Weekend Notes

Toronto FC
Everyone's had their two cents on TFC's woes this season, but the 24thminute makes things nice and stark for us: the last fifteen minutes of games are a death trap for this club. Chris Cummins wildly complained that his players dropped back in the final minutes against San Jose on Saturday against his wishes, presumably hoping to absorb as much attacking pressure from their opponents as possible. What he doesn't mention is that Toronto would be less inclined loiter in the final third, waiting for impotent clubs like San Jose to have at them in a playoff race, if they had proper forwards confident of putting away their chances.

If players feel they need to drop back, it means they know they're not scoring another one in a balanced formation. It means they hope to draw in the opposing team to defend the goal and hope for a counter-attack, a strategy that players like De Rosario looked to favour on Saturday. And this approach might be necessary simply because, even with our packed midfield, the fact Chad Barrett is a starter a good indicator Toronto has a striking problem. I mean, Nana Attakora scored the only goal. I would be all for this defensive approach, maybe even slotting in Gerba and permanently benching Barrett for a 4-5-1 of some sort, if Nick Garcia was not currently our go-to centre-back. But he is.

Sorry kids, no playoffs this year.

WCQs
Nobody save hardcore Maradona romantics are trying to revision Argentina v. Peru as Diego's saving grace. His stint as manager has been near-catastrophic, and anytime you overhear an announcer declare that a national result which prevents one of the most storied sides in World Cup history from missing out on said tournament is "salvation for the manager," you are looking at a team in serious trouble. Argentina is one of those sides in which the manager is supposed to go almost unnoticed unless you're Cesar Luis Menotti, and Maradona's Slip 'n Slide routine was embarrassingly noticeable. Argentina is not means to redemption; it is a national team more than worthy of playing in 2010.

Speaking of teams being greater than the individuals comprising them, from whence cometh the "how will Capello manage to deal with Wayne Rooney's absence" meme?