Seattle

According to SBI the Seattle choices for the expansion draft goes like this ...

Nate Jaqua (Houston) striker
Brad Evans (Columbus) midfield
Stephen King (Chicago) midfield
Jeff Parke (New York) defender
James Riley (San Jose) defender/midfielder
Khano Smith (New England) striker/winger
Jarrod Smith (Toronto FC) forward/midfielder
Nathan Sturgis (Real Salt Lake) defender/midfielder
Peter Vagenas (Los Angeles) midfielder
Tyson Wahl (Kansas City) defender

Most TFC fans would rather say farewell to Jarrod Smith over Johann Smith (and here's hoping that this is not
a typo between the Smith's). Those who were gambling that Seattle was not going to be choosing keepers are looking
wise right now.
There seems to be an emphasis on youth and potential in the list (apart from Jaqua and Vagenas), but looking at the
list from a Saputo in Montreal point of view you might say "for this you're charging 40 million US ???)
No doubt there will be trades to come and the Superdraft in January and the shape of the team will change before training camp, but it seems underwhelming. Perhaps the money for Freddie and Keller meant that salary was the main concern.
Jarrod Smith showed less and less this past season, but I would still trade Carlos Ruiz in a second to get him back.

On the list

Expansion Draft lists were released today. The draft is on Wednesday.
TFC protected the following .....
Chad Barrett
Jim Brennan
Danny Dichio
Todd Dunivant
Brian Edwards
Amado Guevara
Kevin Harmse
Julius James
Tyrone Marshall
Carl Robinson
Marvell Wynne

Which means the following are available (remember- Seattle are allowed only one player per team, they make 10 picks and there are 14 teams , so there is a chance Toronto will not be chosen from).
Attakora-Gyan, Nana
Elkinson, Kilian
Freeman, Hunter
Gala, Gabe
Gaudet, Derek
Melo, Joey
Ricketts, Rohan
Rosenlund, Tyler
Ruiz, Carlos
Smith, Jarrod
Smith, Johann
Sutton, Greg
Velez, Marco

Trying to find the logic in these choices. Rohan Ricketts and Johann Smith on the available list could indicate either midfield player signings or draft choices on the horizon. Sutton makes sense since Seattle has Keller as their #1 keeper and would not want an International #2. Protecting Brian Edwards makes sense because he would be very useful to Seattle.
Surprises ??
Attakora-Gyan not protected
Tyrone Marshall and Julius James both protected
Danny Dichio protected - Seattle would only take him to trade him back to Toronto

Columbus Crew take the Cup

It was a funny season. I can remember like it was yesterday driving down to Columbus, Ohio for the season-opener in March and talking about the Crew as the measuring stick for TFC. The Crew had missed the 07 playoffs, so they were the logical team to match or exceed if Toronto was going to be a playoff team and a cup contender. Well, things have changed since then and the Crew did the double, winning both the Shield (best season record) and the MLS Cup.

I suppose our expectations are rising and Columbus are still the team to match or exceed. Why not ?

It was a deserving win and was welcomed .... I do not like Columbus, but I dislike New York far more....

Now tomorrow we find out who TFC are protecting in the expansion draft which is later this week.

Should be interesting.

Montreal drops out of MLS expansion consideration...

Reports are coming out that Montreal has bowed out of the MLS expansion process.





Speculation on the reasons behind this include the fall of the Canadian dollar and the ongoing story of George Gillett's financial entanglement with Liverpool FC.

I guess it makes some sense. Without paying $40 million to MLS, Montreal already has a home and home series with TFC due to the CONCACAF Champions set-up. The present financial environment makes agreeing to pay money now for a spot in a league three years from now a risky gamble.

Toronto fans wanted the rivalry with Montreal and it may still happen longer term. The economic downturn is the storm cloud over sports right now. I think that MLS will both survive and thrive in this climate as their economics (with the exception of LA) are based on selling affordable tickets and they have less luxury box traffic and TV advertising dollars to lose than the big boys (NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL). Not that I would give them my $40 million right now .....

Tried the playoff game and was pulled away ....

by the arrival on my television of The Office and 30 Rock.
I was watching The Fire vs Revolution first leg of their playoff on streaming video last night. Yes, I have a beef with MLS, although I pay for their online video service, they do not deliver the games that are on ESPN2. Hey MLS, Canadians do not get to watch ESPN2.
This was not an attractive game. It seemed like a foul fest. Nothing quite red card worthy, but staying close to the line.
Scoreless in New England must give a huge advantage to Chicago in the second leg at home. A very ugly game from what I saw.

San Jose 2 TFC 0 cloudy sunset on a season

So the season ended with a whimper and a sloppy effort in San Jose. It was as if the adrenaline that has been fueling TFC since the disaster in Kansas City expired at the same time for the entire team. I would pair the SJ and KC games as required viewing when making decisions about next year's team and beyond. The plucky efforts in New York, Dallas and at home against Chicago would not supply the correct perspective as to our strengths and weaknesses.
Let me outline the events of the final game briefly. The briefer the better.
Toronto was lucky to get to the half with a scoreless tie. San Jose had all of the early scoring chances. Sutton and some klutzy luck kept the Quakes from scoring. Any hope that Toronto could change the nature of the game expired early in the second half when Ryan Cochrane scored a header off of a corner kick from ol' Ronnie O'Brien. Sure Sutton misjudged the ball, but you knew it had only been a matter of time for the Quakes to connect. San Jose seemed to ease up with the lead and Toronto crept back into the game. There was never any sustained pressure, the rare attacks only inspired hopes for a lucky, undeserved goal. In the late going Kevin Harmse reminded us of his weakness for rash moves (a weakness that I thought he had been able to limit in his recent run as central defender). He lunged and clearly fouled Shea Salinas who then scored a screamer on the penalty. San Jose 2 and Toronto no show. The game and the season ended. It is hard to put a finger on my mood at that point. Empty would be too harsh, hopeful would be too optimistic.
Marvell Wynne did not play as he is recovering from concussion. He was missed. Danny Dichio was substituted early in the second half. Dichio's willingness to return as a role player coming off the bench should secure his TFC future. Re-read that last sentence a few times if you are out there Mo. Johann Smith and Jarrod Smith split the game out on the right wing and neither amounted to much. Jarrod Smith had a chance at a shot late in the half, but he tried to set up the player he expected to be heading for the far post. Silly Jarrod, that was Carlos Ruiz and he was not going to expend any effort. He had already squandered a scoring chance by looking more interested in buying popcorn from a vendor than making a play for the ball near the far post. The highlight of the game from a TFC fan perspective was watching Ruiz being substituted so that Ibby could have ten minutes of action. Ruiz was angry, very angry. He refused the towel and drink from the trainer and then shoved the gatorade container and stormed to the bench. I thought that he made better contact with the gatorade container than he did with a soccer ball in scoring range these last two months. It is fair to say that his anger in San Jose pales in comparison to the anger I felt when we picked the bum up in September. Get out of town fella, as a rent a striker you were not worth a Canadian dollar.
The speculation season now begins for TFC. Who returns and who is to be acquired? The need for improvement is clear. We could argue all night if Toronto the second year team is a better squad than San Jose the first year team. Either way there is not much between them and that reflects badly on TFC progress. Now Seattle arrives on the 2009 scene and their early signings indicate strength. They have a veteran keeper in Kasey Keller and the rumours are that they are about to announce the signing of Freddie Ljungberg. Wow, that is a player with potential. If Huckerby can have a positive impact on a MLS team, a healthy and active Ljungberg comes in with a potential that no player in TFC history can match. Seattle has also signed some young players, Sébastien Le Toux and Sanna Nyassi who have been playing for the USL version of the team this year. So they begin with a solid base. It will be interesting to see if Seattle uses the expansion draft to seriously weaken Toronto. They also get the first pick from the NCAA crop in the Superdraft. So it is not a stretch to say that Toronto will have to make a number of player upgrades just to stay where they are in competitive terms. It is a tough spot as a TFC fan going into the offseason fending off such strong feelings of Seattle envy. I may need a Starbucks to calm me down.

TFC 3 Chicago Fire 2 - going out with heads held high

Guess it was a roller coaster game to cap off a roller coaster year. I went down to BMO Field today determined not to feel that it was the end. As long as a playoff game was possible I was going to avoid contributing to a negative vibe. It was a beautiful October day, the sun was bright and the temperature was in the single Celsius digits. There was not much wind. A neighbour commented that there was a CFL feel to the air. Growing up watching the Argos play in this part of town (Exhibition Stadium-the old mistake by the lake), I had to agree. It was a good day to be in the lakeside air.
Many hours later I write this knowing that both Kansas City and New York won tonight which eliminates Toronto from the playoffs. As this proved to be the last home game of the 2008 season, well, it wasn’t a bad way to finish up. I had expected TFC to come out blazing as the up-tempo momentum of those recent road games could provide the fuel to ignite the home crowd. Toronto scored early on a well-crafted curler by Amado Guevara. Then TFC was awarded a penalty kick (and how rare was that this season?) Rohan Ricketts’ shot was stopped by Chicago keeper Jon Busch, but then the rebound race was won by Ricketts and he put it away.
Justin Mapp scored for Chicago to make it 2-1. Sloppy defending by TFC on that one, Mapp was so wide open that Sutton never had a chance.

Then TFC played alert football and caught Chicago in injury time with the winning goal. A throw-in from Wynne went to the middle of the pitch and a pass to the wing (from Robinson or Guevara ??) found Ricketts who made a little move and boom it was in. It was wonderful to see Ricketts have a great game. He is maturing as a player, pays enough attention to the defending side of life and seems more comfortable with his part of the attack.
Blanco scored a solid goal for the Fire in the second half, but TFC kept scoring chances for Chicago to a minimum beyond that. There was enough counter-attack and action at both ends that another Toronto goal was always a possibility.

If only, if only, if only…..
that game in Dallas where a win became a tie had gone Toronto’s way and at least one of the 7 ties at home had
been turned into a win – TFC would be a playoff team.


Questions
Was the fact that Dichio and Marshall said goodbye to the fans on the field runaround apart from the rest of the team and with their children just something that happened or is it an indication of retirement?? In the case of Marshall, a good pro who has made a contribution in these early years, I think his departure would reflect the inevitable upgrade in central defending.
Dichio ? Remember on the October road trip 3 of the four goals had Dichio play a part in the build-up. It is nice to have a legend grow around an infant club, but I say keep Dichio because he contributes. A player- coach role would be deserved.


Marvell Wynne subbed at half time, injury or tactics ?

Brian McBride is a skilled and solid player who may make the difference for Chicago this year, but I am happy to have Chad Barrett. It would have been fun for all had Barrett scored a goal against his former team……