Is this a joke?

Before tonight, our worst loss in league play came in our ever second match at New England Revolution. We lost 4-0 that night, and at the time, we were easily the worst team in MLS. Tonight, in the most important regular season game we've ever played in, we lost 5-0, to the current worst team in MLS.

I'm not even mad. I'm laughing. So much for living for the "big games".

Matchday: Toronto FC v Real Salt Lake

Our home season ends today with a match against Real Salt Lake, who are notorious underachievers on the road (sounds familiar, right?). If all goes as planned, the referee will blow the full time whistle in the 75th minute...or not. Either way, if we don't win, we're done. It's as simple as that.

See you at the match.

2010 Home opener announced

For the second straight year, we will play host to an expansion side in our home opener. Our 2010 home opener will be on April 17 against Philadelphia Union, on a nice and new grass surface. I find the timing of the announcement a little odd, given the fact that we are nearing the end of a very, very tight playoff race.

Is the focus on next year already? I think in the back of some of the supporters' minds it is, but for the club, it certainly shouldn't be.

At least we're getting grass

Sorry for the lengthy absence - I am back. And seething with anger. This isn't exactly going to be a warm-fuzzy post about how I love TFC. It's a little negative, so brace yourself for it.

If football matches were only 75 minutes long, we'd be 3 points off of first in the league, and we'd have a playoff spot locked up. I guess the whole "Paul Winsper Fitness Guru" thing wore off pretty quickly, as aside from DeRo and Nana, this team is really dragging its ass for the last 10 minutes of every game.

I don't really want to be too hard on poor Windy though. The "experienced, no nonsense" defending of Nick Garcia has been absolutely atrocious - sometimes I find myself missing Marco Velez. After giving up an own goal and leaving McBride with a free header last weekend, Nicky ducked out of the way of Cornell Glen's equalizing goal on Saturday.

While Garcia is one player I'm often wondering why we even bothered with, another is Ali Gerba. Let's be fair to Ali, he hasn't seen enough action - but that's the problem. Wasn't signing a clinical finisher like him supposed to help our goalscoring void that Chad Barrett and Pablo Vitti have so hopelessly left open? We aren't really set up ideally for Gerba though - a big target forward. When Sam Cronin (a defensive midfielder) and Chad Barrett (an inept striker) are your best options on the wing, our service out wide leaves a lot to be desired.

So, if we can't go out wide, why not through the middle? After all, DeRo, Guevara, and De Guzman are among the league's elite in the middle of the park. While this may be true, I recall hearing Craig Forrest talking about how there isn't enough "creativity in the side" when we needed a winner in Chicago. We have DeRo and Guevara - how much creativity to we need?

I don't want to come across as knocking DeRo though, because there really aren't many bad things to say about his play this year. He's single-handedly carried this team on his back at times and is undoubtedly our team MVP.

In the end though, I look at Carl Robinson's season-ending injury and think "how fitting?" He is done for the season because he collided with a trialist. The week before the biggest match of the season. A trialist. So much for stability and cohesiveness within the team. The story of TFC 2009 is stupid and unecessary breakdowns, and something has to change.

At least we're getting grass...

JDG is here

The biggest day in our club's history? Possibly. More to come later.

Danny Dichio retires

Toronto FC fan favourite Danny Dichio has called time on his playing career. The man is Toronto FC's first real "legend". Possibly my favourite memory so far at BMO Field happened at 23:13 in our match against the Chicago Fire on May 12, 2007.

He's an English journeyman, having spent time at QPR, Sunderland, Millwall, and Preston Northend. I had to check out his wikipedia page when he first came here to find out what he was all about, and his scoring record at Preston was less than impressive - 5 goals in 61 appearances. After watching him play at our inaugural home opener against Kansas City, I knew I'd like him, and I don't think any supporter will deny his contributions to our development as a club.

His personality and work ethic made him an instant favourite in the team, and the fact that he scored our first ever goal made him an instant legend. From that moment forward, this was Danny's team, and we played better when he was on the pitch. He struggled through several injuries in his tenure as a player here, but we always seemed to play better with him on the field - even this year, when many supporters still preferred him to players like Chad Barrett.

His involvement in the club is not finished. He has taken a full time role as the club's academy coach and team ambassador immediately. This definitely is not the last we've heard of Danny Dichio.

I do not think we will make the playoffs this year

This realization has taken a few weeks longer this season, but it's still just as painful. After watching TFC shit the bed this past weekend in Colorado, my faith in our ability to bounce back and hit a good run of form is effectively dead. I'm not too urked by a 1-0 loss away to the Rapids - they've been a good team this year. It's the manner in which we lost though that bugs me - one shot on goal to Colorado's five, fifteen fouls to Colorado's five, and of course, two red cards, neither of which were deserved in my mind.

As I watched the match, I thought of several things that I would immediately change in the team. For example - having Chad Barrett on set pieces. Whether it's finishing sitters, or executing simple little free kicks, he can't do it. I think his crossing and his passing might be worse than his finishing. The fact that he plays a central role in our attack game in and game out is beyond me. Why did Mo even bother bringing in Ali Gerba?

Speaking of Gerba, was anyone else left wondering why we don't have any natural wingers in the team when players of his size and Dichio's size are in the 18-yard box? This absolutely has to fall on Mo Johnston. Two of the biggest strikers in the league can't get any service because we have a defensive midfielder and an ill-fated striker playing at left and right midfield. Good one Mo.

Chris Cummins' substitutions left me a little baffled as well. It was pretty obvious to me that Amadou Sanyang would be in trouble after he was yellow carded so early in the match. For me, he should have been the first player substituted in the second half. Seeing a healthy Adrian Serioux left on the bench was an interesting call as well, and his sending off was about as bad a call as Honduras' penalty two months ago at the Gold Cup.

In the end, this team is still bad defensively, and very, very, very boring to watch on the road. We continue to send long balls up to an unimpressive Chad Barrett, while Ali Gerba and Danny Dichio ride the bench. We have six games left, and we have to go - at worst - at least 3-1-2 to have any chance at making the post season in my mind. This could be one very long winter.

Julian De Guzman set to become our first Designated Player

According to Kristian Jack at the Score, Julian De Guzman has agreed to become our first designated player. Mo Johnston is apparently shopping players around the league in order to make room for him under the salary cap. Anyone else seeing Danny Dichio's two-month early retirement in the near future?

Let's face it - JDG will step into this league and instantly become one of the top five players. As a supporter, seeing Julian De Guzman in our team is an exciting prospect, but at this point I'm not sure whether or not bringing him in would help or not. Assuming Mo can make room for him by trading several players for allocation money, it could upset the balance in the team (or lack there of?). On the other hand, bringing him into our midfield could be just what we need.

These next few weeks could be interesting, though I'd rather it be because of our good form in a tight playoff race.

Chivas USA Preview

It's make or break time. Well, maybe not - one good weekend of results can make quite the difference in this league. Nonetheless, with a majority of our home season done, we have to take some points on the road, and taking three from Chivas USA tonight would be a fantastic way to start a three-match road trip.

We beat the Goats in April for the first time in our brief history. Amado Guevara scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win - one which surprised many supporters as we were struggling going in to the match and Chivas were atop the league table.

Things have changed a lot at the Home Depot Center since then. The Galaxy are now the frontrunners in Los Angeles, with Chivas USA struggling as of late. They have slipped from first in the league to fifth in the West.

On our end, if the season were to end right now, we'd be in the playoffs - just. We can make up ground on Chicago, who lost mid-week, and potentially create some more space ahead of DC United. The task won't be easy though. Nick Garcia and Marvell Wynne are both listed as questoinable, while Jim Brennan is suspended. This should make way for a debut for Haitian international Lesley Fellinga, while with Wynne and Garcia's returns, Chris Cummins will have to decide whether or not Nana Attakora or Emmanuel Gomez will retain their spots in the squad.

All of Nick Garcia, Carl Robinson, Adrian Serioux, and Chad Barrett will be suspended after their next yellow cards, so there is a bit of a cause for concern there. With the emergence of Gomez, Attakora, Sanyang, and White, our depth is looking a bit better now than I would have expected one month ago.

No game in MLS is easy, and this one certainly won't be. It's not out of our reach though, so I'm slightly optimistic of getting a result tonight - either three points, or one.

Dynamo get it right with their DP

On Thursday, the Houston Dynamo unveiled their first ever designated player, announcing they have signed 24 year-old Mexican striker Luis Angel Landin on loan from Cruz Azul. In signing Landin, the Dynamo had to release Ade Akinbiyi, who joined the team earlier this summer.

This is a good signing. Dominic Kinnear's strike-force now features Brian Ching, Kei Kamara, and Luis Angel Landin - not bad. Landin isn't your run-of-the-mill retiree DP, and I expect he will have a better effect on Houston than a 33+ year-old would. He's been capped four times by the Mexican National Team, and has a bright future ahead of him in his country's set up.

Well done to the Houston Dynamo.

Osorio resigns as the Red Bulls really are shite

It's been a long time coming, really. Juan Carlos Osorio has resigned from as the head coach of the New York Red Bulls. After leading the Red Bulls to the MLS Cup Final last season - after a mediocre regular season, mind you - Osorio has led New York to an embarrassing 2-16-4 so far this season.

The 2009 Red Bulls are on pace for record-setting season of MLS futility, something you wouldn't expect from a team with arguably the league's best striker in Juan Pablo Angel. Nonetheless, when I watch New York play I feel like I'm watching something worse than USL-2 - no offense Red Bulls fans. The NFL lines at Giants Stadium just make it that much worse. A New York supporter could look at the bright side though, they'll at least have the league's best stadium next year, right...

Toronto FC 2 - 0 DC United - Match Report

Goals from Dwayne De Rosario and O'Brian White gave us a 2-0 win over DC United yesterday at BMO Field. Here was our starting eleven: Stefan Frei, Nana Attakora, Emmanuel Gomez, Adrian Serioux, Jim Brennan, Amadou Sanyang, Carl Robinson, Sam Cronin, Pablo Vitti, O'Brian White, and Dwayne De Rosario.

I was a little surprised by that lineup - mainly with all of the youth involved in the team. All of Sanyang, Gomez, Attakora, and White were included.

I think it showed for the first bit of the match. I didn't think we played too well in the first half. Despite this, we lead 1-0 through a headed goal by Dwayne De Rosario. Even though we were poor, DC was even worse. They controlled the ball pretty well in the midfield I thought, but failed to create any real chances, and with players like Santino Quaranta, Fred, Luciano Emilio, and Christian Gomez spearheading your attack, you'd expect them to come up with at least something. They didn't though, and we were one-nil up at the end of the first half.

In the second half, I thought we were much better. Amado Guevara came in for Carl Robinson and really transformed our midfield. His ability to control the ball in the middle of the pitch is unmatched on our team. The clinching goal - and the highlight of the match - came in the 66th minute off of a corner kick. After a scramble in the area, Nana Attakora fed O'Brian White who calmly finished to give us the 2-0 lead. It was White's first ever goal as a professional soccer player, and after recovering from a terrible ACL injury, you know that goal will mean a lot to him.

As the match went on after White's goal, DC was still unable to produce any real goal-threatening attacks and in the end, I thought we fully deserved the 2-0 win.

Player Ratings

Frei 7, Attakora 9, Serioux 6, Gomez 6, Brennan 6, Robinson 4 (Guevara 7), Cronin 7, Sanyang 6, Vitti 6, De Rosario 6, White 7

Man of the Match: For me, Nana Attakora was our best defender, and possibly our best player on the day. He contained Luciano Emilio - a DP forward - very comfortably. Stephen Hart, cap him now!