And so we return to begin again.
Toronto FC are set to launch their 2014 Major League Soccer campaign on the west coast of the United States in Seattle, with a game against the Sounders. After an off-season transformation unlike any in the club’s short history – arguably in the league’s – Reds supporters have reason to be excited, but cautious as well.
The last time TFC visited Seattle, also for a season opener, the mood around the team was exuberant after eliminating the Los Angeles Galaxy from the Concacaf Champions League and advancing to the semifinals. Toronto lost that game in Seattle, captain Torsten Frings went down with an injury, and they didn’t end up winning a league game until May 26th.
As omens go, it’s not exactly encouraging.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Exactly what to expect from the newest version of Toronto FC is extremely difficult to gauge. For all the credit they earned by, for once, completing their major off-season signings early, the Reds still managed to have a seemingly largely ineffectual pre-season.
Jermain Defoe only joined up with the club earlier this week and has not started a match, competitive or otherwise, in the calendar year of 2014. Gilberto arrived carrying an injury and it’s been reported that he has not travelled to Seattle. Combined with the injury to Bright Dike, that might keep him out for the entire season, TFC’s striking corps looks decidedly unready to start the season. It’s likely that Defoe will start, if only because the only other options are Andrew Wiedeman and Dwayne De Rosario.
Meanwhile, at the back, the Reds have, like up front, added players, but never had the opportunity to get them on the field together. Pre-season ended with an emergency attempt to try Jeremy Hall back at his old position of right back. While that proved thankfully temporary, and is unlikely to be repeated, new signing Bradley Orr has yet to see the field beside Steven Caldwell or the team’s other new expected starter (at left back) Justin Morrow.
Fortunately for Toronto, Michael Bradley has shrugged off the minor injury that saw him held out of the United States’ game against the Ukraine and should get the start in central midfield. With Matias Laba now a Vancouver Whitecap exactly who will partner the American star is probably Ryan Nelsen’s biggest question. Most fans seem hopeful that Nelsen will be adventurous, and hand 2013 standout Jonathon Osorio the opportunity to establish himself there, but historically Nelsen’s conservative approach lent itself more towards a second holder. That could mean that either Jeremy Hall or Jackson, especially if Osorio plays as a true attacking midfielder in some variation of a one forward formation.
After five straight playoff appearances, and three U.S. Open Cup victories, the perception is that Seattle head coach Sigi Schmid is under pressure. All those trips to the playoffs have only amounted to one Conference Final appearance and, to add insult to injury, the Sounders were embarrassed by their archrivals the Portland Timbers in last year’s Western Conference Semifinal.
In 2013 the Sounders started slow, became the hottest team in MLS during much of the summer, but absolutely collapsed down the stretch and fell from Supporter’s Shield contenders to fringe playoff qualifiers. It was hard to escape the conclusion that the much heralded addition of U.S. international Clint Dempsey disrupted what Schmid had succeeded in creating. Dempsey arrived injured, never really found fitness or form, and the Sounders never seemed to find a way to fit him into their system.
Now Dempsey has returned from a mostly unsuccessful loan at a former club Fulham of the English Premier League and missed all of the Sounders preseason. He was even left on the bench to start the Sounders season opener against Sporting Kansas City. Granted, the Sounders ultimately won that match after Dempsey’s header off the bar in stoppage time created chaos in the SKC penalty area before being hooked home by TFC old-boy Chad Barrett, but Dempsey’s contribution up to that point could best be described as patchy.
What should see the Sounders through to a sixth consecutive playoff appearance, however, is the veteran MLS strength they’ve added around their squad. While striker Eddie Johnson has left, the Sounders have added former Defender-of-the-Year Chad Marshall in the heart of their defence, Marco Pappa out wide, and long-time Red Stefan Frei in goal. Added to an existing spine of Obafemi Martins, Brad Evans, and Ossie Alonso the Sounders should have no trouble staying competitive, even a tough Western Conference, even if the scale of Dempsey’s contribution never matches his pay cheque.
The game from CenturyLink Field is once again a national broadcast in the United States and clearly the league hoped to highlight the visit of Jermain Defoe and Michael Bradley to one of the league’s most atmospheric venues for a game against “Clint Dempsey’s Seattle Sounders.” Unfortunately, it may have just come too early in the new TFC’s life-cycle to create the spectacle they expected.