It has been somewhat of a rollercoaster few weeks for Toronto FC and the team’s fans. Witnessing Sebastian Giovinco singlehandedly run the team’s offence has been mind blowing, while picking up defender Damian Perquis’ gaffes have left fans bewildered. Giovinco’s attacking skills are in a league of their own, surpassing the franchise record for most goals in the season with a third of the year still left, while Toronto defending has also been in a league of its own; a Sunday Men’s League.
Toronto FC: Defensive Affairs
It’s obvious. Toronto needs to defend better. Having conceded 21 goals in the last 13 games, the franchise is resting its chances of a first MLS playoff appearance on the talents of Sebastian Giovinco. Anytime you rely on one person, you’re asking for trouble; just ask former Toronto Maple Leafs star Phil Kessel, it got so bad for him that even his hot dog eating habit went public. ‘Depth’ when talking about defenders at Toronto usually consist of converted wingers, and with Toronto desperate for quality defenders, they added a big name. Former US International STRIKER, Herculez Gomez.
With Giovinco, Altidore, Moore, Findley already there as striker depth, the addition of Gomez was a confusing one.
Newly added Moroccan defender Ahmed Kantari has made three appearances for Toronto so far and has looked supremely underwhelming. What’s worse? Perquis has been open to more brain cramps on the field that have not been noticed earlier this season. Time may be required before the Perquis and Kantari pairing can be fully judged. However, pressure is on the team and time is running short; the difference between Toronto and a playoff miss is just three points.
Ashtone Morgan has easily been a revelation for Toronto this year. After inconsistency for most of his career, he has dominated defensively and offensively this season. Justin Morrow, as always is Mr. Reliable. Depth around full-back has been a problem, as there are not any reliable options behind Morgan and Morrow. A year ago, Nick Hagglund was a rookie phenom who was a fixture in the Toronto back-line. This year has been difficult, as Hagglund has barely featured in the first-team set up. Hagglund has mostly been picked over Eriq Zavaleta this season, with head coach Greg Vanney favouring the former Chivas defender. While Vanney hasn’t disclosed exactly why Hagglund has not featured on the team, in a post game press conference in May, he compared the two, “Nick is more of a physical defender who gets into it with his opponent…. Eriq is more of a positional player.” Vanney selected Zavaleta over Hagglund against the Portland Timbers when deciding who would mark Fernando Adi. He elaborated, “Adi is physical and bounces off defenders in physical encounters, we didn’t want him to enter physical battles with Nick.” At a more recent press conference, Vanney praised Zavaleta, saying, “I’ve known Eriq a long time and he thinks the game ahead of time.” Being a defender in his own career, it sounds like Hagglund is simply not the type of defender Vanney prefers. Hagglund could provide depth at the fullback position, but he will need to play the way Vanney would like him to or playing time will be scarce.
The next question that needs to be asked is: Is this Toronto team struggling to defend, or are they struggling to defend on the road? In the last five away games, Toronto has conceded a whopping 15 goals; averaging 3 goals against per game. In the last 8 home games, they’ve conceded a decreased 6 goals; averaging 0.75 goals against per game. Perhaps the team just lacks the focus and mentality to defend tighter when on the road. Kantari and Perquis are experienced at the highest levels of world football, surely they’ve got the talent to defend better than this?
This is the nearest Toronto has come to playoffs in franchise history, and the room for error is small as three points could be the difference between making the post season, or being the next ‘bloody big failure’.
