Toronto FC sucks.
Terrible Football Club.
M£$€.
Cut Try Harder.
Release Julian.
Go Barça.
There are a lot of different ways to express your absolute disgust and frustration with Toronto’s MLS side, owners of a 0-4 record and providers of the Montreal Impact’s first ever MLS win.
Thousands made the 7-hour journey east this past weekend to watch the Reds, but few left happy. A 90-minute exercise in frustration -- held at the inhumane kick-off time of noon – putting a damper on what was supposed to be a weekend of revival and Genesis.
Breaking down the game is nearly useless. No one wants to hear about any of the factors that contributed to a lackluster performance. Toronto fans just want to vent. Swear. Hit things.
Maybe watch the Blue Jays. They win sometimes. For now, anyway.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
For what it’s worth there are factors – the travel to and from Mexico being the most relevant. At the risk of provoking violence, it is worth pointing out that the Impact did make a frustratingly close goal line clearance and a have Save of the Week candidate mixed into the affair. You could argue that Toronto deserved a bit more than a late game consolation.
Then again you could also argue that the goal of the game is to put the ball into the net. Montreal did that twice. Toronto once. End of.
So, what now? This is the question that scares the hell out of the thinking Reds’ fan. Screaming profanity at the club might make a fan (briefly) feel better, but it in no way reflects on the impossibility of the situation.
There are 30 games left. It is, of course, irrational to proclaim the season dead already. However, they have dug themselves a hole. You can overlook the Seattle loss – no shame in that one – but the six dropped points at home, combined with a loss against a team that will be near the foot of the table all year, is a lot of points left on the table. If this club is to challenge for the playoffs it will need to have a stretch where it plays out of its head to make up for what they’ve lost already.
It’s not impossible, but it sure as hell looks unlikely. There is something, somewhere missing.
The instinct is to blame the back-line, specifically Ty Harden. Although there is some truth to that it’s also too simple an evaluation by half. Yes, Ty Harden is slow and yes a back heel attempt was probably not the best choice to make on the second goal Saturday.
However, he was also running at full speed back to cover a counter that had way too much space and was way too dangerous. Objectively, Harden was probably lucky to slow the play down at all and, well, where the hell were the rest of the defenders?
Harden is what he is – a serviceable depth player on any MLS team. He is hardly the biggest problem.
What is the biggest problem then? Well, that’s just it. It’s next to impossible to pin down a single thing. They did go almost three games without scoring (in MLS) however, and that can’t be overlooked.
On Saturday the attack was predictable and close to impotent. There was next to no presence in the attacking midfield and watching Ashtone Morgan float cross after cross hopefully towards Danny Koevermans got a bit old, fast.
For as much flack that Julian de Guzman gets for his contract and perceived lack of value, Koevermans – that actual highest paid player on the team – gets a free pass. One goal in eight games is not OK. And, it’s as big an issue with the early season form as anything de Guzman or Harden have done.
It’s not all on Koevermans either though. It’s not all on anyone and there is no simple solution. And there is nothing to do but to wait it out and see if they can sort it all out.
Frustrating, eh?