Coach says, again, he's going to fix Toronto FC

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Chris Young / the canadian press archives Toronto FC head coach Aron Winter is working with a shallow talent pool. (CP)

TORONTO -- On the eve of perhaps its biggest game of the season, Toronto FC appears in disarray. Or, at the very least, out of answers.

Dismal defending. Misfiring on attack. A cheerful coach seemingly leading his frustrated MLS team further into the abyss.

"I believe in it," manager Aron Winter said Tuesday. "We are going to fix it."

Winter, a thoroughly likable man, has been saying the same for weeks.

The season could be on the line Wednesday when TFC hosts the Vancouver Whitecaps in the second leg of the Amway Canadian Championship final.

Toronto (0-9-0) has yet to collect a point in the league this season.

At this stage, TFC probably needs the Hubble Telescope to even catch a glimpse of the playoffs. Or maybe just a TV remote.

"So to make something out of this season, we have to win (Wednesday)," said Toronto striker Danny Koevermans. "Because then you've got some nice games coming up in say August (in the CONCACAF Champions League) until November."

Toronto has a slight edge going into the game, having tied 1-1 in Vancouver in the opening leg. That means it has an away goal and will advance if it wins or the game ends in a 0-0 draw.

TFC has already set an MLS record for worst start to a season (surpassing the seven straight losses by the 1999 Kansas City Wizards).

Bear in mind this is a franchise that has gone though six coaches in six years and has never been to the playoffs. Its all-time MLS record is 40-76-47.

Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment brought Winter in prior to last season to turn around that atrocious record. So far, the move has not paid off.

You can count Winter's MLS wins on two hands and still have four fingers left over.

Worse, the team still seems to be lurching out of control.

Asked about Toronto's tendency to go one step forward, two steps back this season, keeper Milos Kocic said the problem goes deeper than just this campaign.

"I think it's been like that since I came here -- three years ago."

But if ownership were to jettison Winter now, it would not only be rejecting a coach. It would be admitting that his vision -- 4-3-3 formation, playing "Total Football" from tyke to top pro -- was misguided.

The truth is probably more complicated.

Winter, an MLS novice when he arrived in January 2011, doesn't have the horses to run his style of race. His team has been hamstrung by some untimely injuries. The talent pool is shallow, the offence unreliable (seven goals in nine games) and the defence porous.

Kocic, who has played well despite retrieving a league-high 21 balls out of his goal this season, says now is not the time for finger-pointing.

"We need each other now, all of us," said the Serb, one of the team's leaders. "We need coaches, we need players, we need staff, we need everybody if we want to get out of here.

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 23, 2012 C4