SoccerToronto FC needs rapid improvement

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In last week's blog I urged the team to merely do the basics well. The players responded, not to my advocacy I'm sure - more in reaction to their own shortcomings the previous week. They owed their coach and their fans a performance and in Seattle they obliged.

There was energy, enthusiasm, solidity, belief and sheer hard work. There was not, ironically, a goal to accompany all the positives. They should have won it by halftime, yet nearly lost it by fulltime. To add insult to injury, results elsewhere did TFC no favours, leaving Chris Cummins' team with a steeper hill to climb in pursuit of the playoffs.

That hill will get even steeper, literally and metaphorically, when the team plays in the altitude of Colorado on Saturday night. The Rapids boast a formidable home record in 2009 and, similar to Toronto FC, are battling tooth and nail for a wildcard berth in the post-season.

Crucial series against Rapids

The two teams will become familiar adversaries over the next 10 days. The home-and-home series moves to BMO Field on Sept. 12 so there is a clear opportunity for one to effectively knock the other out of the playoff race over the course of the next two games. Back to back wins for either side would make the other's task all but impossible.

Both teams are running short of must-win home games. Colorado and Toronto each have three remaining on their regular season schedules and neither needs reminding, from fans or coaching staff, of their relative importance.

Similar to Seattle, the weekend expedition to Denver is not a game Toronto FC has to win - but it is one they dare not lose. There's no point crying over the split milk of spurned chances at Qwest Field; that they were created with some regularity is a sign of progress in itself.

Clearly, three points would have been better than one but the fact TFC held Seattle maintains the status quo, and bear in mind Seattle have not only played a game more but will also miss playmaker Freddie Ljungberg to suspension for their tussle at DC United next week.

Reasons to be hopeful

Two more elements give cause for optimism.

Toronto has shown us, and itself, it can compete on the road. The missing ingredient has been that little matter of consistency, either over a season, or over the course of 90 minutes. To leave Seattle disappointed with a share of the spoils, rather than another no-show, should be the rule rather than the exception for the remaining road games.

Secondly, the hill may be a little less arduous this week since the Rapids are missing their top scorer. Conor Casey (remember his 58 uneventful minutes in a TFC jersey?) is apparently something of a late bloomer. He clearly enjoys the comforts of plying his trade in his hometown and is becoming more effective with every passing year.

The 28-year-old is leading the race for the MLS Golden Boot but won't be adding to that tally against Toronto FC. He's on World Cup duty, as is TFC's Amado Guevara but the Honduran, who has the ability to make something out of nothing, has made little out of anything in recent weeks.

Colorado's English coach Gary Smith will also have to make do without his midfield general Pablo Mastroeni due to suspension. The absence of his experience could be a key factor in deciding which team wins the midfield battle, for which Carl Robinson will likely return, fresh from suspension, in place of Guevara.

Emerging Gambians

The recent emergence of Gambian imports Emmanuel Gomez and Amadou Sanyang also gives Cummins something every coach craves: competition for places. Both are raw teenagers but have seized their respective opportunities to hand their boss the rare luxury of a selection headache. They are young, hungry and competitive and both now have a jersey to lose, which should keep everyone on their toes.

Right now Toronto FC is where it's always been - on the outside looking in but I'm still prepared to believe the story of 2009 is not yet complete. It is essential the team shows the same enterprising, hard-working spirit it demonstrated in Seattle for every single remaining minute of the season.

When all is said and done soccer's just another job and, like any other job, you generally get out what you put in. As Alanis would say, who would have thought it figures?

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