Awards and such
By Ben Knight
When your local soccer team’s attacker and defender of the year are a midfielder and a goalie, you know there’s still a long way to go.
Such is so with Toronto FC in this year of Mo Johnston, 2009.
No denying Dwayne DeRosario his TFC golden boot. Eleven goals in the MLS regular season, and an utterly clutch natural hat trick to spark the 6-1 Voyageurs Cup clinching comeback in Montreal.
Rookie goalie Stefan Frei was honoured at the back, for his 98 saves in 26 starts. The young Swiss conceded a goal-and-a-half a game, far from stellar, but the very fact he won this award in the first place tells you a lot of those saves – and goals-against – were forced from the tentative positioning and play of the leaky back line he was backing up.
I suppose if most teams made their ‘keeper eligible for individual defensive honours, a lot of them might win it. But the announcement felt so jarringly odd, I feel confident in saying this doesn’t actually happen that much.
All of this begs two questions:
1) If the TFC attacker of the year award had to go to a striker, who would get it?
Why, Chad Barrett, of course. He of the five goals on 55 shots, 25 of which were on target. No, I don’t know if that short, square pass he played to the Kansas City goalkeeper on opening night counted as a shot. Barrett obviously thought the play was over, so he gave the ball away – all alone, wide open, ball at his feet, just off the left goalpost.
Barrett’s tale of hard-hustling, misfiring woe been told too many times, of course. But Ali Gerba did nothing, O’Brian White didn’t get enough playing time, Pablo Vitti’s moments at forward were gnawingly unproductive, and franchise hero Danny Dichio only had three goals and a couple of helpers before he was eased out for what we continue to be assured was the greater good of all concerned.
2) If the TFC defender of the year award had to go to a defender, who would get it?
Better news, here. Nana Attakora (bless him!) got hurled into the void and did just fine. Poise, anticipation, good maturity for a youngster – and a couple of clutch goals down the stretch when the post-Dichio strike force dried up like a dewdrop in a blast furnace.
A great story, but it’s still not a great recommendation for your roster when your most improved youngster is also the anchor of your D. Anchor of the future? Quite possibly. Today? Well, that’s yet another reason why the season ended early.
Attakora has lots up upside – as does young Gambian Emmanuel Gomez – so time and maturity should make the TFC defence stronger. But even if Barrett and Gerba boost their productivity by half, DeRo still has them both pasted single-handedly.
Which brings us back to what we already knew – Trader Mo has got some serious work to do before this team is as good as he wants us to believe.
As long as we’re here, here are a couple of Onward! awards for the Toronto FC season just past:
- Player of the Year Other Than DeRo: Amado Guevara. Everyone knocks him for cruising from time to time, but who on this roster didn’t? Only Chad Barrett, really, and how did that work out? Guevara is strong, creative and dangerous, and is off to the World Cup in South Africa with Honduras. TFC fans love the guy enough they don’t even seem to mind he plays for Honduras – the Canadian national team’s most voracious and dangerous natural predator.
- Player I Always Get Ripped for Criticizing: Pablo Vitti. I could write 10,000 words of fantasy fiction about Jim Brennan, chickens and a Lamborghini Countach and I wouldn’t get carped at as much as I do for just happening to notice over seven long months that Vitti can’t produce. Yeah, he played out of position a lot, and yes he has a lovely touch on a soccer ball in traffic. But putting one ballerina out with ten gummy bulldogs does not a winning soccer team make. That might not be the ballerina’s fault, but there’s no reason to even think about doing it again next season.
- Player I Most Wanted to See on the Field After TFC Coughed Up the First Goal in that Fatal Nil-Five Loss on that Dreadful Night in ‘Joisey: Danny Dichio.
‘Nuff said.
Onward!
November 13th, 2009 at 11:24 am
I find it funny that you would call De Rosario’s goals against a disinterested Montreal side “utterly clutch” and then excuse Frei’s goals against record saying his defense didn’t help him…. lol
As for Dichio in New York? well he may have helped, but it was bad defending and frightful goal-keeping that lost that game, you have to admit, TFC did miss many chances but they did not look horrible up front.
2 cents in….
November 13th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Er, it’s the team giving itself awards….perhaps next year they can award themselves some trophys too!!!
November 13th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Cris: I do think that De Ro’s great performance was tarnished slightly by the ‘disinterested’ PDL calibre defense that Montreal fielded… a complete powder… shameful.
However, I can’t agree on the Stefan Frei front… he played nearly singlehanded for a good part of the season, getting no help (and sometimes worse) from his defensive “partners”. IMO, Omar Gonzalez was the proper choice for MLS rookie of the year, but Frei has to be a close second. He did more with less than anyone else in the league.
Yes, Ben, it is a sad state of affairs when the ‘team awards’ come out the way they have here. But I can’t argue with any of the selections you’ve made.
Do people really complain about your articles decrying Vitti’s performance? I’m amazed. I honestly haven’t seen anything from him all year that recommends keeping him (even absent his considerable fee). Sometimes player moves just don’t work out and there’s no explaining why. But honestly, I watch Vitti and wonder what Mo ever thought he saw in the skilled youngster.
I suppose there is something to be said for being in the right squad, but still. You’d expect more from a guy with Vitti’s physical skills. Much much more.
November 13th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Ben,
Insightful as always. No arguments here. TFC made the only choices it could. Don’t really care other than the accolade for Frei. Increasing transfers costs is always good business.
Here’s an idea for an article since you didn’t ask. Found myself immensely interested in the ongoing grass field construction. I saw TFC’s little blurb about BMO Field being on par with a premiership pitch, 3.3 millon spent and (snidely)mentioned as a huge improvement over the cheese factory’s 401 east. CMNT listening? Gotta be a story there with the technology, planning, upkeep etc. Who’s installing it? How will it winter down the road? Will TFC practice on it? Lacrosse?
Is it strange that I’m happier to have grass than almost anything else. I bet 2010 MVP will be, drumroll, grass. Wynne’s ball handling will be instantly improved, a winger will now make sense. I’m rambling…but I do want more info.
Help me to dream in green.
November 14th, 2009 at 12:39 am
I wouldn’t pay too much attentinon to these “awards”.MLS just needs some publicity and most people don’t know who these fellows are anyway.
November 14th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Ben, I’m with John Bladen here, I find it incomprehensible that people object to your criticisms of Vitti.
Then again, I generally watch most matches sober so that may have something to do with it. And when sober one really does have to question what on earth Mo saw in Pablo. He and Gerba have been unmitigated busts.
November 14th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Here’s hoping Guevara gets along with new coach Preki. Amado is still an integral part of this team . If it’s one game I can recall other than 5-0 New York , 3-2 Columbus or 3-1 TFC , it’s TFC over KC at home 2008 , because I wasn’t there , had to follow updates on 680news , both goals by Guevara .
November 14th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
I like the way Vitti moves on the field and on the ball…However,he as an individual can not prevail doing his technical stuff alone…He should be more direct on the net,though!!!
November 14th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
I’m with you Ben regarding Vitti. I hope he’s played his last game for TFC. Cant stand him.
November 15th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
There are too many Vitti and Gerba apologists out there trumping up bogus excuses for them. Vitti’s got to go (a lot of sizzle but no steak) but Gerba is on a long term contract so at the very least he should show that he’s in top shape come next season. But if he’s not and he’s playing but not producing, I’m sure his apologists will continue to blame his ineffectiveness on misuse or what have you.
November 15th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
John Bladen, I do agree that Frei deserves the recognition, I just thought it was a funny assessment because much more than the “cake walk” in Montreal De Ro deserves much more than to be remembered for a hat trick in that game.
I actually can’t wait to see a full season under a new regime (hopefully) with a healthy De Ro and De Guzman. Man does TFC need a centre back!
Ditch Vitti and use that cash to invest in some players that will give this team width!
November 15th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
Sorry Ben, you gotta get over Danny Dicchio. He really isn’t (wasn’t) that good. My dad would have called him a “plonker” coz all he could do was be the BIG target man…and that game went away years ago!
Not sure if you are getting kick-backs ($$$$) or something from Danny….?????
Don’t get me wrong, DD seems like a nice guy and all, but he sure can’t walk on H2O as you seem to say with your every post/comment.
Let’s move on, eh??
November 16th, 2009 at 11:51 am
Broadway, read Ben’s earlier pieces. He didn’t say Danny could walk on water, or that he was amazing striker. The numbers simply tell you that the team did much better in this season (on average) when Danny was on the pitch. It wasn’t necessarily the goals Danny scored himself, but the passes he made, the defenders he drew to himself (and roughed up a bit), leaving more room for other TFC players, and maybe the mental support Danny gave to the team.
Certain other players that were getting far more playing time than Danny, were producing less — that’s the issue. Leaving Danny on the bench far too long, and not even taking him on some away trips, were likely the reason for some of the discord on the squad, culminating in Danny’s early retirement.
Look how close some of the games were. If Danny had been given a bit more playing time, through to the end of the season, there’s a VERY good chance it would have been enough for a few more points and a playoff berth.