Photo courtesy TFCpics.com

Must Win.

It’s a phrase that gets thrown around far too often in sports, especially in today’s world of instant gratification. It’s one that I am loathe to use very often, but in the case of Saturday’s TFC match versus Real Salt Lake, I’m saying it.

It’s a must win game.

Sure, if the Reds don’t get full points at BMO Field on the weekend, there is still the entirety of September and October for the team to get hot and pick up the requisite number of points to get into the playoffs, so a loss wouldn’t be devastating from a mathematical point of view. But the points would definitely help, and the game is a must win for other reasons.

For starters, Toronto is coming off two very demoralizing losses over the past week. Both were in different competitions, and both were very different defeats. The end game was the same for each though, with Toronto having dropped three very claimable points against unremarkable opposition.

So in that vein, TFC needs at home win on Saturday to pick the team’s collective spirit up and wash away the memories of the previous two matches.

Secondly, the opponent is RSL, as side that Toronto will become intimately familiar with over the next month, to the tune of three matches against the Utah club between Saturday and September 28. It would be incredibly advantageous if the Reds could kick off the first of those matches on the right foot and stamp their home authority over the Salt Lake crew.

Speaking of home authority, TFC just lost hold of a BMO Field unbeaten mark that lasted over a full year in all competitions when they got thrashed by the New York Red Bulls last weekend. Toronto thrives on the home field advantage — one could say that the entire season depends on it given the atrocious road record — so a win over a very good RSL side on the Lakeshore will send the message that the Red Bulls loss was an anamoly rather than an emerging trend.

Finally, Toronto needs to win on the weekend for the simplest reason of them all, and one that I alluded to above — points. TFC, after having sat in a playoff position the entire season, is now on the outside looking in where post-season rankings are concerned. Toronto is once again in a dog fight for the playoff table scraps, and every single point from here on out will help the Reds in that fight.

Win, TFC. That’s all there is to it.

Posted by Rudi Schuller

Preki did just that, of course, when he kept Dwayne De Rosario and Julian de Guzman on the bench to start Saturday’s road loss at Salt Lake.

That Real Salt Lake jumped out to a 2-0 first half lead came as a surprise to no one. It was, after all, TFC’s third game in seven days, on the road, at altitude, against the MLS Cup holders who just about never lose on their home turf.

Regardless, I think all TFC fans would have preferred to see the big guns on the field, especially given that they now have a full week to recover before their next match. It’s arguably still early enough in the season that throwing out the stars on little rest would not have been as detrimental to them as it would be, say, in September.

The decision was made, and it was always going to be a gamble given what Preki has at his disposal. It’s no secret that TFC is built on an ethos of hard work, team spirit and grit, and while those are all fine qualities that any pro sports team should aspire to have in spades, they need to balance that out with a depth of skill as well.

It’s painfully obvious that there are very few “skill” players on this TFC squad, and in packed weeks like this it becomes even more apparent as the coaching staff attempts to protect those players.

When De Ro and JDG – along with O’Brian White – stepped on the field to start the second half, Toronto showed an extra spring in their step, and for periods took it to RSL.  The second half TFC was at least equal to their opponents, and was actually unlucky not to have at least salvaged a draw for the visitors.

Lesson learned though, and if I were a betting man, I’d lay down a princely sum that Preki never keeps both of his big Canadian guns on the bench at the same time for the rest of the season, regardless of how busy the schedule is.

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Pros and Cons for the Toronto FC at Real Salt Lake match played May 1, 2010:

PROS

• Dwayne De Rosario simply cannot stop scoring
• Chad Barrett’s leadership in the absence of the team’s captain
• Super Stefan Frei’s continued stellar play

CONS

• The first half lineup, one of the ugliest lineups TFC has ever put out
• Lack of attacking depth means conceding an entire 45 minutes to RSL
• Way too much space on Andy Williams’ goal
• Kyle Beckerman’s hair. It still pisses me off after so many years
• TFC’s road record, especially against the Western conference. Just brutal, and it needs to change

HIGHLIGHTS

Posted by Rudi Schuller

One of the main tenets of being a Toronto FC fan is that the team will find a way to disappoint you after giving you just enough to believe that they have turned the corner.

TFC has rattled off two consecutive victories. Last Sunday they dispatched the visiting Seattle Sounders in relative style, and on Wednesday they stood toe-to-toe with the hacks from Montreal and sent their pink-clad foes back up the 401 with yet another loss at the hands of TFC.

It goes without saying, then, that TFC is due to lay an egg tonight. Right?

After all, they are coming off a slate of two wins in three days, with a third game set for tonight in Utah. History shows how well TFC does away from home, at altitude, on a quick turnaround. They do not so well (to put it very mildly).

The defending champion Real Salt Lake are a hurting bunch, with star midfielder Javier Morales likely missing the game with strep throat, his countryman Fabian Espindola also out, and veteran defender Chris Wingert doubtful. RSL have started out poorly, with a measly one win in the team’s first five MLS matches.

That said, Salt Lake will be buoyed by the fact that they are at Rio Tinto Stadium, where they have lost only twice in 21 total matches since the building opened. That is a serious home field advantage, one that Preki’s boys will no doubt be wary of.

TFC will – as usual – look to grind out a result at Rio Tinto, and with offensive catalyst Morales set to miss the match their chances just got that much better.

RSL’s young Canadian midfielder Will Johnson will be turned to to help fill Morales’ shoes, as will Toronto-born Jamaican international Andy Williams. Johnson, who usually plays a supporting role, has the ability to go at defenders and shoot from distance, and Williams is a wily vet who knows what it takes to win games in this league.

The key to this match will likely be in the central midfield, however, where a “battle of the hair” will likely ensue. RSL’s Kyle Beckerman and his white man dreadlocks will match up with our own Julian de Guzman in what should be an exciting battle to control the middle of the park. Both men are supremely talented at controlling the flow of the game, and whomever wins this individual match up will likely also win the game.

If TFC has any energy left from this past week, they should be able to scratch out a result. Get the draw, and get the hell out. Anything more is gravy.

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Join U-Sector at Vivid (1067 St Clair West) to watch tonight’s game vs. Real Salt Lake. Our regular away game spot, the Duke of Gloucester, is closed for a private function.

Posted by Rudi Schuller

The Galaxy won their series by a single goal, courtesy of a successful Landon Donovan penalty kick in the 73rd minute of the Galaxy home leg. The 1-0 scoreline in the second leg was a complete reversal compared to the relative goalfest (a sloppy 2-2 draw) that was the Goats’ home leg a week previous.

Team Beckham now faces off against perennial contenders (and often champion) Houston Dynamo, who finally figured out how to score in the 126th minute of a 120-minute series. Slump-ridden Brian Ching, who has looked a shell of his former self in recent months not only for his orange-clad MLS club but also for the US nationals, rediscovered his scoring touch in extra time after Houston and the upstart Seattle Sounders couldn’t tally a single goal between them over the course of two regulation matches.

Ching figured the best way to break out of a scoring slump was in dramatic fashion, spinning nearly 180 degrees to volley a bullet past Seattle keeper Kasey Keller, off the inside of the nearest post, and into the goal. Houston then held on for dear life for the following 24 minutes as Freddie Ljungberg and company tried their damnedest to continue the expansion side’s Cinderella story for at least a few more days. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be, but Sounders fans can still hold their heads high as their side just completed  arguably the most successful expansion launch in MLS history (yes, I’m including Chicago in that statement, who won the Cup in a much less competitive MLS back in ‘98).

Speaking of the Fire, Chicago dispatched New England from their seemingly annual playoff matchup, winning 2-0 at home after spotting the Revs a 3-2 lead in the New England leg. Old Man Blanco continues to defy time itself, having tallied the second of Chicago’s goals and thereby clinching the series with one kick of his well-travelled foot.

The Fire now play host the Salt Lake, who flipped confrerences in MLS’ CFL-inspired playoff crossover format as the eighth and final seed. The Utah side gave downtodden TFC fans a small reason to smile by expelling defending champion (and two-time Supporters Shield winner) Columbus Crew.

Columbus inexplicably rested reigning league MVP Guillermo Barros Schellotto in the first leg in Utah, and paid for the foolish mistake by going down 1-0. Upon his return to the lineup, Schellotto did his best to revive the Crew’s chances in their home leg by notching two goals and putting his side ahead in the aggregate with little more than a half of soccer to be played, but Columbus seemed determined to falter, allowing Salt Lake to score three unanswered goals in what was not-too-long-ago an inpentrable Crew Stadium. One has to wonder what impact Schellotto would have had in the first leg of the series, but it’ll never be known.

So the MLS Cup semis are set, with LA hosting Houston and RSL visiting Chicago. If I were a predictions kind of guy, I’d say LA takes the West while Chicago keeps the East crown within the actual Eastern Conference, leading to a star-studded Cup Final in which The Beckham Experiment finally achieves the ultimate success on the field with an LA Galaxy MLS Cup Championship.

But since I’m not a predictions kind of guy, I will not make such proclamations. Unless I’m proven correct, in which case I’ll point back to this piece as evidence of my superior prognostication skills.

Posted by Rudi Schuller