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    Guest
    In part IV of CSN’s TFC season wrap-up we grade the players. The report card is below the jump.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    A
    Danny Koevermans
    It’s a very small sample size, which is why Danny 2.0 doesn’t quite hit the A+ level. However, with nine goals in 11 appearances the importance of the big striker is obvious.
    A-
    Torsten Frings
    It was clear the second he stepped on the pitch that he was a step above any player that has ever played for the Reds. Although language is a factor, his leadership is already clear. Being played out of position at times and forced to do pretty much everything on the pitch caused a few mistakes to pop up from time to time, thus a downgrade to an A- from an A.
    B+
    Julian de Guzman
    His second half performance was in the A grades; his first in the Cs. There were times when de Guzman’s influence was what you might expect from a DP. He needs to continue that in 2012 and if he does there will be a lot less boo-birds.
    Stefan Frei
    Frei may have taken a slight step back in 2011 – or, at least, he didn’t progress. The same strength still there (shot blocking) and the same weakness (distribution) still needs work.
    Milos Kocic
    Probably the biggest surprise of the season, Kocic proved to be an equal to Frei. Both keepers were vital to success – likely too vital...
    B
    Ryan Johnson
    A beast in CCL play, Johnson showed that he might still have some goals left in him.
    B-
    Joao Plata
    This will cause some controversy – although a B- isn’t a bad mark – but as exciting as Plata could be he also had some limitations. He tended to be a bit selfish on the ball and would attack defenders the same way again and again. Still, the flare was clear and he’s still very young.
    Richard Eckersley
    Eckersley is great going forward. Going back is why Burnley isn’t all that interested in keeping him. A good addition, but he should only be brought back at the right price.
    Eric Avila
    We didn’t see quite enough to mark him higher, but Avila is exciting close observers of the club.
    C+
    Nick Soolsma
    It looked like he figured MLS out with about two months left in the season. It might have been just enough to get a second year with the Reds.
    Adrian Cann
    His injury prevents us from ranking him higher.
    Terry Dunfield
    No one can doubt his spirit. Trying to figure out where he fits is more of a question. At this stage of his career, Dunfield is a very good depth player, but a slightly below average starter. If he’s willing to come back in that role (at that salary point) then he will fill an important role as a utility midfielder.
    Ashtone Morgan
    Incredible promise, but the game isn’t fully developed yet.
    Dicoy Williams
    Same as Cann – injury makes it difficult to rank higher, but when healthy looked solid.
    C
    Ty Harden
    Harden really wasn’t TFC’s worst player. He was just exposed a lot and lacks the talent to make up for others mistakes. A scapegoat that can have a useful role – just not as your best centreback.
    Doneil Henry
    To play any time as a 19 year old at centreback is impressive. Henry’s game is incomplete, but his promise is impressive.
    C-
    Mikael Yourassowsky
    A journeyman pro that played like one. Really just a warm body that is replaceable (and likely will be).
    Matt Stinson
    Stinson was likely the least impactful of the three homegrown players, but like the other two his promise outshines his current ability.
    Peri Marosevic
    It was quite a debut, but one game (one touch, really) doesn’t make a season. He’s at a point in his career where he will need to stand up and prove himself in camp next year.
    D+
    Andy Iro
    Slow, stumbling and tactically inept. Iro was a problem. We aren’t giving him a failing grade because there is some truth to idea that midfield mistakes made Iro look even worse.
    Nathan Sturgis
    A Preki player that had the misfortune of being brought in to a team hell-bent on playing a style that didn’t fit his skills. He will likely be moved.
    Danleigh Borman
    He was just kind of there. When an academy kid bumps you from your starting spot the writing is on the wall.
    Gianluca Zavarise
    His injury knocked him out of action for too long to fully evaluate, but he never managed to make himself noticeable.
    D-
    Javier Martina
    He only avoids the F because of the Portland game. This is a player that could be out of options now. It’s highly unlikely that he’ll be back.
    F
    Leandre Griffit
    It’s pretty clear he was a throw in on the Iro deal because Columbus didn’t want him. It’s also pretty clear TFC doesn’t either.
    Eddy Viator
    He was brought in as a desperation move and it wasn’t long before TFC realized they were better off using academy kids. It’s highly unlikely that he’ll be back.
    Incomplete
    Nicholas Lindsay
    Demitrius Omphroy
    Elbekay Bouchiba
    Two missed year with injury and the other played one minute for the senior team as they converted him from fullback to forward.
    Guest
    Bell Media announced this morning that it had secured the FIFA broadcast rights in Canada between 2015 and 2022.
    This deal includes World Cup Russia, World Cup Qatar and the Women's World Cup in Canada.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The package will also include the Women’s World Cup in 2019 along with the FIFA Men's and Women’s U-20 and U-17 World Cups, FIFA Confederations Cup, FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup and FIFA Futsal World Cup.
    Broadcasts will be spread across TSN, TSN2, CTV and the french language channels RDS and RDS2.
    Guest
    Colin Miller was sacked yesterday as an assistant coach of the Vancouver Whitecaps.
    No big surprise, with the ‘Caps having a dreadful debut season in MLS, and a new non-Canadian coach on the way in. But Miller becomes yet another Canadian coach let go by yet another Canadian pro soccer team.
    The more things seem to be changing, the further down the slope we seem to slide.
    The concluding question of this series – where do we go from here? – is tricky. For all the reform that’s been put in place, we don’t really know a lot about the changes that are on the way. And we know even less about who’ll be in charge of implementing them.
    We’re not exactly on hold, but our table is far from ready.
    Fortunately, though, there’s no shortage of decent perspectives out there.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    “Things take time,” says CBC soccer commentator and former Canada captain Jason de Vos.
    “There’s no getting away from that. And not changing because it’s going to take time is no excuse. You have to have a long-term approach. I’ve been asked many times how does Canada qualify for the World Cup? It’s not a quick fix. How do we get better at the international level? It has to be a long-term approach, and that’s a 10- or 20-year project. But it starts with improvements in coaching, improvements in player development, a unification of a player development pathway, so that people who come into the game know the steps required to get to the highest levels – if their child has the ability to play there. We don’t have that right now in Canada.”
    “A parent bringing a player to a club at five or six years old should know there’s a clear pathway, and that we know what needs to be done,” says Alex Chiet, chief technical officer of the Ontario Soccer Association. “And that given the right opportunity, players will progress, rather than there being barriers and blockages along the way. We’ve got to come together, and work together on a solution, rather than working against each other. And that’s what drives what we’re trying to achieve.”
    For decades, in Canada, there has been a fragmented, non-centralized approach. Coaching courses were developed, but the present Canadian A-licence just doesn’t get a lot of respect – from the rest of the soccer world, or from Canada’s most promising coaching prospects.
    The great future hope – at the Canadian Soccer Association level – is “Wellness to World Cup,” a sweeping new plan for long-term player development (LTPD). It’s part of a broad, nationwide effort to unify and improve the development of soccer players and coaches alike.
    “First of all, we’ve got to say that it’s not a program in itself. It’s a philosophy,” notes CSA director of player and coaching development Ray Clark.
    “And what comes with that are the programs that will help to drive that philosophy. It’s not just coach development or player development. It’s also about competition development and league structures. It’s also about facilities, because there are places in Canada where they don’t have enough facilities to be able to run a decent program. In terms of coaching, what we’re looking to do now is promote the fact that it’s player-centred. Whatever we do has to be based on what the players’ needs are. And at different phases of development, we’re going to see they have different needs. And there are windows of opportunity that we need to capitalize on.”
    Unfortunately, the plan still lacks significant depth. The CSA has identified what everyone needs to learn, at each and every age and stage along the way. But the actual LTPD curriculum – along with the identities of the CSA administrators who will ultimately enact it – remains a work in progress.
    The enemy in the past has been fragmentation. Canada’s vast, sprawling network of community soccer clubs have been left largely to fend for themselves, as the CSA drifted – for decades – largely into irrelevance. Reform is set to change all that. But when?
    “You have to empower people who have been in the game for their whole life, who have a wealth of experience coaching the game, and teaching kids how to play, and playing the game themselves,” de Vos insists.
    “Just empower people like that to go and make those changes that are necessary. In my time, back in Canada since I retired as a player, I have met so many, so many knowledgeable, knowledgeable people in the game who are so frustrated, because the changes that they know they need to make – that they want to make desperately – they can’t make because they don’t have the authority to make them.”
    Charlie Cuzzetto, president of the British Columbia Soccer Association, agrees.
    “It’s just a matter of having a person in charge saying what the plan is, and what everyone has to do,” he notes. “Right now, a lot of people have a lot of really good ideas. We need to co-ordinate all that into one structure – our plan for the next number of years. Really, it’s not the provinces that develop players. It’s the clubs and the teams. If we can provide them with a lot of tools and some guidance, I think we’re going to go a long way.”
    “Younger players, maybe they’re stronger, bigger and can kick the ball a mile, and coaches say ‘That’s the player I want, because I want to win some games here,’ he adds. “And he or she is maybe not looking at the more technical player, or the smaller player who maybe isn’t as strong right now and can’t win a game by himself. They miss those players.”
    But in the interim – as always happens when there is a vacuum in leadership – new players have entered the stage. Canada is part of MLS now, and both the Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC have thriving, productive youth soccer academies. The Montreal Impact, joining MLS in 2012, are also taking this path. And private soccer academies are becoming a rising, significant force in Canadian player development.
    And none of them is waiting for the CSA to finish and fine-tune “Wellness to World Cup.”
    “At the moment, at the top end of things, we’ve just got complete fragmentation and disconnection,” the OSA’s Chiet says.
    “There’s TFC, there’s CSL, there’s academies, there’s the provincial program – all these different providers, all basically working in opposition to each other, rather than working together. We have a small percentage of talent, and we really need to come together at the top end as well, to understand what’s best for the player. It may be there’s a first choice, a second choice, a third choice. How we fix it is a big challenge, because of all the different business models in play. But at the end of the day, what’s most important is the player.”
    Back at the CSA, Ray Clark feels Canadian soccer coaches will benefit from all the changes.
    “All we’re saying is, this is how you could do it. This is how you can structure your practice, to the point where we’re giving coaches recipe books, if you like, on a CD where they can actually see all the practices they can run. All the work’s done for them. They just have to literally lay out the field, and let the kids play. And the kids enjoy it. These things have been tried. It’s not as if we’ve just come up with some drills. They’ve actually been tested and tried, and found to be working very well.”
    Entirely new Canadian coaching courses will be rolled out in 2012. It’s an upgrade that is sorely needed.
    “All we’re trying to do is make this game better in our country,” says Frank Yallop of the San Jose Earthquakes, the lone Canadian head coach in a high-profile division-one pro soccer league.
    “It’s not a personal thing; it’s not a power struggle – at all. What’s best for Canadian soccer, and what’s going to drive the program forward? That’s the thing you’ve got to really look at – the big picture. How do we get to the World Cup? You’re competing with the U.S., Honduras, Mexico and all these teams that seem to be better than us right now.”
    We began with fragmentation, and we end with fragmentation.
    The CSA can unify player and coach development all it wants. The pro teams – quite correctly – will set their own standards, and work to their own agendas. Coaching licences can be boosted and reinforced. But pro coaching jobs will continue to be high-turnover revolving doors, and Canadian MLS squads will never be exempt from that.
    And all of these changes – as desperately overdue as they are – will take years and years and years to bear fruit.
    The last word goes to Nick Dasovic, likely Canada’s finest pro-coach-in-waiting. Despite a UEFA A-licence, despite being in the running for a UEFA Pro-licence that would qualify him to coach in the English Premier League, he hasn’t been able to find work since being dismissed as interim head coach of Toronto FC a year ago.
    “If you’re a hockey coach in Canada, in the NHL, you’ve got some past experience and then you go make a few phone calls to Europe, I think you could pretty much get out to Germany or Switzerland pretty easily,” Dasovic notes.
    “Unfortunately, as a Canadian soccer coach, it’s going to be tougher. It’s tough to be a Canadian player and go to Europe, let alone being a coach. There’s possibilities, and you’ve got to be realistic about your starting point being somewhere lower, which means can you sacrifice the family again, can you sacrifice financially to do it?
    “I know a lot of individuals that are like me, but when you have an idea and a dream and a vision, you want to carry it right through to the end, no matter who says you’re not going to do it. Whether it’s you want to prove somebody wrong, or whether it’s you want to live your dream, I don’t think I’m ready to listen to people here who say there’s no chance for Canadian coaches.
    “I want to make it right for myself … and hopefully get out of here.”
    We still, in other words, have an achingly long way to go.
    Onward!
    Also in this series:
    Part I -- How did this happen?
    Part II -- House-league nation
    Part III -- What's in the way?

    Full interviews from this series:
    - Jason de Vos interview
    - Nick Dasovic interview
    - Ray Clark interview
    - Alex Chiet interview
    - Charlie Cuzzetto interview
    - Frank Yallop interview
    - Ron Davidson interview
    Guest
    When reviewing Toronto FC’s season you can spend all day debating the minutiae of what went right and what went wrong – and we did just that in part I and II of CSN’s TFC season wrap-up – but the reality is that there was one major decision the club made that affected everything else.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Namely, it decided to throw the season before it started. Not in a fix-the-games or finish-last-to-get-best-draft-pick sort of way, but rather by giving Aron Winter and his staff a wink-wink acknowledgement that anything positive from 2011 would be a bonus. TFC upper management knew that the plan Winter and Co. were implementing was very, very unlikely to lead to a playoff berth.
    One needed only to listen carefully to the way Winter talked to the media all year. He was clear that it was a multi-year project, that they players he inherited were lacking and that it would take time for him to fully understand what type of players were needed to be successful in MLS.
    Winter is often accused of not saying much – and he does enjoy a good cliché – but he was clear that his was a three year plan and he expected to win the MLS Cup in 2013. Making the playoffs in 2011? Meh.
    It begs a question – did it need to be this way? Could TFC have not started a re-building process without stripping the club down to its core? The Reds were close to an expansion team in the early days of the season and the results showed that. One of the biggest reasons for those struggles is that Toronto didn’t bring in a lot of players that could be called “MLSers” – the grinders and plumbers that form the core of most MLS teams. Instead, TFC focused on finding skilled players that could play a possession based game.
    The approach has rarely been tried and has been successful even less often. On Winter’s initial moves, only Nick Soolsma sorta, kinda panned out. Although Paul Mariner’s magic managed to bring in some players that fit the mould Winter was looking for, but who also were a bit better suited for MLS, it was all a bit hit and miss. Ultimately, the club was essentially re-built in mid-season.
    Although the second half of the season did show promise, TFC fans would be forgiven for wondering why they had to wait until August to start to see results. If it was because Winter needed time to learn the league? If so, then why did
    they wait until January to hire him.
    It would be less frustrating if TFC didn’t have a history of procrastination in building the team in the off-season. Mo Johnston used to wait to April to bring in a fill line-up, so what’s a few more months.
    The idea, of course, is that Winter’s approach will give Toronto a club that is superior club, not just a run of the mill 7th place club.
    Only time will tell. However, what we don’t need time to know is what the plan meant for 2011. It was a disaster. So, the biggest mistake TFC made in 2011 might end up being the most important thing it ever did.
    Or, it might just be a waste of time. We really don’t know which.
    Guest
    Vancouver is already taking steps to wipe away last season.
    Today, the Vancouver Whitecaps announced they had fired assistant coaches Denis Hamlett and Colin Miller. No replacements were named immediately but it has been widely expected that new coach Martin Rennie will be bringing parts of his team with him from Carolina. Assistant Paul Ritchie is one name that continues to surface.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    It's been a wild ride for coaches this season in Vancouver. Teitur Thordarson began the season as bench boss but was fired shortly after when the campaign didn't get off to a good start. Tom Soehn, director of soccer operations, took over in the interim and received an equal amount of criticism for his decisions before Rennie's appointment.
    Miller joined the Whitecaps in 2010 and Hamlett arrived in 2011.
    Where do you think Miller and Hamlett will land?
    Guest
    It’s been five years since MLS started to take baby steps towards allowing member clubs to develop their own talent. It took the better part of four years for the league to fully take off the training rules of its homegrown policy, but as of last November clubs had all signing restrictions removed – technically, 2011 was the first year that a team could have an entire roster of players developed by their academy.
    The homegrown rule isn’t as sexy as the Designated Player rule, but it will have far more affect on the growth of the game in North America and on the balance of power in MLS. As supporters of forced parity like to point out, one big name DP alone does not make a MLS team champions. However, it defies logic to suggest that clubs that are consistently producing pro calibre players through their academy are not going to be at a massive advantage over clubs that stubbornly hold onto the belief that you can develop through the NCAA draft alone.
    One year is a little too small of a sample to draw full conclusions, but you can already see how some teams are more willing to look at homegrowns than others. It will be interesting to keep an eye on the statistics moving forward and to compare them to what the MLS table looks like.
    Below the jump, a breakdown of homegrown minutes played in 2011.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    1- DC United
    Bill Hamid - 2392
    Andy Najar – 2522
    Conor Shanosky – 0
    Ethan White – 1928
    TOTAL - 6842
    2 - Toronto FC
    Oscar Cordon - 144
    Doneil Henry – 503
    Nicholas Lindsay – 0
    Keith Makubuya - 45
    Ashtone Morgan - 903
    Matt Stinson – 675
    TOTAL - 2270
    3 - Vancouver Whitecaps
    Phillippe Davies – 0
    Nizar Khalfan - 1066
    Brian Sylvestre – 0
    Russell Teibert – 503
    TOTAL - 1569
    4 - New York Red Bulls
    Juan Agudelo – 1364
    Matt Kassel – 82
    Sacir Hot - 0
    TOTAL - 1446
    5 - FC Dallas
    Moises Hernandez - 0
    Bryan Levya – 0
    Ruben Luna – 407
    Richard Sanchez – 0
    Jonathan Top – 0
    Victor Ulloa – 9
    TOTAL - 506
    6 - New England Revolution
    Diego Fagundez – 314
    TOTAL - 314
    7 - Philadelphia Union
    Zack Pfeiffer – 136
    TOTAL - 136
    8 - LA Galaxy
    Jack McBean – 90
    TOTAL - 90
    9 - Houston Dynamo
    Francisco Navas Cobo - 0
    Tyler Deric - 0
    Alex Dixon – 84
    Josue Soto – 0
    TOTAL - 84
    10 - Chivas USA
    Tristan Bowen – 60
    Chris Cortez – 0
    Bryan De Fuente – 0
    TOTAL - 60
    11 - Columbus Crew
    Aaron Horton - 1
    TOTAL - 1
    12- Colorado Rapids
    Savy Armstrong - 0
    Josh Janniere - 0
    TOTAL - 0
    12 - Sporting Kansas City
    Kevin Ellis - 0
    Jonathan Kempin – 0
    TOTAL - 0
    12 - Real Salt Lake
    Donny Toia - 0
    Nico Muniz – 0
    TOTAL - 0
    12 - Chicago Fire
    Victor Pineda - 0
    Kellen Gulley – 0
    TOTAL - 0
    16 - Portland Timbers
    No signings
    TOTAL - 0
    16 - Seattle Sounders
    No signings
    TOTAL - 0
    16 - San Jose Earthquakes
    No signings
    TOTAL - 0
    As stated, it’s still early days. Due to the nature of the rule, homegrown players are going to be young. As a general rule, young players are going to struggle to break into the line-up of successful teams. So, some good MLS academy programs – Salt Lake springs to mind – are further down the ranking list this year than they likely will be in future years. Likewise, teams in a re-building phase might be more likely to play kids to give them a look.
    Still, a couple things already jump out. Most notably for readers of this site, the Canadian teams already appear to be heavily relying on the rule. It makes sense. Roster restrictions and the reluctance of some American players to play in Canada makes it imperative that Vancouver, Toronto and, moving forward, Montreal, have a strong development system in place that is graduating players every year. The early returns are good. Most are aware of Vancouver’s long established residency program, but that TFC has already produced a senior international for Canada is impressive. Every indication is that Montreal will not want to be left behind (and the French fact of Quebec might make a strong academy even more important for the Impact than it is for the other two Canadian sides).
    On the American side of things, it’s no surprise that Dallas, New York and DC United are near the top of that list. Those clubs have seen the benefit of building through the academies and are taking advantage of large soccer-loving populations in their catchment areas.
    Although the evidence isn’t as glaring, the LA Galaxy might be concerned that not only has Chivas graduated more homegrown players, but that they have names like De Fuente and Cortez as opposed to McBean. It’s long been thought that the Hispanic population of LA has been criminally overlooked when it comes to mining its soccer talent. Chivas has positioned itself as the club of Hispanic LA (although rebranding as to not offend Pumas, Club America, etc fans might be a good idea) and that could give them an advantage over Mr. Beckham’s club.
    On the other side of the story, it’s telling that clubs like San Jose, Columbus or Colorado are at the bottom. Bluntly, these teams have shown an inclination towards doing things on the cheap. That worked for years when the roster rules were such that parity was all but assured. It seems unlikely that they can continue on the same path.
    Slowly, but surely, MLS is moving itself towards a structure that will reward ambition.
    It’s about time.
    Guest
    Prior to this week, the last time Canada faced off with Colombia following a tie-breaking coin flip, it was at
    , when our men's senior team achieved its greatest modern-day triumph. While a Pan Am Games semifinal isn't exactly the same -- and we actually came out on the losing end of the coin flip this time -- the women's senior side got a similar result Tuesday night in Guadalajara: a pair of goals and an important victory over their South American opponents.The 2-1 win, on goals by second-half substitutes Kaylyn Kyle and Robyn Gayle, sets Canada up to face the powerhouse Brazilians in the gold-medal game on Thursday. Having already drawn the Samba Queens 0-0 earlier in this tournament, Canada can also look back to a four nations tournament in Brazil last December for some inspiration. That, of course, was the venue for one of the finest of Christine Sinclair's 118 goals for her country:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]


    Now, whether she'll be able to pull off some similar magic this time is yet to be seen, especially considering the rigours of the Pan Am schedule... and the fact that she might be suspended due to yellow card accumulation (awaiting confirmation, as of this writing). While Captain Canada looked her usual dominant self against Colombia, the fatigue of the tournament was showing for players on both sides, in the form of sloppy first touches and poor decision-making. But you make professional footballers play four games in eight days, at any level, and things like that will happen. (The gold medal game will be Canada's fifth in 10 days.)
    That's not to say there weren't solid performances in the semi. Candace Chapman showed her customary cool form in the centre of Canada's defence, while Christina "Corky" Julien continued her solid tournament (she's already got two goals to her name) by demonstrating excellent field awareness on both of Canada's goals, executing dummies that led to converted scoring chances.
    Kyle's 20-yard blast, three minutes after entering the game, was a sight to see, as was fullback Gayle's composed finish inside the goal area in the game's waning minutes. With the winner, Gayle joined Amelia Pietrangelo in having opened her scoring account for the national team at this tournament.
    The reffing was intermittently confusing, and of course the Colombians flopped when the opportunity presented itself. The win was hardly convincing, or aesthetically pleasing, and a person sitting on the couch in their pajamas watching the game from thousands of kilometres away could say that Karina LeBlanc might have done better on Colombia's late equalizer.
    For whatever its flaws, though, the victory guarantees Canada a Pan Am medal and, barring some calamitous breakdown against Brazil, ensures that the goals of this tournament -- gaining some momentum and familiarity under new head coach John Herdman -- have already largely been achieved.
    But then, gold is always nicer than silver, isn't it?
    If Sinclair is eligible, maybe she'll pull something new from her bag of tricks... or, as seems to be the trend, perhaps a new goal-scoring hero will emerge for Big Red. We'll find out Thursday at 6 p.m. ET.
    .
    Guest
    Yesterday we took the positive approach to Toronto FC’s season. Today, we go a little more cynical. Below the jump, the five reasons why Reds’ fans may want to jump off the nearest high building.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    1 – The four in the 4-3-3
    It’s been a broken record since day one of the franchise. With the possible exception of parts of 2010 the Reds have been a club where defending is a suggestion, rather than a core component of their make-up.
    So, when Adrian Cann’s knee blew up in training and Dicoy Williams’ knee went kaboom at the Gold Cup a couple weeks later TFC was left to grasp at straws in the centre of the back-line. The straws had names: Andy Iro and Ty Harden mostly. They also had serious holes in their game.
    Allowing a league high 59 goals on the year holes. We’ve beaten the point to death, but it needs to be repeated once more.
    This must be fixed.
    2 – Late game disasters.
    Former head coach Preki may have been a miserable SOB, but he did do one good thing for the Reds. He stopped the 80 plus minute breakdowns that have bedevilled this club since day one.
    Unfortunately, it was a one year fix. The Dutch don’t have a solution for choking apparently.
    Consider if TFC had held onto the 2-0 lead it had against Chicago, and the 1-0 leads it had against both New York and San Jose (both equalizing goals coming after the 85th minute) at home then they finish with a far more respectful 39 points. It still wouldn’t be enough for the playoffs, but it would have meant a playoff race.
    In 2011, considering how low expectations were going in, might have been enough for the average TFC fan.
    3 – Loan uncertainty
    It’s a bit unfair to point to two of the better stories of the year – Richard Eckersley and Joao Plata – and suggest that they are negatives, but the desperate need many TFC fans feel for the club to work out a full-time move to Toronto illustrates how thin the talent is.
    What happens if they can’t get the two back (in Plata’s case that’s unlikely, in Eckersley’s it’s possible)? Then there are two serious holes to fill and a year has been spent using a Band-Aid. In MLs loan players should really be used to fill specific needs on clubs looking to make a deep run towards a championship. Providing core components on rebuilding sides are less desirable.
    Hopefully, both will be back. However, the lack of certainty is a major cause for concern for TFC fans.
    4 – 2-2-5
    If you think the senior team struggled, then you weren’t paying attention to the reserves and its two win season. The second choice Reds didn’t find a single win until the leaves were turning colours on the trees and 15 goals allowed in nine games illustrated that the reserves have some of the same issues that the first team does.
    However, the biggest problem the lack of production from the reserves illustrates is the major depth issue TFC faces. Simply put, the TFC reserves were struggling because many players that should have been getting reserve minutes were forced into first team action.
    Whereas top MLS teams go 17-18 players deep, TFC is lucky to get to 11. Actually, the Reds are probably 2-3 spots short of having top MLS skill at every position and they don’t go two team at any position with the exception of goalkeeper.
    Fixing the depth issue is likely a 2013 goal, but the Reds need to be closer to the pack in 2012 if the playoffs are the target.
    5 – Who are ya?
    At the end of 2007 TFC fans famously invaded the pitch to celebrate the return of top flight soccer to the city. It was a yearlong celebration.
    The party is over. Although there were games when the vibe was briefly back, full houses at BMO are the exception now, not the norm. Even the supporter’s sections were a little less...something in 2011.
    The club’s not going anywhere. It’s highly unlikely that the apathy that is forming amongst some will reach the level of a Dallas or Columbus. However, a little magic needs to return or the club could become an afterthought in this market. Toronto is a big city with big city tastes. TFC was an exception to that rule and it’s never been completely obvious as to why the Reds got a pass.
    But, it is clear that the pass is eroding. Those that battled for the acceptance of this sport for years prior to TFC don’t want to see that. And, they are putting their trust in TFC management to make sure it doesn’t happen.
    In truth 2011 was always going to be a bridge year – a time for the wounds of the Mo Johnston era to heal and to allow TFC fans to regroup. It’s 2012 and beyond that were the focus.
    The free pass year is done. Now, it’s time for the club’s second act to begin.
    Five more years like the last will not be tolerated.
    Tomorrow we look at the biggest mistake TFC made in 2011.
    Guest

    Toronto FC has to get off the GOL

    By Guest, in Some Canadian Guys,

    EMBARGOED - STILL WORKING ON IT
    It's no secret that Aron Winter has a number of priorities this off-season in the hopes of maximizing the club's on-field performance in 2012: sorting out the goalkeeping situation, shoring up the central defence, coming to terms with Joao Plata and Richard Eckersley, improving the squad's depth... you know, that sort of thing.
    Winter's bosses at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment surely have plenty of priorities of their own, on the soccer front and many others. But if they are serious about Toronto FC, if they are serious about growing its fanbase and entrenching it as a legitimate part of the city's sporting landscape, there is one thing they absolutely must do for 2012.
    Toronto FC's front office has to get the majority of the team's games off of specialty pay channel GOL TV, and back onto broadcast television.
    Of the 36 games known at the start of the year (34 MLS matches, plus two Canadian Championship games against FC Edmonton), the broadcaster breakdown was as follows:

    GOL TV: 21
    TSN: 12
    Sportsnet: 2
    TSN2: 1

    Nearly 60% of the team's regularly-scheduled games set to be broadcast on a specialty channel that most viewers don't get -- a channel, of course, that's also owned by MLSE. Prior to 2011, the broadcast schedule was a bit more balanced. In 2010, for instance, 13 of 30 MLS games were on CBC (available to virtually all Canadians), with another 10 on Sportsnet and a mere seven on GOL TV.
    Then, of course, along came TSN.
    No doubt, TSN bring sheen and production value to the table, as well as seemingly unmatched promotional capabilities within the Canadian sporting world (though the folks at Sportsnet seem intent on challenging that, given all of their recent investments). But the six-year broadcast deal between TSN and MLS only compelled them to show 24 games involving TFC and/or the Whitecaps in 2011, a number which will bump to 30 games involving Canadian teams once Montreal joins the fray next year.
    So we're to assume, then, that just 10 of Toronto FC's nearly 40 pre-scheduled games will be on TSN in 2012. What, then, of the remainder?
    It's possible that MLSE's hands are tied, and that the broadcast deal precludes MLS matchups from being shown on the likes of
    Guest
    embargoed till at least wednesday, give long balls some time to breathe (yeah, i wrote that)
    Having parted ways with his hometown Montreal Impact for the fourth time in his long and confusing career last week, 30-year-old Canadian striker Ali Gerba now finds himself in very familiar territory: looking for a new club.
    In that spirit, here's some trivia: Which is greater, the number of "fresh starts" Gerba has had with a pro team, or the number of goals he's scored for Canada? Hint: He's got an impressive national-team strike rate of 15 goals in 31 matches. Surely, he couldn't have switched teams that many ti--oh yes he could.
    After breaking in with the Impact in 2000, he found himself on the roster in Miami, then Pittsburgh, then made his first of three stops in Toronto (his first of two with the Lynx, followed by a brief stint with TFC), before eventually heading overseas to clubs in Sweden (two of 'em), Norway, Denmark, Germany and England.
    So, where the hell is he going to end up next?
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    In all, he has 75 goals in 225 appearances for all of those clubs, a reasonable goal-per-three-games strike rate -- but his average length of tenure on each occasion is a mere 15 appearances. It's said once is chance, twice is coincidence, three times is a pattern... so what's 14 times? Why do clubs keep giving up on the guy so quickly?
    One obvious theory would be fitness, which is a diplomatic way of saying he's a tank. That issue was raised during his tenure at Toronto FC, though as he told The Score's Kristian Jack soon after his departure, back-room issues may also have made his tenure at BMO Field less than ideal. Surely Gerba wasn't the only player whose relationship with Mo Johnston and his underlings was troublesome, but when you consider how often Big Gerbs has bounced around, you begin to wonder if he was part of the problem in this case.
    It wasn't that long ago when it seemed Gerba would be the one to topple Dale Mitchell's all-time record of 19 goals for Canada. He has a booming shot and an obvious nose for the net when motivated (as evidenced by his torrid scoring pace upon his most recent arrival in Montreal in 2010). But now a resurgent Dwayne DeRosario is regularly bulging the ol' onion bag for club and country and looks poised to become Canada's first 20-goal man, while Ali G is testing the waters of free agency yet again (they seem chilly).
    So the question goes to you, Canadian footie fans: What's next for Ali Gerba? Do Vancouver, Edmonton or even Toronto take a look? Does he find traction in MLS or the NASL? Does he find a club in Europe willing to take a flyer on him? Any clubs in his native Cameroon looking for a big target man, maybe?
    Share your thoughts below. First one to get it right wins.. uhh.. bragging rights, I suppose.
    .
    Guest
    Long Balls would be bald-face lying if we said we remembered exactly where we were the moment David Edgar uncorked an impressive long-range shot to score against Manchester United in the English Premier League on January 1, 2007. (On the floor most likely.) Sure, it was deflected, and yes, Edgar was only 19 at the time and owed the start to Nicky Butt's pregame injury, but that goal acted as a catalyst for a tiny generation of Canadian football fans, spurring as it did the belief this country was on the verge of celebrating a bona fide European star.
    As it turns out, we weren't. Scoring on his home debut with Newcastle remains the pinnacle in David Edgar's European career. From there began a slow downward spiral that he is only may just be recovering from.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Edgar stuck with Newcastle for three seasons, making only 18 first-team appearances in the Premier League. In the summer of 2009 he joined Burnley on a four-year deal and has remained in the English second-division since, bouncing on loan spells between that club and Swansea City without ever nailing down a regular first-team spot at either. He even had an official transfer between the clubs scuttled at the last minute due to some misfiled paperwork.
    But Edgar's start for Burnley against Coventry City on Saturday represented his 10th appearance out of 12 Championship matches played so far. He has now almost twice as many minutes this year (853 give or take a few) as in any one of his last four seasons.
    The now 24-year-old defender has earned praise from local press and fan bloggers this year, along with some recent criticism. Strong performances have given way to some mistake-filled outings. As Tony Scholes writes in the Clarets Mad match report from the Coventry match: "Poor David Edgar came close to gifting [Coventry] four opportunities in the opening ten minutes, but it wasn't just him to be fair."
    The crucial difference this season, at least so far, is that manager Eddie Howe keeps picking him.
    Is Edgar headed back to the Premier League any time soon? Unlikely, especially considering Burnley currently sit six points out of a promotion playoff spot. But it's not completely outside the realm of possibility. It's certainly more within the realm of possibility now that he's playing on a regular basis. Or who knows? Perhaps Edgar would enjoy playing regularly as a Canadian in the MLS for a Canadian MLS team. He could certainly earn a respectable wage doing so, while establishing himself as a fixture on the national team in time for a 2018 World Cup qualifying run.
    Yes, the national team. He's played all of the last three games in Canada's current qualifying run, two at centreback and one in the problematic right back position. Some supporters see him as a solution there, others see him as the future backbone of Canada's defence, which makes sense considering he's played most of his career at centreback.
    But the only thing that matters is where national team manager Stephen Hart sees him. For now Edgar must compete with Kevin McKenna, Dejan Jakovic, Andre Hainault and Adam Straith for the two spots in central defence. The longer he plays week-in-week-out with Burnley, the better his chances.
    Other notes:
    Rumbling big-man striker Olivier Occean returned to the scoresheet after pausing from his roaring start to the 2.Bundesliga season with Greuther Fürth. After scoring five goals in his first seven appearances he went scoreless for his next four until potting his sixth of the season in a 2-0 win against Energie Cottbus on Saturday.
    Engerie Cottbus you say? Yes, the home of 20-year-old Canadian defender Adam Straith. Young Straith played 1860 minutes for Energie in the 09/10 season and then only 490 in all of last year. He's already at almost half last season's total with five appearances for Energie this year. Stephen Hart leaned heavily on Straith for the national team's 2010 friendlies then basically stopped calling him until the most recent matches against St. Lucia and Puerto Rico.
    Randy Edwini-Bonsu was awarded Finnish second division club AC Oulu Player of the Year. His one and only national team cap came during the infamous friendly against Jamaica on January 31, 2010 in a Canada side that also featured Carlos Rivas, Tyler Hemming, Massih Wassey, Antonio Ribeiro, Eddy Sidra, David Monsalve and Nana Attakora.
    Guest

    Let the links begin

    By Guest, in It's Called Football,

    Toronto FC has already been linked to an off season signing - Bermudian international Reggie Lambe.
    The midfielder, who could bring another element to the wing and has been out of contract since being released by Ipswich Town, reportedly spent a week training with Toronto prior to the most recent World Cup qualifiers.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    This was reported today, which is largely built off this report from three days ago and both cite Bermuda Hogges owner, Paul Scope, as their main source.
    "I think the MLS would suit Reggie’s style of play and Paul Mariner is keen for the move to go ahead. He has also expressed interest in other Bermuda players," Scope said.
    Mariner, according to the reports, is a friend of the Hogges' owner and the two have forged links with the club.
    Given that this is a single source, largely dependent on one man's word and no alternative confirmation, but that Lambe has trained with Toronto and Scope has previous links to MLS - he helped facilitate the arrival of Khano Smith to New England - we'll call this a 7/10 on the likely scale.
    But take it for what it's worth - one of many of the off-season transfer rumours to come.
    What do you think? Believe the reports? Think Lambe's style would fit well in Toronto? How many off-season moves do you expect Toronto to make?
    Guest
    It’s easy to be negative about Toronto FC. A 6 win, 15 draw and 13 loss regular season and MLS record fifth straight season without playoffs will do that. However, to only dwell on the bad would be disingenuous. There were moments of joy and reasons to be positive about the Reds in 2011. In part I of CSN’s season wrap-up we look at five reasons to smile as Toronto heads into its sixth off-season.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    1 - 8-2-2
    Yes, the MLS record was bleak, but it was a different story in cup competition. There, the Reds were a positively spectacular 8-2-2, winning their third straight Voyageurs Cup and advancing to the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals for the first time in club history.
    Both of those accomplishments deserve to be celebrated. The final game of the Canadian championship was a special day for the supporters and one that was quite unexpected at the time. Remember how poorly Toronto had been playing in the run up to the game and recall that this was a makeshift line-up featuring many players that would either be gone or reduced to bit parts by season’s end. Yet, the Reds managed to fight back from a goal down, see a legitimate goal taken away, and somehow capture the cup (Maicon Santos’ late equalizer in Vancouver in the first leg should also not be ignored – it was every bit as important to the Cup win as was the game at BMO).
    Winning the Voyageurs Cup was the first bit of life TFC showed in 2011. And it set up the bigger story that would follow.
    You should not dismiss the difficulty of getting results in Latin America. Everything is against you – the climate, the travel, the fans and, often, the referees. Yet, TFC managed to fight through those challenges (dealing with adversity never having been Toronto’s M.O. in prior years) to win two vital road games in Central America. A gutsy draw at home against a very good Pumas club combined with a pedestrian, but effective, three points at home against Tauro set up a winner take all game against Dallas in the last week of the season.
    It was the type of game Toronto rarely plays in and, when they do, never wins.
    The Reds won comprehensively. In doing so they gave fans something very rare indeed – hope.
    2 - Milos Kocic
    It’s long been assumed that Stefan Frei would be moving on eventually and when he did TFC would find itself with a major goalkeeping problem.
    But, that was before Another Save for Milos...
    It was a shaky start. Kocic was the goat late against Real Esteli, when his mistake gifted the visitors a goal late in the first leg of the CCL preliminary round. However, after Aron Winter showed confidence in the young keeper for the second leg, he repaid that trust by leading the club to a win in difficult surroundings.
    Winter essentially handed the CCL to Kocic and he made the most of it. Eventually, when Frei took a knock Kocic took over the No 1 role with the club, a job he kept even when Frei was healthy at year’s end.
    Suddenly, TFC has the benefit of keeping riches. Even if Frei moves on they are confident in Kocic’s skills and there is evidence that he will only get better. That give TFC the advantage of knowing that they have an asset in Frei that can be moved if it makes sense, or can be kept around with the idea that the competition for No 1 will make both players better.
    3 – The TFC academy
    The contributions of Matt Stinson and Doneil Henry were significant. Add the biggest breakout of all -- Ashtone Morgan – and you have three regular contributors from a relatively young academy program.
    The contributions justify the $20-million investment MLSE is making in the academy and is example A, B and C for why fans aren’t totally foolish for thinking better times are ahead for this club. Simply put, if the academy continues to produce at the rate it is the Reds will have a leg up on clubs like New England, Columbus and others that have invested a fraction of what TFC has in the academy.
    However, it goes beyond the long term. All three players (and we shouldn’t forget Nicholas Lindsay, who missed the year with injury) look to play bigger roles in 2012. For TFC fans that care about the amount of Canadians playing for TFC, that’s something to be really positive about.
    4 – Danny 2.0
    Since 2007, Toronto has lacked two key parts to any successful football club – a marquee striker and a glue centreback. If the second half performance of Danny Koevermans is any indication you can cross marquee striker off that list.
    With nine goals in just 11 appearances, Koevermans was on an absurd pace (28 goals over a 34 game season, which would break the MLS single season record). No one expects him to go a whole season at that rate (at least they probably shouldn’t), but the pace gives every indication that Koevermans should be able to at least continue on the same scoring rate he did at PSV. Using his numbers from Holland, you can expect a 13-15 goal year from the Dutchman in 2012, which would put him in the Golden Boot race.
    If he does that, the playoffs aren’t that big of a reach.
    5 – 8-8-4
    That would be Toronto’s record in all competitions from July 27th (the start of the Champions League) through to the end of the year. To talk about Toronto’s season without acknowledging that the club only lost four games in the last three months of the season (and only two in league play) is unfair.
    It’s also missing more than half the story. Understand that the two league losses both came off of CCL games and were on three days (against Chicago) and four days (Chivas USA) rest.
    It’s likely that many observers of the team will miss or dismiss the late season form when handicapping the team.
    That would be a mistake.
    From March to mid-July Toronto was one of the worst MLS teams of all-time. Since then, not so much.
    So, don’t try and tell us it was all negative. It was some negative though and we’ll have more on that tomorrow in part II of the CSN season wrap-up.
    Guest
    Today, in a short shortened show, we'll continue our look back on the year for Toronto and Vancouver, assess what Dwayne DeRosario winning the Golden Boot means for the league and discuss Steve Nicol's departure from New England.
    Be sure to join us on Friday for a full hour of live extra time It's Called Football. If you haven't joined us for extra time ICF it's where we take questions from the chat, talk about some of the things we wouldn't normally on the regular show and broach topics that, frankly, we wouldn't want written down anywhere.
    This show is not recorded so if you want to see what gets said you'll have to tune in. The show kicks off at 2pm ET.
    Today's archived show is now up.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
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    Guest

    The Road to London (via Vancouver)

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    The draw for the women's 2012 Olympic qualifyers was held today. The groups are as follows:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Group A
    Canada
    Costa Rica
    Cuba
    Haiti
    Group B
    USA
    Mexico
    Guatemala
    Dominican Republic
    The draw doesn't really change the bottom line for Canada -- beat (very, very likely) Mexico in a one-off game to go to London. Although the women's depth in CONCACAF is getting better, it's really still just a three team fight for the two spots.
    The tournament takes place in Vancouver Jan. 19-29, 2012.
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