Before their game against Chivas USA on Saturday night, Toronto FC learned that they were officially eliminated from playoff contention – San Jose’s win over D.C. United earlier had sealed the Reds’ fate.
So, it would be natural for TFC to reflect on what went wrong in a lost season that, at one time, held much promise.
But they didn’t have to reflect too hard, as their match against the Goats was a microcosm of their entire lost season.
Many of the issues that have plagued the team were on display in a 3-0 loss to Chivas USA, the third straight game TFC has allowed three goals in a match.
WATCH: FULL MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
The scoreline implies a rout, but masks the fact that TFC had plenty of chances in a fairly even game. Yet, as has been the case all year, they just couldn’t finish.
“I counted three or four glorious chances,” interim head coach Nick Dasovic told GOLTV Canada after the match. “If you don’t score your goals, this is what happens. Unfortunately … we had no luck [on Saturday night]; it didn’t go in for us.”
Maicon Santos alone can be the team’s poster boy for lack of finish, both on Friday night and all season.
The forward had a few stellar chances to score against his former team. First, in the 45th minute, he misdirected a Jacob Peterson centering pass by the open goal. Then, just a few minutes into the second half, he received a seeing-eye pass from Dwayne De Rosario only to hit a low shot off the post. Finally, in the 73rd minute, with Chivas goalie Zach Thornton out of position, Santos failed to get the ball into the open goal, as his shot was cleared off the line by Michael Umana.
[inlinenode:320516]Furthermore, seconds after Jorge Flores fittingly capitalized on Rodolfo Espinoza’s cross in the 51st minute to give Chivas USA the lead, De Rosario sent a blast from distance that struck the crossbar.
WATCH: DeRo rings the crossbar
But it wasn’t only an inability to find the net that undid Toronto. Defensive mistakes in the second half put the winnable game out of reach. They’ve contributed to the team’s swoon in the final third of the season that has resulted in one win in the last 10 games.
De Rosario, who had a strong game, committed two turnovers in a two-minute span late in the match that directly led to Chivas USA’s second and third goals.
In the 88th minute, De Rosario coughed up the ball in the offensive zone and, a few passes later, Jesus Padilla made him pay sending a shot past Stefan Frei that the Swiss goalkeeper would like to have back.
Two minutes later, De Rosario again turned over the ball before Espinoza sent a drive high to the corner over a helpless Frei.
While the turnovers were costly, more glaring was the poor defending on both plays and the disinterest by some players to recover on the plays.
“What do you do?” said Dasovic. “You prepare them, you tell them what you want. You do all the video sessions etcetera. It comes down to individuals and, if they can’t do the task, then someone will be able to do it later on.”
For a team playing for nothing but pride and jobs in 2011, the lackadaisical attitude on defense showed a lack of character. That issue is one in a long list of tasks the new director of soccer and coach will have to address this off-season.
Going down to 10 men after defender Adrian Cann took a blatant elbow from Alan Gordon likely contributed to the poor defense. The lack of a red card from referee Terry Vaughn was another in long rap sheet of non-calls this season that have not gone Toronto’s way.
The ensuing frustration boiled over with the ejection of assistant coach Danny Dichio.
[inlinenode:320539]Topping everything off, De Rosario received a caution in the 82nd minute for an ill-advised tackle that will force him to miss the club’s final home game.
It’s this type of lack in discipline that prevented consistency in the lineup for much Toronto’s season, as each game had a revolving door of players.
De Rosario’s coming absence is further injury to a loyal fan base that won’t see the playoffs for the fourth straight season and will be robbed of the watching the one player who has been a bright spot in an otherwise dismal season.
