Does anyone connected with Toronto FC even care about Saturday's match in Philadelphia?
Judging from the club's own official website, all the focus is on next week's huge encounter with FC Dallas in the CONCACAF Champions League. At the time of writing, nearly every story or link on torontofc.ca is associated with the do-or-die trip to Texas on Tuesday, with only the "Next 3 Matches" widget at the top right corner of the page even giving a hint to the fact that there's an MLS game to be played this weekend.
Even the "standings" box -- which since the beginning of the season displayed TFC's place in MLS' Eastern Conference -- has been overcome with CCL fever, instead showing Toronto's positioning in the absurdly tight Group C of the regional club championship.
You can't blame the Reds' front office for looking past the Philly encounter. It means absolutely zilch to TFC, given that they've been out of the playoff picture since long before their "official" elimination on October 1st. The CCL is the only thing left to play for, so why not hype it up, right?
Still, the old cliché is that the show must go on, and despite the utter meaninglessness of the match from a Toronto perspective, the MLS match in Pennsylvania will indeed be played.
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While the club's website and social media people are clearly looking ahead to "TFC's biggest game ever" -- don't forget to book your table at RealSports for the viewing party! -- one has to wonder if Aron Winter feels the same way.
Anyone who has paid attention to the Reds this year has noticed that Winter isn't one to place a specific game above another; in fact, his oft-repeated M.O. is to regard each and every match with equal importance. It's not just lip service -- just take a look back at the lineups during September's brutal game-every-three-days stretch and it becomes clear that no single game during that glut of matches was approached with heightened importance.
Largely the same group of players stuck it out for all of those fixtures, with only minor adjustments made to account for injuries or suspensions (or roster ineligibilities). It drove some observers nuts, yet the technical staff brushed it off as necessary due to a lack of depth.
Now, with a two-week break and only three games left in the season, perhaps the ultimate test of Winter's "every game is important" motto is upon us. The fact is, out of the three matches remaining on Toronto's schedule, one does stand out above the rest. Way, way above.
Yet there is still the issue of the Union on Saturday. The match deserves respect as it will help determine not only Philly's playoff position, but perhaps the seeding of two or three other clubs.
Also, the park's said to be sold out, and those 19,000 or so fans expect a professional performance not only by their own team, but by the opposition. It's perhaps the most unique conundrum TFC's rookie coaching staff will have had to face this year: trying to find a way to respect a league fixture while at the same time keeping Toronto primed for the much bigger affair just three days later.
Perhaps the worst thing that TFC could do is throw all the scrubs out there. Not that I think Winter would ever do that, but given the obvious desire by his employers to finally win a non-Voyageurs Cup game of consequence next week, you can bet that the thought will cross his mind at some point.
But given that the Reds are coming off a long break, with the inevitable rust that accompanies such layoffs, we should probably expect many, if not all, of the regulars to get at least a run out at PPL Park.
Joao Plata will need minutes to get his sharpness back after a long injury spell. Stefan Frei -- if he is intended to play against Dallas -- will have to get some time in goal after watching Milos Kocic start the lion's share of games for the past several weeks. Ryan Johnson and Danny Koevermans could benefit from some more opportunities to fill the net and gain more confidence.
And so on.
In fact, the only TFC player who could stand not to feature in Saturday's match is Julian de Guzman, as he has logged a ridiculous amount of minutes for both club and country over the past two months and could benefit from a week off. But I wouldn't even expect that to happen, as Winter will likely want to get De Guzman back in sync with his club mates and probably give him at least 45 minutes.
Usually, these late season "we're already eliminated from playoff contention but need to run out the string" matches would be played for nothing else but pride and the ability to spoil another team's fortunes. But for this year's TFC, the focus for those 90 minutes in Philadelphia should be on regaining sharpness and making sure no one gets hurt.
Let's hope Aron Winter feels the same way.
Philadelphia Union vs. Toronto FC
Saturday, October 15, 2011. 4:00pm EDT.
PPL Park. Chester, PA.
Watch: TSN
Listen: Sportsnet 590: The Fan, FAN590.com
Rudi Schuller contributes Toronto FC and Canadian national team content to the 24th Minute. He is MLSsoccer.com's beat writer for all things concerning Canada's men's national teams, and has contributed to Goal.com and other soccer media. Follow Rudi on Twitter, @RudiSchuller.