MLS Cup finalists Toronto and Seattle are fulfilling their potential

TORONTO: Either Toronto FC or Seattle Sounders, both hailed as model franchises when they entered the league, will finally deliver on the success predicted for them when Major League Soccer (MLS) crowns a new champion today.

With fan bases many European clubs would envy and deep-pocketed ownership, Toronto and Seattle entered the league to massive hype and fanfare but fell short of expectations until this season as both secured their first MLS Cup final berth.

The Sounders, who averaged crowds of over 42,000 a game this year, have been the MLS “nearly men” since their debut in 2009 as they qualified for the playoffs each season but were never able to reach the summit.

While Seattle teased fans, Toronto tested their supporters’ loyalty every step of the way.

With every game of Toronto’s inaugural season in 2007 sold out, MLS commissioner Don Garber labelled the franchise’s launch as one of the most successful in pro sports and a blueprint for future expansion teams.

But the marketing magic was nowhere to be seen on the field as Toronto muddled through eight losing seasons under eight head coaches with the low ebb coming from 2011-2013, a morbid stretch where the club failed to win more than six games in a season.

“Losing can become as much a habit as winning and for me that was one of the biggest challenges because I could feel that within the club,” said Toronto coach Greg Vanney.

“We still couldn’t get out of our own way and believe enough in what we were doing to be able to shift the tide.

“Quite honestly as a club we have done an amazing job to be able to shift that paradigm in just a couple of years.”

Seattle’s consistency has been built around well-drilled, well-rounded rosters and the biggest home crowds in MLS.

Toronto’s approach has been far more reactionary.

Toronto have tried to spend their way out of trouble by bringing in big-name coaches and designated players.

Juergen Klinsmann was hired as a consultant to find the right coach and headhunted Dutchman Aron Winter whose total football approach turned into a disaster.

England striker Jermain Defoe was handed the saviour’s mantle when he was introduced to great fanfare in 2014. That same day the United States national team captain and midfielder Michael Bradley joined the club in a transfer from AS Roma.

But Defoe’s tour of duty in Canada was short-lived, Toronto sending him back to English Premier League side Sunderland a year later in a deal that brought US striker Jozy Altidore to Toronto.