Toronto FC: MLS Cup obviously not over, but worth sacrificing

Toronto FC are one of only two teams who have yet to score an MLS goal, but for the Red sake, this MLS season can take a hike if it means other silverware.

Nobody is going to count Toronto FC out of the MLS Cup race this early. It’s rather stupid to count anyone out after three lousy weeks. But if everything goes according to plan, the struggles of Toronto will not be short-lived.

As it stands, Toronto FC will have a luxurious week off before they launch right back into the thick of things. They pick up action again on the 30th of March and, given that they play the first leg against Club America just four days later, we may see a diverted-attention Toronto side against real Salt Lake.

It doesn’t get any better from there. Despite the break, Toronto will be hard-pressed to keep up, playing three days later against DC United and another three days later in the second leg in Mexico.

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If things still go according to plan, they will play in MLS four days later, then CCL three days later, then MLS four days later, then CCL three days later. It is a schedule that few would envy and fewer still would be untroubled by.

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Even if it costs Toronto FC a drop down to the bottom ranks of the Eastern Conference, where they currently reside, with zero goes to their name.

Even at that point, at the end of April, assuming they can’t weather a strict schedule that gives them no reprieve, you can’t count them out of the MLS Cup race. All they have to do is run on the momentum of a potential CCL trophy – the first of MLS history – and sneak into the playoffs. Their skill and experience can do the rest.

That said, assuming that no recovery can be made, that whatever damage is done by the CCL scheduling is insurmountable, isn’t the sacrifice worth it? No MLS team has ever won the CCL. It’s the next step up from the MLS Cup successes, which Toronto already have, and can have again rather easily.

All I’m saying is, if it were as simple as sacrificing MLS Cup hopes in order to secure the CONCACAF Champions League, who wouldn’t take it?

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Obviously it hasn’t come to that and it probably won’t. But Toronto FC have arguably the best chance to mount this pedestal than anyone before.