What’s wrong with Toronto FC?
It’s the million-dollar question that everyone has the answer for.
Fire Winter. He’s the cause.
Ty Harden too. He’s a bum.
While you’re at it, get rid of Julian DeGuzman – his salary is too high, drop Joao Plata, his height is too low and get a new ownership, because MLSE is only out for itself.
They’re the reasons you hear each week, after every mounting loss, but the reality is, they only scratch the surface and if you’re only offering up simple solutions, you’re not looking for answers.
Here are three things to consider:
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Torsten Frings’ return will save the defence
It certainly won’t hurt but it’s far from a bullseye. As Daniel Squizzato illustrated last week, Toronto has been rotating through a small cast of thousands when it has come to their centrebacks. Consistency simply hasn't been in the conversation as Toronto has tried pairing after pairing and then discarded them as quickly as they have reserve trialists. Eventually the pairing du jour turns into the whipping boy of the week and the next couple is ushered in.
So much of what makes a player successful at that position is communication and familiarity - how they can expect to track the opposition when they're spending all their time tracking their partner? Toronto got a taste of that consistency when Adrian Cann and Nana Attakora were partnered. Most will agree that neither are exactly MLS All-Stars but what they did do well was keep things simple and intuit the hell out of the other's movements. To date it was Toronto's best year for goals allowed.
On the flip side, take the 2012 side. Five games in, Logan Emory, Ty Harden, Adrian Cann, Doneil Henry and Miguel Aceval have all already had a chance at organizing the final four. None - repeat none, have shown a sole ability to do so. And it's never more obvious that they're not on the same page as when they're trying to defend set pieces and the game of 'You got em? I got em. I thought you had 'em?' ensues. Even Adrian's return Saturday - which showed promise of at least some solidity - shouldn't be held up too quickly as a solution. What should however, is the decision to pick a pair and stick with them. This idea of rotating players in and out each game - depending on their opponent or current form of last week's whipping boy - isn't working. There isn't enough skill at this level - or among the current crop - to drop players in and out of the lineup like that.
If not, it won't matter when Frings returns because he'll be charged with the same problems he faced towards the end of last year - covering up problems for players who don't know one another.
The goals will come once their luck turns
Blaming anything on luck is always dangerous. As much as I believe that the football gods govern our game, I equally believe that any team that spends time talking about luck, has lost the plot. Luck had nothing to do with Ryan Johnston's goal being saved off the line against Chivas - it was timely defending. Luck didn't have anything to do with Dan Kennedy's wondrous save on Danny Koevermans either - it was good positioning on Kennedy's part (and perhaps rushed decision making on Koevermans' to take it with his left instead of letting it come across his body.)
If you're going to blame anything, perhaps look to their refusal to do anything but work the ball down to the corner and whip it into the box. As good as Ashtone Morgan is getting at making those overlapping runs, it matters little if he isn't connecting with anyone's head. The one real chance in the air came late from Eric Avila, who sent a direct line towards the net, which Johnson did well to control as the momentum was carrying it away from his body.
Outside of those futile attempts, the few chances they've had to score this year have come on two fronts. The first is route one, which no one wants to see and moreover, Winter won't let them play. Of which, it should be mentioned though, that they have created the most opportunities against San Jose, Columbus and Chivas by playing that straight ahead game. The other is when they've managed to maintain possession in the final third, work the ball around a little and then make a piercing run in behind the defensive line.
Neither has been particularly successful, as evidenced by two measly goals in five games, but in four of those five league games Toronto has bettered their opponents in attempts on goal. If they've been outscored 10-2 over that same stretch, it might lend itself to the idea that is it time to look at how they're getting those attempts.
4-3-3 doesn't work in MLS
The thinking goes: that in a physical league, which depends much more on athleticism than it does skill, a formation like 4-3-3, asks too much of its players and simply doesn't work within that framework. And while that is true to a point (tactical awareness is a necessity and it's not something all MLS players possess) there is still plenty of evidence to suggest it can and does work. Sporting Kansas City (currently atop the Eastern standings) and Real Salt Lake (currently atop the Western Standings) have been playing a 4-3-3 (which resembles 4-2-3-1, or 4-1-2-1-2 at times) all year long. They move the ball forward well, varying their attack and defend well, limiting their exposure on the counter.
So, perhaps the problem isn't as much in the formation as it is in who is being sent out to deploy it - or perhaps who is deploying it. That was on full display for Toronto last game.
Aron Winter's decision to use Reggie Lambe and Joao Plata in the way he did is baffling. Either Lambe was playing woefully out of position all game or Winter sent them out there to play a 4-2-4. And if you look at where Plata (typically a left forward) and Lambe (typically a right midfielder) had most of their possession, that's exactly what he did.
I don't know about you, but playing a 4-2-4 - either by design or uncorrected positioning - with a backline as fragile as it is, with Terry Dunfield as the only holding midifielder and with a team which has been so demonstrably vulnerable to counterattack, is, in my books, akin to throwing up Hail Mary from the first play forward.
The addition of Eric Avila would bring some shape back to the squad later on - and probably can be directly linked to their resurgence late in the game - but it was too little too late. Aside from the first 15 minutes of the first half and the last 15 of the second, Chivas' five midfielders were left to run wild over Dunfield and the rookie Luis Silva. The very fact that it took until the 71st minute before Winter made a tactical change to shift their fortunes is now the head on some very pointed questions.
Is Aron Winter tactically experienced enough to be a head coach?
His last coaching job was as head coach of the Ajax Young Boys. A great pedigree no doubt, but is there evidence to show that it has translated into the skills needed to be head coach of a professional side? There is some debate to be had there.
Do Aron Winter's expectations match an MLS reality?
If the decision to play Lambe the way he did is any indication, he may have higher expectations, responsibilities and roles envisioned for his team, than the players at this level are presently capable of delivering.
Is Aron Winter a good judge of talent?
It's hard to know because the club isn't about to put a 'Aron Winter' or 'Paul Mariner' tag on any of the signings. But collectively, given the number of players that have come and gone in such a short time - coupled with the finding of a few gems - the consensus, is at best, muddled.
Muddled. It's an apt term for Toronto FC of late. And while many will continue to look for that 'aha!' moment - one that solves the world's problems in one full swoop - the reality is there are more questions to Toronto's problems, than answers.
It's time we started asking them.