To cheer for TFC is to follow a perilous path Montreal 2 TFC 1

Curses.

Who allowed Toronto FC to travel to Montreal to determine their playoff ranking?

The loss in Montreal tonight (Sunday) drops Toronto to sixth place and ends their 2015 season. Montreal is now poised and prepared (in third place) to host TFC in a one game knockout playoff mid-week. The winner of the one game will participate in the two game Eastern conference semi-finals over the next two weekends.

Did you see this coming? Do you feel that TFC has managed to uphold a thrilling TFC tradition? Where did the perpetual suffering clause hide when I signed up for season tickets all those years ago? Do you think I can write all night, peppering the page with rhetorical questions?

Caring about this Toronto FC team (an affliction that I once dared to name mistakenbylaken) takes you to dangerous places. The ups and the downs are too cruel. It was some 12 days ago that TFC defeated New York to clinch the playoffs. The joy of that unexpected peak has been followed by a bumpy descent.

I saw something bleak coming... I was so livid when TFC did not show up fully when hosting Columbus last week. In my bred in Ontario bones I knew that putting yourself in the position of needing points (or a point) from a road game in Montreal was foolish and should have been avoided.

I understand the view that the TFC goalkeepers are an area of concern, but I prefer not to dwell on it. TFC are certainly set up to win by outscoring teams. Did anyone truly think that a strategy for road victories was to have Giovinco and Altidore combine for one goal and then let Konopka lock the gate?
I also understand that the back four are a cause for worry, but midfielders tracking back play a large part in defending too. Although Montreal started the second half with energy and confidence, it was two touches by Didier Drogba within a two minute span that brought TFC to the brink. It was the inability to respond with second half goals that pushed TFC over the brink.

I think that the focus on Kantari and Williams does not explain how TFC lost their minds for a five minute spell. I think that handling pressure is a concern for fans looking at both coaching staff and players. After all, the playoff clinch game versus the Red Bulls was not a pressure game, more of an appreciated gift from team to those fans who braved that night (when Texas Rangers game 5 versus Blue Jays held the spotlight). I do think that Coach Vanney holds Robbie Findley in a higher regard than his 2015 results would indicate. I do think that he waits too long into the waning stages of the game before he makes critically needed changes.

The chance at hosting a playoff game here in 2015 was made slimmer today in Montreal

TFC in Montreal is the next game. May it not be the last TFC game of 2015.