Aron Winter Archive

3

TFC moves de Klerk from pitch, promotes Brennan

By
Steven Sandor
– 05/14/2012

Bob de Klerk

Toronto FC announced two promotions on Monday. Bob de Klerk will move away from the coaches’ bench and will be the new technical manager for the club, while Jim Brennan moves from coaching the Academy ranks to the senior squad.

And, tacked into the body of Toronto FC’s press release was mention of an increased role for Director of Player Development Paul Mariner, who will have more of an on-field presence and work with the strikers.

Brennan will join Jason Bent as men who have coached the Academy but moved up to become assistants with the senior squad.

According to TFC, “In this new role, de Klerk will be responsible for Toronto FC’s technical program, including advance and international scouting, as well as serving as the technical conduit between the First Team and Academy program. He will also assist players transitioning from the Academy into the First Team and support the education of Toronto FC coaches at all levels.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 6% [?]

Share
1

10-man TFC eliminates listless Impact from the ACC

By
Mark Polishuk
– 05/10/2012

Reggie Lambe scored the opener

No matter how the teams may sit in the MLS league table, Toronto FC simply has the Montreal Impact’s number in the Amway Canadian Championship.  TFC scored its first victory of any sort at BMO Field this season, beating the Impact by a 2-0 score to send the Reds into the Voyageurs Cup final and handing Montreal another disappointing result in the national tournament.

With the Impact entering the game on a 288-minute shutout streak and an impressive 2-0 result in Kansas City on Saturday, the expansion side had to be considered the favourites, even on the road.  The Reds are on a record eight-game losing streak to begin the MLS season (a streak that included a loss at Montreal on April 8 and, after a 0-0 scoreline in the opening leg of the tie, the Impact could have advanced with a win or even a draw, provided they could score just one goal.
Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 9% [?]

Share
0

TFC striker Ryan Johnson can’t hide frustration after Reds set dubious MLS record

By
Mark Polishuk
– 05/06/2012

Ryan Johnson: Says TFC's defensive style is "embarrassing."

Toronto FC’s early-season futility has officially hit a record low.  TFC’s 2-0 loss to D.C. United on Saturday dropped the Reds to 0-8 in Major League Soccer play, setting a new MLS mark for consecutive losses to begin a season.

Whereas the Reds have played hard or been unlucky in some of their losses, Saturday’s performance was that of a team that simply looked it gave up the ghost after Chris Pontius’ 55th-minute goal that put the visitors ahead.  After Hamdi Salihi scored in the 75th minute, the Reds attempted a last-minute flurry in search of a face-saving goal but to no avail, as TFC was shut out for the fourth time in five home matches.

“It’s just unbearable,” said striker Ryan Johnson.  “Something’s not right.  Something has to change.  I can’t go on like this, it’s eating me up inside.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 11% [?]

Share
0

TFC gets stalemate at Olympic Stadium

By
Mike Wyman
– 05/03/2012

The TIFO at Olympic Stadium might have been more engaging than the 0-0 draw. MIKE WYMAN PHOTO

Playing to a draw is usually the best a road team can hope for. Toronto FC came out of the first leg of its Amway Canadian Championship encounter with the Montreal Impact having achieved its objective, playing to a scoreless tie and setting the stage for next Wednesday’s second game.

“It was pretty clear what their intentions were in coming here,” declared Impact head coach Jesse Marsch in his post-game remarks.

“I think we had some good moments in the first half that could have led to a goal but we weren’t able to pull off a play,” he continued. “They came here and sat back and didn’t want to give anything away and they did it. I expected them to show a little more fight and energy in the midfield … As the second half went on, because we didn’t have a lead they were able to pack it in even more which made it more difficult for us to find a way to break them down.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 13% [?]

Share
0

Mistakes send Toronto FC to sixth straight loss

By
Mark Polishuk
– 04/22/2012

Reggie Lambe, two goals not enough

,Not even the return of Torsten Frings could bring an end to Toronto FC’s losing streak.  In fact, the team captain helped prolong it.  Frings’ mistake in the opening seconds was the first of several defensive miscues for the Reds in a 3-2 loss to the Chicago Fire on Saturday at BMO Field.

The loss extends TFC’s franchise-worst losing streak to six games and the Reds are now just one more defeat away from tying Kansas City’s record of seven losses to begin an MLS season (set in 1999). 

Saturday’s match also saw Toronto tie another ignominious mark, as they were the victims of the quickest goal in the Fire’s franchise history.  Just moments after the opening whistle, Frings committed a sloppy turnover to Chicago’s Patrick Nyarko right in front of the TFC net.  Nyarko passed to a wide-open Dominic Oduro, who fired it home for his third goal of the season.
Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 8% [?]

Share
0

Chivas keeper Dan Kennedy wins POTW award for his work against Toronto FC

By
Steven Sandor
– 04/16/2012

Dan Kennedy

Toronto FC coach Aron Winter blamed “bad luck” for his team’s 1-0 loss to Chivas USA on Saturday.

Well, that “bad luck” had a name. It was Dan Kennedy. The Goats’ keeper showed why he is one of the best in MLS. After a sluggish first half, the Reds came to life when they got the notorious BMO Field wind at their backs. But Kennedy stood up to several point-blank chances — and TFC striker Danny Koevermans is likely still talking to himself after the Chivas keeper robbed him not once, but twice.

And Kennedy’s outstanding play earned him the MLS Player of the Week award, as he took the most votes from the membership of the North American Soccer Reporters.
Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 5% [?]

Share
0

Winter blames TFC’s latest loss on poor luck

By
Mark Polishuk
– 04/15/2012

Aron Winter

As often as Toronto FC has struggled in its five-plus years of existence, the team had never suffered through a five-game losing streak…until now.

Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Chivas USA continued the Reds’ winless start to the Major League Soccer season. TFC has had three four-game losing streaks (two in 2007, one last season) but this marked the first time in club history that it had taken five defeats on the trot in league play.

While the Reds looked listless in the first half, it’s hard to argue that TFC didn’t deserve at least one point from this game given that the Reds had four outstanding chances in the final 20 minutes. None of those four chances, however, found the back of the net, leaving the team cursing its misfortune.

“Bad luck. It’s the only thing I can explain,” said TFC head coach Aron Winter. “When you lose you can never say that you played well but you have to be always positive since I saw a lot of good things and that’s important. If you don’t create chances or don’t play well then you’re far away from it, but in this situation what can you do better at that moment? I think it’s only bad luck. it’s simple.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 7% [?]

Share
0

Toronto FC ready for anything and everything in Torreon

By
Aman Dhanoa
– 04/03/2012

Ryan Johnson

After an intense first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League against Santos Laguna at BMO Field, Toronto FC is not going to rule anything out when it lands in Mexico Tuesday.

A post-game dust-up between the two teams resulted after defender Ashtone Morgan was head butted by Santos Laguna’s Darwin Quintero and the bad blood will surely be carried over. TFC forward Ryan Johnson told reporters after practice on Monday that Santos players were very serious in their warnings on the pitch and in the tunnel after the game.

“Coming off in the tunnel in here those were the words that were said and other words too that I don’t want to repeat but it’s going to be a tough one,” said Johnson, talking specifically of the warnings of war.

“It’s going to happen. I believe that a 100 per cent. They’re not joking around when they say that. It’s in the heat of the moment, but they’re making a promise that’s how it’s going to be when we’re down there. I believe that 100 per cent. So we go to match it – it’s a reality it’s going to happen.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 13% [?]

Share
0

Single mistake costs TFC dearly against the Crew

By
Mark Polishuk
– 03/31/2012

Bernardo Anor

Toronto FC has very little margin for error.  For a team that’s struggling to both consistently defend and, increasingly, struggling to score goals, one mistake is all it takes to waste a strong performance.  Such was the case on Saturday, when TFC largely outplayed the Columbus Crew but came up on the wrong end of a 1-0 result at BMO Field.

The key moment of the game occurred in the 56th minute, when a Toronto surge quickly became a counter-attack after a Julian de Guzman turnover at midfield.  Columbus midfielder Bernardo Anor was the point man for a give-and-go series of passes and was in position in front of TFC’s net for a cross.  Reds centre back Logan Emory was in position to cut the ball off but his clearance attempt went right to Anor, who fired it in for the goal.

It was a tough error for Emory, made doubly worse since he had delivered a strong performance up to that moment.  Toronto’s back line has already been thinned by injuries and international absences so, with Miguel Aceval nursing a bad hamstring, Emory — who played with the NASL’s Puerto Rico Islanders in 2011 — got the opportunity for his second start.

Emory left before speaking to reporters, but his teammates were quick to point the finger at the team’s overall failure to capitalize as the reason for the defeat.
Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 7% [?]

Share
4

TFC and Santos Laguna trade goals… and punches

By
Mark Polishuk
– 03/29/2012

Carlos Darwin Quintero, the hero of Santos Laguna's 2009 triumph over the Montreal Impact, was sent off Wednesday.

An increasingly chippy game boiled over at the end of Toronto FC’s 1-1 draw with Santos Laguna on Wednesday night at BMO Field, promising an even more heated match in next week’s return leg of the CONCACAF Champions League semifinal tie.

As the final whistle blew, an altercation between Reds defender Ashtone Morgan and Santos striker Darwin Quintero led to a full-on scrum between the two teams.  Both benches cleared and, while no further blows were thrown, both sides left knowing that the final score would be settled next Wednesday.

“They already warned us that it’s going to be a war over there and we know that ourselves,” said TFC captain Julian de Guzman.  “We’ve already had that experience playing at Cruz Azul and Pumas.  We know what type of atmosphere it’s going to be over there and now we’ve sparked up some more fire after this game for these guys.  We’re ready for it, we’re looking forward to it and the guys are prepared.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 23% [?]

Share
Older Entries