The annual should-we-play-a-B-side-in-the-Voyageurs-Cup debate is well underway in Toronto FC circles. There is little need to rehash the same points that get made every year as people’s positions are well entrenched.
Those that love the competition love it like no other. There is a (very small) sub-set of TFC fans that believe that the Amway Canadian Championship (Note: I will always give the sponsor one reference because Canadian soccer needs more corporate sponsors and getting our knickers in a knot over corporate branding doesn’t really help with that) and CONCACAF Champions League are more important than league play.
There is another (far less vocal) sub-set of fans that mostly vote with their feet. The least attended games in TFC history have been attached to these competitions. That suggests that most fans are focused on league play.
Certainly, you don’t hear many people talking about how TFC is a four-time Canadian champion. You do hear a lot of people pointing out that they have failed to make the playoffs for six straight years.
Regardless, as stated, this debate and our position on what the club should do is mostly meaningless. The club isn’t going to be influenced by the gnashing of teeth on blogs and discussion boards (hopefully, anyway).
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That doesn’t mean that we can’t speculate of what they will do by looking at past history. Ryan Nelsen, of course, has no history as a manager so we’ll need to look at Kevin Payne’s history with cups.
It’s mixed in recent years. DC United went to the US Open Cup final in 2009 and the semi-final in 2010, but hasn’t gone deep since. In terms of line-ups used, it’s common in the early rounds of the USOC for MLS teams to use a heavy rotation system (which is a polite way to say teams dress their scrubs). They typically only take the competition seriously in the semi-finals.
The culture of the USOC in MLS circles is much different than the ACC is in Canadian circles. Outside of a couple select clubs (Seattle, really), the competition is not given much of a priority.
In Canada there is a bigger focus. The reason for that is likely that it offers the only Canadian professional competition, whereas the American teams see MLS as being the American championship. The USOC is just a diversion for the soccer geeks to get excited about.
However, that doesn’t mean Canadian teams prioritize the V-Cup over the league. The only people that do that are the tiny sub-set of Voyageur Cup truthers mentioned above.
All of this is a roundabout way of saying that you should expect both teams to dress a mixed line-up, with kids (especially Canadian kids) getting a good look and veterans getting a day off.
In other words, a sensible line-up.
The biggest questions with TFC will be whether Robert Earnshaw gets the day off (probably), if Stefan Frei gets a start (hopefully) and if we will see Henry in for O’Dea on the back-line (maybe).
There is little doubt that Kyle Bekker will probably get a look, as he should.
Prediction
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What line-up do you think Toronto will field?