U-Sector – The Original Toronto FC Supporters Group

Season Four is upon us

Monday, February 1, 2010

With the TFC players checking in at BMO Field this morning for pre-season physicals, the 2010 season is officially underway.

Of course, while there was no action on the field over the past few months, Toronto was busy as always off of it. The biggest offseason acquisition is the field itself, which is in the midst of transition from widely-despised and shockingly overused artificial FieldTurf to a state-of-the-art natural grass surface.

Finally showing something tangible for the Maurice Edu sale of 2008, the new grass will have an impact on the local soccer scene for years to come, as BMO Field finally becomes a fully-acceptable place for players to play. Also, it will finally become a desirable place for our national teams to play, thus fulfilling its original role as the National Soccer Stadium.

The new pitch is without a doubt the biggest story, but it is far from the only one leading up to this pre-season. Toronto welcomes its fourth head coach in as many years, as Preki becomes the first gaffer  to join TFC with previously-gained real MLS experience (Mo Johnston’s cup of coffee at New York doesn’t count). Preki’s no nonsense style and history of tactical smarts seems a perfect fit for a team that had no real identity (aside from that of complete underachievers).

Given the lack of resources Preki had to work with at Chivas, and the relatively wealth he walks into at TFC, logic dictates that he should be able to steer TFC into the upper echelon of MLS (and by upper echelon, I mean the top 50 per cent of the league). Football is a funny game though, and as the old cliché goes, that’s why they play the games.

The team itself is undergoing a typical winter transformation, with the biggest departure being Amado Guevara. The Honduran maestro was undoubtedly impactful on the field for TFC, but with his head and his heart firmly in Honduras ahead of the upcoming World Cup, it ony made sense that his body should follow. Plus, Guevara and Preki weren’t exactly the best of friends, so the writing was on the wall once the new coach was brought in.

Incoming, TFC drafted a 17-year-old US national teamer who likely won’t be MLS ready for years, and traded for a speedy winger with a knee problem. While these moves are not exactly awe-inspiring, it’s not much cause for concern ast this point, as Toronto has a decent established core and lots of pre-season to bring in the various needed puzzle pieces.

Who will those pieces be? Well if you believe the rumours, Toronto will be trialing two extremely talented, but very flawed centre backs over the next few weeks. Ibrahim Said, an Egyptian international with a ton of talent and an equal amount of attitude, will apparently be joining the team in Florida for a training stint. Also joininfg the side should be Jorge Andrade, a world-class centre back from Portugal who would likely be preparing forSouth Africa in one of the Big Four leagues right about now if not for the fact that his knee has been turned into mush.

Should both of those guys be healthy for the duration of the training camp, look for only one to be signed and paired up with Nana Attakora. In that case, my money’s on Andrade, not only because he’s a former teammate of Julian de Guzman’s, but also because I don’t see Preki putting up with a known headcase like Said if given any sort of choice. Of course, if Andrade is deemed unfit, then Said and all of his flaws still looks a great choice over Nick Garcia, doesn’t he?

Posted by Rudi Schuller