So here it is finally, after 5 long months, the return of TFC to BMO Field, the home opener. The chance to meet up with old friends in the seats next to you, or see the stadium from a new vantage point if you've swapped seats. The chance to check out the new food options (though I'll be sticking with my poutine and only poutine plan, the only choice is sausage, pulled pork or maybe some new exotic option) and hold aloft a new scarf. The chance to see what tifo ideas the supporters groups have come up with over the last few months. The chance to be excited just to be seeing a game again, without being weighed down by another failed season. On the more cynical side, it's also the chance to welcome yet another new management team, and yet another team that's half way towards being rebuilt, hopefully it's the last time we do that one for a few years.
There'll be the chance for a couple of of new experiences this year as well, firstly the chance to try out a whole bunch of different seats, as sales have been reported as sluggish, and it's very unlikely to be a sellout. If you're curious about how the game looks from the North stand, or from the expensive dark grey or red seats in the East or West stands, you should have no problem going to check it out, the big maple leaf in the middle of the East stand will be very visible.
Another fun new thing to experience this year? Frostbite. Here's the dates of our home openers so far: April 28th, April 19th, April 4th, April 15th. Up to now we've played a grand total of 5 games on or before April 23rd, which for some reason will be the date of our 5th home game this year. For Saturday, the current forecast is -9 with the windchill, and it's always colder by the lake, so let's say -15, fun.
Anyway, getting away from my schmaltz and grumbling, there'll actually be a game taking place, and despite it only being the second game of the season, it's become quite a crucial one for Toronto. The Reds have always struggled to start the season, whether due to long road trips to avoid the cold weather, or comically unprepared squads thrown together at the last minute, or both, it's just a fact of life TFC fans have sadly become used to. If you take the first two games of each season so far, Toronto's record is won 1, drawn 1 (both in 2009) and lost 6.
This year, whether deliberately or not, the schedule makers gave them a real chance to break out of that rut, with TFC having to wait until the 4th game of the season before facing a team that finished outside the bottom 2 last year. Obviously the first of those games didn't go well in Vancouver last week, and this Saturday it's the other expansion team Portland Timbers coming to Toronto. It's unfair to Aron Winter and co that they inherited a fanbase with it's patience and goodwill massively tested from the last 4 frustrating years, but unfortunately that is the case, and were TFC to lose again, to another expansion team, at home, well things could get ugly, there could be panic, if not on the streets, at least on the messageboards of Toronto.
Will they lose? I'm optimistic that they won't, as I really don't think we can play as badly on the defensive side of things as we did against Vancouver. Surely there won't be a repeat of the confusing Adrian Cann at Left Back experiment and he'll be reunited with Nana Attakora in the centre of defence which should help solidify things, and having an actual Left Back playing in that position should also help.
With no news of a return for Julian De Guzman or Elbekay Bouchiba, there aren't really many options to change the midfield, maybe Gianluca Zavarise will get a start after an impresssive substitution performance against the Whitecaps. Someone who I'd doubt will be playing this weekend, but should be a great option going forward is Alen Stevanovic, who officially signed on Thursday, on loan from Italian side Torino, though somewhat confusingly he's owned by both Torino and Inter Milan. It's been over a week now since his name started being mentioned as coming over on loan, so it's good that it's finally resolved. A Serbia under 21 international, good enough to be signed by Inter Milan, he's the first really impresive signing from Winter. He may or may not work out, maybe he'll turn out to be the next Pablo Vitti, tantalisingly talented but unproductive, but for me this is the first concrete evidence of Winter being able to seriously increase the quality of our squad, hopefully he'll be able to play very soon if not tomorrow.
As for Portland, well it's difficult to know what to expect from them. They were given a very tough start with an away game to Colorado last week, so it would be very harsh to draw conclusions. Playing against the MLS Cup champs, who fielded the exact same staring lineup as they did in that final so also had continuity on their side, in their first home game since winning, with all the extra emotion that would bring, I don't think there's any MLS team I would have backed to win that game.
Portland's one big name player is Kenny Cooper, back in MLS after an unsuccessful stint in Germany, and he's the biggest argument for the return of Adrian Cann to Centre Back, as Cooper could easily dominate Ty Harden, and in general if the defence plays like it did against Vancouver, he'll have a field day. His strike partner Jorge Perlaza is new to MLS after scoring 15 goals in the Colombian league last year, so he could also be dangerous, and has the pace to put pressure on TFC's defenders as they try to work the ball out of defence, which was an area they struggled with against Vancouver.
Defensively, the Timbers struggled against Colorado, but after taking off Kevin Goldthwaite at half time, who they played as a Centre Back, they kept the Rapids off the scoresheet in the second half, so maybe they aren't as bad as that 3 goals in 30 minutes stat suggests. Eric Brunner reportedly looked good as the other Centre Back, and in midfield Jack Jewksbury is a solid defensive midfielder by MLS standards.
As for a prediction, I think it'll be an exciting game, with more than it's fair share of defensive mishaps, and the icy conditions will probably stop it from being a classic of flowing football, but Toronto will renew the supporters hope and make them forget the cold by just edging it overall, 3-2.
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