May 17, 2008 MLS Toronto FC vs Columbus Crew (from MLSnet.com)

05/17/2008 8:50PM
Coach Carver "disappointed" in draw
TFC head coach John Carver upset with team after scoreless draw at home
By Mark Polishuk / MLSnet.com Staff

TORONTO -- Toronto FC head coach John Carver was upset with the game both on and off the field in the aftermath of his side's scoreless draw with the Columbus Crew on Saturday at BMO Field.

Carver said he was "disappointed" by the fact that TFC couldn't win a match it largely controlled against the MLS-leading Crew. The Reds outshot Columbus 14-7 overall (6-2 in shots on goal), but what was missing was the finishing touch up front.

"I thought we took the game to them," the coach said. "We had our opportunities, but we couldn't put the ball in the back of the net."

Though the Reds were disappointed by the draw, it extended their unbeaten streak to a club-record five games, and extended their unbeaten streak at BMO Field to six matches dating back to Oct. 4, 2007.

Forward Danny Dichio, who entered the game bothered by a slight groin injury, stayed in for 63 minutes in spite of the injury since Carver felt the 6-foot-3 Dichio was a better match against 6-4 Columbus defender Ezra Hendrickson than the 5-6 Jeff Cunningham. Cunningham did come on as a substitute for Dichio in the 63rd minute and fared slightly better, especially once Hendrickson himself left the game in the 82nd minute.

Dichio, who didn't manage a shot, said his groin injury didn't affect his performance.

"Once the game kicks off, the adrenaline kicks in," Dichio said. "I don't know how I'll wake up tomorrow and how it'll feel, but it wasn't all that bad today.

"I thought we played well today against a good team who's top of the table. We just couldn't get the final piece of the jigsaw today. Sometimes that happens and we've got to take it on the chin. We were playing a team who has won six of seven games this year so we've got to give ourselves still a little bit of credit."

Still, Carver said he is looking for improvement from his front-runners.

"I've been banging this drum from the start of the season. We need to improve in certain areas and I still haven't stopped looking. As you all know I was home for a week and I did a lot of work to try and find somebody in that area," Carver said. "The guys who are doing the job for us at the moment are doing a good job but we need better and I think we all know that. It's going to take time. I haven't stopped working on it and neither has (technical director) Mo (Johnston)."

Perhaps the best opportunity for the Reds came in the 60th minute, when Laurent Robert sent a low shot towards the left side of the Crew net that seemed to leave goalkeeper Will Hesmer slow to react, but the ball bounced off of the left post.

The game was a draw, "because of the length of the post," Carver said.

Midfielder Carl Robinson said the fact that the Crew (who entered the game tied for the MLS lead in goals scored) switched to a defensive-oriented game was a tribute to how Toronto has improved.

"They wanted to sort of delay the game, slow the game down," Robinson said. "They're altering the way they want to play when they face us. But what we've got to do is when teams do that we've got to make sure that we put it to bed and we win the game and at the moment we just have that little bit missing at the moment where we can actually finish it off."

Carver also took exception to what he felt were unfair fouls given to his team due to overly theatrical reactions from some Crew players, most notably forward Guillermo Barros Schelotto, that slowed the pace of the game. The striker was cautioned in the 90th minute for diving and exaggeration, and Carver felt the yellow card was long overdue.

"Here you have a guy, a professional footballer, who runs across to the linesman within the first seven minutes in an aggressive manner and nothing happens," Carver said. "The whole game continuously, it's like the wind was too strong for him.

"[Crew head coach Sigi Schmid] is a great guy, I've got a lot of time for him, total respect for him, and I'm sure he doesn't encourage it. But players are players, and they're individuals and they make their own decisions."

The Reds were called for a season-high 14 fouls in the game, two of which were suffered by Schelotto. Robinson regarded Schelotto's possible exaggerations as nothing more than a strategic move by the Argentinean striker.

"Good players win free kicks and that's what he was trying to do," Robinson said. "Maybe he went over a little bit too easy, but I think if someone goes over too easy, you don't get frustrated, you pick the fellow up and you try to get him the next time.

"We battled throughout the game. I caught him a couple of times, he thought maybe I went in too strongly and he didn't get the free kicks. At the end of the game I shook his hand and wished him all the best. It's all part of the game."

Midfielder Maurice Edu left the game in the 83rd minute after suffering an apparent leg injury. Carver said the injury was nothing more than "a dead leg," and an aggravation of a minor injury the midfielder had suffered at practice.

"Edu got a bad leg in training, and had another whack on it," Carver said. "Obviously [once] you've got a dead leg and you take another knock, you don't take any risks."

Mark Polishuk is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.

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