A man who has been through bitter experiences and travelled far enjoys even his sufferings after a time.
– Homer, "The Odyssey"
And so Toronto FC end their seven-game journey with nine points and a two-match winning streak. They return home next week (after a mid-week stop in Montreal for what's likely to be a reserve-heavy Canadian Championship showdown) having figured out a few things, having collected roughly the same road PPG that we saw out of last year's Eastern Conference winners, D.C. United – that's just a benchmark, not a prediction or an equivalency – and having plenty of proof that their offseason shopping spree was money well spent.
Let's take a look at their 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Union on Saturday afternoon:
1. The Difference Maker
There are lots of early contenders for "Offseason Acquisition of the Year." Kei Kamara is tearing it up for Columbus; Sacha Kljestan is an integral part of the only unbeaten team in the league; Octavio Rivero is solidly in the Golden Boot race; and Kristian Nemeth is picking up a bunch of scoring slack for Sporting KC.
Sebastian Giovinco, though, has moved to the top of my own personal list in this discussion. Here's his golazo from downtown Chester:
Before we all pile onto John McCarthy, let's all remember that even a world class goalkeeper can get beat by that exact same free kick. Here's what Thierry Henry did to Tim Howard 12 years ago in the Community Shield:
Yeah, McCarthy (and Howard) both could have done better. But world class players occasionally score world class goals. Giovinco has made that axiomatic in his short time in T-Dot, and has been a huge part of each of his team's three wins.
2. The Pragmatic Streak
Back in Week 1 Toronto crushed Vancouver 3-1, doing it by using the ball well and stringing passes together. They played a narrow diamond with Giovinco at the No. 10 spot and stomped what was and remains a very good Whitecaps team.
Despite the win a few issues were exposed in that game, and exploited over the next four (all losses).
- Giovinco doesn't defend enough to play as a pure midfielder, often allowing unmolested distribution from deep in the opposing midfield
- Robbie Findley doesn't score enough to be a forward
- The midfield wasn't reliable or patient enough with the ball or their movement to play keep away even in a formation designed for that very tactic
- By playing so narrow, both fullbacks were required to push forward – often recklessly – as TFC searched for attacking width. That in turn left them vulnerable on the counter, which FC Dallas exploited gloriously a few weeks back.
So out went the diamond and in has come a flatter 4-4-2 that often plays more like a 4-1-3-2. Giovinco is a forward now, Findley a winger, and Benoit Cheyrou holds deep in midfield to give Michael Bradley license to roam pretty much anywhere.
TFC are more direct and less pretty, but also more dangerous when attacking with fewer numbers. Giovinco and Jozy Altidore often drop back to the central midfield together, trying to draw the opposing backline forward, while at the same time TFC's wide midfielders (usually Jackson and Findley) both try to get around the edge against opposing fullbacks:
That is good, opportunistic stuff on the road. Greg Vanney will change up the balance a bit once back at BMO Field, but "sit deep and hit in transition" is also useful at home, depending upon game states.
Speaking of...
3. The Problem in Philly
The Union had over 65 percent of the ball in this one, and were actually pretty dangerous at times. Yet once again they failed to score.
This continues a dismal trend. So far in 2015, the Union have scored 10 goals. All have come in games in which they've had less than 45 percent of the ball.
Notice on Saturday that possession was only slightly in Philly's favor for the first 30 minutes. Then once Giovinco got TFC on the board, the Reds happily sat deeper and gave the Union as much of the ball as they wanted:
Philly aren't as bad as their record indicates, but they're far from good. And they're not really equipped for what's to come:
Bad times are here in Chester. Five-hundred miles north, the good times are just about to begin.
