Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/USA TODAY Sports
By RYAN TOLMICH
With the club’s playoff aspirations all but extinguished, Toronto FC will need to find a way to win to this weekend without one of the its star players.
TFC announced Friday that striker Jermain Defoe is set to miss Saturday’s clash with the Montreal Impact after aggravating a nagging hamstring injury.
Defoe, who has scored 11 goals in 17 games this season, has missed nine of Toronto FC’s past 13 games with a groin injury. During Defoe’s time out injured, TFC amassed a record of 4-2-7.
Toronto FC enter the weekend in need of a victory, as the club currently trails the Columbus Crew by six points for the Eastern Conference’s fourth and final playoff spot. Any points accumulated by the Crew or dropped by Toronto FC would see the Canadian club eliminated from playoff contention.
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How does Toronto FC replace Defoe ahead of this weekend’s game? What chances do you give the team of making the playoffs? What changes need to be made by the club ahead of next season?
Share your thoughts below.
Toronto spent all of that money and they can’t even make the playoffs. Why spend if there is so little correlation between spending money and winning in MLS?
32 points last year with a -17 gd. 40 (2 games remaining) -9 gd in 2014
you would think that adding Bradley, Gilberto, Defoe, Caesar, DeRo, Jackson, Morrow, Moore, Oduro, etc could get them a little more but we are talking about a team that has never finished in the top 10 league standings..
Playing FIFA last night, he puts one in, looked great….just like real life, but not great enough….what might have been.
Just ends up a loser for his whole career…not even close to challanging for a title this year. Not saying Toronto would have been favored…but not even making the playoffs. He will probably blame others now.
Is it really news. Neither team is going to the playoffs.
Hopefully Don Garber doesn’t read your post and hold a press conference. This report would be “news”, in the context you provided, if Montreal (sitting in last place) was fighting to avoid relegation.
“Playing for pride sure does make for compelling TV.” –No one
I had an interesting thought last night. I watched the Revs match and then switched over to the Patriots. At the end of the football game, they cut to the Kraft family, who were going berzerk simply because they beat the Jets in a run of the mill mid-season game. I have a feeling that when the Lee Nguyen hit the game-winner in Houston, they barely cracked a smile…
And here’s why I think Garber deserves a little more sympathy. He more or less admitted that he’s trying to represent an old guard that simply doesn’t care. But he can’t just relegate the old guard because the old guard is what kept this league afloat for the last decade. Garber, then, is somewhat indebted to these guys and is responsible for protecting their investment.
Garber also hinted at a new guard that’s willing to play hardball (spend more money, maybe pro/rel, etc etc). The key then is to reward this new guard while not punishing the owners who have kept the league afloat. Which is why I think the only solution is to PROMOTE the new guard to a more competitive league with a higher salary cap. That way, the Kraft family can go about business as usual (no soccer stadium, no DPs). And we can hope that maybe one day the Kraft family gets jealous of the newly promoted teams and wants to join to party.
I think for the reasons above we should give our soccer czar a break…
Well, Dieter, I do not question whether or not Garber is capable or even the right man. I know he possesses the passion necessary and the dedication/professionalism required.
I don’t believe he needs a break. I believe he needs a push.
Please stop.
New England has been in more finals than almost any other team. And I would pick them in the East right now….
Using speculation of whether the owners smiled as a winning goal was scored to push Pro/Rel……wow.
What a joke.
Great comment.
Actually, I didn’t see this one coming.
…said no one, anywhere, ever.
Last time he wears the red.
DEFOE TO MISS CLASH WITH IMPACT DUE TO NOT CARING
If I recall correctly, he had the same “injury” to avoid his last match before coming to TFC. Transferring is really hard on your hamstrings.
Sneaking suspicion he misses the NE match, too, before jetting back to England permanently.