Help Wanted: Have cleats? Call TFC

                                                                                Photo by ISIphotos.com

John Carver is looking for some soccer players, any soccer players.

In a story widely-reported in Canada, Carver's Toronto FC will have to take on Chivas USA on Saturday missing nine players due to international duty. Toronto petitioned MLS to have the match re-scheduled, and the Toronto Sun reported that Chivas USA was not opposed to a re-scheduling, but MLS rejected the request.

Why? An MLS spokesman stated that MLS did not want to set a precedent by re-scheduling and felt it was unfair to other teams that might be missing players.

That response is acceptable for a team missing two or three players, but forcing a team to play without nine players is ridiculous.

The main issue isn't the league's decision to reject the request of re-scheduling the match. The issue is the league's continued insistence on playing a full MLS schedule on an international fixture date. MLS deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis told media this week that the league is looking hard at trying to work around international fixture dates but that the limited number of available dates makes avoiding them all impossible.

For now, Toronto FC will have to get by without most of its best players. Here is who is missing:

• Amado Guevara (Honduras)
• Greg Sutton (Canada)
• Jim Brennan (Canada)
• Marvell Wynne (USA)
• Carl Robinson (Wales)
• Julius James (Trinidad & Tobago)
• Carlos Ruiz (Guatemala)
• Tyrone Marshall (Jamaica)
• Jarrod Smith (New Zealand)

Just how bad are things for Toronto? The club is trying to sign the team's chief scout, Tim Regan, to a one-day contract so he can be made available for the match. Regan spent parts of five seasons as a defender in MLS before taking a position in the Toronto front office earlier this season. (UPDATE-Sources tell SBI that Regan has been cleared to play for TFC, which is also signing Toronto Lynx defender Rick Titus for the match.)

Those of you who think Toronto should just bite the bullet should consider that the decision to play the game has an impact on more than just Toronto and Chivas USA. It could impact the teams in the Western Conference that are fighting with Chivas USA for one of the likely three playoff spots in the Western Conference.

So what do you think of Toronto's situation? Specifically, what do you think of the league's decision to deny Toronto's request to re-schedule the Chivas USA match?

poll by twiigs.com

Share your thoughts on this issue in the comments section below.

Comments

[Original Aaron]

Ives- I think the explaining sentences are backwards. It should be No, missing 9 players is a joke, and Yes, it would have set a bad precedent.

[NONAME]

MLS is a joke. Is this for real?

[Eric from Tucson]

This is a joke. MLS continues to rule with an iron fist.

[indigo montoya]

mls needs to recognize international dates...until then, this is but another deficiency that will hamper the league's growth. and totally bush-league on mls' behalf to not move the match.

[Scott A]

This situation is absurd...

[Ethan]

Ives,

Why don't you start a fan petition about some of the blatantly stupid things MLS does? You have enough readers that it could actually catch their attention. There are two types of fans in the States, those who love the MLS, and those who won't even give it a chance because of this kind of stupidity. MLS needs to reach out to those in the second category...and action like this is not helping anything.

[Tony in Quakeland]

It's the wrong decison and NOT because it creates problems for Toronto FC.

It's the wrong decision because it screws fans out of the $ they paid to see the match.

[TJ]

It would have been completely unfair to reschedule the game under any circumstances!

Think about the Galaxy... they have to go into a pivotal match this weekend without Landon Donovan, Beckham, Eddie Lewis and Ante Jazic. Should they be able to petition the league to reschedule as well? Of course not.

It sucks that MLS continues to come up with such rubbish scheduling issues, but all teams know the consequences and this is something that will happen from time to time until MLS starts respecting international scheduling dates.

So is it fair that TFC has to play without nine of their regulars? No, but almost every other MLS team is dealing with the same problem, just on a lesser scale.

TFC - get over it. It's one game.

[grawsee]

hey, its bad, but atleast they agreed to postpone the reserve game on wednesday...

[Ted]

If I am remembering correctly, only two of those players were not members of their senior national sides when TFC picked them up. They knew what they were getting into. Every team has to deal with it.

Maybe it will make MLS lean more toward not ignoring FIFA dates, but I doubt it. MLS deserves the flack it will get from this.

[Keith]

The Galaxy will be missing Beckham, Donovan, Jazic and Lewis. I would argue that this is a bigger loss for LA than TFC losing 9 players.

There isn't any way MLS could reschedule this match, every team would be whining every time a player was gone. Every team has players missing, every team is hurt, everyone has to play.

Everyone is hurt by the MLS playing on international dates, but it would be unfair to accommodate one team while others still have to play.

[patrick]

Tony, I gotta disagree... sort of. Soccer is a team sport, they bought tickets to see Toronto FC. IT does suck for the fans, but thats not the reason why MLS messed it up. THis impacts just about every team in the west as Ives stated. If you're one point behind Chivas, arent you pissed if you're playing a full strength (or close to it) team? Thats a competitive disadvantage to virtually everyone!!

[Tom]

Seriously now, no one can really think it's a good idea for the league to be missing so many of it's best players, whether it's Toronto's 9 or LA's 4, it not only hurts the team and the fans, but it actually hurts the game in this country. No one wants to watch a game when the stars are missing...most Americans only watch FOR the stars. This is absurd and MLS really needs to know that the FANS are not happy with the situation.

[Nathan]

Certainly we're not the only league in the world with this issue. How does everybody else make their schedule work and still take off for international fixtures? English teams have the EPL, the FA Cup, the Carling Cup, and the Champions League/UEFA Cup. They're playing 38 league games, more than MLS. How do they do it? It's a lot of games, no doubt, but they've made it work. Why can't MLS?

[CD]

It is easy for everyone to say the MLS shouldn't play on international dates and not offer an alternative. Would you recommend they extend the season or should they play more middle of the week games that have horrible attendance.

[Ryan]

MLS doing something stupid? What else is new...

[Zoran]

Ives,

TFC season ticket holder here and I think this is good for the future of the league. This is the first time that I personally have seen this inflexible league and commissioner exposed to such ridicule. A few weeks ago without Beckham, Blanco and Donovan was just laughable and now this is the icing on the cake. These things need to be addressed and it sounds like they might, but they could have rescheduled this game, because I understand TV commitments were the reason for not rescheduling it. I hope I can watch this game on TV, because I need a good laugh.

[CD]

Nathan,

The EPL has almost a 10 month season. They start in August and end at the end of May. Not that Toronto's game with all there exhausted internationals in February wouldn't be an enjoyable event but...

[Tom in Newark]

This situation is beyond ridiculous. MLS needs to fall in line with the rest of the soccer world and RESPECT THE INTERNATIONAL DATES!

Everything else is just details.

[CD]

TFC has a game every Saturday until 10/25. The playoffs start the next weekend. If they moved the game until later in the season they would have to play 3 games in 7 days and everyone would complain about fixture congestion.

It is impressive that they have all of those international players and they are still about the worst team in the league.

[Tony in Quakeland]

patrick

I understand that. But this is 9 players. You can argue that TFC fans WON'T be getting to see their team - they'll get to see strangers in red shirts. In effect, this is a reserve match at full team prices. But at heart, this is about not accommodating the FIFA calendar and expecting fans to accept the inferior product.

[Enfilade]

MLS definitely needs to work around international dates in the future but I think they are correct in not setting a precedent of rescheduling at a team's request. Also, I think at one point not too long ago Chivas was missing 11 or 12 players due to injury and international duty and they still played, so now its TFC's turn to be severely shorthanded.

[Rocco]

If they have 9 missing, does that mean they only have 13 players dressing. Maybe they could convince 3 to get mysterious injuries during warmups, and send only 10 players out to start the match. Send a message to the bigshots at the front office - that if this is supposed to be a "professional" team/sport, then why can't they have enough players to field an entire side (let alone have reserves in case someone gets injured during the match).

[CD]

"That response is acceptable for a team missing two or three players, but forcing a team to play without nine players is ridiculous."

So Ives are you arguing that when TFC wrote that check to join the league they didn't know that the MLS didn't shut down on international fixture dates? If TFC feels so bad about the product they are putting on the field for their fans I am sure their fans wouldn't complain if TFC refunded their money for the game. How is that TFC academy coming along producing young players that would love to get some game experience?

[duthie]

It's bush league

[WTF]

Ives,

Thank god you brought this to everyone's attention!!

[patrick]

Of course I agree Re: observing FIFA dates but I really think the sticking point is competitive disadvantage. There's certainly no easy answer. I'm not sure a 10 month season a la England would work, as our weather is far more brutal. Mid week games are difficult but in the next couple years, do able given the close nature of many teams with Philly, San Jose and Seattle making it a much smaller world in division.
I have to say though, the fact that a team, ANY team, in the MLS has 9 players on national duty and scrambling for bodies speaks to two things:
1) How much this league has grown and the talent its attracting, even if most of it is CONCACAF talent.
2) THe need for extended senior rosters and expansion and growth of reserve teams. WHile 9 players is a significant loss regardless of the senior roster, its easier to adapt if you have more players to choose from. Perhaps this will spur on an expansion come CBR time.

[KungFuSoccer]

This is the correct decision. Rules are rules and the schedule conflicts are absurd. You can't change the rules for one team, but perhaps due to the absurd problems with the Galaxy and the beyond ridiculous issues with TFC, MLS will pay attention to this problem and fix it for good. PLEASE.

[lakaix15]

wow 1st Kandji now TFC... whats next.... if C-bus wanted to bring C. Ronaldo right now (i know they cant)i bet mls would say its a bad precedent that more prostitutes would come to games and set a bad example on kids because he parties tomuch with woman....

MLS and there wierd way of thinking....

[dhawk]

It's ridiculous. Bottom line, MLS needs to recognize the FIFA calendar like most if not every other league in the world.

[patrick]

I meant CBA

[Brant]

Lemme clue y'all into Carver's *REAL* problem: he's a lousy coach!

How do you have 9 - NINE! - national team players on your team and still look up at everyone in your division not from Kansas City?!?!

Sigi's missing about 3 players. He's clearly got a less 'snazzy' roster than the Reds, and they're on top of the league.

How Toronto can have *that* many players worthy of callups and *still* suck is beyond me.

[Matt M]

Wasn't Toronto supposed to have a bunch of Canadians on the roster? Do they even field 3?

If anything, Toronto has the advantage in that they can sign seemingly as many foreign players as they want.

Time to drop the joke of seperate rules and make MLS a US/Canada league where all US/Canada citizens are "domestic" regardless of where they play.

I heard there was some sort of Canadian law preventing that.

Does anyone have the slightest idea of what that would be?

[CD]

TFC should be looking pretty good in the Summer of 2010. Wynne will be sold by then and none of these other guys will most likely be going to the World Cup.

[joe]

mls = joke

[Eugene]

Gazidis and MLS seem obsessed with "setting bad precedents" lately -- like paying transfer fees for players and rescheduling matches around international fixture dates.

Part of the problem with the league is that they can't see the forest for the trees and don't recognize that these are actually good precedents.

Paying transfer fees to get good, desirable players raises the quality of play on the field and the level of competition between teams. Playing around international fixture dates rather than through them allows the good players in the league to be present at key games, also raising the quality on the field. It's the better quality on the field that makes MLS games more interesting for fans to watch.

Gazidis needs to re-read his "game first" mandate, because he and the league seem to be doing a number of things now that don't promote the "game first" at all.

[Eugene]

It's high comedy that TFC needs to sign stand-ins to play for them. But I guess we should get used to the sight because it'll happen a lot more often once the players strike.

[quartz62]

Mickey Mouse has truly evolved into a soccer league.....

what a joke it is to schedule games on international dates, this whole league is a joke, too bad it's all we have for now.

GO USL

[CACuzcatlan]

They also got a player from the Whitecaps on a one game loan deal.

[PHP]

Maybe Chivas will lose even with this huge advantage and then the front office will have no choice but to finally clean out the coaching staff!

[Adam R.]

How long have they known about this conflict? Cry me a river.

[Joe Quake]

You know, I've never seen a USL game, but I did watch Montreal beat TFC. It looks like they are holding their own in the Champions League - if they ever get on TV, I'll give them a chance. MLS almost NEEDS a rival league to change things, kind of like the AFL, American League and ABA.

[emilio]

Actually MLS IS MAKING THE CORRECT DECISION, OTHER TEAMS WILL BE MISSING KEY PLAYERS, IF ITS NOT 9 ITS STILL 2 OR 3 AND YOU CANT DO FAVORS FOR TEAMS, THIS IS THE SCHEDULE IF ANYTHING ADJUST THE SCHEDULE BEFORE THE SEASON STARTS

[Heffe]

MLS,

What a joke you are!!! You are going to make a team missing 9 players miss a game, when FIFA has declared this an international date!! I can understand not rescheduling a lot of games at this current time, but in this case, MLS needs to rethink their policies.

[Ivan Gazidis]

Dear TFC,

You shouldn't have picked up soo many players from other countries. This is your own doing. Try to remember this for next year.

[kawa]

These guys running the league knows nothing about the game. what other explanation can there be.

[Krammerhead]

Those that are defending the decision of MLS certainly sound foolish. Go Titus!

[Scott A]

It's crazy that MLS doesn't recognize FIFA international dates, even if i understand it's a sticky situation because you have to think of schedule congestion and people will bitch if too many midweek games are scheduled. With that said...how long did TFC know that they had international players and about their game coinciding with this particular date??? It sounds like they waited until a couple days before to scramble to get that USL guy on a one day loan and their chief scout cleared. I guess it's not just the RBNY FO that are procrastinators

[jjf3]

Ditto: tom in newark

this league is a fricking joke until it recognizes international dates. I understand the seasonal timing being different from most world leagues due to weather differences, but this is just amateurish and ignorant management (to an amazingly depressing level - see: hopelessly undermanned teams competing in the CCL) that helps guarantee that the league will never catch on with anyone who truly cares about real "football" in America...

I want to love this league, and they keep making decisions that seem designed to frustrate and disillusion me further and further...

Ives, if you have any way to push a groundswell of support in the right direction, please do so...(whether that's more poll results forwarded to MLS officials, or a VP's email address we can flood with anger, whatever...)

[Justin O]

Venue availability and scheduling are only a small part of it. As long as there isn't a signifcant, negative, difference at the gate and for TV ratings (and I've never heard that there is) the league will see no point in observing int'l dates - whether all of them or a few of them.