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It’s a bit scary to think that Toronto FC actually lost nine games in a row. It seems surreal, that such a string of poor results could even happen in the game of football, yet alone in Toronto. The eternal Toronto pessimist will tell you that a nine-game losing streak is par for the course in this city, and that the damned Leafs are so terrible a nine game losing streak is a blessing, that the Blue Jays will never win again, that the Raptors should go extinct like their namesake, etc. etc.
I am not quite so brutal in assessing sports teams in Toronto – the soccer team that Major League Soccer set up shop with in Canada is a club that is many things, but a nine-game losing team it is not.
Yet, the results show differently, and in a season plagued by injuries and disastrous coaching decisions, Toronto FC just could not get going in 2012.
The culture of the club has suffered for it, and confidence, for many weeks (months, even) was at an all-time low. To start the season and kill off a teams’ playoff hopes in the first ten games is a cruel fate to suffer from.
In the midst of such a tragedy, Danny Koevermans called Toronto FC the “worst team in the world,” which lead to Toronto FC being a top result when Google-ing the words “worst team in the world.”
That’s always fun.
But Toronto FC is not the worst team in the world. There are many things that this club does right. It’s time for the results to follow the off-field amenities.
It is why, on day nine, we wish for a nine-game winning streak! That’s right. Let’s start 2013 off the exact opposite of the year past, at 9-0, with a positive goal differential, with a full 27 points, topping the Eastern Conference, and making everyone over at MLSsoccer.com collectively drop their jaws.
While Bruce Arena changes his pants, and Thierry Henry wonders if he made the right career move, I want to see Toronto FC thrive. I want to see a squad that starts off so well, so perfectly, that every loss feels unbelievable, inconceivable, and non-understandable. I want each Toronto FC loss to be followed up with a press conference slamming the footballing gods for this new cruel fate.
In short, I want Toronto FC to operate much like Jose Mourinho and Real Madrid.
Though Toronto FC may never win nine games in a row, they should instil a culture as though they expect to win nine, 10, hell, 20 games in a row; the culture of a winning team. Let’s turn boys into men this year: let’s turn footballers into champions.
And when Terry Dunfield scores 100 goals in 2013 and shames Lionel Messi, we shall all sit back and laugh, because then, and only then, can we honestly say:
“Toronto FC is the best team in the world.”
Oh, to be a dreamer in this day and age!
Related:
• On the 8th day of Christmas, Payne gave to TFC: Eight on the Jersey
• On the 7th day of Christmas, Payne gave to TFC: Seven New Chip Butties
• On the 6th day of Christmas, Payne gave to TFC: Six Years of Memories
• On the 5th day of Christmas, Payne gave to TFC: Five ACCs!
• On the 4th day of Christmas, Payne gave to TFC: Four Midfielders
• On the 3rd day of Christmas, Payne gave to TFC: Three Smart Drafts
• On the 2nd day of Christmas, Payne gave to TFC: Two Centerbacks
• On the 1st day of Christmas, Payne gave to TFC: A Winterized BMO Field
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