Toronto FC remains undefeated because of an underrated facet of the game: Substitution.
Chad Barrett sulked to the visiting dugout when he was replaced by Danny Dichio in the 68th minute of Saturday's draw with the Crew in Columbus. Perhaps the young striker was right to display his dissatisfaction as the scoring record of Barrett doubles Dichio and the team was a goal to the worse when the 9-for-19 sign was raised.
But if he has not done so as of yet, Barrett may need to seek out coach John Carver and apologize. As Dichio strolled to his spot in the centre of the pitch he became the intangible that allowed TFC to equalize on an ugly own-goal just six minutes from full time.
Up until that seemingly innocuous switch of strikers, crosses were cleared as the Crew had its way with the undersized pairing of Barrett and Pablo Vitti. Columbus cross monster Chad Marshall saw his role change and was forced to deal with Dichio, thus forcing Gina Padula to fill the void. The second-year defender was unable to adapt and his indecision on Dwayne De Rosario's 45-yard in-swinger allowed the ball to end up in the back of the net. The ill-effect of pressure.
Capable back ups
A few blogs back I was lambasted for citing Manchester United backup Ben Foster in the same sentence as then-back-up-now-No.1 TFC 'keeper Stefan Frei. The point I was trying to make was that capable backups are paramount in a game where the health of a goalkeeper can make or break a season. On Saturday Greg Sutton was the backup until an injury ended Frei's day at halftime. Sutton came in to make a pair of game-saving stops and organized a back four that looked ready to come unglued in the final few minutes.
Carver now has a decision to make on which of the two will play backup when the team opens its home season on Saturday versus Seattle. Considering the performance of both 'keepers to date, it is unlikely the coach will lose any sleep.
Rivalry is real
While the lion's share of Saturday's matinee in Columbus was boring on the field, it was a different story in the stands. The noise was palpable from both sets of supporters as once again an impressive number of Canadians made the annual trip across the border.
Derby games are supposed to include clubs from the same city. However, it seems time zones will suffice for these two combatants.
Carver myth grows
Sports teams are quite often a refection of their coaches. It might be safe to add supporters to that group after TFC coach Carver 'shushed' the Crew fans at the end of Saturday's game. Expect a new song and/or dance mimicking the coach on Saturday.
