FC Dallas Vs Toronto FC: 3 things we learned – Gold Cup no excuse for calamity
By Marko Babic
Toronto FC remain winless at Toyota Stadium after losing 3-0 last night in Dallas. See what we learned from Saturday night’s calamitous encounter.
On Saturday night, Toronto FC’s struggles continued at Toyota Stadium, as the Reds suffered a 3-0 defeat to FC Dallas. The home side had their way from kick-off to the final whistle. The Toros maximized possession in the first half, while their well-structured pressing scheme prevented the Reds from playing out of the back. Although Toronto did see more of the ball in the second half, they played right into Dallas’ hands, the home sid content to sit back and hit Toronto on the break via Michael Barrios.
Simply put, Toronto FC deserved to lose, and relinquishing the final playoff spot in the East seems an inevitability unless Greg Vanney takes a more pragmatic approach in next week’s matches against Atlanta and D.C. United.
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Here are three things we learned from Saturday’s calamitous 3-0 defeat.
3. Vanney’s flummoxing formation.
Although I suspected Greg Vanney would opt for a 3-5-2 to combat Luchi Gonzalez’ favored 4-2-3-1, which he did, the Toronto manager’s team selection was a source of confusion. Prior to kickoff, LiveScore and the MLS App had TFC lined-up in a 5-4-1, with Marky Delgado and Jay Chapman flanked by Nick DeLeon and Liam Fraser in midfield. As it turned out, Vanney opted for a three-man central midfield with Fraser sitting deep in between Delgado to his right and Chapman to his left, while DeLeon supported Terrence Boyd up front. Toronto FC did play a 5-4-1 in the defensive phase, however, as DeLeon would drop to cover the right wing when Dallas had possession.
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Vanney’s creative approach ultimately backfired. TFC faced numerical disadvantages in midfield despite DeLeon doing his best to track back. Furthermore, Jay Chapman lacked the composure and technical ability required to break Dallas’ press, while leaving Justin Morrow out to dry far too often in the defensive phase down the Toronto left.