TFC a McBridesmaid, never a McBride

That's about it then right? Enough now with the endless quest for the playoffs? Toronto had to leave Illinois with three points tonight but could only grab one from a match that saw TFC start with a frenetic energy and end with most players about to collapse. The 2-2 result was probably fair for both teams who both showed a lot more in the way of mistakes rather than skill. The biggest mistakes though seemed to come from the Toronto bench and its often baffling tactics.

Interim (by necessity) manager Chris Cummins started a very similar line-up to last week's team with Julian De Guzman playing a bit deeper than his previous match. It wasn't the DP who shone for TFC though, it was Dwayne De Rosario who was a man on fire for most of the night and grabbed the reins immediately. In the 6th minute, De Ro capitalized on a Fire defensive lapse and struck his 11th goal of the year putting The Reds up early. Ali Gerba looked dangerous and healthier and TFC looked dominant for the first 10 minutes, even Chad Barrett looked sharp (I hurt my hand typing that). However, disaster struck in the 14th minute when Rent-A-Defender Nick Garcia put a very weak own-goal past keeper Stefan Frei. The OG from the Earthquakes cast-off (!!!) deflated TFC's momentum and they lost their way, losing their composure for most of the remaining half.

Halftime reflections were frustrating as Toronto headed to the locker rooms on the wrong foot. Jim Brennan's rapid decline seemed very evident in the half with broadcaster Craig Forrest even openly pondering whether the captain should retire at season's end. It was nice to hear a broadcaster say what many of us are thinking. In the very least it was better than going back to the studio to hear Rob Faulds refer to the team as "FC" over and over again. That's so 2007! Luckily, former Blizzard supporters were spared any footage from Chicago's "Soccer Bowl '84" anniversary celebrations at halftime but it seemed as if the civic one-upmanship may have sparked The Reds in the locker room. That, or former Juve and Blizzard maestro Roberto Bettega called Chris Cummins.

Either way, pigs briefly flew over Chicago as TFC came roaring out in the 2nd half and Chad Barrett (ouch my hand) connected onto a De Ro cross and put Toronto ahead 2-1. It looked like "Blizzard's Revenge" but Chris Cummins decided that turtling for a whole half would be the best way to preserve the slim lead. Our old favourite negative tactic - Torontonaccio, came out and TFC put 10 men behind the ball. The useful Gerba was shockingly replaced by the still injured defensive midfielder Carl Robinson and The Reds began ball watching as Fire grew more confident. The all-out defending wore down Toronto in a hurry and they began to drop like flies through exhaustion and injury. Inevitably, Chicago patiently found its moment and Brian McBride schooled Nick Garcia and tied the game with a clinical finish. At that point, Cummins decided that offence was once again important and brought on O'Brian White but with most Reds collapsing on the field, the match was over apart from a lucky escape in the last second where Chicago could have taken all three points.

Chris Cummins, the former Luton youth coach and full-time Mo Puppet seems like a really nice guy but as the season has got down to the nitty gritty, his tactics and decisions have become less and less effective. Who knows if he has full control or if there is a Scottish puppeteer pulling strings from above (just what did John Carver know?) but the interim label looks like it should stay attached to the affable Englishman. The playoff hunt looks well and truly dead now as New England got their 3 points tonight jumping well ahead and TFC's end of season record will only end up being marginally better than last year's. If this season was indeed as important and promising as sold early in the season, would it have been that hard to find a truly qualified replacement manager by mid-season? Of course then Mo couldn't have a new manager to fire this time next year and all eyes would be on him instead. Perish the thought.