Just three days after posting its first win of the season, Toronto FC saw its woes resume, this time at the hands of the Colorado Rapids. Conor Casey converted a pair of penalty kicks to help the Rapids post a 3-1 victory in Colorado on Sunday.
Jeff Larentowicz scored the eventual game-winner for the Rapids, blasting a free kick through the hole in the TFC wall left there by a jumping Julian DeGuzman to make the score 2-1. Conor Casey added his second goal of the day after Toronto defender Maksim Usmanov was whistled for a foul on Casey in the penalty area.
Here are some other stories from the weekend and this morning to get your Monday going:
TORRES HAS KNEE OP, LEAVING WORLD UP IN QUESTION
Liverpool striker and Spanish national team star Fernando Torres will miss the rest of the English Premier League season, and is a question mark for the World Cup after undergoing knee surgery that is expected to keep him sidelined for six weeks.
Torres underwent surgery on Sunday to repair torn cartilage in his right knee, ending his club season and putting him on a tight timetable to return in time for Spain's World Cup campaign. The surgery has been deemed a success though, and his World Cup chances appear good barring any setbacks.
TRAVEL WOES AWAIT EUROPEAN CLUBS
The Icelandic volcano eruption that has halted air travel in Europe is doing a number on European clubs trying to travel ahead of this week's tournament semifinals.
Liverpool faces an extremely long trip to Madrid, while Barcelona must take a shorter, yet still difficult trek to Milan to take on Inter in their Champions League semi. Fulham must also find its way to Hamburg despite being unable to fly due to flight bans in Europe that expected to hold through Tuesday.
TOTTENHAM EYEING PIENAAR
Everton midfielder Steven Pienaar has enjoyed a stellar season for the Toffees and his form has drawn the interest of at least one suitor in Tottenham, which could make a move for him to bolster the Champions League plans it hopes to be making this summer.
Pienaar has one more year on his current contract with Everton and could be on his way out of Everton.
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What do you think of these stories? Impressed with Colorado's win, or are you still convinced Toronto is terrible? Hoping Torres makes it back for the World Cup? Wondering if Everton will reconsider bidding for Landon Donovan if Pienaar leaves?
Share your thoughts below.
With the substitution situation in soccer it makes it more difficult to bring a player back from injury. If a QB is slightly injured you can maybe play him a few series or a lineman you can put in for certain downs. In basketball you can limit a guys minutes. If you have a soccer playing in the starting lineup and he can’t go after 15 minutes you have to use and early sub and game plan is changed.
Well that and other sports are stop and go. You can stop action on the field in all other sports. Not so with Soccer when its back and forth with no real pauses.
Fellaini and Bradley would fit perfectly. When one is sitting out a match because of a red card the other could step in and play. And having Bradley would eliminate the need for putting players out of their natural position.
When LD said he’d only ever want to play for Everton in England, I took him seriously. I don’t know why, but I did. That — added to the fact that he always talks about how his game is suited for Spain (and he speaks some Spanish) PLUS the fact that Everton can’t afford him — makes me think he’s gearing up for Spain.
If Valencia sell David Villa then I speculate that this could happen.
It took me a while to get my head around the almost constant injuries to top soccer players. It is extremely rare for a top player (a team focal point like Torres/Rooney/Van Persie) to go a whole season without missing hefty parts of a team’s schedule…whereas NFL players seem to weather the battering pretty well, and don’t usually miss big games because of niggling injuries. But, a soccer player at 75-80% is not as effective as a football or basketball player at 75-80%. It’s just the nature of the game that an injured soccer player will be exposed more than guys in other sports.
It’s very annoying. But that’s how it is.
Now that’s a good plan for Everton!
Hey, I’m welcome to my groundless speculation. (Also, I think Atlético could afford him. But leave me to my delusions.)
Not just him but a lot of big name European players. It’s crazy to think of how many millions of Euros are wasted in weekly wages spent on players who spend months on the bench rehabing. I’ve asked myself the same thing, but in the end, its a rigorous game. Your lower body takes a huge beating and any wrong step or touch can send you into a downward spiral of injury woes. For that I think that European clubs are so quick to operate and weary of allowing players to play “through the pain”. Guys like Torres will have had half a dozen surgeries by the time he’s 30!!
Bradley to Everton? Moyes likes Americans, yea i get that…but they are plenty deep at CM/CDM
Did you see Rodwell, Fellaini and Arteta play this year…Osman, Heitinga and Neville have also seen minutes at CM/CDM
Would love to see it happen…but they have depth and im not sure that would be the best situation for him
Both can’t come close to affording him… Spurs would be a good shot if they get into the CL and think Bentley isn’t hacking it.
Speaking of speculation, I’ve got Donovan going to Atlético Madrid or Valencia after the WC. I have very little (ie, nothing) to base this opinion on, but I wish I could put money on this stuff…
We had Philips on our practice ones in 02 or 06
Thank you for some rational thought. Of course, if Donovan did go to Everton and had an off game, the vast majority of the people on this site will claim he’s washed up and can’t even hack in MLS…
I did watch a decent amount of the games, and of course they played great while he was there, but do you really think he’s capable of leading a team to the EPL title? Did he even lead LA to the title last season? He didn’t single-handedly win those games for Everton. Everton is capable of doing great in the league, but challenging for a title over the course of 38 games in the EPL is not going to happen anytime soon, and especially not because of Landon Donovan. Don’t be silly, they will be lucky to make the Champions League in the next three seasons, and I seriously doubt they will with Tottenham and City emerging. Donovan is not the key to a title for Everton, trust me…
So…..losing Pienaar but adding Donovan would, what, make them better? Sorry, don’t think so.
usually NAT teams will have a practice kit with sponsors all over them–but match kits are maintained free of advertizing. Its a good way to get some $ while keeping the real thing looking nice. Shame on Brazil
Does anyone else feel its quite ridiculous how many time Torres gets hurt? Is it mental, the training staff, what?
Everton usually finishes 20-30 points behind the league winner. Landon Donovan does not equal 20-30 extra points for Everton. Sorry.
Pienaar is not going anywhere. And they wouldn’t bring Donovan in to replace him, he’d be there in addition.
I guess K- Bone did not watch Donovan be the catalyst that helped Everton win all those games against the top teams of the EPL??? Tie at Arsenal, win against Man City, win against Chlsea, win against Man U….
That’s what I’m thinking too, Jake. He definitely would help towards gunning for a Champion’s League spot.
They would not be slightly worse. Yes, Pienaar is really good, but so is Donovan. And IMO, Donovan has a better soccer brain than Pienaar. Some of Pienaar’s decisions with the ball leave me scratching my head, not so Donovan.
Works for me!
Are you serious? You really think Donovan is the missing piece of the puzzle for a title run? You don’t know much about soccer do you?
I’ll agree with that one – maybe just “Rapids”
Omar,
The Real Madrid shirt is classy and clean, but it does look funny in our era with no sponsors.
What?! NASCAR is as classy as Champagne and Caviar. Just kidding, but if it pays the bills then fine by me. I just HATE, HATE, HATE seeing spnsors on National jerseys. What is Brazil thinking? Don’t care about the money when it comes to that.
or just “Colorado needs SOMETHING on their jersey”
Imagine any team in any sport other than soccer with sponsors on their jerseys.
It really is tacky. But money talks.
The Sounders get $4 million for XBox advertising.
The Don has said that he will do everything to keep LD in LA.
Everton will not be able to afford him, especially considering were they will finish.
He will be back in England on loan in the off-season, which is all the Limey League deserves of his time.
BMO (pronounced Bee-Moe) today is a major international bank with a large amout of connections across Canada and around the world. In 1977, BMO’s operational headquarters moved to Toronto, while its legal head office remained in Montreal.
why not? look at their form during his loan. beat chelsea, beat man u, beat man city, and lost what, once? if they played like that all season, why couldn’t they challenge for the title?
logo = garish sponsor’s name splashed across the front? Eek. When Real Madrid played in France (and had to remove their betting site logo), their jerseys looked incredibly classy and clean.
I dislike sponsors on shirts.
I am starting the facebook group – “All MLS teams needs a logo on their jersey”
my coworker is from Canada,eh and he saw me reading this page and saw the pix at top and says he cant figure out why a team from Toronto would take as a main sponsor the Bank of Montreal for their shirts and their stadium.
He says imagine a team from Boston wearing Bank of New York logo on their shirts and playing in Bank of New York Stadium…in Boston.
No way Donovan fits in at Chelsea – that woul dbe Bayern Munich part 2 with all of the egos. He fit in well at Everton because they are a working class team – not all the talent in the world, but a good TEAM.
I am begining to think De Guzman is one of the worst DP’s out there, he is good as a Holding Mid, nothing else. Why use a DP salary/slot on a holding mid-fielder?? I think the african guy Toronto signed (also a holding Mid) would do just as well and he is young. He will grow with the team & I imagine his salary is 1/8 of De Guzman.
DeGuzman was a horrible signing at the time. They had Robinson , Guevarra, and Cronin….any combo of the 2 would have been good enough provided they signed a winger with that DP slot or a quality forward
Had DeGuzman not been Canadian they would have never signed him. Mo is going to be out of there come world cup time.
Im sure a Pienaar for Donovan swap be acceptable to everton fans
Everton has previously shown interest in Michael Bradley. I could see him going there after the WC if he performs well. Just some Monday morning speculation.
DeGuzman has been fantasy death for me for the last two years. I think this is a case of a player being WAY overrated because he’s supposedly the best his country has to offer. I see his play and I understand why Canada can’t ever even qualify for the hexagonal stage of World Cup Qualifying.
He isn’t much of a defensive Midfielder and he doesn’t really add anything to the offense either.
Did anyone in Colorado know about the game yesterday?
I hope Torres can get healthy in time for the knockout games. He was my pick for the golden boot winner. Him and Villa are the best strike partnership in the world. It will be a shame to not get to see them both on the field at the same time.
Pienaar out and Donovan in would leave them in the same situation (or slightly worse off). The South African is pretty darn good and is a big part of Everton’s attack.
I don’t know about an EPL title, but they could be in the fight for a Champs League spot and become a solid Europa League team with a little more depth. Donovan would be a good start.
Sorry, don’t see it.
What was De Guzman thinking? Why even be in the wall if you’re going to jack it all up by jumping out of the way!? Nice DP move…Jeff Larentowicz was so lucky–that was a terrible free kick if De Guzman just stays put.
sounds like a plan to me too
i second that
Everton really needs not to let Donovan go to Chelsea. They saw what Donovan could do and how he could electrify their lineup. Donovan is they type of player that can push Everton over the hump and possibly win an EPL title.
I like it.
Pienaar out, Donovan in.