and Toronto to revert even more to natural form, basing everything on absorbing pressure. While Jonathan Osorio has been a bright spot coming out of the preseason as a partner for Bradley, one can't help but think to what the midfield would have looked like had they been able to keep hold of last years star performer, Matias Laba. Laba would have covered the center backs, Bradley, and helped spur attacks, while Bradley was more free to push forward into attack at will, and track back when possession was lost. With Osorio, a less accomplished and less natural defender, Bradley is needed to be in more positions while foreseeing the future as to where he needs to be.

A major issue Toronto will face this summer will come when Bradley isn't around during the World Cup, with goalkeeper Julio Cesar also away, the fragile Toronto back four could really face some issues. In the meantime, Bradley and Osorio need to keep working on their relationship and timing, as well as gelling with Caldwell and Henry, becoming a real unit not just in defense, but when they are in possession, where the break downs happened last season, leading to disaster when the other team broke on the counter. If Nelsen truly believes that attacking is the reward for defending, Bradley's role needs to be perfectly defined for him and his teammates, and Michael Bradley needs to only be, Michael Bradley.


2) Who needs preseason or practice?:

As far as debuts go, Jermain Defoe had about as good of one as could have been expected for someone who didn't have a preseason with his new teammates. Two goals in less than a half hour, and a full 90, for a guy who hasn't played since February 8th against Everton for Tottenham, and only started practicing in the last few days.

With one match under their belt, Toronto still hasn't had their "big three" even on a practice field together. Gilberto arrived out of shape and overweight, getting injured before the season began. Defoe arrived injured, and only just began practicing. Only Bradley has had a full preseason and practice schedule with his new teammates.

One would say the worst time for a remade team to go on the road to face the Sounders would be in their opening match, especially after the Sounders got three points against the reigning champions just a week earlier. To do it without one of the big three, with so many new and important pieces not having ever played together, is impressive. One would assume the team is only going to get better.


3) 3 points masks deficiencies:

While Toronto got off to the best start they could have hoped for as far as results are concerned, the game did bring up some deficiencies in the team they have been assembling over the past few months.

They are still shaky in defense. With Nelsen's philosophy of defense first, Toronto spent the majority of the match without possession, and the final 20 minutes saw them barely get out of their own half. Once the Dempsey goal cut the lead down to one, the bus was for all intents and purposes, parked.

Despite having played together last season, Caldwell and Henry do not look to be the most in sync partnership. The same issues of last season are there, and it will be interesting to see if Henry is replaced during the course of the season.

While Defoe and Bradley showed great hustle, questions still abound about the rest of the team. De Rosario looked a shadow of his former self. Bloom is by no means a world beater, and could be a liability at right back. Alvaro Rey and Jackson have the tools to be successful out wide, provided they learn to gel with the fullbacks, be it Morrow and Bloom, or another pairing. What the team does to improve while in possession, something they have struggled with during the whole Nelsen era, could decide his future as manager. It will be interesting to see if De Rosario shifts out wide in some games once Gilberto is fit, or if he will slot back into the midfield, leaving Bradley to cover for his slowing pace and lack of defensive presence. Nelsen has some decisions to make, and it is doubtful Toronto will support Nelsen fully through the summer transfer window if results are not up to par.

On paper, Jermain Defoe, Gilberto, Dwayne De Rosario, Michael Bradley, Steven Caldwell, and Julio Cesar are about as good as any first six names on the team sheet as any MLS team might have. What comes from the next ten names in the squad will tell the tale of Toronto's season.



THE TWO FACES OF DEMPSEY

Against Toronto FC, we got to see both sides of US captain Clint Dempsey.

Having scored only 1 goal in his last 27 matches with any club or his country, Depmsey finally found the back of the net again on a wonderful counter attack where Steven Caldwell was caught in no mans land, having to leave either Obafemi Martins or Clint Dempsey uncovered. The ball took a slight hop off of Dempsey's first touch, which he volleyed with power to a favorable angle against Julio Cesar's position. A beautifully taken goal, and vintage Dempsey.

The bad however was even more prevalent. While Dempsey using the entire stoppage in play for the injury to Brad Davis to get in the face of the ref constantly berating him for the way he was officiating the first dozen minutes or so is expected of a complainer and captain like Dempsey, the rest of his behavior was rather repulsive.

First, Dempsey had an off the ball conflict with Toronto right back Mark Bloom, while play was being called back for a free kick being taken too quickly. Dempsey walked past Steven Caldwell, who was a shield to the referee that was waiting for the ball to return for the free kick, (and lets be honest, if he pulled this stunt on Caldwell, he would have left the field on a stretcher.) when Dempsey walked past Bloom, and used the back of his hand to aggressively swat Bloom in the baby maker. It was a cheap, dirty, gross, and disrespectful move by Dempsey, and I hope the MLS disciplinary committee takes a look at the incident, and at the very least fines him heavily.

But Dempsey was by no means done with the child like behavior. When Dempsey was fouled a few minutes later, in what could only be described as Dempsey taking contact and dramatically flopping to the ground, Jonathan Osorio attempted to offer Dempsey his hand to help him up. Dempsey's response, which the cameras caught for every viewer to see plain as day? "Fuck you bitch." Pure class.

In the second half, Dempsey was at it again. While battling Alvaro Rey for the ball, once the ball was away, Dempsey kicked out at Rey, kicking him in the right calf, tripping him. He then stepped over Rey and started making "he dived" motions to the referee.

Between nutting Bloom and kicking Rey, along with his otherwise poor professionalism, Dempsey shouldn't have been on the pitch past the 60 minute mark, and never should have had the opportunity for only his second goal in 28 matches.

The fact is, Clint Dempsey often acts like a spoiled child in a grown redneck mans body. While fans enjoy his passion and commitment, the moody, classless, reaper of vengeance against perceived injustice makes him thoroughly unlikable to me. His fall from his once mighty perch has felt like a slice of karma biting him in the ass. While I need him to be at his best come Brasil, if he fell of the face of the Earth following the World Cup, I can't say I would miss his antics.

For years people have had the debate, Donovan or Dempsey, with many saying that Donovan wasn't in Dempsey's class. To that I would reply, you are correct, they are not in the same class... Landycakes actually has some. And an even more stark contrast was seen in the very match in which his behavior showed his true colors. Michael Bradley was also on the pitch. Acting like a professional. Acting like a captain. All without the arm band. Dempsey could learn something from the future USMNT captain... how a professional behaves. A few minutes after Dempsey's goal, Obafemi Martins gave Bradley a nudge into the advertising boards next to the pitch. Bradley's response? A "good hard fought battle" tap of respect to Martins arm before returning to the pitch to play on.

I know that for many Americans, saying anything negative about Clint Dempsey is akin to publicly killing Julia Roberts and then raping her corpse, but truth is truth, and Clint Dempsey can be a real miserable C-U-Next-Tuesday.



THANK GOD FOR DOMINIC KINNEAR

Over the past few years, thanks in large part to Barcelona and the Spanish National Team, tiki taka has become the way the game, short-short-short is the way every team wants to play. Keep the ball on the ground, and try to walk it into the net, or find the perfect diagonal pass to crack open a defense.

The 1970's/1980's stereotypical (think of the slaughtering Big Sam takes for his tactics) british long ball hung around longer in the US than it has in other leagues, and I for one don't mind that. The short-short-long game has been pushed out of the game, even at youth level.

What seems to be missed by most fans and managers, is that Barcelona/Spain play the Dutch way, but the old Dutch system had the short-short-long aspect to their game as well, with De Boar opening up the field with a long ball to Bergkamp when the defense tried pressing the ball. Hell, even Barca employs it on a rare occasion where Xavi can ping a 55 yard ball on a dime as Dani Alves or Jordi Alba are bombing down the wing on the overlap into space.

David Beckham was a master of switching play quickly from one wing to the other, or 30-40-50 yards down field, unlocking defenses for a variety of players over the years for Manchester United, Real Madrid, and LA Galaxy. The way he could take his team from defense to attack in a matter of seconds may have been his greatest attribute.

While most teams in MLS have made the switch the rest of the world has been making over the past 6 years or so, Dominic Kinnear in Houston has been sticking with traditional short-short-long system. You play a short pass, then another short pass, attempting to bring defenders in to create space, allowing for a longer pass, which when accurate, can unlock a defense.

Teams which still play the fundamental style need to be well drilled. The long pass which can unlock a defense, can also leave you open to a counter attack if it is mishit, or just if possession is lost. Kids these days are not taught how to perfectly place a ball like Michel Platini from 40 yards, or David Beckham, or Emmanuel Petit.

While the youngest of children should be drilled in the style of playing defense by holding possession, and the skill of the short-short-short game, teenagers should be taught the art of the long ball. Not as an always tactic, but as an alternative. A way to unlock a defense. A way to change play from one side of the pitch to the other. Its a dying art that very few players are still capable of, especially in MLS.

So for sticking to a fundamental style, not jumping on the latest trend, and for being successful year in and year out all the same, I have to say, thank god for Dominic Kinnear.




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