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    Guest

    The problem with Americans

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    On It’s Called Football yesterday I made reference to the “Reluctant American” and how the existence of such a player puts the Canadian MLS teams at a handicap.
    As a reminder, the Reluctant American is a mid-level American player that is resistant to playing for a Canadian team. They often have legitimate concerns about playing in Canada (hard for spouse to get work, subtle differences in culture, etc), or they may just feel that they chose to play in MLS so they could stay in their home country – you might as well go to Scandinavia and make more money if playing in MLS isn’t even going to let you stay close to home. Regardless of the reasons, the phenomenon is real and it’s a problem for Canadian teams to overcome.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The reason it’s a problem is that for all the headlines big name DPs bring, the skeleton of any good MLS side is the domestic players getting paid in that $80,000 to $150,000 range. In a salary cap league, you need those type of players to perform. The reason Americans are preferable to fill those mid-range roles is because they are accustomed to the quirks of North American soccer – insane travel, insane weather, insanely bad refereeing and insane disparity in talent on a typical roster.
    You can bring South American or European talent in, but you often have to overpay it. So, it’s a bit pointless to sign non-domestics for your grunt roles. Those type of signings are best saved for true impact players – in MLS you need to use your international signings to supplement a roster, push it over the top.
    Although the domestic rules have loosened considerably for the Canadian teams since TFC entered the league in 2007, the Canadian clubs are still restricted in how many Yanks they can carry. That’s compounded by the fact that many that might be interested in playing for an American team are either going to demand more money to play in Canada, or refuse outright.
    The result is that there have been far fewer Americans on TFC and Vancouver than on the American teams. Far fewer, not a few fewer. Is that the only reason TFC and Vancouver have struggled? No, of course not. However, it would be foolhardy to ignore the possibility that it’s a significant factor.
    The numbers:
    Toronto FC (roster stats based on players under contract at end of season)
    2011 – 6 Americans out of 33 roster sports
    2010 – 8/26
    2009 – 6/21
    2008 – 7/28
    2007 – 10/32
    Total 37/140 - 26.4% Americans
    Vancouver
    2011 - 13/30 – 43.3% Americans
    Combined total
    50/170 -29.4% Americans
    As a comparison, the MLS Cup champions since 2007
    2010 – Colorado – 19/30 -- 63.3% Americans
    2009 – RSL – 15/25 – 60% Americans
    2008 – Columbus - 15/23 – 65.2% Americans
    2007 - Houston – 20/25 – 80% - Americans
    What’s the lesson here for the Canadian teams? It’s hard to say because their hands are tied a bit, but it does speak to a need spend more resources looking to find relatively cheap talent from the NCAA or lower pro levels in the US. Due to the Reluctant American, the Canadian teams might need to spend twice the resources of other MLS sides – there are, of course, Excited Americans as well, but you have to hunt them down.
    It also speaks to the need for the Canadian teams to develop their own talent through their academy system. The best way to solve the problem of Americans not wanting to play in Canada is to find equally as good Canadians to replace them. However, there aren’t enough Canucks out there to do that – yet.
    Guest

    De Jong suffers knee injury

    By Guest, in It's Called Football,

    According to FC Augsburg website, their left back and Canadian international Marcel de Jong suffered a medial collateral ligament (MCL) tear to his left knee, in a game against Borussia Dortumund over the weekend.
    De Jong left the game in the 23rd minute and did not return.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    FC Augsburg gave no timeline for his recovery, but a typical MCL injury will take between 4-8 weeks to rehabilitate.
    De Jong, who was not called for Canada during this round of World Cup qualifying, had been expected to factor off and on with the squad during their march to Brazil in 2014. This injury will now all but rule him out of competition for Canada during this stage of qualifying.
    Guest

    UPDATE : Nelson Rivas, DP or no DP?

    By Guest, in Le12eJoueur,

    It seems that there has been a little bit of confusion over the Rivas DP situation. Let me clarify a few things.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]French sports channel RDS leaked the rumour last night that Nelson Rivas would be the first MLS signing for Montreal, and that he would come in as a designated player.
    However, in today's press conference, sporting director Nick De Santis confirmed that Nelson Rivas would be joining the club, but not as a DP.
    De Santis said : "We were very creative in our negociations with Nelson, and he does not qualify as a DP."
    I think that sums it all. Back to training camp now....
    Guest
    Today, on a shortened show, we talk about the throngs that lined up to worship at the alter of Thierry Henry (even after he abused draw Toronto for the draw), talk about how Toronto's bunkering style has cost them this season and talk about the factors that made both Toronto and Vancouver fall flat in their first season.
    We'll also look at Montreal's first signing, the idea of building a team from the back out and how attaching a DP label eventually ends up hurting a player.
    The archived show is now up.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    <embed src="http://itscalledfootball.podhoster.com/FlowPlayerLight.swf?config={embedded:true,videoFile:%27http://itscalledfootball.podhoster.com/download/2540/26273/oct32011final.mp3%27,initialScale:%27scale%27,controlBarBackgroundColor:%270x778899%27,autoBuffering:false,loop:false,autoPlay:false}" width="400" height="25" scale="fit" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>
    Follow us on Twitter for updates on guests this week.
    Guest
    Most TFC fans will remember the giant photo of section 113 that hung in the Eaton Centre promoting the start of the 2008 season. Full of passion and drama (with, controversially, a hint of pyro) it epitomised the TFC experience.
    If you forgot what that feels like, here you go:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    I propose that the first photo be hung prior to the start of 2012. They say a picture is worth a 1,000 words. What's above is worth 10,000,000. Those faces, many of whom were in the famous shot from 2007, perfectly show just what this club has done to us.
    Supporting TFC hurts. Bad. All the time. Yet, we keep coming back. It's staggering, really.
    One of the few things that might be keeping TFC fans sane is the understanding that you might be able to take that photo in Vancouver now. At least the Reds had a hell of a party for a couple of years. The hangover came late, the regrets tempered by the knowledge that you had more fun than those that weren't there.
    So, instead of Analysing a late game equalizing goal in a game that didn't matter (really), let's look at a more pressing issue.
    Which of Toronto FC or Vancouver had the worst launch?
    On one hand, TFC went almost two months without scoring a single goal, but on the other the Whitecaps came very close to breaking the all-time winless streak record.
    TFC had a lot of CSL quality players on that roster, but the Whitecaps have a worst pro-rated record, even with a year to bring players in at the D2 level.
    Toronto had Mo, Vancouver has Tommy.
    Vancouver appeared to go to war with tier supporter's groups, Toronto let their supporter's groups pretty much do what they wanted.
    Although Vancouver has drawn well, they haven't sold out every game -- Toronto did for the better part of three years.
    Then again, the Leafs were/are terrible and the Canucks went to the Stanley Cup final -- if T.O. was distracted by a Stanley Cup run (stop laughing!) during TFC's launch who knows how it would have played out.
    Putting all bias aside, to me the 'Caps have been worse than TFC in 2007. The deciding factor is that the Caps had a great deal more advantages than TFC did -- Barely any Canadian quota, a year to build in D2 -- and still managed to have a worst record than TFC did in 2007.
    But, I'm prepared to be convinced otherwise. Tell me in the comments, which club was worse -- '07 Reds, or '11 Caps?
    [h=1]Photo: Christine Gittings[/h]
    Guest
    We're ready for the next step in CSN's probe into the current, past and future state of soccer coaching in Canada.
    Enough interviews have been done to launch a magazine-style piece of journalism. So why not?
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Throughout October, one big story -- cut into a few smaller parts -- will cull together all the insights we have received, painting a larger, clearer picture of a still-pretty-complicated tale.
    Stay tuned. More very soon.
    Onward!
    Also in this series:
    - Jason deVos interview
    - Nick Dasovic interview
    - Ray Clark interview
    - Alex Chiet interview
    - Charlie Cuzzetto interview
    - Frank Yallop interview
    - Ron Davidson interview
    - Rafael Carbajal's vision
    - Some preliminaries
    - Canadian coaching: a new CSN investigation
    Guest
    According to Réseau des Sports and ex-Impact player Patrick Leduc, Colombian defender Nelson Rivas will be unveiled tomorrow as the club's very first MLS and designated player.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Rivas has played for a few high-profile clubs such as Inter Milan, River Plate and Deportivo Cali. However, he has been struggling to play regularly in the past 4 years, accumulating 42 games since 2007. He has played a total of 16 games for Inter before being sent on loan at Livorno and Ukrainian club FC Dnipro. He was finally released by the Italian club on August 31st and was very close to signing with Greek club PAOK.
    Rivas, 28, has also played for River Plate and Deportivo Cali.
    The Impact will confirm the signature of Nelson Rivas as its first designated player tomorrow afternoon.
    Guest
    There is a certain complacency that sets into a team's psyche when they grow accustomed to losing. The preconception that they are going to lose anyway detracts from their overall performance and leads to a sad sack group of losers, moping about like a troop of lost girl guides on a nature walk. While nobody will come right out and say that this is what is going on (possibly for fear of offending girl guides everywhere) it feels more and more like we are watching the New York Islanders of the MLS from week to week. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Tonight's performance was embarrassing. Not like the first loss to L.A. where we had our asses handed to us, but in the way when you are disappointed when you find out your favourite baseball player is on the juice. Unlike last week's match where the game could have easily gone either way, tonight it didn't even look like the Whitecaps cared.
    While Jay DeMerit and Alain Rochat both received "praise" from their coach for being "much better" with regards to organizing the back line, and communicating, they still have to be held accountable for the fact that Rochat turned the ball over with a lazy pass, and seconds later yet another miscue led to former Manchester United recruit Kenny Cooper being left alone on the edge of the box to hammer home the decisive volley. Jeb Brovsky who was supposedly playing right back was nowhere to be seen in the replay, and after he should have been tracking back to where Cooper ended up scoring from. The rookies abilities as a fullback certainly need to be called into question. The question remains why does Jordan Harvey continue to play left back when Alain Rochat could easily slide out wide and Michael Boxall play centreback.
    The defence should not be the only ones with their feet held to the fire after today's loss. As I predicted in my preview earlier it would almost certainly take two goals for the Whitecaps to come out the victors and the quality just simply was not there. For the squad to get 2 goals on Troy Perkins today it would have taken a miracle. The team barely managed two shots on goal over 94 minutes. Neither shot inspired any sort of reaction beyond "meh".
    John Spencer said post game that "The table doesn't lie" and he is bang on. According to the table we are the worst team in the league, and the proof seems to be in the pudding. Both Mustapha Jarju and Long Tan found themselves on the pitch, and their playing time is a testament to the low calibre of this squad. While Jarju thinks the game well his first touch does not appear that much better then that of Jay DeMerit or Joe Cannon. Serious questions need to be asked if Tan and Jarju are on next year's squad. In the same breath the players they came in for did not fair too much better. Hassli was a step behind all match and even if he'd been on top of his game the service he received throughout the first half was mediocre at best. To say that Davide Chiumiento played poorly seems unfair he may have actually had one of his better performances on the year but he was not able to create the chances necessary for a goal scoring opportunity, and in the end the quality simply was not there.
    Soehn spoke to the fact that his two substitutions created a much needed spark at the end of the game. While both players ran hard neither ever presented any kind of threat to the opposition. Nobody really seemed to want to take over this game and that is possibly the most disappointing thing of all. At the end of the day if you're team comes out flat to start in as important a game as this; perhaps the coach needs to take a long hard look in the mirror. The Grand Opening of your new barn, a derby game and less fizz then my Grandma's 2 month old stockpile of 7up?! Inexcusable!
    If the players don't even show up for the game the fans almost certainly will follow suit.
    Guest
    It is a beautiful sunny day and the Portland Timbers are in town to help the Whitecaps open up their new home while closing out their Cascadia Rivalry series. The Oregon based outfit will be looking for a second win against the Caps and 3 more points as they continue to push for the playoffs. It will be a fantastic opportunity for Vancouver to play the spoiler as wins are oh so crucial at this point for the Timbers while they remain in the hunt for the post season in their first season in North America's top flight.
    With Vancouver having been eliminated from the playoff picture weeks ago the remainder of the season will be spent with players auditioning for jobs on next years squad and trying to maintain their current posts. Portland on the other hand have a chance to compete in the playoffs if they can continue their strong play. They currently sit 3 points back of New York and have a game at hand on the Red Bulls.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]The hapless Vancouver back line will need to get its act together today if they have any intention of competing in this match. Earlier this week Director of Soccer Operations and interim Head Coach Tom Soehn tried to light a fire under his squad by calling his prized centre backs to task saying they needed to do a better job of organizing the back line and it is easy to see why when you take into account the fact that despite some brilliant assists from Rochat the club is in fact 2nd from last in the league with regards to goal differential. Somehow TFC are worse still.
    While Portland do have the ability to score from open play they are most dangerous on Set Pieces, especially corners. They have a lot of height and like to create a lot of congestion in the box.
    When Portland have the ball on the attack they possess both the speed and craftiness to catch the Whitecaps on their back foot. This was obvious in these clubs last meeting down in Oregon.
    The D-men can only really be relied on to keep the ball out of their own net the forwards have not really been keeping their end of the bargain either as of late. Since Mustapha Jarju's arrival Eric Hassli has gone ice cold. Soehn continues to baffle fans with his lineup by keeping Swiss playmaker Davide Chiumiento on the wings rather then tucked in behind the strikers. Vancouver will need to put at least 2 goals on the board if they are going to win and it will be easier said then done.
    Portland will be hungry for a big win and will be bringing a whole bunch of their friends to cheer them on. Since Portland came in to the league at the same time as us and have been successful in their first season while we have floundered... It would be nice to hand it to them in our own park wouldn't it?
    Here are a couple Timbers of note.Kenny Cooper-The former Manchester United reservist has been an integral piece in Portland offensive puzzle. He is a fantastic target man that uses his entire 6'3 frame to win most arial battles but still maintains the scoring prowess to score the pretty goal once and a while. Once considered to be "The Next Big Thing" for the USMNT he has not really maintained his status with the national team as of late. Cooper tends to score goals in "First Games" He scored in his MLS debut, then in his first MLS Start, and then upon his return from Europe scored in Portland's MLS debut.
    Darlington Nagbe- Drafted this year second overall in the MLS SuperDraft and has made an immediate impact on the league. Nagbe scored what is arguably the best goal of this MLS season, and many Whitecaps fans are left to wonder what could have been had he been picked over Omar Salgado. While the younger Salgado has an incredible upside and is clearly a project for the future, Nagbe has contributed from the get go and has been integral to the Timbers playoff push. The word on the street as the draft approached; was that Nagbe did not want to play in Canada as he felt it would hurt his chances of gaining U.S. Citizenship.
    Kalif Alhassan- Has been a thorn in the side for Vancouver Whitecaps fans over the last 2 years and most fans are going to be happy to see that the 20 year old Ghanaian will be forced to miss today's action after receiving a red card in the clubs heartbreaking loss to the New York Red Bulls. Alhassan was guarding the goal line on a corner and after a scramble in the box a shot ricocheted of his arm and out of bounds. Luke Rodgers buried the pk and effectively put the game out of the Timbers reach.
    Mamadou Futty Danso- Gambian National Teammate of Whitecaps Designated Player Mustapha Jarju. Missed last years playoff series against the Whitecaps and could have been the difference maker in the post season series. At 6'3 his hulking frame is incredibly difficult to muscle past.
    Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Portland Timbers
    BC Place, Vancouver British Columbia
    1:30 PM Kickoff
    Watch on TSN 2
    Listen on The Team 1410
    Guest
    The Voyageurs will be running a canned food drive at Maro on Oct. 11 before the Puerto Rico game. All the collections will be going to a local food bank.
    For every canned good you bring, you will be entered into a draw to win some of the latest Canada Umbro gear. Additionally there will be prizes for those who bring the most.
    So, give generously and make sure everyone can Taste the Soup.
    Sneak peak of some of the TIFO for that game after the jump
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

    Guest

    Meanwhile, back at the Beer Garden

    By Guest, in Onward Soccer,

    By the dying ten minutes of last Tuesday's 1-1 Toronto FC draw with Pumas UNAM of Mexico in the CONCACAF Champions League, I had wound my way down to the beer garden behind the north end of BMO Field.<br>
    It was very plain, at that point, that the match was going to end in a draw. Both teams were generating occasional chances, but it was clear the evening's destiny had set in concrete shortly after Pumas equalized, which came shortly after TFC boss Aron Winter substituted out prolific striker Danny Koevermans for youthful defender Doniel Henry, which had the chance to be brilliant had the visitors not almost immediately equalized.<br>
    I'm standing, quietly and anonymously, next to a couple of very English Toronto fans, wearing their red shirts and gamely looking for something to be happy about on a somewhat chill night of somewhat setback.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Embattled TFC defender Andy Iro -- seemingly acquired mid-season from the Columbus Crew for no other result but to re-convince Toronto fans how crap Columbus really are -- has been caught hopelessly up-field in the Pumas penalty area after yet another attempted TFC two-on-seven scoring attempt has been rebuffed.<br>
    "Coom awn, Anndy!" shouts the one fan.<br>
    "E's knackered!" remarks the other.<br>
    Andy Iro is, in fact, knackered. He pauses, bends and draws in a huge breath, before the long grim trot to getting back in the play. He doesn't need to complete it, though. The Torontos have reclaimed the ball, and are gamely forming up for a three-on-eight.<br>
    The Mexicans survive, near-effortlessly, and Andy Iro once again stalls, sighs, and resumes The Trot.<br>
    For the few or so minutes that I watched, the poor dear bloke never did make it back to his own end. But the encouragement from the beer-garden Brits continued.<br>
    "Coom awn, Anndy!"<br>
    Iro attempted two tackles, a couple of minutes apart, just over midfield. He missed one by a mile, and got called for a foul on the other. The first drew a "Coom awn Anndy," the second a hearty chuckle.<br>
    TFC actually found itself with Iro caught up field, and striker Ryan Johnson mucking out in the centre of defence. <br>
    The point of this vignette is not, solely, to rag on Andy Iro. This is more a snapshot than a sideswipe.<br>
    The deeper point is Andy Iro is a luverly bloke, who never especially asked to be in this situation. Certainly, he set sail as a pro soccer player, but he never intended to play for Toronto FC. Nor would he have chosen, after most of a hard night trying to re-prove himself against a team that cruelly exposed his weaknesses in Mexico, to be trapped upfield for so achingly long, as much by the odd flow of play as by his own hard-earned exhaustion. <br>
    But there I was, in the beer garden, musing on the deeper question of why so hugely many players play better before they come to Toronto FC -- and again after they leave -- than they ever do whilst wearing the red and gray of one of the strangest sports teams I have ever, ever covered. <br>
    Andy Iro will not be back with Toronto FC next season. Odds are, he'll find himself safely back in the midwestern United States, playing MLS soccer for a Kansas City or a Chicago ... or Columbus. And he will be better there than he was here.<br>
    This was a touching, passionate sequence, of a well-meaning man, caught out of position, on multiple levels. In the end, it did no damage, and seemed to me neatly -- if not pleasingly -- to capture the essence of a strange transitional season, where no one yet can say what, if anything, Toronto FC has transitioned to.<br>
    I just saw a spent lad trying to finish the job with whatever little he had left. And I couldn't help, despite my amusement, to find myself pulling for him.<br>
    "Coom awn, Anndy!"<br>
    Onward!
    Guest
    With so much attention being paid to TFC's upcoming win-and-they're-in Champions League match versus Dallas, it's been easy to forget that the MLS regular season is still going on.
    You remember the regular season, right? It's that competition in which Toronto have never finished in good enough position to advance to the playoffs. And this year will be no different.
    Awesome.
    That said, the famed Red Bulls -- one of the most mis-managed teams in the history of the league -- are in town.
    TFC fans know all about mis-managed teams, they do support Toronto FC, after all. But for all of the bungling and almost comedic lows that the Reds have gone through in their nearly five seasons of existence, this year's New York side makes 2007-2010 TFC look like Barcelona by comparison.
    The Red Bulls were crusing along in MLS for the first three months of the season, scoring goals in bunches and reaping the benefits of a free-spending ownership who have never been afraid to bring in the big names.
    Then the bottom fell out -- they started losing or drawing games with startling ease, they traded away a guy who now leads the league in goals (of course, so did TFC), their diamond-in-the-rough American central defender got found out as a fraud, and their star Mexican DP threw everyone on the team under the bus. The goals also dried up for their other star DP, and their over-paid, geriatric goalkeeper (also a DP) got himself injured almost upon arrival.
    All of that craziness added up, and the once high-flying New Yorkers are on the cusp on not even qualifying for the playoffs, a preposterous notion given the team's budget and their position on the table just a few short months ago.
    And now Toronto have the opportunity to shovel a few more spades of dirt onto the Red Bulls' slowly-lowering casket.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    To be fair, Hans Backe's beleaguered side are currently on a bit of a revival of late. They've won two of their past three matches, doing just enough to hold on to that tenth and final post-season spot. But they are hardly the team to be feared as they once were.
    Toronto will be looking for a bit of payback either way. The Reds were thoroughly dismantled with the two teams last met at BMO Field, a 4-1 win for the visitors back in August of 2010. And of course, TFC were routed again this season, getting drubbed 5-0 at Red Bull Arena a couple of months ago.
    That 5-0 scoreline is identical to the 2009 end-of-season debacle at old Giants Stadium, where a seemingly playoff-bound Toronto FC epically crumbled to the then-moribund Red Bulls.
    Needless to say, there's a lot of recent history for TFC to draw upon for motivational purposes in regards to what would otherwise be a meaningless game.
    The chance for a turning of the tables is now squarely there for the taking. Toronto can help spoil New York's fading playoff hopes with a win Saturday night at a chilly BMO Field.
    It'd be a nice little bit of redemption in a season that has had very little of it.

    Toronto FC v. New York Red Bulls
    Saturday, October 1, 2011. 7:30pm EDT.
    BMO Field. Toronto, ON.
    Watch: TSN 2
    Listen: Sportsnet Radio FAN 590, FAN590.com
    Rudi Schuller contributes Toronto FC and Canadian national team content to the 24th Minute. He is MLSsoccer.com's beat writer for all things concerning Canada's men's national teams, and has contributed to Goal.com and other soccer media. Follow Rudi on Twitter, @RudiSchuller.
    Guest
    The Montreal Impact twittersphere has been going wild in the past hours.
    Tony Marinaro (Team 990) has announced that the Impact have decided not to invite Antonio Ribeiro, Anthony Le Gall and Hicham Aaboubou to next week's trial camp.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]The biggest surprise will perhaps be Antonio Ribeiro's withdrawal, a fan favourite and a somewhat good servant to the team over the past 10 years.
    In Ribeiro's case, some say that he at least deserved a spot in next week's training camp, out of respect for a local player of his caliber. Others say that he didn't have a good 2011 season, which explains the club's decision not to invite him. Perhaps, he didn't fit in Jesse Marsch's plans for 2012.
    These rumours do raise a few questions. With the MLS looming, the Impact will have to take very big decisions in terms of who they want to keep and who they think is not good enough for the bigger leagues. The decisions will affect the fans, who have grown to know and love the players, especially the local ones like Ribeiro, Gerba or Pizzolito.
    The club has been doing a good job at explaining to the fans that the 2012 team will look nothing like the current one. Now, it's time for the fans to accept it. It won't be easy, but it will be part of the process.
    As usual, the Montreal Impact does not comment on rumours, which can only mean one thing. They're true.
    Guest
    Today, we're joined by Vancouver Whitecaps legend Carl Valentine to look back on a rough first season for the Caps, look ahead to their weekend matchup against Portland at their new stadium and tell some stories from the past.
    We'll also talk about MLS' decision to respect the World Cup qualifying dates next season, talk about the karma involved in Toronto's game against New York and discuss the Canadian selections for WCQ.
    The archived show is now up.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
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    Guest

    MLS to break for WCQ

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Reports from Toronto are suggesting that it will be an early start to the 2012 MLS season.
    Speaking at the annual season ticket holders town hall meeting yesterday, TFC executives said that the 2012 season is expected to start on the week of March 10. If history is any indication that would mean the First Kick game would go Thursday, March 8.
    It would represent the earliest start to am MLS season. The league wants to break for each of the three World Cup qualifying breaks in 2012, thus necessitating the early kick-off.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    It was indicated that the league plans to play a 34 game schedule again. How that schedule would be composed was not revealed.
    It's highly unlikely that TFC would play March home dates at BMO Field because of the cost associated with getting the pitch ready. It was strongly suggested that if the Reds advance to the CONCACAF Champions League that the games would be played at Rogers Centre, the near 50,000 seat home of the Toronto Blue Jays.
    At the meeting it was also suggested that TFC fans "circle April 7 on their calendar," leading some to speculate that would be the date of the first MLS game between historic rivals Montreal and Toronto.
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