Blogs LarSun on the Reds

LARSON’s All-Time Best 11 …

Johnson ———Koevermans————De Rosario

——Guevara———Frings ————Edu———-

Dunivant—–Marshall——-Wynne———Eckersley

—————————-Frei—————————–

TOP FINISHERS …

Top Finishers …

1. Colman O’Meara: 9 (Wins on tie-breaker)
Chris Copeland: 9
Joe Ferland: 9
Kai Chow: 9
Ethan Way: 9
Lacey Williams: 9
2. Trevor Ellis: 8
Eyal Cohen: 8
Jim O’Meara: 8
Jason Azevedo: 8
Ryan Elliot: 8
Martin Wheelhouse: 8
Neil Grunberg: 8
Paul Hutton: 8
Michael Przybylowski: 8
Steve Billinton: 8

– 13 contestants tied with 7

TOP 10 VOTE GETTERS…

% of Respondents that listed a certain player in their Best 11s:

De Rosario 99%
Koevermans 66%
Guevara 89%
Frings  99%
Cann  66%
Edu  41%
Wynne  73%
Marshall  45%
Frei  91%
Brennan 57%

—

RULES AND REGULATIONS

I’ve selected my Toronto FC all-time Best 11 (4-3-3). Your task is to email me your 11, or the 11 you think I’ll choose, in an effort to match as many of my selections as you can.

The contest will run through 4 p.m. Wednesday

Members of the media cannot enter and the winner must claim his/her prize at the Sun building (333 King St. East) on his/her own time.

The contestant who gets the most players correct will win a Canadian national team throw back kit.

I’ll announce the winner Wednesdasy.

Email your (my) picks to Kurtis.Larson@sunmedia.ca

-Larson

Stories that appeared across Toronto in Tuesday’s Sun …

Larson: De Klerk’s ‘promotion’ takes fiery assistant off bench

Disagree with the move? Kurtis.Larson@sunmedia.ca

TORONTO - Former Toronto FC assistant coach Bob de Klerk didn’t sound like a man fresh off a promotion following yesterday’s training.

“I think that’s a question for Aron Winter,” de Klerk said of the reasoning behind the club seemingly inventing a role for Winter’s former No. 2. “We thought it was necessary to bring more of my knowledge and experience from Ajax to Toronto FC.”

Jim Brennan, the first player signed by TFC ahead of its inaugural 2007 season, makes the jump from Toronto’s junior academy system to the first team as Winter’s newest right-hand man.

Known for his frequent outbursts and intimidating presence, de Klerk becomes the club’s technical manager, a role that removes him from the sidelines following a number of incidents involving referees and opposing coaches.

Winter denied the sudden switch had anything to do with de Klerk provoking a post-game scuffle with Montreal’s Jesse Marsch last week, an incident de Klerk brushed off after insisting “football is war.”

“Obviously he’s a bit fiery and he loses his head,” Brennan said of de Klerk. “Sometimes you’ve got to be able to control that. He’s a good coach. He’s one that everyone can learn off of.”

CONTINUE READING

The Vancouver Whitecaps have made it clear: “It’s important to us,” head coach Martin Rennie said of Wednesday’s first leg of the Canadian Cup final.

So important the first-year manager rested a number of starters in a 4-1 loss at New England on the weekend as the Caps get set to welcome Toronto FC to Vancouver’s BC Place in a repeat of last year’s Cup final.

“We see it as a way to get into the CONCACAF Champions League and a chance to win a trophy. Some of what we did (Saturday) was based on that,” Rennie concluded.

The Scotsman rested starting centre back Martin Bonjour at Gillette Stadium and didn’t bother travelling captain Jay DeMerit, John Thorrington or creative attacker Camilo ahead Toronto’s midweek visit.

Rennie’s decision to put an emphasis on Wednesday’s opening leg could backfire if his side fails to come away with a positive result ahead of the all-important return leg in Toronto next week.

And after watching his side get scorched for four by a mediocre Eastern Conference club, failure to capture Vancouver’s first Voyageurs Cup could have massive ramifications after admittedly tossing aside league points.

The TFC league catastrophe takes a back seat to the first leg of Canadian Cup final in Vancouver Wednesday, but has Toronto taken full advantage?

Gifted a weekend off while their counterparts laboured to a 4-1 thumping in Boston, the Reds were given four days off over the weekend.

While there’s something to be said for rest, there’s also something to be said for intelligent preparation on the training pitch, especially following an 0-8-0 league start.

After looking sharp last week against the Impact, a lack of training time could come back to haunt Winter, who may have over-issued his players time away from the game.

Head coach Aron Winter has guided Toronto to just six league wins from 42 MLS matches and has collected points in just 26% of his league fixtures since the start of 2011 — the second worst winning percentage among MLS coaches that have been in charge for at least a season.

That said, Winter’s winning percentage in Cup games is an astronomical 65%.

Since beginning last year’s Canadian Cup with a pair of wins against FC Edmonton, the Dutchman has accumulated a 10-3-5 record away from MLS with massive away results in Panama, Nicaragua, L.A., Mexico City and Dallas.

Fort Lee, New Jersey police have reportedly charged New York Red Bulls’ central defender Wilman Conde with aggravated assault on an officer who was responding to a complaint, according to NorthJersey.com.

The website reports that local police responded to an apartment Conde shares just before 6 a.m. Saturday morning after reports of loud music and a party.

Describing Conde as intoxicated, the Colombian apparently interrupted an officer who was speaking to a guest and began shoving the policeman.

The former MLS all-star was taken into custody and charged with aggravated assault. He was later released and is awaiting a court date.

The Vancouver Whitecaps can’t catch a break in Canadian Cup competition.

While the Reds are resting — Eric Avila is playing ping-pong on his weekend off according to Twitter — the Caps just completed a five-hour flight from the Pacific Northwest to Boston.

Following a match against the Revs, the Caps will take another cross-continent flight back to Vancouver for the opening leg of the Canadian Cup final — exhausting for a club that’s set to host a crucial first leg against TFC just days after a tiring trip.

As it was given the weekend off following a midweek semifinal win over Montreal, with all its focus already on next week’s Cup match, the Reds will have had seven days to rest, prepare and get healthy while Vancouver competes on the east coast.

The Reds will leave for BC Place on Monday ahead of Wednesday’s first leg.

Toronto was bailed out early in the season during the Champions League knockout phase when the L.A. Galaxy hosted an opening day fixture with Salt Lake in-between a pair of quarterfinal CONCACAF matches with Toronto.

Now, it seems, the Reds have once again been gifted a chance to steal a result — and possibly the tournament — on the road with Vancouver forced into multiple long hauls leading up to the Voyageurs Cup final.

Whitecaps’ Schedule…

Saturday, May 12 @ New England
Wednesday, May 16 Toronto (First Leg)
Saturday, May 19 Seattle
Wednesday, May 23 @Toronto (Second Leg)

TFC’s Schedule…

Saturday, May 12 – Off
Wednesday, May 16 @Vancouver (First Leg)
Saturday, May 19 @ DC United
Wednesday, May 23 Vancouver (Second Leg)

Disagree? Kurtis.Larson@sunmedia.ca

Sun Media’s soccer guys — Wolstat and Larson — rate the Reds …

For Sun Media’s ratings, each player is given a 5 rating at the start of every match. Depending on his performance, each player’s rating will either approach the top score (10) or bottom score (1).

Kocic – 8 – Solid in the air … very good positionally on a number of restarts … made the saves he needed to.
Cann – 7 – His best performance yet … also solid in the air … looked comfortable next to Henry.
Henry – 7 – The most complete match we’ve seen him play … didn’t make the one big error he’s known for … composed while down a man.
Eckersley – 3 – Argument is he couldn’t get out of the challenge, but why are you going into a challenge with your spikes up and slightly raised? Lucky he didn’t break Ubiparipovic’s leg … could have hurt TFC — big time.
Morgan – 7 – A few solid challenges to break up big moments for the Impact … still think he is severely lacking with the ball at his feet in the attacking third.
Avila – 5 – Very involved for the first 15 minutes, but drifted out of the match … Is he better up top?
Frings – 8 – Should have had multiple second assists late on … Was literally everywhere on the pitch in the second half … left it all on the field … nobody should question his desire.
Lambe – 7 – Getting himself into good scoring positions … remember him splitting two defenders along the near touch line? … twice the player he was at the beginning of April.
de Guzman – 8 – Same as Frings … was very disruptive in the midfield … played like a leader for once.
Johnson – 6 – Should he have had a hat-trick — at least?
Plata – 7 – The most dangerous we’ve seen him this season … is he finally finding last year’s form? … All that’s missing is the final product.

Disagree? Kurtis.Larson@sunmedia.ca