Toronto FC head coach John Carver has spent all season tinkering with his team's away-game routine in order to find the balance between keeping the Reds both comfortable away from home and prepared for the game at hand. Who knew that some airport red tape would provide the missing piece of the puzzle?
After TFC endured a three-hour delay before flying to New York last Friday, Carver and equipment manager Malcolm Phillips had to spend another two hours at the New York airport dealing with customs officials about some visa issues. Carver described the ordeal as "horrendous," and was forced to cancel the team's training session on Friday night.
Instead, the Reds had a 45-minute session on Saturday morning, which Carver said seemed to invigorate the team.
"Afterwards, everybody was delighted that we did it, so maybe that was the little ingredient we've been looking for," he said. "Because I was in an airport, I wouldn't have gotten to a training ground [on Friday], plus we were delayed three hours. So it happened accidentally, in a way."
Given TFC's struggles on the road this season, Carver would likely invite those customs officials for tea if it meant his side could repeat their performance in New York. The matchday practice seemed to pay off in a major way for TFC, who turned in one of its best outings of the season in a 3-1 win against the Red Bulls. It was just the third road win of the season for Toronto, and their first-ever victory in three visits to Giants Stadium.
"Everything seemed to click that game," said captain Jim Brennan. "Everything was headed in the right direction, we prepared well. There was a couple of times in [recent] games when we weren't far off but in New York everything went our way, and we won 3-1 which was fantastic for us. Hopefully we can carry that on to Dallas."
Two of Toronto's remaining three games are on the road, beginning with Saturday's match in against FC Dallas. Given the tightness of the playoff race, there would be no better time for the Reds to finally figure out how to consistently win away from BMO Field. TFC is 4-20-4 on the road in the club's short history, though their last two wins (Saturday and Aug. 8 in Colorado) have been away from home, and Toronto has more points on the road this season than division rivals New York, Kansas City and D.C.
Carver said another adjustment he made in New York was to hold his pregame talk with the team at the stadium about 90 minutes before the match, rather than earlier in the day at the team's hotel.
"Usually I do the team talk at pre-match [planning], but I decided to get all of the technology and take it to the stadium in the locker room and recreate what we do at home," Carver said.
"We've tried everything," he added. "We've done different things when we went to L.A. and won [on April 13], and different things when we went to Colorado and won."
TFC faces another must-win game on Saturday against a Hoops side that is also in the thick of the playoff hunt with 34 points, three more than the Reds. FC Dallas handed Toronto one of its two losses at BMO Field this season, a 2-0 defeat on August 3.
Saturday is also another international match-day for World Cup qualifiers, which means that TFC will again be missing a large chunk of the roster. Amado Guevara, Kevin Harmse, Tyrone Marshall, Carl Robinson and Carlos Ruiz were named to the rosters of their respective national teams. Marvell Wynne (USA) and Julius James (Trinidad & Tobago) are both on standby duty for their countries in case of an injury within the next week, though Carver said James might not be called anyway due to injury troubles of his own.
Speaking of fitness, Carver also said that though Ruiz was called up by Guatemala, the striker won't see any action unless given a green light by team doctors. Ruiz has been bothered by a recurring knee injury that has kept him out of Toronto's last two games.
"I have spoke to the [Guatemala] coach and said to him I don't want Ruiz to play unless he's at 100 percent," Carver said. "What I don't want is him playing for [Guatemala], and then coming back to me and being injured again and back to square one."
Two notable internationals who will be available for TFC on Saturday are Canadians Greg Sutton and Jim Brennan. Sutton asked to stay in Toronto to be closer to his newborn daughter.
As for Brennan, the Reds captain announced on Tuesday that he would no longer play for Canada until changes are made to the team's management staff. Canada has struggled to a 0-2-1 record in their first three qualifying games, two of which were played at home.
"I'm going to step down from the national team while the current managers are in place," Brennan said. "That's not to say I won't play for Canada again, it's just there's a lot going on, I don't really see eye-to-eye with [them] on a lot of things. ... If things are improving and I'm selected, then I'll be involved with Canada but for the time being I'm going to take a step back.
"I'm played almost 50 games for Canada, loved every minute of it and there's no better feeling than putting on the Canadian jersey and playing in those big games."
Brennan gave his support to assistant coaches Stephen Hart and Nick Dasovic and noted that he'd still be rooting for Canada against Honduras on Saturday.
"I'd love nothing more than for the guys to qualify," Brennan said. "That's a dream when you're a soccer player, to play in a World Cup. If they can make it to the World Cup I'd be delighted for them and support them 110 percent. I wish them all the best and hope they turn things around and make it to the World Cup."
Brennan and Wynne have been a potent backline combination for TFC over the last two games, with Wynne collecting a goal on Sept 27 against Houston and an assist against New York. Carver said he has been impressed with the two defenders, and noted that their offensive prowess has been a long time coming.
"When I first came here, I remember saying to my two fullbacks, Jimmy and Marvell, [that they] could be our best attackers. All the top sides have good attacking fullbacks which adds to the width and creates things around the outside," Carver said. "In the last two games in particular, Marvell has certainly done that. Jimmy's tucked in a little bit more and held his position as a left back and allowed Marvell to join in."
Mark Polishuk is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
