Shapes of MLS Toronto FC suffered their sixth home loss of the season on Saturday after thoroughly being outplayed by Philadelphia Union, who leave town after taking six points off Greg Vanneys side in four days. Cheap Orioles Jerseys . Formations Vanney stuck to a 4-4-2 shape, handing Dwayne De Rosario his first start in almost five months and the Canadian international spent most of the first half on the right wing before switching to the left in the second half. His inclusion, with Jonathan Osorio out injured, was one that made sense as Vanney attempted to surround Michael Bradley with outlets and De Rosario did a reasonable job playing narrow and demanding the ball. Bradley Orr came into a back four short on experience, pushing Nick Hagglund to right back and Mark Bloom over to left back. Collen Warner kept his place alongside Bradley but really struggled and was replaced by Kyle Bekker before half-time. Jim Curtin, as expected, kept with his intelligent 4-2-3-1 from Wednesdays win and made just one change, bringing in Vincent Nogueira, back after injury, for Brian Carroll in midfield. The Game Fridays message at training from the players and staff was clear and united. Start well and give the home fans something to be excited about. Expectations may be high but, unusually in professional sports, these come to a franchise whose fan base is haunted and anxious based on the past seven years. After eight minutes, the winds of worry and concern blew across BMO Field when Conor Casey headed home the opening goal. It was a nightmare start for Vanneys men and one that was avoidable as they failed to clear the ball out in their own end. It set the tone for an abysmal afternoon for Toronto while in possession of the ball. Many words will be written and spoken about the manner in which they conceded both goals - unchallenged headers in their own box - but you only had to look at what Philadelphia did with the ball to see the alarming concerns Toronto has when they have it. The Good On a miserable afternoon for the Reds, all the positives came from Curtins team and Torontos 4-4-2 contributed to it. It was alarming to see how a four-band system like Philadelphias can thoroughly dominate a static three-band system. Too much can often be made of systems but at such a crucial time in Torontos season, it remains one of their biggest issues. With so much invested into two big name DP strikers, the club committed to playing 4-4-2 before the season even started but it simply doesnt help any of the other players on the field and allows a deep-lying playmaker to run the game against them. Nogueira was magnificent for Philadelphia, starting transitions, finding space and giving a clinic in distribution. Vanney will have recognised these concerns very early in the game but with Bradley and Warner sitting deep and the two front men operating in advanced areas, the magician in midfield was given free reign to dictate the tempo of the match. In front of him sat Cristian Maidana, a gifted playmaker whose set pieces were outstanding and his movement caused problems for Toronto FC all game long. The Bad Nogueira and Maidana highlighted all that is wrong with Toronto FC. The French midfielder constantly had an outlet to find when in possession, which can not be said about TFCs midfield talisman, Bradley. Maidana hit set pieces with a purpose and was able to bring a creative spark to an attack from a deeper area. And therein lies a massive problem with Toronto FC. Yes, their back line is missing significant pieces through injury and isnt good enough but as Vanney works on bringing an identity to a team, he does it with attacking players that dont fit a system he has to play. In the 82nd minute, Bradley picked up the ball in his own third and penetrated into the Union half. He then had to kill the attack, and momentum, because he had no outlets. The same thing happened again four minutes later. It is not easy playing up top when you get little service but Gilberto and Luke Moore were poor when balls were played to their feet. Throughout the game, they were passengers waiting for someone to get them into the game and easy to defend against. Vanney understandably wants both on the field, particularly when down early, but his team had two statues up top while the others paid the price. That means TFC are unable to insert midfield dominance where they can dictate everything you need to be successful. Current personnel on the playing staff also plays a factor. It is hard for anyone associated to think long-term with Toronto FC at the moment but whether they make the playoffs or not should not affect how they go about building this club for next season. It is essential for any sports franchise to evaluate their own talent. It is clear the team needs another centre-back in the mold of Steven Caldwell, so badly missed during this horrendous run, but GM Tim Bezbatchenko needs to look at this team and think how he can get the best out of Bradley and whoever his star DP striker will be next season. This is a league built for creative number tens, the ball treasuring space finders who can unlock defences and attract men towards him like Pedro Morales in Vancouver or Maidana for Philadelphia. This allows teams to play a 4-3-3 hybrid that would bring the best out of Bradley in midfield, who then has outlets close to him who demand the ball rather than hiding and running into an area where they can be easily marked. The American international is a gem of a player but many in Toronto dont know how good he is because of the system he is forced to play in. Star man Bradley has the capabilities of taking over a game the way Nogueira did and would have if he was playing for Philadelphia in the heart of their 4-2-3-1. Instead, it was the diminutive former Sochaux man who not only delivered a real dent into TFCs playoff plans but also gave them plenty to think about in terms of how they should be built next season. Wholesale Orioles Jerseys . The stakes were higher, the competition more fierce and the atmosphere was that of a playoff game - something the young, upstart Raptors have five weeks to better prepare themselves for or the result will be eerily similar. Baltimore Orioles Pro Shop . However, it wasnt a problem on Monday night. Evgeni Nabokov made 23 saves for his 56th career shutout in the New York Islanders 3-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night. https://www.cheaporioles.com/ .com) - After Tom Brady added to an already illustrious legacy, Malcolm Butler established his by leaving the Seattle Seahawks, well, deflated.The Baltimore Ravens are back in the playoffs, while the Seattle Seahawks will be playing at home in them.Baltimore made the post-season in the first five years with John Harbaugh as coach and Joe Flacco at quarterback, winning the 2012 championship. They failed to get in last season, but a 20-10 victory Sunday, combined with San Diegos 19-7 loss at Kansas City, did the trick.The Ravens (10-6, the same record they had in their Super Bowl season), earned a wild card and will be seeded sixth in the AFC. They will play at AFC North champion Pittsburgh, their staunch division rival, next Saturday night.Anything can happen when you get into the playoffs, Flacco said. I wont be surprised if in three weeks from now were still sitting here playing.Defending Super Bowl champion Seattle earned the top seed in the NFC by beating St. Louis 20-6. The Seahawks, winners of the NFC West, were 7-1 at home at the intimidating CenturyLink Field, and have a bye next week. They will play on Saturday, Jan. 10.Our main goal coming into the season was winning the division, but getting the No. 1 seed is just as big, Seattle linebacker K.J. Wright said.Green Bay won the NFC North by handling Detroit 30-20 and got the No. 2 seed in the conference and a bye. Both the Packers and Seahawks finished 12-4, with the tiebreaker Seattles opening victorry against Green Bay. Fake Orioles Jerseys. Detroit (11-5) will play at NFC East champ Dallas (12-4) in the wild-card round next Sunday. Green Bays first game will be the following Sunday.We prefer to play here. So, yeah, but this is playoff football now. Everything changes once we get going in two weeks. Playing at home doesnt guarantee you anything and there are no guarantees, but this is definitely where we prefer to play, coach Mike McCarthy said.Carolina (7-8-1) became the second division champion with a losing record in NFL history. Its 34-3 rout at Atlanta earned the NFC South title.The Panthers will host injury-ravaged Arizona (11-5), which fell to San Francisco 20-17 but got the other NFC wild card. That game is next Saturday.The beautiful thing — record doesnt matter, coach Ron Rivera said. Thats the best part.AFC East champion New England (12-4) owns home-field advantage in the conference and will be off next weekend before resuming on Jan. 10. Denver (12-4), the West winner, also will have a bye after defeating Oakland, 47-14. The Broncos will play next on Jan. 11.The AFC North champion Steelers (11-5) beat Cincinnati 27-17 for that title. The Bengals (10-5-1) got a wild-card berth and are at South champion Indianapolis (11-5) next Sunday.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '  |
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