Portland Timbers manager Caleb Porter says that his team

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Portland Timbers manager Caleb Porter says that his team should be much more clinical when it comes to taking the chances.

He has identified improving the attack as a key area in order to revive the club’s form. Portland have been sitting just one place above the bottom due to inconsistent form. In the last five matches, they have had wins against New York City FC and Montréal Impact but they have also suffered a disappointing results against the likes of Seattle Sounders and Houston Dynamo.Porter says that the team should also be looking at creating more opportunities for the strikers.

Even though the 3-1 defeat against Houston Dynamo does not sound very bad, it could have been a victory by an even bigger margin for Houston. Further, Portland managed to score from the only shot on target they had in the entire 90 minutes. Ahead of the match against Toronto FC on May 25,Porter says that his team should start playing with much more creativity than they have done in recent weeks. After having averaged less than a goal per game, it is not surprising thatPorter finds his team in the ninth position. They are one of the three teams in the Western Conference to have a negative goal difference. Continue reading “Portland Timbers manager Caleb Porter says that his team” →

Greg Vanney was extremely unhappy with his team’s defending

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Toronto FC manager Greg Vanney was extremely unhappy with his team’s defending, which was largely to blame after the recent 3-2 defeat against Chicago Fire. The loss was the third consecutive win the league for the team and it pushes them outside the play-off places after just four matches.

Being a relatively new MLS franchise, Toronto need to consistently qualify for the play-off places in order to raise their profile in the region.Vanney has been given the task of doing so, but he has been struggling with the role.Vanney stated bluntly that his team’s defending was not good enough after the game against Chicago Fire.

Despite conceding an early goal after just 14 minutes, Toronto managed to come back into the match in amazing fashion and they were leading after 54 minutes on the clock. Just when it seemed that they would be heading for only the second league win of the season, Chicago Fire had other ideas and they were in the lead after just 14 minutes. Creavalle was sent off in the 67th minute and it effectively ended the match as a contest. Toronto will have to recover quickly as they have four away matches on the bounce. Such poor form on the road is unlikely to help them pick any points. Continue reading “Greg Vanney was extremely unhappy with his team’s defending” →

Alan Pardew criticizes his Team

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Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew has said that his team were too negative for their own good in the FA Cup match against Liverpool. The London team were hoping to reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup in a season where there has been numerous upsets.

The likes of Chelsea and Manchester City have already dropped out of the running after defeats against Bradford City and Middlesbrough respectively.Palace were feeling extremely confident ahead of the match with Liverpool given that the tie was Selhurst Park where they have been very strong in recent months. The form has also improved substantially after the arrival of Alan Pardew.

For long periods of the match against Liverpool, it looked likePalace would create another upset and reach the quarter-finals. The team were leading 1-0 through an early goal from Fraizer Campbell. However, the early goal proved to be the undoing for the home team after they sat back in the second half because of the advantage. Daniel Sturridge had looked threatening in the first half and he madePalace pay with an equaliser in the 49th minute. Adam Lallana’s goal just 10 minutes after this equaliser put Liverpool in front and the game finished with this score to knockout Palace. Continue reading “Alan Pardew criticizes his Team” →