No One Person, No One Factor
Ben Knight
Ben Knight writes and publishes
Onward!
Toxic
No one person, and no one factor, did in Toronto FC’s 2009 MLS campaign.
The team was wildly inconsistent, and crashed out of the playoff hunt with a astonishingly awful 5-0 loss to New York Energy Drink, by far the gummiest pack of predators in the whole zoo.
For the past two days, I’ve been digging up stats and writing about Danny Dichio. In no way am I claiming that a broken down striker who bagged just 3 goals and 2 assists was TFC’s most valuable player or best way forward.
But I did show that TFC scored almost twice as often in games Dichio started. Something about the guy focused the Reds, and unhinged opposing defences. No one else in the Toronto strike force showed the same ability.
So, if Dichio was forced into retirement by a rising clubhouse divide, what can be learned from this – and how can a recurrence be prevented?
