In Major League Soccer, hope springs eternal. Even in October.
Toronto FC has just one league match left of their schedule, a road date with DC United on Saturday. Having already lost to United at home last month (which effectively ended their playoff hopes), the only thing left for TFC to play for is avoiding the ignominy of being swept by the league's worst team. 2010 is over. Time to look ahead.
Which is what The Globe and Mail is doing today, outlining the task in front of Toronto FC. First things first, of course; the club issued an "apology" to their fans, scaled back a 2011 season ticket package that included a hike in prices, and have the look of an organization cognizant of the need to get it right. As an expansion team without a playoff appearance in four years, the obvious suggestion from Paul Attfield is that the club look to the last club to turn around their fortunes after a bad initial run: Real Salt Lake.
It's RSL's story that should give TFC fans hope. Provided they buy that MLSE (the club's owners) have it in them to follow a similar plan towards success, there are plenty of reasons to believe. Parity means the playoffs are almost always in reach, and TFC has come agonizingly close before. Playoffs mean even the eighth best team, as RSL was last year, has a shot at a title. Just because the Utahans squeaked into the field in 2009 doesn't mean their championship is less meaningful; in fact, with this year's regular season performance in evidence, it's clear that RSL won a title on their way up and that the MLS Cup might have set them off on a course towards a dynasty-like run. TFC fans wouldn't even dare to dream. Just making the playoffs would be a welcome salve for Johnston-inflicted wounds.
What TFC needs is a Garth Lagerwey, a general manager with an understanding that change is in order and that the road to victories is forged by uprooting the negative culture that has taken hold in Toronto. Lagerway did it with a near-complete roster overhaul and a dynamic young manager, turning RSL from expansion loser to preeminent MLS winner. With a shot at the Supporters Shield this year and a title defense in the playoffs beckoning, RSL has exactly the blueprint TFC should copy. If it can happen at a club with a smaller budget and lesser resources, there's no reason it can't happen at TFC.
That's easier said than done, of course, and Toronto will need to hire the right guy for the job. Quality MLS GM's are worth their weight in gold and the number of truly successful ones aren't many in number. Add the problem that until Erik Soler found success in New York (in conjunction with Hans Backe and with a lot of money to spend on DPs), foreign transplants haven't worked, and the task it that much harder. The job is more than talent evaluation and adding the right head coach is essential to success. After Johnston's wheeling and dealing failed as a way to build a winner, how much control MLSE is willing to impart on his successor will also play a key role.
RSL did with with a small market budget and savvy signings; TFC's future GM has fewer restraints but would be wise to emphasize team chemistry and cohesion over flashy signings and high-talent names.
In hopes of shedding some light on what MLSE needs to find in a new GM, the Globe & Mail went to one of the more famous, if not necessarily successful, MLS GM's in recent memory: Alexi Lalas. Yes, Alexi Lalas.
“I look at it as one of the greatest opportunities for someone to come along in a long time because you have committed ownership, you have a rabid fan base, you have a stadium, you have a relevancy within your market and you have a willingness from people to a certain extent to give you a chance, and also, let’s hope, you can only go up,” he said.
It's true that there's plenty of room to go up in Toronto, and that the club has more going for it than many around the league. Those factors also give the job a hint of the poison chalice, however, especially with MLSE showing signs of itchiness; Preki lasted less than a year in the head coach's role, and with the club finally rid of Mo, one wonders if they might have trouble committing to a long term plan.
But a change in culture will take time. Does MLSE have the patience to wait out a less-competitive season next year if that's what it take to turn the club around? Or is the attitude that the perpetual hope provided by the playoffs makes treading water a must while they hope to build a true title contender?
Alexi goes on to say that TFC isn't as much of a mess as it might seem to the fans. For now, that can't be much solace (especially coming from him, a voice that isn't always the most respected), but in the world of parity and playoffs, it should give them hope. That, or make them afraid that Lalas is angling for the job.
