Bad day at the office for Preki

Share

Sometimes a coach has a bad day. Saturday night at Rio Tinto Stadium was one of those days for Preki, as Toronto FC were soundly beaten 2-1 in their sixth Major League Soccer encounter of the season. A late penalty from Dwayne DeRosario was mere consolation for TFC and not an indication that they realistically deserved anything from the game.

The problems began for the team when the coach announced his starting line-up which did not include the star duo of Dwayne DeRosario and Julian DeGuzman. Maybe there was something more to this than meets the eye but if not, then one has to conclude it was the coach trying to be a little too clever.

With all the "new" players inserted into the line-up fatigue should not have been a factor in the first half but then again, if players are barraged with the message, it will likely turn into a self fulfilling prophecy. There seems to be no other explanation for the half paced approach of the first 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, in the tactical department, the decision to drop off into a defensive posture using a 4-5-1 formation was a reasonable decision by Preki. One can suppose he did not bank on his team defending so poorly.

Dropping off, generally means, once the ball is played in the defending half players get tight and defend as if their lives depend on it, aka Inter Milan. But against RSL there was no such resolve from the TFC players especially in the key areas at the back and in centre midfield. Conceding space in the attacking part of the field was fine but giving no space away in your own end was the key to success of the tactical approach.

The TFC players were way to loose in their marking which in the end lead to two first half goals being conceded, along with numerous other chances.

Lesson to be taken from this is that it really does not matter what formation or tactics are put forth, if the preparation of how to implement the approach is not repetitively worked on, then the team will likely defend as they did against RSL in the first half. Individual players allowing crosses and shots on net so easily was the end result of poor on field preparation.

Playing catch up in the second half proved too much for Toronto FC even though the team looked more dangerous, particularly in the transition phases. They were very unlucky to not score when O'Brien White hit the crossbar but at the same time, Real Salt Lake themselves had a number of good scoring opportunities.

It was a disappointing end to a difficult but over all successful week for TFC. Whichever way you want to look at it, the RSL game was not a good day at the "office" for Preki.

Team: Frei, Usanov, Cann, Attakora, Hscanovics, Gargan, Sanyang, Saric, Labrocca, Joseph, Barrett.

Formation: 4-5-1 (reverting to a 4-4-2 in the second half)

Player Ratings and Assessments

Stefan Frei (7)

At fault for the first goal. Corner played into the six yard box was a difficult one but once he made the decision to challenge for it, he simply had to a get a touch on the ball which he did not. It was a costly error. He made amends with some excellent saves to keep the team in the game. Overall he dealt with the awkward movement of the ball due to altitude quite well.

Maxim Usanov (5)

Not a particularly good performance from the Russian full back. Allowed too many crosses to be played in and he got beat in 1v1 situations at crucial times. These are the staple requirements of defending fullbacks and so without success here, you are realistically on your way to a poor outing, which was the case with Usanov. Never looked like getting forward.

Nana Attakora (5)

A poor performance from Nana who was at fault for the second goal. He has to defend better in these 1v1 situations. Was not the only time he got caught but it is the one which stood out.

Adrian Cann (6)

Strong in aerial challenges and defended quite well throughout but along with Frei he was suspect on the first goal. Lost concentration at a few key moments and was lucky to not be yellow carded for misuse of the arm in the first half

Raivis Hscanovics (4)

An easy decision for Preki to make at half time. If Preki could have read the writing on the wall, then he would have anticipated this kind of performance as Hscanovics has looked susceptible in 1v1 defending situations all season. Against Real Salt Lake he was miserably exposed getting beat a number of times and allowing crosses in far too easily. His staple errant fouls were still in place, as were his predictable disguise-less passes. Not a good performance.

Nane Joseph (6)

Was unlucky not to score on a well placed header in the first half. Showed some power and strength and a few nice touches but also gave the ball away at key moments. Failed along with most of his teammates to get tight to his opponent.

Amadou Sanyang (5)

Looked rusty with too many giveaways in dangerous areas. Did a decent job with some of his challenges but he was sporadic. One minute it is a good challenge the next it is a miss-timed tackle. Needs to be more consistent.

Nick Labrocca (7)

A shining light amongst a poor group on the day. Worked tirelessly and was good on the ball throughout. Provided a few terrific passes including the set-up for Joseph's first half effort.

Martin Saric (6)

Same type of game from Saric. The odd foul here and there, the stray pass, the failure to close down at key moments. Needs to be a leader and organizer for the rest of his midfield cohorts, especially when defending as a unit. It does appear though he has enough trouble taking care of his own responsibilities.

Danny Gargan (5)

Better than his mid-week outing but only just. Too often against Real Salt Lake he defended flimsily ie. timidly closing down his opponent with no real purpose to stop the ball going forward. At times on the ball he made some good passes but it needed to be more consistent.

Chad Barrett (5)

Not a great outing from the hustle bustle striker. Had Dwayne been the lone striker in the first half there would have been more attacking momentum. Barrett is a different athletic profile and certainly does not have Dwayne's pace, therefore, when the ball is played in to his feet it has to stick which it did not against Real Salt Lake. It put TFC under constant defensive pressure.

Substitutions

Dwayne DeRosario (7)

Bottom line, if Dwayne had started TFC could have gained some points from the game, maybe all three. As it was he did what he could providing a quality cross for O'Brien White and then creating the penalty, which he coolly slotted away.

Julian de Guzman (6)

Not a great performance - too many loose passes - but a big improvement on the first half personnel. Needs to be involved in the game from the outset in order to get bedded into the action and flow. Better to sub him late on as opposed to bringing him on as a spark plug - not suited to him.

O'Brien White (6)

Unlucky on the header which would have changed the game. Worked hard and at times looked threatening. He is improving