By Mike Crampton
A pair of back to back away games in Kansas City and Houston, only four days apart, was always going to be one of the tougher little stretches on Toronto FC’s schedule in 2012. After a coaching change, a shambolic opening twenty minutes in Kansas City during which the Reds looked completely at sea and could have conceded four or five goals, and now the arrest and overnight incarceration of three players Wednesday night’s game in Houston feels more like a looming apocalypse than an opportunity to pick up three points.
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Realistically, the likelihood of TFC getting any positive result off the Dynamo is very, very low. Last year’s Eastern Conference Champions and MLS Cup Finalists have not quite hit that level of form again yet (and may not be capable of it) but Houston, always tough to play at home and now riding the energy and crowd enthusiasm of opening a new stadium, have posted a 3W-1D-0L home record since playing their first game at BBVA Compass Stadium on May 12th.
When you consider that the Reds have only scored a measly 8 goals from their first 11 league games while the Dynamo have only conceded twice in their first four home games it should be obvious that even finding a goal would be a minor victory for Toronto. If that could be tied to a solid defensive performance against the low scoring Dynamo it’s not impossible that TFC could earn a draw, or even an unlikely victory, it’s just that circumstance, form, and Toronto’s season makes that seem so improbable.
If you are looking for positive omens it might be worth acknowledging that Houston’s only non-win at home this season, a 0-0 draw where they just couldn’t find a goal, came in mid-week after a short rest to the struggling Portland Timbers. Toronto, on the other hand, has a great deal of experience this season at handling the short turnaround involved in a mid-week fixture. Interestingly, for all the times they’ve played on three days’ rest already this will actually be the Reds first mid-week league game of the season. As the joke goes, Toronto FC might only have one win in the league this year but that’s entirely on Saturdays; on Wednesdays the Reds have three wins, four draws, and only one loss!
Tactically all the interest will be in observing how TFC’s new head coach Paul Mariner proceeds in his move to reorganize the team in a 4-4-2 formation. After a week of build-up emphasizing the need for the Reds to be harder to play against Toronto came out totally flat on Saturday against the high tempo attack of Sporting Kansas City. Mariner’s second half change to a diamond shaped alignment in midfield, along with the insertion of Julian De Guzman and the now absent Luis Silva, seemed to stabilize the side and allow them to better keep hold of the ball even if it couldn’t produce a goal to get TFC back in the game.
Dominic Kinnear’s Dyanamo are a solidly 4-4-2 side themselves who will present a different set of challenges than Sporting did. Houston take less risks, don’t often look to push the pace of the game like SKC, and have a greater emphasis on ball winning midfielders. In the normally sweltering heat and humidity of a southern Texas summer evening the Dynamo are a side that prefer to grind out victories rather than emphasize flair and panache.
Unfortunately for Mariner his tactical options will be more limited than usual Wednesday night due to Silva, Nick Soolsma, and Miguel Aceval’s widely commented on but unfortunate legal difficulties Monday morning. Add to that (only recently returned) centre back Adrian Cann’s unavailability due to what is listed as a knee sprain and Mariner will have very few opportunities to rotate from the side who played most of the minutes in Kansas City. Whether he moves regular fullback Richard Eckersley into centre back in Cann’s absence as happened Saturday night or returns the much maligned Ty Harden to the line-up for the first time since April is another interesting question.
It might be unreasonable to expect much from Toronto FC. On the road, with a short bench, against a decent opponent with good home form it might even be a little unfair. At some point however the Reds must start competing. Paul Mariner has only been in charge for one game and already a fan base that had written off a season seem ready to write off his leadership. Mariner won’t be fired if Toronto loses again Wednesday night but if he wants to start convincing skeptical supporters that he is in fact the right man to set another new direction for TFC he’ll have to point to measurable improvement and do it soon enough to head off another brewing summer of outrage and contempt.