There is no one answer to explain what has gone on in Toronto this season- two coaches, one win and a whole lot of disappointment; that’s no way to treat one of the league’s best fan bases.
Saturday’s game against New England was like watching the same movie over and over again.
Albeit a bad movie. A very bad movie.
“We just couldn’t hold on,” said Mariner after the game, a rather obvious, yet still disheartening statement.
After jumping out to a 2-0 lead, Toronto allowed two goals in the last twenty minutes forcing them to settle for a single point. It was the second time in four days TFC blew a late two goal lead. There is just nothing positive you can take from that. Yes, they did avoid defeat in both games, but it’s almost more painful to give up points this way than it is to just lose altogether.
The Reds seem stuck on this notion of time wasting when protecting a lead. The way to protect a lead is to keep the ball away from your opponents. Without the ball, they can not score. Simple enough? I guess not. Toronto seems to prefer sitting back and booting the ball up field every chance they get. As we have already seen, that will come back to haunt you more often than not.
“If I clear every ball and the ball comes back to us, what are we doing? Nothing. It’s just giving them more time to score a goal. If we play the way we played in the first half nobody can beat us in this league,” said a deflated Milos Kocic after the match. “I don’t think we’re going to win many games like this.”
Danny Koevermans opened the scoring for TFC in the fourth minute when he got on the end of a perfectly placed Ashtone Morgan cross.
Five minutes before the break, Toronto found themselves two goals up thanks to a Ryan Johnson header. Johnson got on the end of another clinical cross by Ashtone Morgan for his second goal of the season.
The momentum quickly started to shift in the second half when New England began to press. Kocic was forced to make some acrobatic saves, but his heroics could only carry TFC for so long.
In the 71st minute, Kocic turned away an effort from outside the box. However, the TFC defenders were caught staring at the ball, allowing Brettschneider to walk in and tap home the rebound. Kocic was livid after the New England goal, and rightfully so, yelling at his defenders who were merely spectators hanging their goalie out to dry.
The first Revolution goal changed the entire dynamic of the game. TFC were holding the ball and pushing forward for the first sixty minutes or so, but when New England scored, they sat back for what proved to be a nerve racking last twenty minutes.
“You knew it was coming,” said Mariner. “The whole stadium knew it was coming.”
Kocic was forced to make save after save, until the last thirty seconds of added time, when he could do no more. Revolution defender Chris Tierney got on the end of a cross and headed the ball home in the 94th minute to salvage a point for his team.
Kocic has been pushed to the brink this season and his frustration is starting to show.
“I see other keepers in the league make one save and the game ends 1-0 or 2-0. Whatever I do, It doesn’t matter,” said Kocic. “The goals our guys scored, the effort everybody put in, we just throw it in the water.”
Tierney’s goal marked the 24th time TFC have dropped points in the last minute of a game in their six year existence. Of course that’s a ton of points to give away, but of course to the average TFC fan, it probably feels like more. A two goal lead is hardly safe at BMO Field as we have come to learn.
“If we score two goals, close the game. Simple as that, don’t give them a chance to come back,” said Kocic.
The Toronto defense has had their fair share of problems dealing with balls played into the box. Five of the last seven goals Toronto has conceded have come off of corners or crosses. Those types of goals can be easily avoided with improved man marking, or “responsibility,” as Kocic puts it.
If the defenders each take responsibility for one man inside the box, these goals never would have happened. But they didn’t, and the goals did happen, which is why this team is every bit as bad as their record indicates.
Mariner felt his players may have run out of gas with this being their third game in seven days.
Is that a valid excuse? He was well aware of the schedule, if he thought fatigue would become a factor why not rest some players midweek, especially considering they play again Wednesday at Montreal, then Saturday at home to New York.
After the game, Mariner also explained that his team’s youth and inexperience might play a role in these late collapses. The average age of Toronto’s back four on Saturday was just 22 years old, which of course has its positives and negatives.
When asked what areas he would address if given the chance, Mariner replied with a simple two word answer: “Central defense.” It seems obvious enough, but their defense has been revamped time and time again with no success. How long will it take to get it right?
The Vancouver Whitecaps have found their back line just a few months into their second MLS season. They have allowed only nineteen goals in sixteen games this year with the same four players starting their last eight games on defense.
The draw brings Toronto to 1-10-2 on the season. At this point, the “this is not a 1-10 team” statements have got to stop. Have we not seen enough this season to know, this is indeed a 1-10 team? Good teams keep leads. Mediocre teams keep leads. Bad teams blow leads on a consistent basis.
The fact that the problems with this team are so obvious, yet are not being fixed, is worrying.
TFC will have an off day Sunday before travelling to Montreal to take on the Impact at Saputo Stadium on Wednesday night. The fatigue excuse will not work on Wednesday as the Impact will also be playing their fourth game in eleven days.
The Reds will have to play a full ninety minutes if they hope to come away with three points on Wednesday. Both the former and the latter have been a rarity from TFC this season.
(image courtesy of Getty Images)
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