When healthy and playing, they have the two best goal-getters in the league - Giovinco and Jozy. Michael Bradley is playing, perhaps, the best soccer of his career. And, their roster depth is on par with the other leading clubs. Players like Victor Vasquez, Raheem Edwards, Steven Beitashour and Benoit Cheyrou give Head Coach Greg Vanney roster flexibility and consistency.
These are the hallmarks of a championship calibre team, no question.
TFC's recent 4-0 route of NYCFC shows, in my opinion, just how far ahead of the Eastern Conference they are. That said, questions remain in my mind.
Primarily, I'm curious about TFC's ability to run ahead of the pack all season long.
Over the course of July's matches (2-0-2) they've played some brilliant soccer. But they've also played some very bland, uninspiring stretches only to be bailed out by outstanding individual performances – Saturday's (7/29) second goal comes to mind. Up 1-0, but basically playing NYFC neutrally, Giovinco scored an excellent set-piece goal from 23-25 yards out.
And it was Giovinco who took advantage of Pirlo's well documented defensive liabilities to put the Reds up 1-0 in the first place.
Make no mistake, an NYCFC squad basically forced to play Pirlo because of roster depth issues wasn't going to beat TFC in Toronto. On the other hand, the 4-0 result flattered what was honestly a pretty pedestrian effort.
I watched the game live, and took a few notes. The thing that stood out to me most was the 30+ minute stretch between Giovinco's goals. There was basically zero attacking soccer from TFC. In fact, they created only one shot on goal between the first and second goals; which was another Giovinco effort from distance.
To further underscore this point, I've isolated the completed passes time-stamapped between the first and second goals. I've also annotated the graphic to illustrated the field into 1/3rds, which is how most coaches understand possession: defensive-third, neutral-third, and attacking-third.
First, it's obvious NYCFC weren't threatening during this stretch either. So, TFC were certainly content to posses the ball in the middle-third of the field and control the tempo of the game. However, it's always important to remember time and score. This is the passing chart of a 1-0 game during the middle half-hour of the match. This is exactly when, as a coaching staff, you're pressing your squad to get that second goal. TFC players, however, weren't playing with any sense of urgency (and credit to them, the goals came later).
Second, David Villa was on the pitch for NYCFC until late in the match. In a 1-0 situation, Villa is exactly the type of player––in fact, there's probably no one in better in MLS––who can pull a goal back against the run of play. When coaches game plan opponents these are the scenarios they review with their players. If I were on Vanney's staff, I'd've likely shown each position group cut-ups of Villa creating something out of nothing just to remind them to stay vigilant no matter the time/score scenario.
It might seem like nitpicking, but these are the characteristics of team coasting into the All-Star weekend. Being six points clear of a Chicago team that's stalled out a bit may give Toronto the feeling of inevitability –– frankly, that's probably justified. But, championship level teams don't develop the habit of coasting.
If this were a points race I don't think anyone would question Toronto's grip on the top of the table. But it isn't. And getting results without being pushed is often cause for concern in tournament play; which is what MLS playoffs are.
