Toronto FC Off The Pace In The Playoffs Race

By Nigel Reed CBC Sports

Toronto FC has a mountain to climb
Perhaps I should go away more often. Hang on! Before you ignore the rest of this blog and rush to the comment section to add “And don’t bother coming back!” let me first confirm it’s a rhetorical suggestion.

My sporadic absences, though, seem to have had a positive effect on Toronto FC. In the summer of 2007, the Reds hammered FC Dallas 4-0, a result which still stands as the team’s biggest margin of victory in Major League Soccer. I missed the match due to a family vacation.

Last Tuesday I was also in the UK winding down my annual dash round the old country. When I returned 24 hours later I heard stories of the best night in the club’s history, accompanied by details of the most complete performance ever seen at BMO Field.

Mere coincidence I’m sure, but it was sad to miss a memorable night for Canadian soccer. The special atmosphere of evening games, combined with a strong team display, are few and far between. One can only hope Preki’s team can recapture that form on a consistent basis.

Four days later it was gone again. Sometimes your team is beaten by a better one – pure and simple. Judging by the weekend’s evidence, New York is a better team than most in MLS, but gifting your opponent three goals in one game is careless, to put it mildly.

In the space of 10 days, Toronto FC has fallen badly off the pace in the race for the playoffs. Back to back losses against the Red Bulls leave them staring at a yawning eight point chasm to their star-studded Eastern Conference rivals.

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