TORONTO – A subdued Danny Koevermans insisted things will change. That’s all he could say after yet another disappointing home result for Toronto FC.
After a midweek draw against regional power Santos Laguna in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals, Toronto stayed pointless in MLS play by dropping a 1-0 result to the Columbus Crew at BMO Field.
“It’s got to turn around, it will turn around,” Koevermans vowed.
HIGHLIGHTS: CLB 1, TFC 0
The loss marked the second league game in a row at home without a goal and left the Reds in a 0-3-0 hole through four weeks of play.
OPTA Chalkboard: Crew make TFC pay on the break
They’ve scored just one goal in those three games, a spectacular blast from Ryan Johnson in the 3-1 loss in Seattle that opened the season two weeks ago. Since then, it has been all zeroes, while their opponents have combined to put seven goals in the back of the net.
“In soccer, you have to score, otherwise you can’t win,” head coach Aron Winter said, stating the obvious.
And even though they failed to create much going forward and failed to defend effectively on Bernardo Anor’s game-winner, Saturday’s loss still left Toronto FC stunned.
“We played better, we had more chances,” Koevermans said. ”If we weren’t having chances, then we should be concerned.”
Koevermans, who scored eight goals in 10 league games after joining the team last year, has yet to find the mark this year. He is also convinced the team is better than zero points in three league games.
“Of course there is frustration,” Koevermans said. “But that’s normal, I think. But today again we don’t deserve to lose this game. It has to turn around. It’s impossible if it goes like this and we don’t score and keep losing. It’s impossible.”
Making their dour league form even more surprising is the fact that Toronto have showed well in Champions League play this spring.
They’ve played three games in the tournament against top-level competition and walked away with one win and two draws. They complete their CCL semifinal on Wednesday against Santos Laguna in Mexico following a 1-1 draw in Toronto last week.
“We’ve played quite OK,” Koevermans said, taking all six games into consideration. “Everybody wished for a better start to the season. We started off well against LA [in winning the CCL quarterfinals], but that’s not MLS.
“We wanted points in MLS and again today we didn’t get even a point, a draw, so we have to go to next week. We have to get off zero points. I think we deserve to be at least three points in the league but we don’t have them. That’s for sure.”
