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Last Friday, I went through what can only be described as the most horrifying, painful and exhausting procedure known to mankind – steak withdrawal. Well, actually, I had all four of my wisdom teeth pulled, which meant no steak (or food, really) for about a week, but one week later, I’ve learned a lot…about Toronto FC.
At the start of the season, there were a lot of mixed messages, kind of like the mixed messages my friends fed me prior to getting these teeth removed. Among these themes, one of the most common sentiments was perfectly summed up by a close friend of mine: “It will hurt like hell at first but get better over time. Don’t worry so much.” In a way, that’s kind of what we were told about Toronto FC this season, too – this season might be painful, but it’ll get better over time, so don’t worry.
These last few weeks have been, perhaps, the most painful for Toronto FC. Four regular components of the club have gone (kind of like my four teeth!); Terry Dunfield was released, Danny Califf “retired,” Luis Silva was traded to D.C. United and Darren O’Dea, the captain of the club, was sold to Ukrainian outfit Metalurh Donetsk. Since then, Toronto FC hasn’t won a game – ouch!
It isn’t easy losing four important pieces of a team, but it was a necessary pain for a team that had already found themselves in a precarious situation in the salary cap. Simply put, Toronto FC couldn’t afford to keep players like O’Dea around, and the trade of Luis Silva was done in an effort to gain the allocation money needed to bring in other players.
Still, Silva, Dunfield, O’Dea and Califf were recognizable faces, some of whom were favourites within the supporter’s factions, others, jaded by the lack of playing time and opportunity. For those who fell in love with Dunfield’s effort, Silva’s deft touch, O’Dea’s leadership or Califf’s mutton chops (man, those were cool), losing these players is kind of a bummer.
It is a necessary sacrifice. There are a couple factors that need to be addressed; first, this is the summer transfer window, and thus, Ryan Nelsen and Kevin Payne’s first real chance at accessing the football transfer world, since major moves don’t really take place in January, when European clubs are in the middle of the season; second, the club needs to balance the books after the previous regime left the club with inflated contracts for players who they either could not afford or did not deserve the kind of cash they were making. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Toronto FC needs to build the proper foundation so that the process of recovery goes as smoothly as possible.
There is an underlying fear within the club right now that Toronto FC isn’t going to make any major moves. The signing of Alvaro Rey from Xerez is the first move in what supporters will hope is a busy summer transfer window for the Reds. However, things have not gone smoothly so far for Toronto FC – Diego Forlan, a target of the club who had been linked with a move to MLS for many years now, outright said he does not want to play for Toronto FC. Rey himself had been on trial with the club but was let go a few weeks ago, only to be called back after the Forlan deal fell apart.
Right now, Toronto FC is in a stage where normalcy is more important than grandeur, where competency is a higher priority than crushing opponents on the field. Results have flown out the window; the club had a yearning for a fancy steak dinner but this season, Toronto FC will need to live off ice cream and mashed potatoes, while dreaming of the normal luxuries in life; for every slice of pizza, a win, for every kiss on the cheek, three full points, for every bubble tea, a happy fan in the stand.
This season will be a season of little victories, much like this week has been, personally, a week of small improvements – getting off pain killers, eating mac and cheese, closing my mouth fully, each a small but infinitely satisfying victory in the game of recovery. While Rey may not be a major signing, if he, like Matias Laba, ends up being an important player for the club, well, there’s a small victory in a lost season.
I have not had a medium sirloin steak in a long time, and Toronto FC hasn’t signed a superstar Designated Player. Tim Leiweke has promised TFC fans a DP (but hasn’t promised me dinner, humph!) and his promises have, in the past, been pretty spot on – there was that David Beckham fellow who came to Los Angeles and changed a failing franchise into a MLS Cup winning team; can he do the same with Toronto FC?
We’ll have to wait and see about that one.
The 2013 season will be remembered as a season where Toronto FC finally took a look at the real problems behind the club, decided to do what would hurt in the short term, so that there would be less problems in the long term. Not to write off the 2013 season already, but the chance of a playoff spot at this point is, realistically, not going to happen – it will be a case of celebrating these little victories and eagerly anticipating the big ones; the new DP, a consistent squad, a playoff spot.
And, like getting your wisdom teeth removed, Toronto FC only has to uproot this team one time, properly, recover from that pain and forget it ever happened.
“It will hurt like hell at first but gets better over time. Don’t worry so much.”
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