Every Friday, Sportsnet.ca will chat with Sportsnet soccer commentator Paul Dolan—a former Canadian national team goalkeeper—about the big stories and issues in Major League Soccer.
Toronto FC coach Greg Vanney admitted he shared negative media comments about his team with his players to motivate them ahead of last week’s win over Colorado. Shouldn’t managers ignore what is being said and written about the team, and just focus on the task at hand?
I guess you could argue that whatever works is worth using to your advantage, but I follow the TFC media coverage very closely and would struggle to have found anything too critical that would actually motivate a player to play any differently that he had previously. However, I will say that there seemed to be an extra fire in the eyes of Damien Perquis, who had been singled out for some criticism and coincidentally he had arguably his best game of the season and scored his first MLS goal against Colorado so perhaps it worked to some degree.
Michael Bradley on the other hand said none of this has any affect on him and others will say the same. You never really know what goes on in the mind of the players and what motivates them to play well, but winding up your players each week with negative media comments could never be a viable long-term pre-game strategy. Perhaps it worked this time though and TFC has three points in their back pocket to show for it.
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Everybody is talking about Didier Drogba in Montreal, and for good season. But how do you think some of their other additions this year have helped the Impact?
We spoke about Laurent Ciman’s contributions earlier in the year as he made such a good initial impression coming out of the early Champions League games and for the most part he’s been excellent for the Impact—although his third expulsion of this season last week is a growing concern as he’s shown very poor judgement particularly in picking up second yellows for his last two red cards. The same can be said of Marco Donadel, who after a rough start to the year has become a mainstay in the Impact midfield and has been dangerous from set pieces. But he too has shown a lack of discipline this year with 11 yellows and two red cards!
I really like the improvements Montreal has made in the fullback position which was a spot of weakness for them last year. Danny Toia has quietly become one of the best fullbacks in MLS according to teammate Nigel Reo-Coker and I would agree he adds an element of grit and speed to the Montreal backline. Ambroise Oyongo has also been very good and brings more quickness and technical attacking ability down the flank. The only downside to that has seen another newcomer, Victor Cabrera, move inside to the centre-back position and I feel he has really struggled adjusting to that position.
The other pickup that is starting to find his way though is Johan Venegas who did well in the buildup and then scored the Impact’s first goal against New England. As with most players it takes time to adjust to a new league and culture but the Impact really liked what they saw in Venegas when they played against him with Alajuelense in Champions League action and he could be another shrewd signing that helps provide service to the new star in town, Didier Drogba.
After a hot start to the season, Vancouver Whitecaps forward Octavio Rivero has cooled off with two goals in his last seven league games. What’s going on? Have opposing teams figured him out?
I don’t think that’s the case at all as I still think Rivero is getting the better of his opponents in almost every other way except scoring. However, in the end that is what a striker will be judged on and there is no denying his lack of goal production lately may be starting to worry him and his team a little. As a lone striker in the 4-2-3-1 Rivero often finds himself in the channels chasing down balls and working to fend off defenders. He’s been fantastic in that regard and his hold up play to bring in other players has perhaps gone unnoticed as others are flourishing through the work he continues to put in.
The downside is that Rivero himself spends less time between the posts inside the penalty area where he would obviously have more opportunities to score. The Whitecaps aren’t going to change their formation so he will have to continue to work as he is the platform for the rest of the team to play off of. But his hard work and unselfishness will likely continue to pay dividends for the team even if he isn’t on the score sheet as much as he would like to be himself.
What’s your take on the Chicago Fire firing manager Frank Yallop? Can you see him landing another MLS managerial job next season?
Frank Yallop is a good friend of mine so it’s disappointing to see him out of a job now after he was let go last week. He’s been an outstanding manager in this league for many years and has won MLS championships with two different teams as a manager but as with Frank Klopas being released by the Impact, the Fire’s results were not what they wanted and he was judged based on where the team sits in the standings.
Yallop’s strength is his man management and I don’t know a player that played for him over the years that has a bad thing to say about him. I always found that players wanted to play for a coach like that, which I did under Tony Waiters and Bob Lenarduzzi so I think there’s a real possibility Yallop will coach again in this league in the right set-up.
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