TORONTO — Aaaaaah!
That sound you hear is Toronto FC management, coaches, players, supporters and everyone else breathing a sigh of relief after the Reds earned their first win of the season on Saturday, beating Sporting Kansas City 2-1.
It took until May 26 for the Reds to win their first league game last year, and getting some points on the board early on will go a long way in giving Ryan Nelsen and Kevin Payne some breathing space and time for their revamp of TFC to take effect.
Though the result was different, there were a lot of similarities to last week’s loss in Vancouver — a strong first half and some impressive individual efforts. But it was a long way short of a complete 90 minute performance. There are still areas to improve on — the possession and shot stats were very lopsidedly in Kansas City’s favour which isn’t a recipe for continued victories.
Still, there were definite positives to take from the game.
The most obvious thing to look at is the name that jumps off the score sheet: Robert Earnshaw. Like in Vancouver, the Welshman did his bit to harass defenders as the first line of defence and provide an outlet for TFC’s attacks. Against Kansas City, we saw evidence of the finishing ability he’s built his career on. His first goal was a opportunistic finish, and the second was a very coolly taken penalty, which given TFC’s history with penalties, isn’t as automatic a thing as it probably should be.
John Bostock was this week’s late signing thrust immediately into the first team and he showed glimpses of what he can add when fully fit. His skills and fancy footwork on the wing featured throughout and he drew the penalty for Earnshaw’s second goal after he dribbled through a few players in the box.
Danny Califf impressed at the back for a second straight week as he and Darren O’Dea look like becoming a very solid centre back partnership. That was especially the case in the first half as the defending done by the whole team further up the pitch made it easy for them to pick off the long balls that Kansas City were forced to direct towards Claudio Bieler.
It was that high pressing style that forced the mistake that led to TFC’s first goal. Bostock gave the left back no time and when the ball was played up the wing, Richard Eckersley pinched forward to pressure Graham Zusi into passing the ball back to the centre backs. Hogan Ephraim was all over Matt Besler, giving him no option other than to play it square across the box to Aurelien Collin. The pass was under-hit, allowing Earnshaw to nick the ball off Collin’s toe and get the quick shot off and into the net.
That’s basically what that high pressure is designed to do, force the other team to play longer balls that your defence can hopefully swallow up, or force them to try and pass their way out of trouble, with the inherent risk involved of giving the ball away in a dangerous area. That it worked so well, and with such an obvious end product will give Nelsen as much to smile about.
It’s a difficult tactic to employ for 90 minutes and once again the second half was a much less effective performance from TFC, as there was definitely some luck involved in hanging on for the win.
Given how late the new signings happened, TFC are effectively dealing with issues that pre-season really should have ironed out. Nelsen acknowledged as much post game, saying his team are still a long way away from where they want to be, that they still have a lot of work to do.
Improved fitness and an increased familiarity will help that as the new players get to know each other more. For now though, there are glimpses of what Nelsen is trying to bring, of what TFC can hopefully become.
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.