By Mike Crampton
Toronto FC’s 2013 preseason continues Saturday night with a road game in Foxborough, Massachusetts versus the New England Revolution. It will be the second meeting of the sides in the past three weeks as the pair played to a 2-2 draw back on June 23rd at BMO Field in Paul Mariner’s first home game in charge of TFC. Since then, New England’s general improvement and solidification of their position as Eastern Conference playoff contenders has continued with a draw against Seattle and a win over the New York Red Bulls. In fact, since being knocked out of the US Open Cup via penalties in a bizarre game versus the Harrisburg City Islanders of the USL Pro and aided by late game heroics against Toronto and Seattle, New England have quietly gone on a five game unbeaten run during a healthy stretch of predominately home matches.
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The Rev’s schedule leading into this game stands in marked comparison to Toronto’s. Since they met in late June, in the same time that New England has played a mere two home games, TFC has played away games in Montreal, Dallas, and Philadelphia along with a couple home games of their own. Reds’ supporters might not be in the mood to hear excuses but the reality is that Toronto has faced the toughest schedule in the league since Paul Mariner took over. Two wins, four draws, and two losses might not seem like an electric pace over a not insignificant stretch of the season but, in another year, it’s the sort of return that would keep a decent MLS team in the playoff discussion during a difficult stretch of their schedule before targeting maximum points during a home stand like New England are enjoying.
Of course, it practically goes without saying that, for Reds’ fans, the major storyline of the evening will be seeing how the team responds in the first game of the post-Julian De Guzman era. Trading the team’s much embattled original Designated Player to Dallas has launched a wave of hopeful speculation over what the club will do with that now open DP spot this summer but, for the evening, it simply leaves Mariner short a more than serviceable midfield option. De Guzman’s participation during Mariner’s time in charge had been more occasional than consistent – it’s quite possible Mariner had already decided to prepare the team for his departure – but with him now absent permanently it seems unlikely Mariner will opt for the 4-3-1-2 or diamond 4-4-2 with three defensive midfielders he occasionally switched to. A flat 4-4-2 was torn to shreds by Philadelphia in TFC’s last road game and in the opening exchanges of the team’s previous road loss in Kansas City but, with the limited tactical options Mariner currently enjoys, seems almost certain to be seen again in New England.
Another point worth noting about Saturday’s game is that it will also represent Paul Mariner’s first return to New England on the sidelines for a different MLS club. Mariner’s reputation as a coach in North America was made during his time with the Revolution as then head coach Steve Nicol’s right hand man. The Revs were one of the most consistently successful MLS teams of the period and, while too often the focus is on their four MLS Cup final defeats, a record of six consecutive runs to the Eastern Conference Final between 2002 and 2007 tells the story of just how regular their participation in the later stages of those MLS seasons really was.
It’s sometimes easy for Toronto supporters, mired in the angst of six losing seasons, to lose sight of the massive changes that have occurred in MLS since the club first began play in 2007. In some sense, a visit to Foxborough should serve as a reminder of where the league was then compared to where it is now. During TFC’s first season a match played in a cavernous NFL stadium in front of rows of empty seats and apathetic fans was a regular occurrence; now, it’s an anomaly. The rapid pace of MLS’s growth and maturation is easy to miss if you’re narrowly focused on the soap opera in Toronto and it’s not unfair to suggest that the league many fans wanted (or demanded!) in 2007 is increasingly here today. That’s a positive and, independent of the struggles of Toronto FC, something that should be appreciated by fans of the game in North America.