The “worst team in the world” yet champions of Canada, four times in a row. If anything encapsulates the confusion of Toronto FC, maybe Canadian football in general, it has to be trying to wrap your head around that.
In fact, they’ve been so bad in the league in recent years it’s easy to ignore that the Reds have not actually lost a game in the Canadian Championship since June 2nd, 2009. Further, they’ve never lost a Voyageur’s Cup match to the Montreal Impact; not even when they failed to win the modern tournament in its inaugural year. Keep in mind that Montreal is the only other club to lift the trophy in its 11 year history.
Yes, the first two championships were contested exclusively against then lower division sides. Yes, the tournament has never had more than four teams since it became the Canadian Championship and TFC began participating. Yes, the undefeated streak only stands at 13 games overall.
But is there another club in global football that can literally claim to have not been defeated in their national championship in nearly four years?[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Ever since 2011 fans in Vancouver, Montreal, Edmonton, and the rest of the country (and, in truth, some in Toronto as well) have been earnestly waiting for TFC to relinquish their hold on the title of champions. On more than one occasion that’s looked likely, if not nearly certain, to happen but four championship flags now flutter at midfield over BMO Field’s East Stand. It’s an achievement that Toronto FC and the club’s fans can be justifiable proud of.
Wednesday evening it starts all over again with the visit of Montreal for the first of three scheduled 401/20 Derbies to be played in Toronto in 2013.
For the first time there will be a kiwi tinge to the maple syrup as Ryan Nelsen takes his first turn at directing Toronto through the tournament. As usual, the question ahead of the first match will be how he approaches it.
Certainly Toronto FC wants to win the tournament but how much they’re willing to risk in attempting to do so is a reasonable question and, force once, supporters would be well advised to be lenient. The cup commitments mean that the Reds are facing a dense portion of their schedule while injury problems, particularly at fullback, have become increasingly acute.
An important league game against the New York Red Bulls looms on the weekend ahead of trips to the mountains of Colorado and then the west coast to face the San Jose Earthquakes. Relative happiness from a seven point start could start to evaporate quickly if an overtaxed squad falls into a losing skid in the league and, after years of not even being in the playoff conversation, TFC can ill afford to fall too far behind the pack before the first days of summer arrive. Playing all of the first team in two or four more midweek games would probably only make that more likely.
In a perfect world Nelsen could employ the infamous Arsene Wenger strategy of using the cup as a testing ground for younger players and fringe first teamers while still managing to achieve success. Fans have complained about the lack of depth on MLS squads for years but if you’re not prepared to give players 20 through 30 opportunities to show themselves in competitive matches then simply adding more players to the roster is next to useless.
It’s worth mentioning again that Bruce Arena successfully used his entire LA Galaxy squad in the group stage of last season’s CONCACAF Champions League, against weaker opposition admittedly, while setting his team up for their eventual playoff run. The result has been greater confidence and an encouraging development of young players like Jose Villareal, Jack McBean, and Michael Stephens who are now playing greater roles in the Galaxy’s 2013 season.
That said, substituting Luis Silva and Robbie Earnshaw in the home draw to Houston might suggest that Nelsen has already been planning to rely heavily on his main men in the cup even if a few are rotated out of the game earlier than usual each match. It wouldn’t be a bad decision either as it would allow less regular players first team minutes but in a team context more reflective of what they’d be likely to encounter in a league game.
For their part the Impact are no longer the unblemished side Toronto faced in Montreal back in March after a loss in Kansas City and home draw to Columbus in their last two matches. Fortunately for them the schedule makers of MLS were generous and gave them a weekend off ahead of this match so they’ll be entering with a possibly significant rest and preparation advantage.
Still, with a strong start in the bag already the suspicion must be that the league is their first priority in 2013 and reports from their camp seem to indicate that Montreal will be using an at least partially rotated line-up themselves.
In the end this is still a game that is Toronto versus Montreal and that has meaning beyond where it fits in the season. Fans on both sides will not want to see their team eliminated by the other and will expect their players to compete vigorously regardless of who fills out each starting 11. While not decisive Wednesday night could still be great entertainment and an intriguing glimpse into the future of both teams.