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Friday, August 7, 2009

Back To Real-ity

Los Galacticos have left los building. No need for a match report, no need for analysis. It was an all-star skills competition at BMO Field and ended as predicted. It is no secret that Real Madrid is in a different class from TFC, and that's no insult to The Reds. Real are in a different class to all but a handful of teams in the world. 5-1 was the final and despite the ticket price, Real Madrid did as advertised. They played their stars who scored pretty goals while looking pretty. Kudos to Toronto's Gabe Gala who notched the home side's only goal. The kid looked like he just scored the World Cup winner and in his short career it may be similar. The strike also gave the TFC supporters in the crowd, and yes there were a good number, a reason to cheer for their outmatched home team.

Now that the circus leaves town, the real (not Real) questions can resume. Where does TFC go from here? Does a real push for the playoffs start now or does this team continue to sputter through the rest of the MLS season? Next, does the media spotlight which has been shining so brightly on BMO Field this week have any residue? Will the media stick around and start asking hard questions about actual issues such as the lack of new signings, the poor showing as of late and the lack of investment from MLSE after recent huge profits? Or, is the self proclaimed "Highlight of the Season", tonight's friendly, the best that supporters get this year?

It is a bit of a crossroads for The Reds right now. The only thing left on the schedule are gruelling late season matches and long road trips. There are no more glamour friendlies, no Champions League and if things don't pick up in a hurry - no playoffs. It's just football from here on out and it's time for the head office to make this team ready for the rest of the season and the near future. Hopefully Mo Johnston's magical "5 Year Plan" includes real transfers and isn't only about collecting draft picks and mapping out big name friendlies for the next two seasons while the club wades through mediocrity.

2 comments:

  1. OK, I am with you guys on the need to use the Real Madrid bonanza (both the cash and the media attention) to take us to the next stage of TFC development. Did I mention the Edu money?
    Here is what I am thinking. I love my wife. She has been with me for a great life and we have raised a family. She is wonderful, but not an international swimsuit model. I know my place. Tom Brady of the Patriots is rich, famous,talented and good looking, so he marries the swimsuit model. I am not rich or good looking and my talents are only grand in the blogging world. Yet, if my wife starts arranging for Ms Brady to visit us this summer, coming over to the house for wrestling matches, I am going to start viewing things from a different perspective. Wife=TFC, Ms Brady=Real Madrid. I want more.

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  2. ^ brilliant analogy!

    Aside from Gala scoring (Everyone's favourite apple!) I noticed something rather sad about the TFC news feed in my google.

    On my Google news feed page, I have the official feed from TFC and displays up to 9 news items at maxiumum. Where the Puerto Rico game had a 2 notes, and the New England game had 3 notes, the Real Madrid game takes up all the slots.

    Oh MLSE. If you want to rip me off and tell me something is amazing, incredible, epic and all these other wonderful adjectives to describe this game, at least stop LYING TO ME AND MAKE THE GAME MEANINGFUL.

    In all honesty, I would've been happier if Real scored more goals, but then again I'm bitter.

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