The final match of Toronto FC's eight game road trip came Sunday in a close loss to the Portland Timbers. Through that initial stretch TFC largely defied preseason expectations both in the style of their play and their results - they compiled 11 points from 7 games on the back of a direct, defense-first approach. Against Portland, however, they flipped the script and played on the front foot in a new look 4-4-2 diamond. The Timbers have disappointed early in 2016 despite playing mostly the same players and system that won them MLS Cup last season. They eeked out a win through a couplHere I'm going to look at how Toronto controlled possession but failed to create dangerous chances while Portland
The 4-4-2 Diamond - So often a pregame lineup graphic will show teams lining up with a diamond midfield and nearly every time it ends up as a flat 4-4-2 with one CM venturing forward slightly more often. This happens often with USMNT lineups, for example. So it came as a surprise when TFC actually, truthfully played a diamond midfield with Michael Bradley at the base and Tsubasa Endoh at the point. More surprising is that it worked pretty darn well.
