Aron Winter has been doing more shuffling these days than your average blackjack dealer at Casino Niagara, but unlike those tuxedoed purveyors of false hope, the Toronto FC coach is the one whose hand is being forced.
Injuries have hit the club hard, taking an already hugely underwhelming side and gutting it to the core. Now they travel to one of the toughest places to place in Major League Soccer, looking for something -- anything -- positive to bring back home ahead of a double-dip versus Vancouver next week.
The good news? Well, that's two-fold.
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Firstly, Real Salt Lake may be hit just as hard as TFC right now, with injuries and lack of form affecting what was just a couple of months ago the consensus best team in the league. Secondly, (and this is largely a result of the previous point), RSL's vaunted home advantage has faultered as of late, with the Utah side going 1-1-1 at the Rio Tinto Stadium in their past three MLS matches.
RSL's list of ailing players may just be more devastating than Toronto's when considering how good Salt Lake were beforesuccumbing to the injury bug. Javier Morales and Fabian Espindola, RSL's dynamic attacking duo, both look to miss the match (Morales is definitely out with a nasty ankle injury, while Espindola was forced to leave RSL's midweek match at Chicago after just seven minutes), while returning Gold Cup participant Alvaro Saborio is in a huge funk and doesn't figure to be of much help up top.
Other RSLers bitten by the injury bug include El Salvador international Arturo Alvarez, defender Chris Wingert, and striker Paulo, Jr. -- all players that can contribute in big ways to the well-oiled machine that Jason Kreis has built.
On the TFC side, the absences of Jacob Peterson, Julian de Guzman, Tony Tchani, Adrian Cann, Dicoy Williams, Nana Attakora and (sometimes) Alan Gordon have led to a number of changes in Toronto's roster over the past few weeks, including the use of former doghouse residents (Nathan Sturgis) and the blooding of a few youngsters, perhaps a little too early for Winter's taste.
To their credit, the guys who have stepped in have done a fair job, most notably Doneil Henry who has done yeoman's work as a substitute centre back despite being a rail-thin 18-year-old. That said, a "fair job" is not what the Reds need right now, given that -- despite how awful Toronto have been -- they are still only six points out of the final playoff spot thanks to residing in a truly mediocre Eastern Conference.
The old sports adage is that you're never truly out of the race until you're actually out, meaning that until TFC are mathematically eliminated from contention, they need to continue on as if they are still in it. That's how a team grows and learns how to face adversity, so this injury spell -- while likely very damaging to Toronto's actual playoff prospects this year, as minimal as they are -- may actually be a good thing for the Reds in the long run as the kids and lesser lights figure out how to function under the pressure of expectation.
With all of that in mind, TFC actually seem to play better on the road than at home, and despite RSL's recent woes they are still a very good opponent playing in a very tough environment. For Toronto to get anything out of the match, we'll need to see more of the positive play from youngsters like Henry and Oscar Cordon, while also getting the most out of a resurgent Sturgis.
They'll still have problems scoring goals until big changes are made up top, and that seems to be Winter and co.'s biggest priority, so hoping for an out-of-left-field win seems a big far-fetched. Truth be told, I really only see this match unfolding in one of two ways: a hard-fought, low-scoring draw; or a lopsided goal-fest for the Utahans.
Let's hope for the former.
Real Salt Lake v. Toronto FC
Saturday, June 25, 2011. 9:00pm EDT.
Rio Tinto Stadium. Sandy, UT.
Watch: GolTV Canada, MLS MatchDay Live
Listen: FAN590.com
Rudi Schuller occasionally contributes Toronto FC and Canadian national team content to the 24th Minute. He manages the Euro File here at Canadian Soccer News, and is MLSsoccer.com's beat writer for all things concerning Canada's men's national teams. Follow Rudi on Twitter, @RudiSchuller.