By Michael Crampton
Let’s be clear: Toronto FC has virtually no hope of making the playoffs in 2012. There was a time in MLS when a (league record) nine straight losses to start the season might not have been an insurmountable obstacle but now, with only about half the league making the playoffs instead of 80%, picking up 0 of your first 27 available points has a way of stunting even the most optimistic projections. After last weekend’s home loss to the surging Houston Dynamo TFC have left themselves in a position where, to even have a chance, they need to win more than half their remaining games and can only afford to lose once. That’s not impossible but it’s damn unlikely and, even then, wouldn’t remotely guarantee a first post-season berth for the club.
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If, however, the illusion, the unrealistic and almost certainly vain ambition, is to continue then a victory Saturday night in Chicago over the host Fire is an absolute necessity. The Fire currently occupy the fifth and final playoff position in MLS’s Eastern Conference standings. Due to the 13 point gap between the teams it’s not fair to call this game “a real six pointer” but, with a further match against the Fire left for later in the season, Toronto still has a chance of closing that chasm to something more reasonable. The Reds can’t control the rest of Chicago’s results, or anyone else’s, but allowing the Fire to extend, or even maintain, that gap would truly start turning the unlikely into the impossible.
From the Fire’s perspective they’re not looking over their shoulder at Toronto. An improving Columbus side, with games in hand, present a far more visible threat to Chicago’s playoff ambitions and that’s a gap that has narrowed considerably. The Fire are a club with justifiable pride in their consistency since joining MLS as an expansion team in 1998 and, for them, two consecutive playoff-less seasons has been a long time in the wilderness. After a bright start upon return from the mid-Spring international break Chicago have cooled off recently and only managed to win one of their last five matches. The need to refresh the squad and push on for the playoffs has seen head coach Frank Klopas make a couple major additions to his roster.
First up was the designated player signing of Dutch forward Sherjill MacDonald. A surprise to just about everyone outside the club, use of a DP spot to sign a relatively unheralded striker from the Belgian league brings to mind Vancouver’s Mustapha Jarju flop of last season. Yet to start, MacDonald made his first appearance last weekend as a substitute in San Jose and should be in contention to see minutes against Toronto. Whether he adapts to the league and justifies the investment the Fire have made in him remains to be seen.
More significant was the trade for Uruguayan midfielder Alvaro Fernandez. It’s actually the second time that Chicago have picked up a designated player from Seattle in a mid-season trade and the hope will be that Fernandez is more successful in leading the Fire into the post-season than Freddie Ljungberg was. A player of undoubted ability Fernandez never seemed to completely click with the Sounders always promising more than he managed to deliver. In acquiring him Chicago will hope that he can be an upgrade in the offensive playmaker role originally assigned to Sebastian Grazzini in the first part of the season.
Grazzini’s fall from favour has lead to Chicago adopting a 4-2-3-1 formation instead of the 4-1-2-1-2 they preferred earlier in the season and, with Fernandez usually more comfortable in a wide rather than central position, it’s likely Frank Klopas will stick with a five man midfield with both Logan Pause and Pavel Pardo providing a stable central base for three more attacking midfielders to push on from. If Paul Mariner decides to play Luis Silva in the central role underneath a lone striker that he’s looked very effective in recently, with Torsten Frings and Terry Dunfield serving as dual holders in the middle, it’s quite possible that both teams could line up in formations that are essentially the same.
For Toronto, the final question is whether this match will see the debut of their own new designated player acquisition Eric Hassli. Still listed as questionable due to the ankle sprain picked up in Chicago in his last game for Vancouver the French forward’s eye for goal could be a difference maker if Paul Mariner is comfortable with his fitness level. Hassli was on the bench but didn’t see the field against Aguila in midweek Champions League play and it’s not clear whether he was simply being protected for this match or not really ready to return. TFC didn’t need his goals in that game but anyone who witnessed their lack of offensive against a solid Houston team will understand supporters’ desire to see Hassli take to the field in Toronto red.