This is the sixth in a series of 20 short columns focused on the things I'm thinking about as we approach the 20th season of Major League Soccer. I'm going to dig into mostly non-obvious questions here – the tertiary stuff that can become bigger over time – rather than the giant storylines (e.g., How do the Red Bulls replace Henry? What if Ozzie's injury lingers? Is this THE year for TFC?).
You can find previous installments in my story archive HERE. For this latest, we're off to answer a little bit about the Reds...
I fully expect Toronto FC to get to the playoffs this season regardless of how, eventually, the question I'm about to pose is answered.
First, though, you need to stop tittering about "You guys predict TFC will make the playoffs every year!" We had them ranked 14th in our initial Power Rankings of 2014 (TFC finished 13th), most of the staff was split on the "Will they or won't they?" question, and when push came to shove the boilerplate answer was "I don't know, I think they'll probably be in the hunt come October."
And they were. They just weren't built smart enough, back to front and otherwise, to finish said hunt.
This year, however, they are and they will. Torontonians will learn, once and for all, that you can actually play soccer in November.
But the difference between TFC coming in as a fourth seed just hoping to spring an upset vs. coming in as a two seed playing like rocketized animals might not be what you think – or more precisely, where you think. We all know the backline underwent major surgery, and that Michael Bradley and Benoit Cheyrou will need just as much time to jell as Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore. We know those are the big questions.
The smaller one that not a ton of folks are asking just yet: How will the wide midfield work?
I honestly don't know. But I suspect we'll see a bunch of this:
That's Jonathan Osorio pinching in from left midfield, overloading the central channel and playing a streaking forward (I won't mention the name, TFC fans) into the final third. Osorio is not the type of player who comes to mind for most fans when you say "winger," but ours is a game of variables, and his ability to be a facilitator can shake up those variables in advantageous ways.
One of those is to pull the opposing fullback way up the field and vacate the entire flank for the fullback. If Osorio is out there, expect Justin Morrow (or Ashtone Morgan) to overlap for days.
Another is to simply unbalance a defense by not playing symmetrical soccer. If Osorio – a relatively slow, but skillful and clever inverted winger – is on one side, you need a field-stretcher on the other. Think about how the Revs played with Kelyn Rowe (playmaker) and Teal Bunbury (field stretcher), or RBNY with Thierry Henry (playmaker) and Lloyd Sam (field stretcher).
Bunbury and Sam made the field big not just by being threats to get in behind, but also by just staying wide. I don't know who on the current TFC roster can do the same.
It's a question I'm sure Greg Vanney is asking. It he gets the answer he's looking for... then yeah, you can crow about how I said TFC will make the playoffs this season. And at the end of the year, I'll crow about how I was right.
