This one had a bad feeling about it right from the beginning.
Almost an hour into Toronto FC's flight to Denver early Friday afternoon, the plane was forced to return to Toronto because of a hydraulic problem. When they eventually turned around and made it to Denver, it was too late to train.
Great, another lost day sitting around airports allowing that hated enemy lethargy to creep in. If that's not bad enough, kick off the next day wasn't until 8 p.m., way too late. And Dick's Sporting Goods Park is way out on the Colorado plains next to nothing but a wildlife refuge. They should have brought some bison in to help fill the place up.
Then came the shocker only a couple of hours before kickoff that Colorado striker Conor Casey had been released by the U.S. National team and had taken the short flight from Salt Lake City where the Americans were facing El Salvador in a World Cup Qualifier. Head coach Bob Bradley decided he wasn't going to use Casey, so he did Rapids coach Gary Smith a huge favour by allowing him to hook up with his club. You know what happened next.
As for TFC's performance, nobody can explain it, not even the players themselves, who were at a loss for words. Kansas City did their part by beating playoff rivals New England, while Dallas held their own, away to D.C. United in a 1-1 draw presenting Toronto with a golden opportunity to vault all the way from 11th to a tie for 5th with the games dwindling down to a precious few. But it all went sideways.
Amadou Sanyang will miss the return engagement with the Rapids next week after his sending off. It will be a miracle if Carl Robinson's ankle has healed in time for him to return. So Chris Cummins has a problem in that position.
And Adrian Serioux -- c'mon Adrian. Referee Terry Vaughn was loath to put Toronto two men down, but he had no choice after Serioux's demolition of Omar Cummings. So he's out for next week as well. Despite taking three stitches above his right eye after a first half collision, Nick Garcia should be okay.
Danny Dichio saw his first action in several games, but like Ali Gerba who also came on in the second half, he made no impact. There's no big secret regarding Dichio by the way. What you might have been hearing about a rift between Dichio and Cummins, or Cummins being told not to play him is utter garbage. There is no sinister consipracy against Danny Dichio.
And somewhere Julian de Guzman is watching with great interest. Director of soccer Mo Johnston is not talking publicly, but de Guzman is in the bag… maybe. First comes the tricky business of making salary cap space available to take on the $400,000 of de Guzman's salary that counts against it under the designated player rule. That one is a minefield to sort out at this point in the season and is anything but a sure thing.
De Guzman is a solid player, one of Canada's best, but is investing this much in a defensive midfielder a wise move for a team which has never been able to score enough goals? Three games and counting without one last time I checked. At a critical time of the season no less.
And there's no question players are looking over their shoulders wondering who gets the boot to make way for the wayward de Guzman. That distraction is just another worrisome issue as the season starts to slip away.
Certainly they can still make the playoffs. But if you can't beat Colorado, good luck against Los Angeles, Chicago and Real Salt Lake.
