CBC-Sports

Would the real Toronto FC please stand up?

April 6, 2009 03:35 PM | Posted by   Nigel Reed  

It might have been Sesame Street - it was certainly a children’s educational program. In all honesty I can’t remember - but I certainly recall the illusion.

The camera would focus in on a tiny part of a picture and slowly pull out to reveal the object as a whole while the host would encourage eager young minds. “Can you tell what it is yet?” he would ask as my siblings and I shouted at the television with our best guesses.

Once the studio camera was fully withdrawn, the entity became obvious to all. What began with an artist’s single stroke had turned into an elephant, an airplane or a tree. True, it was cheap television, but the trick had us captivated on a weekly basis, and the child who first correctly identified the mystery object collected much in-demand bragging rights until the next episode.

Sub-par outing

The idea, of course, was designed to confuse but also to stimulate the imagination. Right now I’m confused again and trying to use my imagination about Toronto FC.

Let’s not pull any punches about the weekend’s woefully sub-par performance against Seattle - coach John Carver didn’t and nor will I. The gale-force gusts could have made the game a lottery yet one team handled the conditions - the other did not. Despite all the hype and expectation, the home opener fell flat on its face.

Toronto was able to field its strongest 11 against an expansion team whose explosive young striker hadn’t even made the trip and whose Designated Player had played barely half an hour of competitive soccer in nine months. Clearly, quality not quantity is an important commodity to Freddie Ljungberg, who not only scored a classy opener but went on to run the show for the visitors.

The home team huffed and puffed but worryingly produced few clear cut chances to beat Kasey Keller at the other end. Of more concern is that we’ve seen this team before - often in 2007 and from time to time in 2008 - plenty of effort but no end product.

But hold on a moment, and this is where confusion sets in. Were Toronto FC just beaten by the best ‘expansion’ team since Chicago in 1998? If Sigi’s Sounders really are that good then it’s no disgrace to lose to a superior team. After all, Seattle is boasting a perfect 3-0 record and has yet to concede a single goal in Major League Soccer.

Didn’t Toronto come home after earning four points from their first two road games? It was surely a big improvement on what had gone before, or was that merely an illusion too? Did the Reds win at Kansas City simply because the Wizards are a poor team by MLS standards, and did Carver’s team get out of jail in Columbus because the Crew are clearly not the champions they were under Schmid’s leadership?

Too early to judge

The truth is - like the slowly expanding camera angle in the children’s show all those years ago - we don’t yet have a clear picture.

We do know Toronto FC is better equipped to make a push this year. Dwayne De Rosario is a genuine star in this league as is Amado Guevara but, in my opinion, the jury is still out on Pablo Vitti. I accept the young Argentine needs time to adapt but he knows his loan move from Independiente effectively means he’s on a game-by-game trial in North America. He’s been hired to score goals - along with Barrett, Dichio and others. So should we be concerned that none of the ‘forwards’ have found the net in the first three games or have faith they’ll come good as the season evolves?

More questions without answers which probably won’t become apparent for many months.

I have one more question in closing. As the returning Reds took the field against Seattle, the players cannot have failed to notice a large banner held aloft at the south end of BMO Field. It had a simple message: “Welcome Home Boys”.

Will the banner be displayed again with such pride and vigour when FC Dallas come calling on Saturday?

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