Hello friends and my apologies for the lack of updates this week but a family illness first metioned last September reared it’s ugly head again and so it’s been a difficult week.The situation is now stable so I’m happy to bring you the final update of the MLS Experiment which has seen Toronto FC for the most part struggle through the season though there were signs of improvement as the summer came to an end. Lets see what happened as we conclude the season in The Fall months.
We started off the final portion of the campaign with an excellent 2-1 win over Eastern Conference rivals Dc United but then fell victim to the MLS scheduling which saw us play Houston during a round of international fixtures which chopped off nine of my players from the squad and so our momentum was crushed and we lost 2-0. We got a respectable draw in Chicago before coming home where we put in our best performance of the season with a dominating win over San Jose. Again though we couldn’t build on our success and ended the month with a bore draw in Dallas.
The situation therefore dictated that we had to win our remaining four games to have a mathematical chance of reaching the play offs. Those hopes were immediately dashed with a 1-0 loss in Seattle where the Brazilian contingent of Gil and Moreno missed chance after chance. Our season was therefore over and we were just playing for pride. The mini road trip ended with 2-1 win over Chivas which was followed by an electrifying hat-trick by Gil in front of 21,000 fans at BMO Stadium. Or final game of the season saw us travel to Washington to play DC United and a win would secure a top 4 finish and perhaps even end in third place. Skipper Adrian Cann put in a memorable performance heading in two goals from a corner and completing his hat-trick with a well taken goal on the volley. Brazilians Moreno and Gil chipped in with a goal apiece to complete a 5-0 rout in the US Capital and finish the season off in style
But wait…..
I had interpreted the league rules incorrectly at the start of the season thinking only the top two qualified for post season action and so we were suddenly in the play-offs for the first time in the clubs history where we will now meet Kansas City over two legs.
Standings
The Play-Offs
Two powerful headers by DC Adrian Cann and a wonderful individual effort by Gil saw us take a 3-0 advantage in the first leg over Kansas City at BMO Field.
Kansas City jumped out to an early lead after just 3 minutes in the second leg which we quickly neutralized with Cann heading in from a Moreno corner. From there it was a complete rear guard action with solid efforts from centre backs Attakora and Cann that kept the ship steady and we found ourselves heading into the Eastern Conference final.
Eastern Conference Final
So it was off to New Jersey to face Thiery Henry and the New York Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference final with New York playing in front of their home fans. I told the players the pressure was off and that they had nothing to lose. A header by ML Moreno’s which hit the bar and bounced off a NY keeper Greg Sutton and into the net gave us the lead with 16 minutes gone and that was doubled after the interval when Gil headed in from a Moreno corner. Henry pulled one back just after the hour for New York but they had little fight in them and against all expectations we clinched the Eastern title and are in the MLS Final!
After an incredible couple of months it was time for the MLS Final and the travelling Toronto faithful were there on hand in a noisy fashion at The Gillette Stadium in Foxboro Massachusetts. Colorado, who we had played twice before and struggled against in regular season play, took the lead after just 11 minutes with an easy goal from a corner as our defence stood still and watched the ball go into the net. Mexican right back Ozunas’ long clearance out of defence found Gil who swept the ball on to Martinez and the young Ecuadorian who hadn’t scored since April unleashed a rocket of a shot into the roof of the net just after the half hour. From there we continued to cause trouble in front of the Colorado goal but just couldn’t get that second goal and the game went to extra time.
Colorado took the lead once more in the 96th minute with a long range effort that our keeper had no chance of stopping but six minutes later a run down the left flank by Moreno found Martinez whose shot from 20 yards out crashed against the under -side of the bar and it was 2-2. Neither team could find that little bit extra for the winning goal and so The Championship would be decided by a penalty shoot out. Both teams had decent penalty takers and at 4-4 it looked as if we were going way down the list of players to decide the outcome. Dominguez then missed for Colorado striking the ball straight at GK Molis Kocic so up came Brazilian Moreno who struck the ball into the corner of the net………GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had won the MLS Championship for the first time against all expectations after what was really a miserable start to the season and so the MLS Cup will be crossing over the border and into Canada.
A mixture of Brazilian and Canadian flags flew proudly in the stands as the cup was presented and the fans finished off an exciting end to the season with a rousing rendition of the national anthem O Canada!
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and I look forward to bringing you another season of the MLS Experiment in the coming weeks.
Have a great weekend!!
Vaibhav Chandrasekhar
9 апреля, 2011 at 10:33
Hey Kevin
Congratulations! I am so thrilled after seeing that you won the MLS. It makes it even more amazing after being last at one stage. Are you going to continue managing Toronto or are you going to resign and only play Cambridge
Alex
9 апреля, 2011 at 10:46
Hi Kevin,
Very well done! Brilliant stuff by you and your team to win the MLS! I thought it was the top 2 as well, that is why they are highlighted, but you were given the chance and you took it! I am also interested: will you play this save, your Cambridge one or both simultaneously?
Darren Smith
9 апреля, 2011 at 11:01
Well done Kevin!!! What a season. You struggled so much and must admit I expected mid-table from you. But as you adjusted to the MLS and learnt more about the American game your team seemed to do a U-turn. What drama in the play-offs too. Great post and an amazing achievement. Moreno was fantastic btw.
Kevin
9 апреля, 2011 at 11:38
Hello Vaibhav
Thanks for your comment.Toronto and Cambridge are two seperate saves so I’ll continue them both at least for now, the Cambridge one will be more detailed inmatch reports etc…
@ Alex
I was surprised too when I realized I was in the play-offs :) I will be running both stories but in slightly different formats.
@ Darren
By the summer I thought I was well out of it but suddenly the team gelled, my left flank tactic kicked in and it was truely an amazing end to the season! Moreno is fantastic to watch in full flight!
Johnny Karp
9 апреля, 2011 at 18:32
Unbelievable, you won the friggin’ title in the first season! Excellent stuff Kevin, I’m all out of superlatives after such a great achievement! You will be in some international competitions next season, right?
Sears
9 апреля, 2011 at 18:40
What a phenomenal achievement Kevin! That was an extraordinary campaign and you fully deserved the MLS crown despite a sluggish start. Looking forward to next season!
Ana Garcia
9 апреля, 2011 at 19:31
I knew you would turn it around! ;)
Amazing that you managed to win the MLS though! The playoff system really worked out for you so that means you have qualified for the North American champions league?
Congratulations and good luck on next season!!
hils
9 апреля, 2011 at 19:47
Hi Kevin,amazing end of season there!!!!!!!!! Congrats on winning the mls!!!!!!!!!! Good luck!!!!!!!
Kevin
9 апреля, 2011 at 21:13
Hi Johnny
I can’t believe myself. I wa sure we were doomed at the start of October!
I think Toronto will be in some competition but I’m not sure. I’ll just have click continue to find out :)
@ Sears
That defintiely was extraordinary..I wasn;t expecting to win the whole damn thing!
@ Ana
Thnks for having the confidence in me :) I’m not really sure what we qualify for now…LOL!
@hils
Thanks mate!!!!!!!!!!!!
David Wiggins
9 апреля, 2011 at 23:05
wow how did that happened?! Congrats Kevin!
Lye
11 апреля, 2011 at 03:11
Hi Kevin,
Sorry for the late comment. Have some problems lately but not too serious. Congratulations on the title win. What a surprise and fruitful season! Bet you must be enjoying the win. Hope to see you repeat the success next season.
Excessive
11 апреля, 2011 at 12:12
Did not see that one coming! Your maple leaves really pulled it out of the bag this time and you can be absolutely exstactic at their efforts. Flirting with near bottom half finish in the first half of the season too. Brilliant story Kev.
Just hope there is some sort of CL for them to get stuck into ;).
P.S. Sorry to hear about situations at home, hope it continues to improve!
CsAtlantis
12 апреля, 2011 at 01:38
There is the North America Champions League i think, but i have no idea what teams qualify, but I think there is a spot for the MLS Winner :P
Tremendous improvement in getting into the playoffs, congratulations on winning the playoff :D, didn’t see that coming
Hope your family illness situation improves
Kevin
12 апреля, 2011 at 10:31
Hi David
I’m not really sure. We suddenly gelled and the team started performing. It was amazing to see.
@ Lye
No worries about the late reply…hope your situation improves.I enjoyed the win immensely :)
@ Excessive
Thanks for your concern about the family situation. I’m glad you liked the story and I hope too there’s some kind of reward for winning the title.
@CsAtlantis
I hope there’s a NACL spot for winning the MLS as I’m yet to get into continental action since FM 2008! Thanks for the family concern