TFC looking for ‘balance’ on road swing after testy loss
NEIL DAVIDSON As Toronto FC prepares for a challenging four-game road trip, manager Ryan Nelsen faces some troubling questions.
Make no mistake, the big picture remains positive. Toronto (7-6-5) is on track for its best ever season and first trip to the MLS playoffs, but injuries and suspensions have made it difficult to find the right mix of pieces to complete the puzzle. And mentally, Toronto has yet to show that it can finish off a game on a regular basis when it has its foot on the other team’s neck.
The officiating stole many of the headlines after Saturday night’s 2-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City — Michael Bradley’s post-game comment that “the referee was absolutely awful” no doubt led to a league review Sunday, with no immediate word on any punishment — but the inability to finish and some sloppy defending proved more costly for Toronto than the decision-making of referee Ted Unkel. “Two very soft goals and we haven’t got our balance right yet in that midfield,” said Nelsen. “Maybe (we were) missing a couple of key players, but our balance wasn’t right on the two goals. We were spectators. In a time when we had to be urgent and our intensity had to be focused, we just hoped somebody would do their job and that was unfortunate.” Toronto was missing star striker Jermain Defoe (suspension), captain/centre back Steven Caldwell and right back Mark Bloom (knee) against the MLS champions. “There were some guys that were spectating and getting into nice comfortable position but weren’t influencing the game,” the coach said. “They weren’t helping out their teammates. That’s a hardness that we lost, I think, (and) that we need to get back.” Defoe will be back when Toronto kicks off its road trip against D.C. United (10-5-4) on Wednesday, but the Reds will be without centre back Doneil Henry because of yellow cards. Toronto then plays at Montreal, Columbus and Kansas City.