TFC going all the way

[pawlukj]

This thread isnt meant to undermine the team we have or to kill any sense of hope that we have, its more to discuss our playoff potential and to stiru up or think about how good of a team we really have. in all honesty, i dont know how good they are or will be in the playoffs , but based on what ive seeen at home during the season and our overall rank i'd like to say we just as anybody whos made the playoffs is likely to win.

so now what do you guys think, do we have the chance to take this overall cup? it doesnt have to be yes or no, but lets discuss things going foward , my opinion is that if they can get through one team, they can find form and be a serious competitor for the overall title espiecally if giovinco is playing well, osario, bradley, alitodre etc.

[Pint]

I think getting through NYRB or NE would be tough if we were on the road for the 2nd leg. I'm of the mind that a conference finals would be a very good finish this year, obviously i want them to go all the way but realistically i think we are a year or two away from that.

[mowe]

We were starting to build a somewhat competent defense the last few games but then Perquis got injured. I think we go back to leaking goals. We might win a round or two because the rest of the East isn't that inspiring but we're not winning the Cup.

[ensco]

A great jock rock tune from my youth

[T-boy]

I think its important to try and avoid this one-off away first round game. That's going to be tough to win. Having said that anything is possible when you get to play-off/cup games. TFC really has just as much chance as anybody else.

Not always the best club goes all the way - look at the Rapids a few years ago at BMO, RSL a coupled years before that - they were far from the top MLS teams and managed to go all the way.

[ManUtd4ever]

I hate to be pessimistic, but our defensive play and goalkeeping hasn't provided any tangible evidence that we are good enough to win it all. Of course, I would love nothing more than to eat my words in a few weeks.

[kwhisperer]

I'm really not sure what to expect of TFC in playoffs. My hunch is we haven't seen their best performance(s) yet and that, with a few good bounces, Giovinco could outscore another team on aggregate in a two-game series.

[BelfastBoy]

Going as far as Giovinco will carry the team.

[GhostKiller]

Going as far as Giovinco will carry the team.

I'm all for praising Gio for his stellar season.... But comments like that slag the whole team who put in good efforts week in and week out. There have been many bright spots on this team this year. Have a bit more positivity boys!

[CanadaLFC]

I think Gio, Bradley, and Oso will be really important to our post-season, offensively. Having the defence perform well is a big ask and will need everyone to be on the ball.

GhostKiller is right, there are more to praise than just Gio, even though he's had a worldly season.

[Lennon]

I think its important to try and avoid this one-off away first round game. That's going to be tough to win. Having said that anything is possible when you get to play-off/cup games. TFC really has just as much chance as anybody else.

Not always the best club goes all the way - look at the Rapids a few years ago at BMO, RSL a coupled years before that - they were far from the top MLS teams and managed to go all the way.

Agreed. Having to play that away game makes us an underdog to advance no matter who we play.

[GreatWhiteNorth]

I'm all for praising Gio for his stellar season.... But comments like that slag the whole team who put in good efforts week in and week out. There have been many bright spots on this team this year. Have a bit more positivity boys!

We can be positive, but honest at the same time. We are getting killed on the back line. Of course we have moments of good defending, but others, we might as well have some lawn chairs and coolers set out. Giovinco carried the team. 22 goals, 16 assists. That's involvement in 38 of 58, 65.5% of the season's goals that Giovinco scored, or assisted on.

I don't think that any person could dream of a inaugural season. Records all over the place, Golden Boot, MVP is all but certain. He has had the greatest season a player could ever dream of. But, the dream will come crashing down if the team, as a whole, can't come together stronger in 2016.

[Pookie]

This is going to come off as pessimistic on the league but I'll say it anyways.

We are a mid table team that now gets a shot to win a tournament. Like a Swansea, Everton, Stoke or Watford in the FA Cup (based on the current EPL table).

And how sweet would it be to win it? I am pulling for the team. Underdog is probably the best dog to be.

[brad]

^^I don't think that's pessimistic at all. I think that's a realistic look at things.

MLS has a league title and a cup like many/most leagues. They just invert the importance of them.

[brad]

As far as the topic at hand - it's cup football now, and anybody left standing has a shot.

Other, better teams have a much better shot IMHO but in this league anyone can beat anyone on their day, and form/confidence counts for a lot.

And yes - a lot is going to come down to how Gio performs. We are mid table team with the joint worst defense in the league and joint second best attack in the league - of which 65.5% flowed throw one player. Logic says if we win its going to be because we out score the opposition and that one player is likely to be the make or break.

But then what place does logic have in cup football :-)

[nfitz]

Almost everyone is healthy, so we do have a shot. But we have to fix that god-awful defence. And thought it might get us past Montreal, and even Columbus ... I don't see how someone doesn't completely expose that Vanney is wearing no clothes at the back.

[SKB]

There seems to be lots of talk about whether the team has been successful or not. Overall, the club is moving in the right direction and met many of their goals. The big 3 DP provided 40 of our 58 goals, so we got good money for our dollar. We maybe expected more from Altidore but he performed decently. We wanted to score 50 goals and we got 58. We wanted to make the playoffs and we did. We wanted more stability in coaching and the front office and we did. The problems we had were the number of goals we gave up. We still do not have the steady backline especially the central backs and our goaltending is below average. A lot was made of the fact we ended up in 6th place, but the league was very tight this year. We set records in points and wins this year. Whether we go deep in the playoffs or not we have made a lot strides this year and with a few added pieces on defense and an upgrade in goal we will continue to improve year over year.

[Cashcleaner]

^ Yeah, I don't think I can argue with any of that. Almost overnight we became a team that could score and really pour on the offensive pressure, but still lacked a concrete defence. That's probably gonna be our downfall in the post-season, but it also tells me Bez and Vanney will have a much easier job in the off-season. You mentioned stability and I really think that's a key point here. From the FO side of things, it appears the organization as a whole has been a lot less dramatic than previous seasons. No big public bombshells by discontented players or staff (at least that I can think of), no overly-hostile press scrums, etc. IT certainly hasn't been boring, but far less than distractions than previous seasons, I'd say.

As for the level of "success", I'll say one thing. We're pretty much where we should be in the standings. By that I mean, our postseason position is fairly representative of our level of talent and coaching (and possibly motivation). We ended the season with 49 points making us the last seeded team in the East, but made the playoffs five points ahead of the team below us and could have leap-frogged over New England and put us in the pack with Montreal and DCU if we just won another match.

If I could sum up TFC's year I'd say it was a good team that did play some great matches at times. And with luck, we'll have a great game against Montreal and make it to the Eastern Conference Semifinals. It would have been nice to secure a better spot in the playoffs, and it kinda sucks that we couldn't take the Canadian Championship, but at least we're seeing the postseason.