Toronto FC have only to look so far at one of their Texas Pro Soccer Festival opponents to see just how much a difference a year can make.
Just like Toronto did in its inaugural MLS season last year, Chivas USA finished with the lowest point total in the league in their first season in 2005.
The next year, Chivas made the MLS Cup Playoffs, and last season, won the Western Conference regular-season title.
So when TFC director of football Mo Johnston looks at the postseason as a realistic possibility this season, it shouldn't be viewed as a surprise.
"Definitely," Johnston said. "It's always a possibility, it's what we work for."
While there weren't a lot of pretty numbers for the club last season, one number that was in their favor was attendance, thanks to the Toronto fans quickly getting behind their team in droves. The team sold out all 14,000 season tickets and every home game was a sellout.
Fan support should be just as high or even higher this year. The amount of available season tickets for 2008 was increased to 16,000, and all of them were snapped up by the middle of November.
This year, the enthusiastic Toronto supporters might have more wins to cheer about. Johnston feels like the team is much farther along than they were at this point last season, with their preseason edging closer to its end with their participation in this week's event in the San Antonio area.
"The second year, it's a lot easier, now that we've been eased in with that first year," Johnston said.
Some new faces have come into the fold on the coaching front, and those additions look to play a big part in aiding Toronto's development in their second year and beyond. It starts at the top, where Johnston has turned over coaching duties to former Newcastle, Leeds and Luton Town assistant manager John Carver. Along with the arrival of Carver, Johnston feels like the addition of experienced strength and conditioning coach Paul Winsper will help the team reach its full potential.
"We're very lucky to have Paul, as he's worked with Newcastle, and I'm sure that he's going to bring us farther along in our game," Johnston said.
However, it's no secret that there are still improvements to be made and lessons to be learned in the next three weeks, as shown by Wednesday's 4-3 defeat at the hands of Houston in the first of three matches in Cibolo.
It was an uphill battle for Carver's XI early on, as they fell behind in just the third minute. They could have let the game get out of hand in a hurry, but withstood Houston's pressure long enough to create and convert an opportunity of their own, as Dutchman Kiki Musampa equalized in the 36th minute. Just as quickly, though, Toronto found themselves down 4-1 with more than 40 minutes still to play, as Houston scored two goals just before halftime and one right out of the break to take a commanding advantage.
But they valiantly battled back to pull within one goal with 10 minutes to play, and even though the comeback attempt fell short, there was a lot for the coach to take from the night.
Carver certainly wasn't pleased about the way the team dug themselves such a big hole, but to see the team make things close late on was not only a sign of improved play, but more importantly, of the team's character, which will need to shine through if Johnston's hopes are to have a chance to be fulfilled.
"I was really disappointed because we conceded two goals at the stroke of halftime. We started the game poorly, we conceded a poor goal, but we worked our way back into the game," Carver said. "I thought we did OK when we got the equalizer."
When grading their performance on Wednesday, it should be taken into consideration that Toronto were playing without the likes of Maurice Edu and Marvell Wynne, who are away with the U.S. U-23 team, and midfielder Carl Robinson, so the unit that's on display in the Lone Star State this week won't be the one that we'll see come March 29 when they make the trip to Ohio to face the Crew.
Toronto will face D.C. United at Steele High School on Friday night at 6 p.m., then play Chivas USA in the finale of the Texas Pro Soccer Festival on Sunday at 2:30. After that, they head east to take part in the Charleston Battery-hosted Carolina Challenge Cup, from March 15-22.
Then it's time to look towards the 29th, and translating potential into points.
Eddie Griffin is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
