As I left the broadcast booth at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night, I took an elevator down to the main level with a family of four. They were energetic, full of smiles and happy with how their evening had gone. The teenage son turned to me and asked where I was from. I explained my reason for being there and he immediately wanted to know if I was surprised at the 3-0 defeat suffered by Toronto FC. His eyes widened when I said I wasnt. "I dont know too much about soccer but I was told tonight I was coming to see Salt Lake play the New York Yankees of MLS," he said. Minutes earlier, they were a part of a crowd that chanted overrated towards the opposition. Real Salt Lake fans know, more than most, what a competitive, perennial MLS Cup contender should look like and the jury in Utah was in. The verdict? Pretenders not contenders. For now. However, it is hard to think the management at the club didnt see this coming. It is, after all, only three games into the season following a massive overhaul. Just as expectations soared to ridiculous heights following the opening game win in Seattle, the reaction since this loss has been equally irrational. The biggest issue with Toronto FC through three games is not squad depth (this can be an issue for all in a salary cap league, plus Andrew Weideman was their fifth forward before Bright Dike got hurt and Kyle Bekker is their fourth central midfielder). The biggest issue with Toronto FC is not Doneil Henry, who was criticized in some quarters for giving away a first half penalty. He would go on to shine once again following the error. The two biggest issues with Toronto FC as March comes to a close is cohesiveness and a lack of tactical versatility. The first point can only come with time. Once again it was another new starting XI on Saturday and the team has yet to play back-to-back games with the same lineup from the start, and because of that, relationships within the team that need to gel for the collective to succeed, will take time. The second point, however, is one worth following closer than any other story around this team at the moment. Formations Real Salt Lake not only presented a good test as a unit on Saturday for the visitors, but also tactically in the shape they play in. Ryan Nelsen has said the formation is only really how you line up at the start but being a manager who wants to play two up top, he got a different look at how a 4-4-2 diamond works against his team. The Game Jeff Cassars RSL get their full backs forward more than most. I said that in the pre-game show on TSN and Nelsen certainly was aware of this heading into the game. This is how they get their width. However, it was the intelligent decision-making and movement from their midfield four that allowed them space to run into. Javier Morales ran the game for the home team. His lateral movement was magnificent drifting into pockets of space unoccupied by TFCs midfield. He made the move into the space to help ignite the play for the second goal. And then on a quick break for the third goal, he again found the space to send the ball over the top for Saborio. Nelsens team has struggled in possession through all three games and that is fine when you can transition and counter as effectively as they did in the first two games. However, against a midfield diamond, the outlets couldnt be found. Alvaro Rey and Mark Bloom were passengers during the first half while the two strikers never got any service. Yes, it can be said they needed to pass the ball better when they got it but the 4-4-2 shape they played really hurt them. Playing two quick, mobile strikers up top means they demand service. Michael Bradleys intelligent balls over the top caused RSLs centre backs some discomfort but the wide players (including full backs) just didnt get into advanced positions to provide crosses enough. Many funds have been given to Gilberto and Jermain Defoe and when they are fit, they will play, but the game was screaming out for an extra central midfielder to make up the numbers and here is the biggest conundrum the coaching staff has at the moment. Games are won and lost in transitions and in Bradley, they have a superior man for that role. However, when he, or his central midfield partner, started one in this game it often began with two wingers and two strikers 30-40 yards away. Defoe and Gilberto will not be left out and can cause massive issues when the game dictates it, matching up 2vs2 in areas, but the use of the wide midfield players can be modified. Bloom and Justin Morrow, just like Salt Lakes full backs, can get forward (it should be noted Bloom did just that when moved back there late in the match) to provide width and away from home, specifically, Toronto would be much better suited playing a narrower 4-4-2 diamond, giving Bradley more outlets around him. The American international is a real difference maker at this level and cannot be regularly concerned about the space in behind him because it pushes Toronto deeper and deeper. Yes, it is part of his job but not at the top of the list. Defoe and Gilberto are also not strikers that feast off crosses, although the Brazilian did excel in a number of aerial duels on Saturday. Bradley, of course, missed his midfield partner Jonathan Osorio on Saturday but the brilliance of Morales, combined with Torontos shape, meant little would have changed had the Canadian played. Once fit, against the leagues strongest teams, Osorio and Bradley should play just ahead of a more defensive-minded midfielder allowing them to have a much clearer job defensively and in transition. In the end, it was just one loss in March but as the club goes through a transition off the field, they need to find a way to ensure they can transition better on it. Qadree Ollison Womens Jersey . Seager had another triple, a home run and a double in a rare feat not seen in more than 40 years, leading Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners past the New York Yankees 10-2. "It was a weird play," Seager said of the triple in the fourth inning. Qadree Ollison Jersey . Raonic, the mens No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., needed more than three hours to overcome Frenchman Gilles Simon 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 and become the first Canadian man into the fourth round at Roland Garros. http://www.thefaclonsshoponline.com/Calvin-Ridley-Falcons-Jersey/ . He will be practicing with the Norfolk Admirals (AHL) on a conditioning assignment. - @AnaheimDucks Corey Perry has a knee sprain and will miss the next three to four weeks. Atlanta Falcons Jerseys . Consider it received. Attacking on offence early and often, the Penguins topped the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 on Saturday night as Jussi Jokinen scored the go-ahead goal in the third period to help give Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference playoff series. Steve Bartkowski Youth Jersey . -- Albert Pujols is thrilled to have a reason to forget about his first two disappointing seasons with the Los Angeles Angels.LOS ANGELES -- The Clippers moved on from months of ugliness Tuesday, with Steve Ballmer officially becoming the teams new owner in a record US$2 billion sale that ousted Donald Sterling as the NBAs longest-tenured owner. Sterling bought the team in 1981 for $12 million and presided over decades of losing seasons before engaging in a fierce legal battle with his estranged wife to hold on to his most prized asset. The team said the sale closed after a Los Angeles court confirmed the authority of Shelly Sterling, on behalf of the Sterling Family Trust, to sell the franchise to the former Microsoft CEO. The NBA Board of Governors had previously approved the sale. "Really excited -- in a pretty hardcore way -- to continue the path to making the Clippers a better and better basketball team, and a better and better citizen of the Los Angeles community," Ballmer told The Associated Press in a phone interview. The bizarre drama began in April when a recording surfaced of Donald Sterling scolding his girlfriend for bringing black men to Clippers games. The audio spurred the NBA to ban Sterling for life and fine him $2.5 million. Sterling was apologetic after the audio recording went viral, but his mea culpa backfired when he criticized Lakers great Magic Johnson, who had been photographed with Sterlings girlfriend, as a bad role model for kids because he had HIV. The 80-year-old real estate mogul was roundly condemned from locker rooms to the Oval Office, where President Barack Obama called Sterlings remarks "incredibly offensive racist statements." With the NBA threatening to seize the team and auction it, Sterling initially gave his wife of 58 years permission to negotiate a sale but then refused to sign the Ballmer deal. He said he would sue the league instead and then revoked the trust, which his lawyers said effectively killed the deal. Shelly Sterling removed Donald as a trustee after doctors found he had symptoms of Alzheimers disease. Adam Streisand, Ballmers lawyer, said Tuesday that Superior Court Judge Michael Levanas signed the order authorizing the sale even if Donald Sterlings attorneys filed an appeal. He said even if Donald Sterling seeks an emergency order directing the judge to vacate his order, the lawyer is confident an appellate court would agree that Levanas made the correct decision. Donald Sterlings lawyers werent immediately available to comment. The sale ends some troubling concerns that had surrounded the team in recent months.dddddddddddd Doc Rivers would possibly have quit as coach if Sterling remained the owner, interim CEO Richard Parsons had testified. All-Star point guard Chris Paul, who also is president of the Players Association, might have sat out and convinced other players to join him. Sponsors who already started to flee after the Donald Sterling recording was released might have stayed away for good. None of that appears to be a problem with Ballmer taking over what could be a powerhouse team next season. By agreeing to the record purchase price, hes already proven hes willing to spend in contrast to the famously frugal Sterling, long regarded as the worst owner in the NBA. "The topic of conversation with Doc earlier was to focus in on what does it take and how can I help support him in achieving our mutual mission and in a pretty intense way continue to improve, be tenacious," Ballmer said. "If we do all that, good things will come our way." Ballmer was nearly an NBA owner last year before owners chose to keep the Kings in Sacramento, rather than allow them to be sold to a group that included Ballmer and moved to Seattle. Now hes got his own team to share with his wife and three sons. "Were a family that likes basketball," he told the AP. Ballmer said he fell in love with the sport as a seventh-grader in his hometown of Detroit. He was manager of his high school team, which included keeping statistics. Two of his sons have played the game, while the youngest has been a statistician for his high school team in the Seattle area, where the family lives. Ballmer said he hopes to attend a lot of Clippers games next season. He said Parsons has agreed to stay on as CEO for the interim. "That gives me a chance to figure this all out," he said. Ballmer wants to put the controversy in the past and focus the team on being "a great citizen in the community for a diverse set of folks," including the NBAs predominantly black players. "Were going to do our best on that," he said. "I know that is high on Docs list, its high on my list to do that. We also have to be a phenomenal basketball team, play really well as a team and have great success on court. Were going to work on all those things." Ballmer agreed to give Shelly Sterling the title of "owner emeritus." "I am confident that Steve will bring the city a championship team in the very near future," she said. ' ' '
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