Whitecaps can help end Toronto FC’s playoff hopes today
TORONTO — Canada’s three MLS teams are linked today as the chase for post-season places comes down to the crunch.
And Vancouver and Montreal can team up to eliminate Toronto FC from playoff contention.
A win by the visiting Whitecaps in Toronto coupled with an Impact victory over Columbus in Montreal will end the playoff chase for TFC, which would be left 10 points out with only three games remaining.
Ninth-place Toronto (9-15-6) dodged the same bullet last weekend by beating eighth-place New England 4-1, while sixth-place Montreal (12-15-4) was thumped 5-0 by seventh-place D.C. United.
D.C. United (10-11-8) is likely in the driver’s seat even though the team is two points behind Montreal, which occupies the final playoff spot in the East. D.C. United has a game in hand on Toronto — which has a game in hand on Montreal — and four of its five remaining games are at home. But Toronto continues to think positive. “If we get three points (today), then we’re still very much in it,” said TFC coach Greg Vanney. “We put some pressure on the teams that we’re chasing to have to continue to get results. And if that’s the case, we still have everything to play for in the final few matches.”
There is also urgency for Vancouver (1112-7), which enters the weekend in eighth place in the West and six points out of the playoffs.
Should Toronto survive the weekend, it has away games at D.C. United and Montreal before wrapping up the season at home to league-leading Atlanta.
“The week of training we had this week was as good as any we’ve had all year, just in terms of sharpness, quality . . . now it’s on us to see if, over these last four games, we can keep winning,” said Toronto captain Michael Bradley. “I think there’s a few twists and turns to come.”
The last MLS champion to miss the playoffs the next season was the Portland Timbers, who won it all in 2015 and then finished two points out of the post-season in 2016.
Toronto will have to face Vancouver without veteran defender Drew Moor, who is still working his way back from a calf injury. Striker Jozy Altidore, who has come out of the last two games early due to an ankle problem, could see some action. For the ’Caps, it’s the second game under acting head coach Craig Dalrymple, who took over for the fired Carl Robinson. Vancouver lost 3-0 at the Los Angeles Galaxy in Dalrymple’s debut at the helm.
“I’m sure he’s not trying to change everything up there,” said Vanney. “They’ve got a good team and they’ve been solid. It’s maybe about finding a tweak here or there to try to get a couple of results along this stretch to give them momentum.
“He’s not going to change up the profile of the team in the course of days or weeks. I don’t suspect that they’ll be too far removed from what they were last time we saw them, with maybe a couple of nuances in where they think they specifically can get at us and/or control us.”
It’s the first meeting between the two since August when Toronto won the Canadian Championship 7-4 on aggregate.
“We’re going to Toronto, we’re going there to fight,” Vancouver defender Doneil Henry, a former TFC player, told reporters this week. “It’s all about pride right now.”
Friday marked Dalrymple’s fifth training session as the Whitecaps’ bench boss.
“What we’ve tried to do is keep it positive and competitive and challenging in the training environment,” he said.
Dutch winger/forward Marvin Emnes, who joined the team last month, picked up an injury in training Wednesday.
TALE OF THE TAPE: Toronto has a slight edge in the series with a 4-3-1 record in league play.
FORM: Vancouver has lost three straight, matching its longest slide of the season (April 7-20). TFC is 2-2-0 over its last four.