On Thursday I was informed that Mo Johnston would not talk about Brian McBride. At the time I never thought much of the decision; 'Fair enough' I remember thinking to myself.

But on Saturday the generosity waned.

For the better part of six months the Toronto FC brain-trust has speculated on bringing in a striker to fill the net. For the better part of three months John Carver has emphasized the need for a quality striker. The moratorium needs to end, a name is needed.

In New England, TFC played their best game away from BMO Field since the win in Los Angeles back in April. John Carver's team competed, no one can deny that truth, but rarely caused a stir up front. Danny Dichio struggled with an organized Revs' back three who were disinterested in playing the rough and tumble game that seems to motivate Dichio. The big centre forward was replaced by the slashing Jeff Cunningham, whose pursuit of the 100-goal plateau will need at least a fourth game.

Reality is, neither Dichio nor Cunningham is the 15-20 goalscorer TFC desperately needs to compete in the East. And perhaps for the better good of both players, the team needs to find them help.

(Sidenote: To me, DC United's win over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Sunday is a great example of a balanced offence.)

An interesting quote came out of Chicago on the weekend, where players broke rank to address the third-straight scoreless result on Saturday against the lowly San Jose Earthquakes.

"Will [McBride] help us? Absolutely," Fire defender Diego Gutierrez said. "To have a guy like that ... that's a no-brainer. If you can add a guy like that, you'd like to be able to do it."

A no-brainer. See for yourself.

Mo Johnston has done well to create something (the current TFC squad) out of nothing (last season's TFC squad), and deserved to rest on his laurels for a spell. But the season is entering a critical stage, where dropping points will result in dropping position.

Of course McBride is not be all and end all (as the forums are alive -- once again -- with talk of Darren Huckerby), but at the current it is difficult to argue that he is not the tonic TFC needs to make that fabled playoff push.

Now I do not in the least profess to understand the process or what it would take to bring in a player who is lukewarm on the situation, but Mo, and I am sure Carver, do -- and if both care to enjoy long, bountiful careers in Toronto, bringing in a player with a playing career that matches the aforementioned adjectives is a good start.