By Michael Crampton
Oh yeah, the league, Toronto FC still plays in that right?
Saturday’s game against the Columbus Crew presents another tricky challenge for Aron Winter’s side as they look to get themselves off the bottom of MLS’s Eastern Conference table. While the actual level of rivalry between Toronto and Columbus has been an oft debated and somewhat touchy subject amongst TFC supporters this much cannot be denied: Saturday’s game feels a lot less meaningful than the one that will happen in Torreón, Mexico four days later.
Maybe that provides a clue to answering the central question that has arisen around the Reds over the last six months: how can a team that has achieved well beyond expectations in the CONCACAF Champions League still not infrequently look completely shambolic in theoretically less intense MLS league play? Is it possible that a big part of the explanation is simply a reflection of the fundamental difference between league and cup football?
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Let’s be clear: three points against the Crew, or the lack thereof, will not be decisive to the Reds’ season. It’s a cliché but it bears repeating that a league season is a marathon rather than a sprint. That said, what Toronto needs to be doing in these early, early days is building a base of success that the rest of the season can carry forward from. Dropped points now mean that more will have to be made up later in the year and increase the need for a sustained winning run. If TFC wants to be playing meaningful games this summer and fall picking up a steady stream of points early on is imperative.
Cup football on the other hand is just about getting through to the next round. Generally speaking matches happen less frequently. Even in the CCL’s six match group stage each individual result enjoys greater direct significance to the overall outcome than one league game out of 34. For players, organizations, and the supporters cheering them on it’s easier to raise their level, go all out, and play above expectations when a specific match feels more important.
Only the very best can do that game after game in a league campaign. It’s almost definitional that you can’t play above yourself game in, game out: if you can consistently perform at a high level that is your level! Consistency, of course, is the key and, other than rare and short stretches, been what TFC has lacked since 2007.
It’s probably also worth noting that the knockout nature of cup competition is somewhat masking Toronto’s underlying form. While it’s true that TFC is currently undefeated in CCL play they’ve actually only won one game (out of five overall in all competition) so far this season. It’s arbitrary but if we were to convert their results into points in a league table the Reds would only have 5 points from a possible 15. That’s one point per game so far and would work out to 34 points over the course of the season: more or less the same old TFC.
So, while TFC supporters are justifiably proud of the team knocking out last season’s league champion and more than holding their own against a Mexican powerhouse the results the team has been getting wouldn’t keep the club on pace for the playoffs. Celebratory atmosphere aside Toronto has played three home games so far this year and not actually won any of them. Admittedly, it’s also true that you don’t have to play Santos Laguna in MLS!
Which brings us back to Saturday’s match against Columbus.
This will be an easy game for Toronto FC to overlook. With the charged emotion of Wednesday night still lingering and anticipation for the return match already building the game against the Crew seems like more of a distraction than a vital home fixture. Truthfully, anything other than a bad loss will probably be forgiven by most of the fan base after midweek’s exertions. After beating Columbus 4 – 2 away late in the season last year even the Crew’s long all time unbeaten streak against Toronto is no longer there to add extra motivation.
What it comes down to is mentality. It’s time for Aron Winter’s “every game is important” ethos to mean more than just playing the best team available. In fact, rotating in some players hungry for minutes might be the better short term strategy. Let the team know that starting positions in Torreón will be influenced by performances this weekend. If Toronto FC can channel the attitude that saw them fight for 90 minutes against one of the best teams on the continent there’s no reason they can’t take three points off the Crew and get their league campaign back on track.