Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Philadelphia Union

Sheanon Williams says of Toronto, "They have no pressure on them, the only way they can look is up. That's definitely dangerous for us. But just looking at ourselves, we need wins, as well. We can't take anyone for granted."

Says Williams of his new center back role, "You won't see me bombing up the wings anymore.

Leaving the foggy past well behind him
THE BUZZ?
Can this league drought possibly continue? Will De Ro fail to score against us twice? Will there be a parade if TFC gets a draw? Does Winter dare rest starters before Wednesday's ACC Final? Is ghost Robert F. Kennedy ashamed of his shoddy stadium?

BC Place: actual attendance pictured
THE BUZZ:
Could this be the end to TFC's Canadian reign?Will Aron Winter "park the bus" at BC Place?Will he let Ryan Johnson know beforehand?Who has to wash BC Place's giant curtains?Has the Whitecaps schedule left them tired?Are Granola Buttys a thing?

Goodbye old friend. Goodbye old friend's wispy 'stache.TORONTO VS. MONTREAL
AMWAY CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIP
SEMI-FINAL 2ND LEG (0-0 AGGREGATE)
　
BMO FIELD - WEDNESDAY 8PM ET
TV: SPORTSNET ONTARIO
　
THE KICKABOUT:
What started a year and a half ago so optimistically could very well end with a whimper at the end of the Canadian Championship's ("The Cank" to its friends) semi-final.

Keeping the memory of Raivis Hscanovics alive since 2010TORONTO VS. D.C. UNITED
　
BMO FIELD - SATURDAY 4PM ET
TV: SPORTSNET ONTARIO-----RADIO: THE FAN 590
　
THE KICKABOUT:
No matter the result, this one practically writes itself.

St.Hubert - this leg goes to Quebec
THE BUZZ:
Will Aron Winter regret saying "we're better than Montreal"?
Did Jesse Marsch pin those word to Impact's dressing room?Do people honestly prefer St.Hubert's over Swiss Chalet?Is TONIGHT the new start for TFC 2012?Could there be more old Italians on Montreal?

The (Stockton) shorts end of the stick
THE BUZZ:
Will Toronto FC leave Utah with as dubious record holders?Remember back in 2007 when RSL a bigger mess than us? Yeah.Can Torsten Frings return balance to the midfield?Do The Reds have the firepower up front to breakdown RSL?

REAL SALT LAKE VS. TORONTO
　
RIO TINTO STADIUM - SATURDAY 9PM ET
TV: GOL TV ----RADIO: THE FAN 590
　
THE KICKABOUT:
If there is one place Toronto FC would have chosen to avoid while trying not to tie the record for worst start in MLS history, Real Salt Lake's Rio Tinto Stadium may be it.

Editor's Note: Within the last hour, Chicago Fire's Chris Rolfe and Toronto FC's Danny Koevermans have been ruled out for Saturday's game

Be wary of a change in formation for TFC (From 4-3-3 to 4-4-2)

In Toronto's latest loss against Chivas, they played a 4-3-3 formation with Plata and Johnson wide and Koevermans in the middle.

It seems like yesterday. Well the record does.TORONTO VS CHICAGO
　
BMO FIELD - SATURDAY 3:30PM ET
TV: TSN2 RADIO: THE FAN 590
　
THE KICKABOUT:
Every TFC supporter remembers it.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The first transfer window of the 2012 MLS season closes on Sunday, and some teams could use the next couple of days to fine tune their rosters for the next couple of months before they are able to hit the international market again at the end of June.

Things just have not gone the way of the Los Angeles Galaxy these past few days. Not even in the MLS Reserve League.

Chivas USA's reserves topped the Los Angeles Galaxy reserves convincingly on Monday afternoon, winning 4-2 at Field 1 of the Home Depot Center. Cesar Romero led the way for the Goats, scoring a second-half hat-trick in the match.

Toronto FC kicks off their quest to become the second straight MLS team to reach the CONCACAF Champions League finals tonight when the Reds welcome Mexican power Santos Laguna to BMO Field for the first leg of their semifinal tie (8 p.m., Fox Soccer Channel/Telefutura).

TFC reached the semifinals by springing a surprise on the favored Los Angeles Galaxy, and based on the last couple of results without the injured Torsten Frings, it's going to take a top-notch effort from TFC to get by Santos Laguna, which routed the Seattle Sounders in the second leg of their quarterfinal tie and boast an impressive strikeforce that includes in-form American striker Herculez Gomez.

"This guy was a thing, wasn't he?"With a number of season tickets still unsold, Toronto FC's bean-counters can't be happy with the sudden sputter of the 2012 season. After the highs of The Reds' CCL exploits, things looked very bright for "SIXual Healing" but a pair of major injuries coinciding with a pair of shambolic fixtures to open the MLS season has tempered emotions.

Hey handsome... where you been hidin'?"SIXual Healing" is about to touchdown at BMO Field and with a host of new faces and you need a program! While nowhere near as erotic as a "SIXual Healing" program should be (this is a family website... sort of) we bring you all of the must-know info on your 2012 Reds.

Great, now who will do... um... everything?The news that TFC supporters were dreading came out through the Toronto mist like a miserable German foghorn. Reds' captain, talisman... well, Mr. Everything... Torsten Frings will be out of action for 4-6 weeks with a hamstring injury. With one gut-busting, turf-ridden tackle, The Reds' early season went from one full of optimism and excitement - to a hand wringing, month-and-a-half of hoping that the rag-taggiest bunch of defenders can hold some kind of shape until Das Kapitan returns.

"Soolsma promised me it was 'delectable'..."One of the annual traditions for a select few TFC supporters is the pre-season food-tasting event at BMO Field. A "lucky" few fans go behind the scenes to try the new concessions on offer for the season, which usually include politically correct, offensive to none, "football" food such as " Jerked Toad-in-a-hole-in-a Belgian Waffle Pizzas".

Toronto FC is a bit of an enigma. Every other Don Garber expansion team with more than a year in MLS has a playoff appearance, Real Salt Lake even won a title. The pressure is mounting for the team that launched MLS 3.0. With a fans that are still strongly supporting a side with a poor history the team needed to do some things to awake and become what their supporters feel they deserve.

"I'm Neo... who's Geo?"If only Toronto FC scouts had watched The Matrix on the flight down to Ecuador to watch Geovanny "The Spoon" Caicedo. "Do not try to bend The Spoon — that's impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth: there is no Spoon" is a famous line from the sci-fi film inspired by Mo Johnston's 5 years of management.

We are nearing the end of this elaborate gag. It's been a journey of laughs and "what the hell were we thinking" type moments. With Champs League just around the corner, we will finally be resuming our regular actual football focus shortly. Hey, what does a 'down homer', a model, and Doneil Henry have in common?

We are nearing the end of this elaborate gag. It's been a journey of laughs and "what the hell were we thinking" type moments. With Champs League just around the corner, we will finally be resuming our regular actual football focus shortly. Hey, what does a 'down homer', a model, and Doneil Henry have in common?

Right colour, wrong shirtIt's a Chile afternoon in Toronto! Great news for TFC supporters and pun-lovers alike as The Reds officially announced the signing of Chilean international defender Miguel Aceval today. The announcement concludes a signing-process that has been rumoured since December but spent the last few days floating around MLS red-tape limbo.

It's "Springtime for Winter" as Toronto FC today released the names of the 41 players (so far) who are taking part in the club's pre-season training camp. The major difference from past years on first glance is the absence of any professional trialists. Just a year ago, the likes of Javier Martina, Mikael Yourassowsky and King Osei Gyan (for you TFC trivia buffs) were training with The Reds in hopes of grabbing a contract but this year seems quite different.

Caicedo (L), and rumoured trilaist "The Dish"Not only has it been a good day for TFC's defensive line - but a great day for puns. Hot on the heels of this morning's "Ecks'ual satisfaction", Aron Winter started TFC's Media Day off with a bang by announcing that the club had signed Ecuadorian Geovanny Caicedo.

Monty Hall... a proud father"The boys are back in tow-owu-wow-own!" Oh, sing it yourself then. It's true though - like well-paid groundhogs in shorts, our beloved Reds are making their annual late-winter appearance! And guess what? Spring is coming early! (March 7th at SkyDome - operators are standing by) It's always fun to see old faces return and new faces emerge (except on defence where we are apparently in tip-top shape) and catch up on all the news and gossip from a long off-season.

"Behind you Andy! Oh... never mind."A little bit of a shocker out of TFC's pre-pre-season today as the club confirmed that both Andy Iro and Peri Marosevic will not return to The Reds in 2012. "Both Andy and Peri declined our contract extension offers and now the club is ready to move on," were the words from the Dutch Master Aron Winter who is no doubt ready to welcome new recruits to fill their roles.

We're about a week and a half away from the MLS Superdraft in Kansas City. It's the first of two drafts for the league, with a supplemental draft following a week later. KC have their natural 16th pick in the 1st round of the Superdraft, and then have the 30th selection in the second round. That selection came from FC Dallas in the trade that sent Kevin Hartman to Dallas.

The Netherlands' # 1 feline holiday celebrity - Suarez Soolsma
One of the great things about the Holiday Season is the nightly treat of festive television specials. From claymation to variety specials and all things puppet-related in-between, December is a cornucopia of sugary TV treats.

Theo and Danleigh Borman. Pre-Re-Entry Draft.
After testing the market for a potential sale of its MLSE assets, The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan recently decided to take the sports and "entertainment" monolith off the market. Funny that four flailing sports teams without a major trophy (sorry NutCan) between them couldn't tempt a multi-billionaire.

Seriously, you'll never guess which one was protected...Less than 24 hours after Galaxy lifted the MLS Cup, it's back to business at Don Garber's Playhouse. Aside from the Cup Final, it has been a busy few days for league administrators with a few major announcements: future MLS Cup Finals to be held at the home of the highest seeded finalist (Good); a tweak to the playoff structure (Meh); and, the introduction of a conference-heavy unbalanced schedule (Fugly)
　
Today's paperwork however, was the release of the Expansion Draft Protected Lists with each club shielding certain players from L'Impact du Montreal avec le Bibliotheque's grubby, petite, Joe Louis-grabbing fingers.

It's that wacky time of year again around BMO Field. Thousands come and go, there's screaming, laughing and crying, all while countless clowns and freakshows entertain for peanuts. No, it's not the MLS Transfer Window - it's the Canadian National Exhibition. Toronto's annual fair to celebrate and showcase the best in fried dough technology, the finest in men's leather belts, Sha Na Na cover bands and amusements "assembled" by some of North America's finest carnies.

Luckily, the team we're going to be facing in this video is not the one with Red in the name, but rather the one in red jerseys.

Among the things I'm seeing here that I hope Dynamo exploit on Saturday night:

1. Woeful defending. I think the next time TFC play together as a unit will be the first time.

It's been a long 2 and a half months, but it's finally coming to an end tomorrow when KC ends their 10 game road trip in Toronto. KC ended their long losing streak last week in Colorado with a 1-1 draw against the defending champs. Toronto comes into this game on the backs of a humiliating 6-2 loss to Philadelphia at home.

For those of you who haven't been following the drama happening within FIFA, you really should be. It's fascinating how such an inward, closed-off organization was finally pried open, if only a little bit, for the rest of us to see how it works. Over the last week or so there's been a lot of upheaval within the organization over corruption to the point where FIFA had no other option than to address them properly.

This is not an injury for antsWhat could be the worst way to repair a defence that just saw itself ripped open for six goals this past weekend? How about losing the anchor of that already porous backline for the remainder of the season? No?
　
Thought you'd seen the last of Ty Harden?

This is not an injury for antsWhat could be the worst way to repair a defence that just saw itself ripped open for six goals this past weekend? How about losing the anchor of that already porous backline for the remainder of the season? No?
　
Thought you'd seen the last of Ty Harden?

TFC suffer another blow as 2010 club MVP Adrian Cann is gone for the season with an ACL injury.
Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)

Photo by Nick Turchiaro/ISIphotos.com

Toronto FC's season just went from bad to worse.

Days after a record-setting 6-2 loss to the Philadelphia Union, the club announced that starting centerback Adrian Cann tore his ACL in training and will be out for the remainder of the season.

After a great win last week against the Chicago Fire, the Philadelphia Union (5-3-2) are heading up north to Toronto to take on Toronto FC (2-4-6) in what is another game the Union should win.

If you have not already, be sure to check out the following previews from The Brotherly Game staff: [Ben's Match Preview] [Scott Has A Conversation With The Enemy].

Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

Game time: Saturday, 12:30 p..m.

TV: The Comcast Network

On Saturday, we'll see Philadelphia Union play a team that's trying to play the way we thought we'd see the Union do it this year.

Under new coach and former Dutch international Aron Winter, Toronto FC (2-4-6) has tried to import the traditional Ajax (and modern Barcelona) style of play, moving to a 4-3-3 and trying to import the talent necessary to pull off a fluid offensive attack.