BMO Field finally turned into a fortress in 2009. (Getty Images)

2009 was expected to the be year that Toronto FC turned the corner and really made a splash in Major League Soccer. The moves were made to get local star Dwayne De Rosario at the start of the season and things looked promising early on but midway through the first full month of action manager John Carver stepped down and if you ask me the club never really rebounded from that change.

Chris Cummins took over as interim manager for the rest of the season and even with the moves that brought in guys like Ali Gerba and the club’s first designated player Julian De Guzman, Cummins never really took control of the locker room and the club. Guys like Danny Dichio never really got their full run under Cummins.

The club never got real consistent with their play under Cummins. One week they’d play so well many including myself figured they would be a lock for the post season. Then they’d do what they do best and suck up the place like they did on the final day of the season when they got spanked 5-0 by the lowly New York Red Bulls.

What Went Right In 2009?
To be honest few things really went right for this club this season. But pinpointing a few items would certainly start with their 6-1 beating of Montreal in the Canadian Cup to secure their bid in the play-in round of the CONCACAF Champions League this year. TFC needed a handfull of goals to advance and some how on a night that saw them on the road in Montreal, the Reds pulled out all the stops and stole a trophy away from a Vancouver club that was looking on from the stands. Another would certainly be the play of Dwayne De Rosario. The club wouldn’t have nearly been as good as they were had it not been for DeRo. Lastly their home play this season was finally something to brag about as they turned BMO Field into the fortress that we all knew it could be. Eight of their 10 wins on the year came from the friendly confines at Exhibition Place.

What Went Wrong In 2009?
Consistency was a killer and so was their defense. Mo Johnston made a bold move to get veteran defender Nick Garcia from San Jose and it was a move that never panned out for them. Even though they had a solid group of rookies like keeper Stefan Frei, the defense would constantly let him down. Offensively they never seemed to find a go-to scorer other than DeRo. Chad Barrett and Pablo Vitti constantly let folks down in front of the net.

What’s Next?
For this club finding a manager that will pull the right strings with this bunch will be key. With so much talent in the midfield they need to find a way to keep the pressure off their defense and find ways to score. Finding a classy finisher around the net will go a long way for this club and finding a true central defender will really help out. This club is so close but yet so far away.

Thanks to an email from a fan up north.  This video of the Red Patch Boys creating a large banner for Danny Dichio may be a bit long but its still pretty cool to see the tribute that they put on for their favorite bald striker. Man Dichio will always be a legend in Toronto.

It’s been a pretty good Tuesday around the world of soccer. Jozy Alitdore scored his first goal for Hull City and some young Americans are getting their shot in Germany. I know I’ve been a bit quiet these last couple of days, just expect more of that in the coming couple weeks as my wedding and honeymoon approach. Just a bit of programming information, expect few if any posts between September 3 through the 11.

Now back to the task at hand for the evening dose of links and thoughts. I will first start with a letter that was posted over at 3rd Degree, the wonderful FC Dallas new source. This letter was penned by the man who has been dubbed the “first fan” of the FC Dallas/Dallas Burn.

This guy is a true fan, and even these last couple years has been driving over a 1000 miles to see the club. Yes a 1000! Dustin Christmann is that man that all MLS clubs need.

But that ends next year. This super-fan will no longer as he puts it enable “an incompetent organization in which performance is clearly optional.” Christmann went on to list a bunch of problems by the organization under the Hunts since their takeover of the club.

I can side a bit with Christmann in how the club treats the real soccer fans in Dallas. What’s really weird is I’ve heard the Hunts want to sell Columbus and not Dallas when it is all said and done. That just shows you how silly they really are.

If you read on in the comments you will notice some good suggestions by some folks of what the club should do. It’s nice to see people write letters like this but it really helps when people take it a step further and give the owners something to actually go on with to correct their issues.

Writing the club’s decision makers and letting them know what they can do is a good start if you ask me. Furthermore the club needs to get their brand out there more in the area. Its sad when I can find a DC United soccer ball at a local target and not a FC Dallas ball. Same goes at the airport when I cannot find even a keychain of the club’s logo.

What’s really sad is people working at this club don’t even realize the problems that surround the club in the area.

I don’t want to sound like I am ragging on my local side here but when you see it up close year after year you really start to see the little things that matter. Right now this club just doesn’t take care of the little things that clubs like Seattle, DC, Houston, etc. do. And by the way, Dallas isn’t the only one in this boat that sucks at the little things. I can think of at least three more that come in behind the Red Stripes.

Continue Reading…

EDIT: Currently experiencing some issues with this video…check back later to see if it is work! Sorry for the hassle!

A decent amount of goals this week. I’ve once again put together the usual list of my favorites. I may have missed a couple others though but these are the ones I thought were the better goals out there scored this weekend. Lots of goals scored off set pieces this weekend or just sloppy goalkeeping.

Order of goals: Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus), Marco Pappa (Chicago), Christian Gomez (DC), Danny Dichio (Toronto), Freddie Ljungberg (Seattle), Richard Mulrooney (Houston), Cam Weaver (Houston), and Stuart Holden (Houston).

Claudio Lopez and Kansas City hope to change their luck this weekend. (Brian Stevens, WVH Photo Correspondent)

Sometimes the number 13 can mean unlucky and sometimes people use that number to try and make it into luck. What does that mean for our MLS clubs this week? Well week 13 could mean staying in playoff contention or falling out.

So far we’ve already had one game under our belts this week with the game in Houston on Wednesday. I didn’t talk too much about that game but after looking back on some of the tape and highlights Houston deserved to win the game. For the most part the play was very even and I believe I read a quote out there from a few Dynamo players saying Chivas was the best squad they’ve faced this season. Let’s hope that these two meet again in the western conference finals this season. Home field advantage will go a long way between those clubs I can tell you that much.

Chivas does return to the pitch this weekend, as do most fo the clubs except for Colorado who has another week off here. Mostly we have conference battles this weekend with one exception in Columbus when Chivas squares off against the Crew.

As always feel free to leave your game predictions below. Continue Reading…

The last top on our season previews today heads out of the country to Canada with Toronto FC. The Reds have arguable had one of the best offseason by adding a few key additions like Dwayne De Rosario and Pablo Vitti. John Carver still has some issues to sort out in his defense but overall this club looks like a possible contender in the east.

2008 record and finish: 9-13-8, 35 pts., last in east, failed to reach playoffs Continue Reading…

Just a crazy schedule it is. A Monday night game in July. Then again the league’s All-Star game is on a Thursday night and games are played in 100 degree weather in Texas. But anyways, tonight we get a rare treat as Real Salt Lake puts their unbeated home record on the line against visiting Toronto FC.

Should be a good game tonight though for those who want to get their soccer fix early this week. You get one of the best home clubs (I’m sure Toronto fans would say they have the best home team) against one of the worst road clubs. Could it sound like draw city? Maybe, we’ve had a bunch of them lately (12 of 21 games in July have been draws) so let’s hope not.

Toronto will be without a few too many key players (Edu, Wynne and Dichio all out for Olympics or injuries) and RSL is as solid as it comes on the turf at Rice-Eccles. The thing that worries me for RSL is Toronto is not like most clubs in this league, they know how to handle the turf and how to win on it. They proved it last year in Salt Lake city with their first ever road win there.

RSL has to get on the board early with guys like Javier Morales leading the charge and Kyle Beckerman finding gaps in the defense. Should those two have a good game you can bet RSL will walk with three points tonight. If they are stopped by Toronto, I wouldn’t expect more than a draw then.

So what will happen tonight? I think it will be similar to their last meeting in Toronto. It was a tight game that saw Toronto escape with a 1-0 win. RSL had some decent chances that day at BMO Field but it was their lack of attack in the first half that really did them in. I sort of see that kind of thing happening tonight. Defensively these two can shut one another down. Its just a matter of who makes that mental error in the final third.

I think RSL will win tonight though, Toronto has just been unimpressive lately and that should carry over tonight. RSL has done well enough in recent games to get themselves in position to win the west this season. It may not be pretty but whatever Jason Kreis is doing is working.

It will be another close one though, RSL sneaks by and moves up the standings in the process.

WVH Prediction: RSL 1, Toronto 0