Optimism is a wonderful thing.
It’s what often allows us to get through a dreary day, the promise of happier and better times ahead. Being a “glass is half full” type of person isn’t a weakness, nor is it a sign of delusion or gullibility. What morbid and joyless lives those people must lead who always see the negative side of things and ignore the positive.
Cynicism is also healthy, though. It counter-balances optimism and allows us a completely different vantage point. When we view the glass as half empty, it isn’t necessarily reflective of a dark outlook on life, but rather a brutal candidness that is sometimes needed.
And so to Toronto FC and the 2015 Major League Soccer season, a campaign that promises much but could just as likely end in disappointment like each of the eight seasons that preceded it. Cautious optimism is what is required in evaluating the club’s chances for success this year, mixed in with a heaping dose of cynicism.
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Look, I don’t mean to sound pessimistic, but we’ve all seen this before, most recently 12 months ago when the Reds underwent a roster overhaul and began the season in great fashion with that win in Seattle. With Jermain Defoe, Michael Bradley and Julio Cesar in tow, Toronto was the talk of MLS—albeit somewhat abetted by the MLSE hype machine that gave us the “Bloody Big Deal”—and the playoffs seemed like a certainty in March.
We all remember how it ended, right? A team brimming with talent and high-priced DPs, that was hyped to death, was essentially out of it by August—another reminder that an MLS playoff berth is earned in the Fall, not in the Spring.
What is different this time around is that there is greater balance to this TFC side with no gaping holes. The defence has been bolstered by the additions of Damien Perquis and Eriq Zavaleta. In Perquis and Steven Caldwell, Toronto has what appears to be the strong duo in the centre of defence it has long struggled to find.
Bradley has an experienced partner in central midfield in the form of Benoit Cheyrou, the Frenchman being the type of holding player that can allow his American counterpart to follow his more attacking instincts. At 28, former Juventus playmaker Sebastian Giovinco was the marquee signing of the off-season in MLS. The Italian is the type of dynamic attacker who can make things happen in the final third. If he plays to form, Giovinco can take MLS by storm with his bright and inventive play.
Up front, Defoe is gone, replaced by Jozy Altidore, someone who has a point to prove after a terrible stint with Sunderland. Giovinco can also play at the forward position, and the team has genuine depth with Luke Moore, Robbie Findley and Bright Dike.
What’s more, the expansion of the playoff format from 10 to 12 teams means Toronto just has to finish top six in the Eastern Conference. And as an added bonus, powerhouse Sporting Kansas City and the Houston Dynamo are now in the Western Conference, replaced by the expansion New York City FC and Orlando City.
There are no excuses this time for Toronto FC. None. It’s playoffs or bust, and while that may sound crude, it’s the only way success will be measured for TFC in 2015. Fortunately with the off-season moves and the changes to the playoffs and league alignment, Toronto FC has never been in a better position to qualify for the post-season.
So, what’s the problem? I’d love to believe with all my heart that this is the year TFC finally breaks through. Really, I would. But there remains a culture of losing that envelops Toronto FC like a malodorous stench, one that the club has been unable to wash away no matter how hard and whatever it tries. Bradley and Defoe were supposed to lead this team to glory a season ago. It didn’t work out that way. Why should we think it will it be any different now that Giovinco and Altidore are here?
What if Caldwell and Perquis don’t gel? What if Cheyrou or Bradley suffers a long-term injury? Then what? What if Giovinco “pulls a Defoe” and wants to go back home?
There’s no guarantee Altidore will rediscover the goal-scoring form he displayed in Holland earlier in his career. Getting rid of Defoe had to be done, but TFC is taking a gamble on Altidore, and an expensive one at that. Was the American really the best option? Maybe it’ll work out. But it’s just as possible that it won’t.
And what about Greg Vanney? He has little experience as a head coach. Is he really the man to lead TFC to the next level, to build this team into a playoff contender?
It would be comforting to think that TFC will at least be among the six best teams in the East this season, that they can contend for a playoff spot. History, though, tells us it’s not a lock, and that we shouldn’t take anything for granted.
The bottom line is Toronto FC has to prove itself on the pitch in 2015 before we can begin to take them seriously. That sounds incredibly obvious and facile, but we’ve lost sight of that in years past. Instead, we were optimistic and didn’t have a healthy level of scepticism. Where did that get us?
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