Whitecapsfanblog

The Toronto Football Club is becoming the Newcastle United of the MLS.   TFC enjoys huge support, fanatical fans, a lovely stadium and yet they fail on the pitch miserably.  Yesterdays’  5-0 beating against Red Bull New York was nothing short of a disgrace to the club and the fans of TFC.   While I don’t count myself as a TFC supporter, I do count myself as a Canadian soccer fan and had hoped TFC would crack the playoffs this year.   They have failed to do so for the third straight year.   The fact that the Seattle Sounders have made the playoffs in their first MLS season makes it all the more embarrassing.

While TFC fiddled about trying to get  De Guzman for most of the season, and only got him when it was too late, Seattle had Freddie Lungberg from the start of the season as well as veteran keeper Casey Keller.

The fellows that TFC hired to manage the team were poor.  Neither John Carver nor Chris Cummings are fit to coach at the MLS level.  Neither is an intelligent football strategist who can get the best out of the squad.   Neither have proven they can manage with any success, while Seattle hired proven winner Sigi Schmid.  It is time to get an established winner in charge of the squad.

It is also time for TFC owners to stop taking for granted their fan’s enthusiasm and actually got serious about success on the pitch.   USL-1 teams Vancouver and Puerto Rico were both able to beat TFC quite comfortably this year. Cummings must go, and so should much of the squad.  TFC as it stands is rubbish, and it is time to take the rubbish out.

The political power of footy was demonstrated today in World Cup qualifying when five Iranian players (including the Captain) wore green wristbands in support of the protests in Iran over the recent elections.  This is an extraordinarily brave move on their part, because the authorities in Iran will not be pleased and there are reports of widespread arrests of those who support the protests.   The players are famous and readily identifiable.   I say good on them!  The people of Iran clearly want change in their politics.   We could be witnessing a huge political revolution.   Lets hope that footy can help…

An interesting story which reflects a wise use of the international language of football to bridge a gap with a disenfranchised Edmonton community:

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2009/06/09/sp-edmontonpolice.html

Greg Sutton was released by TFC today.  I feel for the guy and admire him as a professional who gives his all.  He is only 32, which is still young for a keeper.  Sutton’s downfall was his tendency to make mistakes when playing for TFC. One thing a professional goalkeeper cannot do is make mistakes.  If there is one thing that puts doubt into a team’s mind it is a keeper who cannot be relied on.   He made one such mistake here last Tuesday when he knocked the ball back out for the Whitecaps to score where he should have palmed the ball over the crossbar into safety. I think it was the last straw for TFC.  

I enjoyed watching Sutton play for the Impact in years past and think he can still grow as a keeper.

I hope Sutton keeps on playing at the professional level and I would not be disappointed to see him in a Whitecaps jersey, that is for sure.  If he could just work on his concentration and on making the right decisions under pressure he definitely can still play at the MLS level.