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Pridružen/-a: 10.11. 2016, 03:20
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 Objavljeno: 10 Nov 2016 03:25 Naslov sporočila: e to an end, as they failed to score on the one opportunity |
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| TORONTO - As Toronto FC prepares for a challenging four-game road trip, manager Ryan Nelsen and his braintrust face some troubling questions. Johnny Unitas Colts Jersey . Make no mistake, the big picture remains positive. Toronto (7-6-5) is headed for its best ever season and first trip to the playoffs. The roster and team culture have been smartly remade. But injuries and suspensions have made it difficult to find the right mix of pieces to complete the puzzle. And mentally, Toronto has yet to show that it can kill off a game on a regular basis when it has its foot on the other teams neck. The officiating stole many of the headlines in Saturdays 2-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City, but the inability to finish and some sloppy defending cost Toronto more than the decision-making of referee Ted Unkel. "Two very soft goals and we havent got our balance right yet in that midfield," said Nelsen. "Maybe (we were) missing a couple of key players, but our balance wasnt right on the two goals. We were spectators. In a time when we had to be urgent and our intensity had to be focused, we just hoped somebody would do their job and that was unfortunate." Sadly soft goals have been a common theme of late, with the backline losing its shape and getting punished. Toronto was missing star striker Jermain Defoe (suspension), captain/centre back Steven Caldwell and right back Mark Bloom (knee) against the MLS champions. Defoe will be back when Toronto kicks off its road trip against D.C. United (10-5-4) but Toronto will be without centre back Doneil Henry on Wednesday due to accumulation of yellow cards. Toronto then plays at Montreal, Columbus and Kansas City. Torontos defenders were all over the place on Kansas Citys goals (in the 48th minute by Graham Zusi and 80th by former TFC midfielder Jacob Peterson). Brazilian winger Jackson had opened the scoring for Toronto in the 16th minute. Kansas City players flooded into the penalty box on the first goal by the visitors, with the ball eventually ricocheting back to Zusi who curled it into the top of the goal with Joe Bendik stranded out of position. On the second, Toronto was unable to defend a deflected cross and Kansas City forward Dom Dwyer flicked the ball back to Peterson, who beat Bendik from close range. Nelsen complained some of his players had settled for spots that would have worked out well had their teammates won the ball back. But they did not. "They were some guys that were spectating and getting into nice comfortable position but werent influencing the game, they werent helping out their teammates," he said. "Thats a hardness that we lost, I think," he added, "(and) that we need to get back." Nelsen played a midfield of Jackson, Michael Bradley, Collen Warner and Dominic Oduro against Kansas City, Oduro terrorized the KC defence and Jackson, making a terrific run to take advantage of a marvellous Oduro pass that split the defence, scored one goal and could have had three on the night. But the Brazilian winger was one player who seemed to be lying in wait for a possible counter-attack on one of the Kansas City goals. And Oduros mind set is offence not defence. On a micro level, Nelsens frustration Saturday was that his team got it right for most of the game other than two lapses of concentration. On a larger level, he sees a good team unable yet to take the final step to becoming a very good one. "But this is why its such a great game," he said. "Nothing is given to you here, is it. Youve got to keep working, take little steps, little steps, little steps and eventually these results will go your way and youll learn from your mistakes. "Weve got some young guys, we had a couple of young players out in the backline. Weve still got some new players coming into the team. I feel bad for the guys, because we are very close." Nelsen saw plenty of positives, which perhaps made the loss more upsetting. "Our transition was just brilliant today. We absolutely destroyed them today on it." The pace of Oduro and Jackson, coupled with fine passing from Bradley and others did rip Kansas City apart repeatedly. "The bottom line is that on too many days were the team not coming away with points," said Bradley. "Over the course of a season, these games add up and mean that youre not in the position we should be. So weve to take a long hard look at ourselves at the moment and really find a way to translate at times good play and dominating games and turn that into points and wins." The league will no doubt review Saturdays officiating and the comments that followed. "Its by no means an excuse, it was the same for both teams, but the referee was absolutely awful," Bradley said after carefully choosing his words. "The people at the MLS (head) office in New York, when they talk about wanting to improve the league, the first thing that needs to be improved is the refereeing, bottom line. "That shouldnt come across as sour grapes because thats just the reality. And it was bad for both teams and Im sure theyre sitting in their locker-room saying the same thing to themselves but theyve got three points with them and that certainly makes it a little easier to swallow." Unkel issued eight yellow cards, including five to Toronto. Kansas City was reduced to 10 men in the 75th minute when captain/defender Matt Besler got a second yellow. Foremost on Torontos list of complaints was a no-call in the 23rd minute when Unkel waved play on after Kansas City defender Aurelien Collin, chasing Brazilian striker Gilberto after a deft through ball from Bradley, appeared to clip the Brazilians leg. Gilberto, who had a clear path on goal, went down and Bradley went after the referee imploring for a call, which should have garnered Collin a red card. The French defender went unpunished and Toronto got the first four yellows of the night. "Collin should have been sent off. I mean an under-12 ref can pick that one," Nelsen said with disgust. "Thats pretty basic." Kansas City coach Peter Vermes had a different view of the officiating. "I thought the referee did a good job tonight, that is my personal opinion," he said. "I dont think it was an easy game to ref. "I really liked his management of the game, the things that you can control the ball going out of bounds and the guy trying to steal 15 yards. Those are the things that drive us nuts as coaches, the little calls you might miss or might get, but those things he did a good job of and kept the game going on both sides. Toronto hit the woodwork twice in the first half. Anthony Castonzo Colts Jersey .com) - Former FBI director Robert Mueller said his investigation found no evidence that the NFL saw the elevator video of Ray Rice striking his then-fiancee before the tape was released in September. Jack Doyle Colts Jersey .com) - One point guard will return, while another will sit when the Minnesota Timberwolves visit American Airlines Center to take on the Dallas Mavericks. http://www.nflcoltsgearsshop.com/Black-Arthur-Jones-Colts-Jersey.html?cat=866 . Rajon Rondo had 18 of Bostons season-high 38 assists and the Celtics committed just seven turnovers in a 118-111 win over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night.Buffalo Sabres 4 Winnipeg Jets 2 - The Jets return home with a split in the two game trip, a win in Columbus and the loss in Buffalo. Jets now back to .500 on the road and a game below .500 on the season. Next up, a home game Friday against Florida (TSN Jets, TSN 1290), then another back-to-back road trip, Sunday in Vancouver and Monday in Edmonton. (Both TSN Jets, TSN 1290). Jets are 0-3-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. The first period was scoreless thanks to Ondrej Pavelec. The Jets were outshot 19-7. It was the most shots the Jets have given up in one period this season and the most the Sabres have had in one period this season. Sabres have scored just seven first period goals in 34 games. The Jets struck quickly to start the second as Mark Scheifele beat Ryan Miller twice in 36 seconds. That is the fastest two road goals by the same player in franchise history. It was his first multi goal game, with all six of his goals coming on the road. His point streak is now at four (3-2-5). He now has 10 points in his last 12 games (5-5-10) and six points in his last six games (4-2-6). Scheifele is a plus 6 over the past 12 games, with eight of those games on the road. At 10:16 of the second the Sabres got on the board with Steve Ott notching his fourth. Jets outshot the Sabres 12-5 in the second. Despite being 0-20 when trailing going into the third, the Sabres kept coming at the Jets and were the better team. Fifty seconds in Marcus Foligno tied the game with his 4th, and 1:41 later Matt Moulsons power play goal gave the Sabres their first lead of the game. Matt Ellis put the game away at 13:38 with his first of the year. Sabres outshot the Jets 31-27, the first ttime in seven games the Jets failed to outshoot their opponent. Henry Anderson Colts Jersey. . Despite a solid effort, Pavelec is now winless in his last five decisions. Eric ODell made his NHL debut, called up from St. Johns with James Wright out with the flu. ODell played 4:39, missed the net with three shots and had one hit. The 23 year old led the IceCaps in scoring last year and is leading them again this season. Anthony Peluso sat out game two of his three game suspension, Zach Bogosian again practiced with the team but nothing firm on his status for Friday. Jim Slater, Paul Postma and Matt Halischuk remain long term. For the second straight game Evander Kane recorded six shots on goal with the line of Kane/Scheifele and Michael Frolik the Jets best line. Dustin Byfuglien led in ice time but at 23:41 it was his lowest total of the season. The Jets power play streak of scoring in four straight games also came to an end, as they failed to score on the one opportunity they had. The Jets did kill a 31 second three on five in the first and are now six for six when two men down. "I never liked the game from the start," said Coach Claude Noel. "If not for Pav the game would have been over in the first. But we got the lead in the second, only to have the momentum really shift in the third. When you defend and check the right way, you get rewarded. You cant go in spurts. They were first on pucks in the first, we managed to forecheck better in the second, we skated better. The plan for the third was to put pucks deep and put pressure on them." Noel felt Scheifele was their best player. The Jets will hold their annual skills competition Wednesday at MTS Centre, starting at 7pm. Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' ' |
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