Toronto FC: Postseason isn’t beyond them, is it?
Toronto FC dropped further points on Saturday in a 3-2 loss to the New England Revolution. Greg Vanney’s side couldn’t miss out on the postseason, could they?
The 2017 iteration of Toronto FC might be the best team in MLS history. They were dominant throughout the whole season and cantered the MLS Cup with relative ease.
It was already presumed that they would be favourites again this year. And then they proceded to improve in the offseason, adding the likes of Gregory van der Wiel and Ager Aketxe to an already extremely deep and varied squad. Their favouritism only increased.
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But their early-season form was concerning, though understandable.
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With their attentions very much geared towards the CONCACAF Champions League, Greg Vanney decided to rotate through his squad for domestic games. It made sense. It was a choice that almost every other manager would make. But it did come at the cost of their MLS form.
That said, their CCL campaign is now finished. Their focus has turned back to MLS. In theory, the results should pick up and their place in the table should improve. But that has not quite been the case.
In fact, after Saturday night’s 3-2 loss to the New England Revolution, they find themselves in 10th position in the Eastern Conference, just one place off the bottom and above only the lowly D.C. United. They have just seven points from nine games, three of which came on the opening weekend against the Columbus Crew.
And this latest loss was the starkest and most concerning of them all. Toronto were 2-0 down after just seven minutes, both goals were scored by Cristian Penilla and produced by the stifling pressure that Brad Friedel’s system impresses. They also came through some extremely loose and lapse play by Toronto.
Michael Bradley looked extremely lethargic and ponderous, both in his giving the ball away and his recovering of his possession, Alex Bono put his teammates in trouble with a wayward dribble and pass, and the Revolution established their stranglehold on TFC without too much trouble. It was a painfully passive and uninspired performance by TFC, even though they scored two second-half goals to at least feign the potential of a comeback.
This loss now begs a very simple question: Could the postseason be beyond Toronto FC? Even during their poor run of form earlier in the year, this is not a question that many even considered. It was assumed that they would recover their position when the starting XI was fielded in MLS. But now, nearly a month after the CCL final loss, they are still yet to find their groove.
And now that Sebastian Giovinco will miss time thanks to his stupid red card after he was running back to the halfway line in celebration of his penalty-kick goal to at least breathe some life into the Toronto fightback, with the myriad of injuries that is already plaguing Vanney’s squad, it is possible that Toronto could lose more games in the coming weeks. Their next two fixtures are Orlando City and FC Dallas, both teams that are vying for playoff berths. They are far from easy outs.
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And so, I ask the question again: Could Toronto FC actually miss out on the postseason? It’s still too early to doubt their ability to haul their way back into contention, but the worries are rising, and justifiably so. There is much work to be done.