By: Michael Crampton
More than any other side, the fate of the 2012 Columbus Crew truly represents what a remarkable season it has been in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference this year. Even with one game left to play against Toronto FC, the Crew’s season is essentially over: a rollercoaster away loss to DC United last weekend means that they will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2007. For Crew supporters that will surely be a disappointment but even the most uncharitable Red would be forced to concede that the Crew have not had what would conventionally be considered a poor season.
With a draw or win against Toronto, Columbus will finish the season with at least 50 points. In any other year that would probably see them fighting for a spot in the quarterfinals rather than watching from home. In fact, the Crew have already surpassed their points total from 2011 and their 14 wins are three more than Toronto FC has amassed in the last two seasons combined! If you accept the premise that the objective of every MLS team is to make the playoffs and compete for an MLS Cup championship and that anything less is a failure none of that may matter but it’s a level of “failure” that Toronto supporters would likely be jealous of.
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So, while Toronto limps into the final game of the season just looking to lower the curtain on a horrible league campaign the Crew will be left wondering what could have been. The summer recruitment of Argentine designated player Frederico Higuain sparked a four game winning streak that closed the gap on the playoff positions but uneven form at the beginning of the season and the breakneck pace of the East’s playoff teams left too much ground to be made up.
Where the Crew have not failed to pick up points is in their games against Toronto FC. The Reds did manage to end their all time winless run against Columbus with a 4-2 victory at Crew Stadium towards the end of the 2011 season but in two meetings so far in 2012 the Crew have taken maximum points in both. Even though it wouldn’t be enough to make the playoffs the Crew can actually become the fourth team, along with Chicago, Kansas City, and DC, to take 9 points off of TFC in 2012. It’s an embarrassing statistic and highlights just how far Toronto has to go to make up ground on the better teams in their conference.
With no league positions on the line and not even the dubious honour of the Trillium Cup still to be decided one would expect that the thoughts of both teams’ management will have already turned to 2013. Sadly, for both teams, injuries will prevent a number of players from having any opportunity to earn minutes at the end of the season. Dedicated Toronto fans have become intimately familiar with the MLS Injury Report over the course of 2012 and can now add Darren O’Dea to the list of expensive injured Reds but young academy graduates many supporters had hoped to see have also been hampered by injury for much of the season. While Doneil Henry made his return against Santos Laguna in Champions League action in midweek, Keith Makubuya is listed as Out with an ankle sprain and Matt Stinson as Questionable as he continues to deal with a quadriceps strain that has essentially seen him kept out of action since summer.
On the other hand, it may be hard to believe, but as long as Toronto’s injury list has stretched, Columbus’ currently lists more players including notable names like Chad Marshall, Will Hesmer, and Danny O’Rourke. Injuries have not defined the Crew’s season in the way they have for Toronto but Columbus head coach Robert Warzycha will not have all the options he usually would. Whether the Crew have a young starlet of their own waiting to make his debut and turn heads now that the pressure of needing results has eased remains to be seen.
In the end, it’s time to close the book on 2012 for both teams. For the fans of both it’s time to move on. It may be a cliché but it’s also true: there is always next year.