Some More Thoughts on Toronto FC

Moving as I do mostly through non-footballing circles, I've been asked, "hey, what's the deal with Toronto FC? Did they make the playoffs? I heard they lost something like 10 nothing to some nobody team in the states."

These post-mortems can get boring, so let me just throw down my two-cents on this club as I see it so we can all move on. I often see games with non-MLS fans, and sometimes non-soccer fans. This is because most of my friends don't really follow soccer (honestly, I think that's the major reason I started this thing so many years ago), but it also gives me a bit of distance from getting so close to the club that I can't see the forest for the trees.

This is one shitty forest. Going back to 2007, it seems, except for a few exceptions, that TFC is only capable of winning games by 1/4 of a goal. It seems that goals were either scored one of the two Double D's, Danny Dichio, and later, Duane De Rosario, or someone else who had no reason to score, like a central defender, or a player who happened to pick up on a sitter from a poorly saved strike.

Toronto FC's play is sluggish. Players take too many touches, afraid to pass. There is not enough movement on the wings. Crossing is poor. Golden chances to score on the break are wasted. Away games might as well be forfeited.

I've heard the thing about passion in the dressing room, dressing room splits, people getting told to get dressed in different dressing rooms, then going on to other clubs and scoring nine hundred goals. I know the stats about how many players have been moved on from this club since 2007. And it's true, there is very much an Anglo-Saxon attitude coming from upstairs, this imitation-Shankly attitude if, "you don't perform, you don't play. Someone is always hunting for your spot, so be afraid at all times. You have to play for this club with pride or not at all."

But pride comes from setting a winning standard. It's nice and all that TFC has such passionate fans, but that alone isn't going to create a situation where players are able to come together and create something coherent on the pitch. Pride comes from some measure of trust from upstairs.

Let's not self-congratulate ourselves into thinking that any competitive coach is going to want to come to this club with the current Sporting Director set-up. We need a general manager on the sideline with an assistant coach. An all-in one package. The Mo Johnston approach is not working. Let's try something else. Three years is enough.