Fletcher on TFC: Tall order in LA
Posted March 12, 2012 11:02 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
By now, you all know how last Wednesday’s big game ended.
A heartbreaking late goal from Landon Donovan resulted in a 2-2 draw against the LA Galaxy, and barring an unlikely even higher scoring tie, Toronto FC needs a win this week at the Home Depot Centre to advance to the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals. It’s a tall order for sure, but by no means impossible, and as trite as it sounds it just may come down to belief from TFC.
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There’s obviously an intimidating array of genuinely world-class talent among the Galaxy forwards, but without Omar Gonzalez, the defence is very inviting. TFC has fewer big names, but still has the attacking weapons to cause problems, and for the first half hour in the first leg, they played like they knew it.
With pre-game encouragement no doubt still fresh in their minds, urged on by the huge and boisterous crowd, and buoyed by the success of two early goals, they went toe-to-toe with the Galaxy with smart passing and some quick direct attacking. Then the Galaxy scored, and it was as if TFC suddenly realised who it was they were playing against, and from then on there was a lot less attacking verve to be seen, and eventually the lead was lost.
It will be very interesting to see exactly how Aron Winter sends his team out for this one knowing a win is needed. I think it’s more than likely we’ll see Torsten Frings in the middle of a back three again, as not conceding a goal early will be crucial. On the other hand though, the last time TFC knew nothing but a win would do, in a tough game against a theoretically better opponent, against FC Dallas last October, Frings was moved back into midfield alongside Julian de Guzman, TFC not only won, but kept a clean sheet.
De Guzman is available again after serving his suspension, and though he didn’t even play a pre-season game with TFC due to his admirable Canada commitments, he’ll be in the midfield in place of Terry Dunfield. He’ll have a huge role to play in this game, especially if TFC go with the 3-4-3 again, which has the potential to leave the defensive midfielder isolated.
Nick Soolsma is also available for selection again on the right wing and whether he starts should give an indication of TFC’s intent. There’ll be four attacking spots to fill, with Danny Koevermans the obvious choice at centre forward. Luis Silva and Ryan Johnson continued their excellent pre-season form in the home leg and showed that there has to be a place found for both of them, given the goal scoring form they’re currently enjoying.
That leaves one position open, and in the first leg it was Joao Plata who started, and after not really making an impact, he was substituted early in the second half.
One thing Plata proved last year though is that he’s a big game player so it’d be a brave decision to not include him, but Soolsma on the right wing, with Johnson on the left, would certainly be the more defensively responsible line-up. Winter may decide to concentrate on keeping things tight defensively and at 2-2 on aggregate for as long as possible, before opening things up late on to try for the winner, in which case Plata would make for a very effective late sub against tired LA legs.
If Plata is again out there on the left, with Johnson on the right, that’ll be a good indication that there’s a more attacking intent. It would be risky against the talent that LA has up front, but given TFC’s continuing difficulties in sitting back and defending successfully, trying to do that may well be suicide. It’s pick your poison really, but since TFC needs to score at least one goal, a more offensive line-up is more likely.
I’m not saying TFC should come out of the gate with quite the same attacking intent as they showed in the first leg — although against an LA team that didn’t have the same chance to recover from the game on the Rogers Centre carpet, with a flight back to Los Angeles and then a game against Real Salt Lake within three days, it might not be a bad idea.
Whether Toronto tries to take it to LA and score the goal it needs early, or play a more conservative game to keep it tight then push for a winner late on, that initial success in the first leg has hopefully shown TFC that they have the ability to compete. Get intimidated by the big names, and the game will be over before it begins.
Duncan Fletcher is a Toronto-based writer and key contributor to Waking the Red, a blog about Toronto FC and Canadian soccer. Follow Duncan on Twitter.
