hard-earned tie in toronto

Image via Wikipediathe red bulls earned themselves some new respect in last night's tie with toronto. one of the biggest differences was the fact that we fought back from a goal down ON THE ROAD. that in itself is something to celebrate.

we also handled the crowd at bmo field. constantly referred to as "one of the best soccer crowds" in mls, that translates from the canadian to "one of the biggest a**hole crowds" in mls. last year we had to endure bottles thrown from the stands at players; this year at least it was only mounds of streamers (though i did see a water bottle at one point during a corner kick) and some guy who ran onto the field.

so, on to thoughts:

1) guevara is still the same old guevara. you might like his smile and play now toronto, but just give it time. he showed his tendency to get frustrated, disappear in games, and earn yellow cards for stupid plays. i loved that stammler took the opportunity to sit him down on his rear early in the game. well played.

2) speaking of stammler, good lord. i know he's a versatile, unsung player, but my god. he single-handedly held together the shape of our backfield and shut down a ridiculous amount of toronto plays. he is no doubt the man who dictated the pace of the match and kept toronto's chances to a minimum. great game.

3) reyna did a great job last night too, which you could tell by how easy toronto moved through the midfield once he left. ubi did his best (which wasn't really good enough), but the value of reyna when he's playing well was clearly evident last night. i hope this "leg problem" doesn't get worse. uh, osorio, how about getting another midfielder on the bench?

4) magee got his first start. he earned it with his play the last few games, and he did a good job, cutting between players, making smart passes, and keeping the toronto defenders honest. he looked a bit rusty at times, but for his first 90-minute game in a hostile environment during a physical game, well done.

5) freeman played his first game and looked fine in the back, and richards played his first game. a bit of the zip is still gone, and he obviously was not 100%, but just the sight of him on that right side made me feel a whole lot better moving forward.

6) what was up with that free kick of toronto? i get it that they caught us napping, but if you watch the replay, the ref even had his back to the ball when they started it. conway did his best with a bad situation, but to no avail. also, i didn't see the foul that started this whole thing anyhow.

7) on the other hand, the handball that gave us our free kick was a bit suspect as well. but obviously i'm for it, you dirty cheating reds. vandy rescues us again with a well-placed forceful kick. we needed to score and we did.

8) we had some more chances to score and we didn't. i know this isn't basketball, but for the number of opportunities that we're creating, we need to convert a bit more often.

9) bmo field sucks. and so do their fans.

10) great game. we kept our shape, made smart passes, adjusted to new players and injuries, handled the crowd and cold and rain, and came out with a tie. i'm very, very happy.

11) espn2 cameramen need to take a course in "how to follow soccer games." horrible camera work, focused on 10 square yards at a time. however, kudos to espn for yanking that horrible team from last year and putting in jp "i'm secretly rooting for new york because i covered them for years" dellacamera. love listening to that guy.

next up: the beckham-donovan circus in los angeles. my friend is gay for donovan but he's also a red bull fan. should be a good game.

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