lw789
Bootsmann
Joined: 13 June 2018
Location: Australia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 510
|
| Posted: 27 July 2018 at 09:49 | IP Logged
|
|
|
The pressure is on as a retooled Toronto FC kicks off its
MLS season today in Seattle against the Sounders. Catch
all the action live on TSN and TSN Radio 1050 at 4:30pm
et/1:30pm pt.After seven years of on-field failure, new
Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Tim Leiweke dug
deep into a well-stocked corporate pocket to bankroll
manager Ryan Nelsen and GM Tim Bezbatchenkos global
talent search. Many zeros later, Toronto FC is now home
to England striker Jermain Defoe, U.S. international
midfielder Michael Bradley, Brazilian international
goalie Julio Cesar and forward Gilberto, and veteran
Canadian star midfielder Dwayne De Rosario. Toronto
stocked up on so many designated players, it had to trade
incumbent DP Matias Laba to Vancouver to get down to the
league limit of three. The shopping spree has prompted a
return to the clubs early days, when season tickets were
hard to come by. BMO Field should be full this season,
although Leiweke has acknowledged the team will still
lose money in 2014 because of the outlay on players. With
demand exceeding supply, top football talent is not cheap
and MLSE likely had to overpay to convince such elite
players to choose MLS over more established
leagues.Fullbacks Justin Morrow and Bradley Orr and
Brazilian midfielder Jackson have also joined the party,
meaning Toronto will likely have eight new faces in its
starting lineup when everyone is healthy. And theres the
early season rub. Torontos pre-season was hit by injury,
particularly at fullback and forward. Defoe, meanwhile
was a late arrival due to club and country
commitments.Gilberto, troubled by an upper leg injury,
was been left out of the travelling party for Seattle.
Nelsen hopes to have him back for the home opener March
22 against D.C. United. The Brazilian actually returned
to training this week but Nelsen doesnt want to rush him
in case he aggravates the injury. The artificial turf at
CenturyLink Field was likely a factor in that decision.
The good news is Defoe and Bradley are both available for
selection. Bradley has been nursing a foot injury while
Defoe simply hasnt had much time training with his new
team. But Nelsen says the 31-year-old English forward has
adapted well. "He feels pretty good, to tell you the
truth," Nelsen said. "So well see how he is."Defoe could
well come off the bench. Nelsen, in his second year at
the Toronto helm, is mindful that this is a marathon, not
a sprint.Other clubs kept their stars in cotton wool in
Week 1 of the season. New York rested French forward
Thierry Henry rather than expose him to the artificial
turf at B.C. Place Stadium while Seattle sent in U.S.
international striker Clint Dempsey off the bench. As for
Bradley, Nelsen said: "Hes come through this week pretty
good. I think Michael will be a definite." Thats good
news for Toronto, which went 6-17-11 last season. Bradley
looks to be the straw that stirs the TFC drink. Most
everything will run through the American, a box-to-box
midfielder who manages to be both cerebral and driven.
Other injured players like Morrow and Orr have also
returned to training. Their concern is game fitness
rather than health. Nelsen is taking the long view."This
game is not going to define us," he said. "Its going to
take a bit of time to get everybody kind of on the same
wavelength. Even Seattle, when they brought Clint
(Dempsey) over -- just one piece -- were a bit of a
different team last year. "Everybody has to kind of get
used to each other and weve done it with several big
pieces and several other pieces as well. This game is not
going to define who we are. The next probably five or
six, seven games are going to define who we are." Still,
he hopes the progress is rapid, starting Saturday. With
the playoffs a stated goal, Toronto cannot wait too long
to start making its move up the standings, especially
since Bradley, Cesar and possibly Defoe will be away for
considerable time this summer on World Cup duty. When
Toronto FC does not have possession, Nelsen expects his
team to play the same kind of game it did last year --
with players pressing the opposition. The difference
should be more noticeable when the team has the ball,
given the influx of talent."Your options become a lot
more with the quality thats on the field. Last year we
had to be a bit more conservative because of the
personnel we have," Nelsen said. "But when you have good
players, you can start being a bit more expansive." While
Toronto had a bye last weekend, a rain-soaked crowd of
39,240 saw Seattle win its season opener 1-0 over
defending champion Sporting Kansas City with a stoppage-
time goal by former Toronto forward Chad Barrett. Former
Toronto keeper Stefan Frei was in goal. And on Thursday
Seattle coach Sigi Schmid confirmed Frei as his No. 1
goalie ahead of veteran Marcus Hahnemann. The state of
the Seattle turf at CenturyLink Field became an issue in
the buildup to the Toronto game after Nelsen said of the
surface: "Youve got not just an artificial field -- its a
bad artificial field." Schmid took umbrage at the
suggestions Seattles turf is bad, saying all the
artificial surfaces are about the same in the league."Let
me say this first, tell me which turf field is good in
this league. There is no good turf field in this league,"
he told reporters. "I dont disagree, necessarily, with
Ryans statement."Id love to have brand-new turf this
year, as would everybody else. But I disagree with the
point of making it seem like Seattles is worse than the
others. I think the others are equally as good or as bad
-- however you want to look at it." Scottish defender
Steven Caldwell retains the Toronto armband as captain.
Cesar starts in goal. To put Torontos woeful league
history into perspective, a win Sunday would only be its
15th road victory since the teams debut in 2007. Seattle
is one of seven MLS cities where Toronto has yet to win.
NOTES: Torontos record in season openers is 1-6. All have
been away from home to escape the weather. That record
includes a 3-1 loss in Seattle to open the 2012 season.
TFCs lone season-opening win was in 2009 when Toronto
defeated Sporting Kansas City 3-2 ... MLSE boss Tim
Leiweke is expected to take in the Seattle season opener.
Pistons-Jersey/">Caron Butler Jersey . Louis
Cardinals won the World Series last season, but after
losing first baseman Albert Pujols to free agency and
manager Tony LaRussa to retirement, they opened the 2012
season in 12th spot in the TSN.
Pistons-Jersey/">Langston Galloway Jersey .I shared
with him how much I appreciated all he had done for us,
Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge
said of that Thursday night farewell.
http://www.shoppistons.com/Cheap-Joe-Smith-Pistons-
Jersey/. Like a magic trick, the puck popped out behind
Stalock in the San Jose net. While Sharks coach Todd
McLellan decried the legality of the tiebreaking goal,
the Los Angeles Kings celebrated their latest, greatest
escape yet. Ellenson-Pistons-Jersey/">Henry Ellenson Jersey .
Yet now its time for the most important pick of them all;
the Grey Cup. The thought of going 5-0 with the correct
choice is quite intoxicating, I dont think I have ever
gone perfect in my CFL futuristic playoff speculations
and would take great pride in guessing - I mean analyzing
- correctly. Mills-Pistons-Jersey/">Terry Mills Jersey .com) -
Marc Gasol and the Grizzlies withstood 18 Dallas 3-
pointers, as Memphis took control in the third quarter
and fended off a Mavericks rally en route to a 114-105
win in a Southwest Division showdown.LONDON -- Top-ranked
Rafael Nadal made a winning return at the ATP World Tour
Finals as he breezed past fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 6-
3, 6-2 in his first round-robin match on Tuesday. Playing
for the first time in two years at the season-ending
tournament, Nadal traded breaks early but then became
untouchable on serve, dictating the play from the
baseline and forcing third-ranked Ferrer into a stack of
errors. Nadal converted six of seven break points. He
claimed his 21st win in 26 matches against Ferrer -- but
only his first indoors -- and avenged his loss in their
Paris Masters semifinal last week. "He played a lot
better than me in Paris but today I played a little bit
better than him and its important for my confidence to
start with a victory after Paris," Nadal said "There is
no rest but the energy of this stadium is fantastic."
Nadal and Ferrer play in Group A, alongside Stanislas
Wawrinka, who beat Tomas Berdych in his opening match on
Monday. No. 2 Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, playing
late Tuesday, are in Group B with Juan Martin del Potro
and Richard Gasquet.dddddddddddd Nadal is bidding to win
the elite event for the first time. He will be guaranteed
of the year-end No. 1 spot if he wins a second match at
O2 Arena. He broke Ferrer in the first game with a
forehand winner down the line but Ferrer broke back
immediately, and spectators braced themselves for a hard-
fought contest. But Nadal, who did not play last year
because of his bad knee, then dropped only one point on
his next three service games while Ferrer gave easy
points and struggled to keep the ball in the court. Nadal
broke again for 3-2 and earned three set points with a
brilliant forehand passing shot down the line before
sealing the set when Ferrer made another unforced error
to drop his serve at love. Nadal then built a 5-0 lead
but Ferrer refused to surrender easily, and mounted a
comeback playing more aggressively and taking chances at
the net. He broke Nadal before dropping his serve after
sending a backhand wide and burying a forehand in the
net.
Wholesale
NFL T-shirts
Cheap
Jerseys Free Shipping
NFL Jerseys
Wholesale
China NFL
Gear
Wholesale
NFL Camo Jerseys
Cheap NFL
Hoodies
Camo China NFL
Jerseys ' ' '
|
Active Topics 
Memberlist 
Search 
Help
Register 
Login
U47.org Forum :: The Deck
Topic: c Gasol and the Grizzlies withstood 1
