TFC's Garcia not watching out of town scoreboard
'All we can do is control our own destiny,' says veteran defender
Last Updated: Friday, September 4, 2009 | 1:49 PM ET
By John F. Molinaro, CBC Sports
Toronto FC defender Nick Garcia says his team must focus on its remaining games, and forget all about the fortunes of its fellow playoff hopefuls.
(Associated Press/Neal C. Lauron)Last Saturday morning Toronto FC was sitting in a tie for seventh place in the Major League Soccer standings, good enough to secure one of the last two post-season berths up for grabs.
By Sunday night, the Canadian club found itself all alone in 11th place with 31 points, three spots out of a playoff position.
Toronto valiantly battled to a 0-0 draw on the road against the Seattle Sounders last Saturday afternoon, a pretty good result for a team that has struggled away from home this season.
But wins by New England, Real Salt Lake and Colorado Rapids (33 points) and D.C. United (32) later that same weekend saw the Reds knocked down a few rungs on the playoff ladder.
Toronto finds itself in a tough position, needing to pick up points in the majority of its seven remaining games this season in order to make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. The club will also need luck on its side and hopes the aforementioned teams, plus Chivas USA (33 points), falter down the season stretch.
But Toronto defender Nick Garcia maintains that Toronto has to focus on its games, and forget all about the fortunes of its fellow playoff hopefuls.
Garcia doesn't watch the out of town scoreboard. "Honestly, I don't," he said.
"Probably over my last few years in the league I've done less of that because I could care less what L.A. or Chicago or somebody else is doing. All we can do is control our own destiny."
Garcia, a veteran of 10 MLS seasons, has been in this position before, with his team battling for a playoff spot late in the campaign.
“It’s a little nerve-racking at times, because you're obviously aware of where you stand and where the other teams stand,” said the Toronto defender.
"All I can do is give advice, and keep guys looking ahead to the next game and prepare like we would for any other game."
Setting the bar high
After suffering an embarrassing 2-0 loss to Chivas in L.A. two weeks ago, Toronto rebounded with a solid effort in Seattle, dictating the pace of the game and running the Sounders ragged on their home field.
There's still plenty of room for improvement, though.
"I thought we did fairly well, but at the same time we haven't put together two or three good games in a row, whether it's on the road or at home or a combination of the two. For us now, it's a matter of setting the bar [high] and getting back up there," Garcia said.
Toronto could have easily walked away with three points in Seattle, as the Reds had a handful of scoring opportunities in the first half that they didn’t put away.
A lot of those chances were the result of defensive pressure, and midfielder Sam Cronin believes employing a similar tactic in Saturday night’s road game against Colorado will bring positive results.
"If you look at our chances [against Seattle], a lot of times they came off of us winning the ball and making one or two passes in front of the net," said the rookie.
"We did a good job [of] making it difficult on them and forcing them to play in areas of the field that they weren’t comfortable in. We won the ball in good spots and we’ll be looking to do the same this weekend."
If that game plan is to work against the Rapids, everybody, even the forwards and attacking midfielders, will have to chip in and defend, and not leave it to the back four to do by themselves.
"That’s the key. If you can get all 11 guys starting up top defending from the front we’ll have good chances coming our way," Cronin said.
