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A draw on the road against the Houston Dynamo, for a club like TFC who
have looked very much the part of a bottom-three side for much of the
season, can only be seen as a positive. Perhaps not since their win
against Sporting Kansas City can supporters walk away from a game with
few complaints as to how the team performed, as well as every player
on the pitch. The last time the Reds had a positive run it was the
first few weeks of the season and one can see that there are some
parallels between early March and late June that Ryan Nelsen should learn
from and take heed to moving forward.
For much of Toronto FC's existence a great deal of focus has been
placed on the revolving door of coaches who've stood on the sideline.
The "S" word is one that has been bandied about over seven seasons in
many capacities. This year it is becoming clear that when we've seen
more or less the same, stable starting eleven each week, Toronto look
a more competitive, promising side and one that is in games for the
entire ninety minutes - win, lose or draw.
Darren O'Dea was a player brought in by Paul Mariner last season with
much hope that he would be the anchor on the backline. There is no
question O'Dea brings the right background, attitude and mentality
that could make him a fixture in defence for years to come (salary
re-adjustment though an important asterisk). However, over this season
it has become clear that experience matters, and despite what O'Dea
brings, TFC's backline has looked best when anchored by a player with
nearly three times the games as the Irishman. Both Danny Califf and
Steve Caldwell have over three hundred matches each, compared to O'Dea's
one hundred and twenty-six, and the games that have included a veteran
centre back have yielded Toronto's best results.
The first win of the season came through an eye opening display from
Robert Earnshaw, as well as John Bostock, and was followed up by
standout games from Joe Bendik who has established himself as a
capable starter in the league. Over the last three games TFC
supporters have seen breakout performances in each that have lifted
the team to provide an X-factor in securing points.
From Jonathan Osorio's outstanding afternoon on the wing against
Philadelphia, to Matias Laba's standout display of passing and
dispossesion against DC United and finally Steve Caldwell's blinder
against Houston where he sacrificed his body over and over to win
battles, Toronto has earned results when first, the team is all on the
same page contributing, then someone stands apart and delivers a clear
man of the match performance.
What comes next for TFC and Ryan Nelsen is finding a way to take these
improved displays, ones where they are looking better and cutting out
mistakes, to get to the next level which is consistently seeing out
ninety minutes and becoming a team that can turn losses in to draws
and draws into wins. There is still a ways to go before reaching that
kind of quality and consistency, one that will require another piece
of the puzzle, which is having the attack fire on all cylinders.
The Earnshaw/Silva partnership has not yielded much over the weeks and
it might be time to see an amendment to the partnerships up top.
Earnshaw/Brockie provides more balance in giving Joe Bendik a bigger,
more physical target up top to send long balls to, and we saw glimpses
of how these two can link up with Brockie providing service but also
showing confidence in taking shots from distance. Bringing in both
Silva and Koevermans later on, first reunites a strong partnership
that was seen last season, second allows Koevermans to return to match
fitness at a steady pace, and also has to potential to ensure TFC are
now a team who will be a dangerous scoring threat for the entire
ninety minutes.
Toronto has not turned a corner yet on the season but over the last three games glimpses have been seen of a few things coming together. If
Nelsen is able to keep the team motivated through the dog days of
summer and maintain this core group of players week in week out, more
growth should be seen that will deliver better performances and
results to finally get the team heading in the ever elusive right direction.
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