Toronto FC still hasn’t lost at home, still hasn’t sent the packed house at BMO Field home with heads hung low, but last weekend they didn’t send their fans home happy either. A scoreless draw against struggling Kansas City felt a bit more like a loss than a win for a team battling to get to the top of the Eastern Conference.
For Kansas City, a road point was much better than another loss for the road-weary bunch. It won’t get the Wizards out of last place but it is something to build on, even of the woeful Wizards defense failed to score yet again.
SBI correspondent Duane Rollins was at BMO Field for the match and shares his perspective on the match with us (Former KC correspondent Mike Cross has moved on after starting a new job so SBI is in the process of trying to find a new Kansas City correspondent.)
Home not so sweet for TFC
By DUANE ROLLINS
Undefeated still.
In the moments following TFC’s 0-0 draw with last place Kansas City that’s about all the Red’s supporters could hold onto. That despite being outplayed and outclassed for long stretches Toronto had escaped from the game with a draw.
"Well, we’re still perfect at home," we shouted. "BMO is a fortress, um, yeah, that’s it."
It was unclear whether we believed it. It’s been a fun ride so far this 2008 season. The Reds have put themselves into playoff contention and are being whispered by some as actual MLS Cup contenders. It’s a long way from the depth of August 2007 when we all just prayed that the Mighty FC might put the ball in the net again. Just once. Sometime.
But yet Toronto’s fans remain a bit restless. We wonder how much of a mirage the current standing is. After all, there is just three points to show from the road and there are still more games to be played away from BMO Field than there are those left at home.
It’s worth pointing out that the Wizards were making their second trip to BMO Saturday. Having known what to expect, they played a better game than they did the previous time in. As we left the stadium full of false bluster, many of us considered that a team on better form than KC would have likely walked out with the three points.
Even John Carver could be heard telling a national audience that he "thought the game was going to produce a winner in its last 10 minutes and it wouldn’t have came from TFC."
That one didn’t might have been chalked up to a solid game from the back line. Early season whipping boy Marco Velez continues to improve and may have been an unheralded MOTM for the home side.
After Carver finished (mildly) throwing his team under the bus he followed up with another interesting comment.
"We all know where this team needs to invest," he told CBC sports. "We need someone that can put the ball in the back of the net consistently."
It’s unknown whether Jeff Cunningham felt a slight warming feeling on his earlobes at that very moment. But, it seems likely. His slow crawl to 100 career MLS goals ended about the 60th minute on that day. He hasn’t looked dangerous since, well, forever. The rumors of a pure striker coming in as a DP continue to grow.
Something has got to give. All the pieces are there—an improved defense, a talented midfield and a effective target man. But, you can’t win if you can’t score-even in a fortress.
Although Toronto might have gotten something more from the game if they had played the returning internationals from the start I think Carver made the right decision. The same 11 played very well against Colorado & deserved to start. It also sent an important message to the returning players – we can’t stop you from playing internationals, but you might not get your spot back right away
That’s the first recap of the game I’ve seen that didn’t mention TFC’s lineup. In truth Carver’s decision to hold back Guevara, Edu, Brennan, Sutton and Marshall had as much impact on the game and the fans reaction to it as anything else that happened on the field. Whether BMO field is a fortress or not matters very little if we can’t improve our results on the road. Better start this weekend too or we’re likely to find ourselves looking up at most of the competition in the east.
Right on Duane. it is as clear as it can ever be. We need a DP striker with a pedigree and we need to ship Cunningham off. He can take his act elsewhere. Perhaps San Jose can use him.