A quick thought on TFC's 0-0 at Cruz Azul

First things first, you have to complement the club on gaining 4 points on the road which is very difficult given the team's history with away fixtures.

However I'm not so pleased with the performance by TFC. Granted they were playing at altitude in Mexico City against the group leaders, but the inability to even retain a small bit of possession became irksome during the match. The broadcast made it seem like TFC produced a heroic defensive display against the Mexican side, and it is true to a certain extent. The defense was very good, but it was forced to be the main focus as neither the up front players nor the midfielders could hold on the the ball for more than a few seconds.

At points it seemed that it was inevitable that Azul would find a winner as they were all over them, even after being down a man. Although this seems to be a case where the opposition played down to the level of its competition. Azul had several chances to finish the game, but either they squandered it or the back four swept the chance away.

I know a week and two matches will not be enough to assess the squad's new leadership, Nick Dasovic has a lot of work to do before TFC play again this weekend against San Jose....Which of course is another must win.

Cheers,
Mike

Toronto FC Shock Cruz Azul in CCL Group stage opener

In front of an announced 16,892 at BMO Field Toronto FC put forth it's most dominating performance of the 2010 season, defeating 5 time CONCACAF Champions League winners Cruz Azul of Mexico 2-1. First half goals from Martin Saric and newest DP signing Mista sealed the three points for the MLS side.

Mista celebrates after scoring his first TFC goal Tuesday night

Although the scoreline impressive, what was more impressive was how TFC dominated play through out the 90 minutes. The reds played with an urgency that has been rarely seen from the club this year, and key players such as Dewayne De Rosario and Julian De Guzman played their best football of the season.

De Rosario's excellent movement in the first half opened up holes for Misa to cause havoc for the Mexican defenders, as his free header that was saved by the keeper set up the Saric goal within the first three minutes of the match. Mista found himself with another chance in the dying minutes of the first half in which he slotted the ball home just beyond the full reach of Yosgart Gutiérrez. After the match TFC head coach Preki commented regarding Mista that "We always knew he was a quality player,“It was just a matter of getting him fit and healthy and ready for all the games coming up now pretty fast. He gave us 60-plus minutes, good minutes.” Mista has been a bit of an odd fellow for the club even since they signed him. Preki has used him in several different area of the pitch including an attacking midfield role, up front or as a potential winger. It became clear what kind of talent he can provide up front for the club especially with O'Brian White seeming to have lost a bit of confidence in front of goal.

It must be stated that the Crul Azul players underestimated their opponents Tuesday night. At the half time the Cruz Azul players looked shocked to be 2 down by halftime. Varying reports claim the team's scouting report was not up to date, cautioning the players against exerting to much energy on BMO's plastic pitch in case of injury. Evidently the club had not been told that the field had been replaced with the real stuff at the beginning of the year.

Whatever the case may be, Crul Azul did not take to the games as quickly as their hosts, even though they had a clear class advantage. The second half was played at a higher tempo for the visitors but they could not penetrate the Toronto backline lead by Canadian International center backs Nana Attakora and Adrian Cann. Who played arguably their best game as a defensive pairing. Cristian Gimenez’s curling free kick in the 90th minute to beat TFC number two Jon Conway was the lone bright spot for Cruz Azul.

Credit must also be given to Toronto Head coach Preki who got his tactics all right as he started off playing a flexible 4-4-2 which at times floated into a (4-3-1-2) with De Rosario tucked behind Mista and White. This seemed to give the Mexican club problems as they could not handle De Rosario's movement or Mista's clever flicks and runs. In the second half as some players started to run out of gas, he reverted to a more defensive 4-5-1 set up to deal with the increased pace the visitors put on the pitch for the second half.

For Toronto, who when to great lengths to down play their chances of winning put together their most complete performance of the season. However there will be little time for back slapping as their most important league match of the season comes up on Saturday, as New York comes to BMO on the back end of a home and home series. With New York 5 points clear of TFC for that all important second place spot in the East, Preki will have to prepare his squad for the vastly improved Red Bulls, Who will be coming into the game with some confidence having beaten TFC 1-0 last week at home. Saturday will be Toronto's true measuring stick to see where they stand with the top clubs in MLS.

For now though Toronto FC can enjoy a short if not sweet club milestone.

Toronto FC learning the price of success

As this season began Toronto FC's expectations were high. The club set three major goals with new head coach Preki, 1) Retain the Nutrilite Canadian championship 2) Qualify for the group stages of CONCACAF Champions League and 3) Make the playoffs for the first time in club history. After a sluggish pre-season filled with poor play and roster issue it seemed the team would have been hard pressed to attain those goals. It looked even bleaker after the first two games of the regular season in which they lost at a combined score of 6-1. After the first four games TFC were 1-3 with only 3 goals scored and 9 against.

Through out the that time Preki and GM Mo Johnston preached clam, noting that the players were getting the know each other and the new managers style of play. There were only 7 players that returned from the 09 squad, with many of the new faces joining the club just before or right after the start of the regular season. Shortly after being outclassed at the Rio Tinto by Real Salt Lake in early May, the players held a closed door meeting the air out the issues and get on track with club expectations. The next game, a home win against Chicago would start the club on a club record 11 match unbeaten streak.

Within that streak the club captured it's second Canadian championship and a preliminary round date with Motauga of Honduras. With the added success the club faced a new problem, a congested fixture list with a lot of travel and little rest or training time.

TFC's success in defeating Motagua in the preliminary round and advancing to the group stage of the champions league (Check two in the list of club goals if you're keeping track) is so far the club's biggest achievement in it's 4 year history. However many TFC supporters are wondering what cost will the CCL group stages take on the team's main goal, making the playoffs.

By no means are the Reds the lone MLS team that will have to deal with 6 extra games, as Seattle, Columbus and Real Salt Lake will also play group stage games. However what those teams have that Toronto lacks is true squad depth. Aside from new acquisitions like Mista, and Maicon Santos, the squad it fairly thin especially in the midfield. If the priority in the playoffs, Preki will have to make tough choices around who plays and who rests for crucial league games. One wouldn't be surprised if Preki chose to field some of the academy players against Cruz Azul on Tuesday. He showed his willingness to do so in the second leg against Motagua in Tegucigalpa playing academy stand out Doneil Henry at right back.

Preki may have to start making these decisions quickly, as the team looked flat out exhausted in the second half of their loss to the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday night. He also now has to deal with preferred starting striker Chad Barret sidelined with a hamstring problem after he hobbled off only 30 minutes in. Barret's injury is one in a growing list of concerns facing TFC as we head towards the business end of the season.

Toronto currently hold the 8th and final playoff spot with San Jose just 3 points behind, but with a crucial 2 games in hand on TFC. The club is also heading into the toughest part of their schedule in which they still have to play Real twice, Columbus, Chicago and Houston all on the road where they have a 1-9 record this season. In between those games TFC have mid week group league games which will take them as far as Panama within a three day turn around.The long used mental gut check cliche will be an ever present for the Reds.

However this is what club management wanted, this is the price for relative success.

Preki will have to become a master of man management in order to pull this off. He will need to get captain Dewayne De Rosario and DP Julian De Guzman rest, get the back four in order and get Mista match fit. He also has to avoid injury to key members as he does not have much to choose from in replacements. He also must not crumble under the immense pressure club supporters are putting on him to win, and although Club owners Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment will not come out a directly say it, they want TFC in the MLS Cup final on home soil as it would be a cash bonanza for MLSE.

TFC have craved success since its inception and now that it has some of it, tough choices need to be made before the relative champions league dream season turns into potential playoff disappointment.

It all begins Tuesday night against Cruz Azul at BMO Field.

TFC should take Champions League seriously

Consider this an add-on to Monday's Toronto FC post.

After Tuesday's 2-2 draw against Motagua in Honduras, TFC's place in the CONCACAF Champions League group stages was confirmed winning the two leg match by a 3-2 aggregate score. Some Reds supporters can be forgiven if they think this is the greatest result in the club's short history, as the greatest triumph still lies ahead.

As I mentioned on Monday many supporters would prefer that Preki make the CCL the lower priority in favour of making the MLS playoffs for the first time in club history. Although I do not exactly share this point of view, I would agree that making the playoffs is ONE of Preki's priorities, but it should not place the champions league completely on the back burner. Making the playoffs would be TFC greatest achievement to date, but you cannot say that if TFC beat Cruz Azul (Mexico) on August 17th at home it would not be a watershed moment for the club.

As underwhelming as many find the CCL, it does place Toronto FC on the international stage, even if it is a bit smaller that the rest. It gives the fans the opportunity to continue building a history around the club, which all great clubs in the world have. It becomes hard to build a history when the teams is not winning or competing in the top tournaments in the region. I can't argue that making the playoffs won't do that either, but champions league nights can become magical events for clubs just like in Europe.

The Tournament also gives Preki the opportunity to play some of the youth squad members that normally would not see a lot of pitch time. On Tuesday Doneil Henry the 18 year old central defender who normally plays for the academy team started at right back in a massive match for the club. As the team tries to balance the squad between league games and CCL matches during mid week young players like Nicholas Lindsay, Oscar Cordon and Henry could find themselves playing major minutes in very important matches.

This can only be seen as a positive for the club who will be able to try and progress through the group stages of the CCL and qualify for the playoff while getting the future of the club some much need match action with the first team.

Onwards and upwards for TFC as they say.

Cheers,
Mike

CONCACAF Champions League important for Canadian development

After Toronto FC's important 1-0 win of Honduran side Club Deportivo Motagua, I began to read the debate around how important or not the tournament is to TFC. For those who oppose TFC taking the tournament seriously, the argument goes; TFC is in the hunt for its first MLS playoff in club history, therefore the club needs a less crowded fixture list down the stretch in order to help qualify. This importance on making the playoffs is made even more urgent considering the MLS Cup is going to be held at BMO Field in November.

What the playoff only pundits seem to be missing is the fact that a run into the knockout stages of the CONCACAF Champions League will go a long way in improving soccer all round in Canada, plus bringing TFC extra revenue for future signings.

Montreal's run into the quarter finals of the tournament in 2008 brought not only a level of excitement about the game (The first leg of the quarters was held in front of 51,000 at the Olympic Stadium), but it also brought more talented players into the Impact academy. What the run also did was place the issue of soccer development in the minds of the public. It also infused the grass roots players with a goal to shoot for, play against the best in the region for your home town club. This was an aspect of Canadian soccer that was missing for a long time. In the past there would be little incentive to play in the Canadian pro ranks as it was thought to lead you nowhere. Now the promise of champions league soccer is a reason young players can choose to stay and develop in Canada. This is especially important for TFC as they are still growing their academy, and trying to convince their young players to sign with the club once they turn 18.

The Voyageurs Cup, Canada's one ticket to Champions League

The tournament is also important to the bottom line for TFC, no one can argue that at the minimum, 4 extra home games will hurt the club in the pocket book. The extra money can be used to help upgrade the stadium or build the long dreamed of training complex for both the senior and academy teams that the club wants so badly. As said earlier it will also provide funds for new signings that could help turn the club into league and region elites. Which at the end of the day is what every club wants, competing with the top clubs in CONCACAF helps to raise the team's profile both at home and abroad. It can also provide healthy competition from Vancouver and Montreal who will push to become better and represent Canada at the tournament. In the longer run what fans would like to see is more than one Canadian club be included in the running for the champions league, and with today's announcement of three new teams applying for NASL in Edmonton, Victoria and Ottawa we could see the Voyageurs Cup expand outside of the 3 teams currently involved.

In the end the CONCACAF Champions League is still a work in progress in terms of prestige, but if a Canadian club won it, soccer would really be on the map in Canada.

Cheers,
Mike