For years, Toronto FC found the door to the MLS Cup Playoffs bricked off and barred. The way, it appears, is no longer shut.
For the first time since playing its first match in 2007, Toronto FC will most likely make the playoffs when the curtain closes on the regular season. They’re certainly in good position, anyway. Toronto FC has yet to officially cinch up a spot in the league’s second season, but they hold a healthy nine-point lead on the seventh place team in the Eastern Conference with nine games to go. Toronto FC’s 37 points is good enough for fourth in the East. It would put them outside the postseason entirely as things stand in the considerably more competitive Western Conference.
Still, life is good at Toronto FC these days, which might mean a bit more to Stefan Frei than most outside that locker room. The cat-like goalkeeper spent the first five years of his MLS career in Toronto, where he earned 82 appearances from 2009-2013 and established himself as one of the league’s top up-and-coming keeper talents. In his rookie campaign in 2009, he earned the MLS Save of the Week four times, which set the tone for a quality start to his career north of the border.
But an injury in 2013 opened the door for second choice Joe Bendik, who earned then-coach Ryan Nelsen’s favor, precipitating an eventual trade that December.
The TFC Frei knew is almost entirely turned over, including the coaching staff and the technical staff. Two high-priced Designated Players were signed and then jettisoned in the time Frei’s been in Seattle. And Frei’s found a home in the Pacific Northwest, where he’s become an easy first-choice keeper and one of the league’s best netminders.
So sure, Frei has some fond memories from his days in Toronto. But these days in Sounders FC territory, life is a frantic chase for those three points. Not much else matters.
“Lots of changes,” Frei said. “Since I’ve left there’s been a coaching change, and there’s been numerous players going in and out. Some good acquisitions like with Giovinco, who’s a very, very good player. [There’s] hope from their fans that they’re finally going to get into the playoffs, but by the same token we need the three points.”
Those three points will be paramount as TFC visits Seattle this weekend in an East-meets-West battle. There’s no equivocation at this point in the season; everything seems to revolve around the quest for points with no time to lose.
The chase for those three points is at a fevered pitch right now in Seattle. Sounders FC dropped below the playoff cutoff for the first time before its Cascadia Cup rumble with Portland last weekend, and a vital 2-1 win pushed them back into the promised land with seven league games to go. That makes the final push to the postseason a mad dash after the rocky summer pushed the team’s depth to the brink.
From Sounders FC’s perspective, players continue to filter back into the lineup. Obafemi Martins is back to his wild goal-scoring ways, and Clint Dempsey practiced with the full team this week and could be available to play against Toronto FC this weekend after putting in just 90 minutes since mid-June. Sounders FC Head Coach Sigi Schmid said Andreas Ivanschitz is still touch and go, and the national team absences of both Marco Pappa and centerback Román Torres will cause some shuffling.
But Sounders FC will most likely be in better stead than Toronto FC, which could well be without the services league MVP frontrunner Giovinco through injury and prolific striker Jozy Altidore, who’s currently ensconced at U.S. Men’s National Team camp.
“On one side you want to say you want to play against the best players,” Frei said. “But I think Giovinco’s been undoubtedly the MVP of the league. That’s going to be a big loss for them, so they’re going to have to change and adapt. For us it’s about focusing on ourselves, and making sure that we bring our A-game.”
As for Schmid, he’s not entirely convinced Giovinco will miss the game. When it comes to a firebrand attacker with this much punch, you prepare for anything.
“You never know with Giovinco,” Schmid said. “I wouldn’t count him out entirely at this stage. It’s an adductor. Is it a strain? Something he recovers from a little bit quickly? Maybe the national team says we don’t want to rehab you here and sends him home. You never know.”
To say nothing of Altidore, the loss of Giovinco would hit TFC harder than arguably any single player on any other club. The diminutive attacker’s been an ironman for the Reds this season, starting each of the team’s 25 league games and contributing an eye-watering 17 goals and 13 assists. And he’s been in the form of his life lately, picking up MLS Player of the Month honors for both July and August. Even TFC Head Coach Greg Vanney probably doesn’t have an entirely firm grasp on how the team will play on the road without the little Italian, since they haven’t had to deal with that scenario all season.
Indeed, nobody pours more heat on opposing keepers than Giovinco. Take this out of the equation and Toronto FC’s attack is suddenly cut off at the knees.
If Giovinco doesn’t go, Toronto FC has capable but far less effective forwards in reserve. If Altidore is also on the shelf, the entire rest of the team has 17 goals combined this season. That’s 10 fewer than Altidore (10) and Giovinco (17) have combined for this season. Michael Bradley, the box-running central midfielder, is the next highest with four.
Frei’s playoff tunnel vision supersedes his previous ties to Toronto FC. While it might be nice to see the scant few teammates left from his days there, two words continue to strobe throughout the locker room this week.
Three points.
“We have a few games coming up on the road, and those are all going to be tough in-conference games,” Frei said. “Although this is an out-of-conference team, it’s a good measuring stick. And on top of that we’re at home. We need the three points. There’s no other way about it.”
