Such are the vagaries of life in Major League Soccer that its impossible to handicap these matches. The old moniker 'On any Given Sunday' certainly applies to this league even if most games are played on Saturday.
There is no question Toronto FC were by far the better team on Saturday night in San Jose. Yet these were the same Earthquakes who held Real Salt Lake to a draw at Rio Tinto Stadium a week ago. And yes that would be the same RSL which stomped all over Toronto the week before.
Nevertheless, head coach Chris Cummins made all the right lineup changes for this one. Part of it was forced on him. Given Nana Attakora's play of late there was no way he could sit him down even with Marvell Wynne returning from the Confederations Cup. He had to play them both.
So what to do?
It was a stroke of genius at least on this occasion, to move Jim Brennan up the left side, install Dwayne DeRosario on the right and turn the formation into the ever increasingly popular 4-5-1 set up. Or call it a 4-3-3. Whatever you call it, it's all determined by which team has the ball and the flow of the game. Canada is doing much the same at the Gold Cup.
All this is fine of course until the complexion of TFC's ever changing roster changes again.
First, Julian DeGuzman.
Despite what you might be hearing, he is nowhere close to accepting a lucrative offer to play in Toronto. It still could happen as the pile of dough they're throwing at him has made him ponder the situation. But he desperately wants to remain in Europe. It is getting close to crunch time however. If no serious offer from Spain or Germany is forthcoming, the dollar signs from MLSE will be hard to ignore.
Then there's Ali Gerba.
Talk about a finisher. How many chances to score did he have in Canada's Gold Cup group stage matches? Two? How many goals did he score? You get the picture. The spectre of Gerba swooping in to nail down a starting striker role could be the best thing that's ever happened to Chad Barrett. His two goals Saturday night caused the TFC coaching staff to smile just a little, although Barrett could have easily scored a couple more. But his hard work is paying off. Fear is the greatest motivator they say. Fear of losing your job would fall into that category.
The position will get even more crowded once the highly touted O'Brian White makes his debut. He's still a couple weeks away however. Look for him to make an appearance in that upcoming friendly against River Plate, or the league game against Columbus on July 25th likely off the bench. Certainly not against Houston on the 18th. This team is still a work in progress, but for the first time in their short history, the playoffs are a real possibility. They'd better be. The oft stated goal has mostly looked like a fantasy until now.
