First Person View – Midseason Friendlies should be Celebratory -- Part Two - What Should Be Done

    With the midweek match against AS Roma in the rearview and Kevin Payne’s comments still simmering, it is a good to time get to the root of this problem.

First Person View – Midseason Friendlies should be Celebratory -- Part One - Why They Aren’t

    The concept of a midseason friendly is simple and admirable enough.

    Bring in a big club, a storied one, somebody the home fans and soccer-aficionados who do not regularly attend matches alike would be interested in seeing.

    Sure, use it as a marketing tool, but also a celebration of how far the game has come in this franchise’s short life.

    With nothing riding on the match, it should be a fun night out, and a chance to just enjoy the game without the stress of points on the line.

    How many times in the life of the average Torontonian does one get the chance to see Francesco Totti – a true legend of the game - live in action? Once, maybe twice?

    But clearly in Toronto, they have become sources of conflict, that vocal minority of Toronto fans, flinching like the spurned lovers that they are, are duly annoyed by these matches; the question is why?

Beyond POV-FS – Paul Mariner Reveals the Details of his Scouting Network, Bombast at Toronto FC, and a Lack of Respect at Waking the Red

    A post over at Waking the Red yesterday, using a few loose words from Mariner on ESPN’s Press Pass as the launching point for a discussion on the culture of over-the-top rhetoric at TFC and why such throw away lines seem to resonate more than the accomplishments of the people who make them.

    Check it out.

First Person View - Will Toronto FC Regret Letting Go of Joao Plata?

    It should come as no surprise that we here at POV are big fans of the little Ecuadorean sparkplug.

    His departure from the club last season, on loan to LDU Quito following a rather bizarre series of announcements and denials, was a blow to the morale of Toronto fans who held the diminutive speedster in high regard.

    Given the way the club responded to his forcing of the move – he prematurely announced his return to his homeland on twitter – it was always evident that Plata would never again be seen in the club’s colours at BMO Field.

    The question at hand, I suppose, is did the club receive too little from Real Salt Lake - only a second-round pick in the 2015 SuperDraft - in return?

A Quick Glimpse – Canadian Notes on Will Johnson, Gershon Koffie, TFC Kit Launch and the U-20’s

Notes on Will Johnson, Gershon Koffie, the TFC Kit Launch and the U-20 Loss to the USA

Toronto FC Draft Day - Allocation, Allocation, Allocation

    While watching the draft unfold yesterday, one could be forgiven for getting agitated at the peculiar – if brilliant – moves made by the TFC front office.

    Allowing the more high-profile potential to pass on by while collecting nebulous amounts of allocation money and grabbing the top two Canadian talents can be viewed as a missed opportunity, a waste of such a vaulted starting position – having initially held the first and third-overall picks, or as a small victory in the uphill battle that will see the club finally become relevant in the league.

Thoughts on the Recent Trades at Toronto FC

    Yesterday Toronto FC completed their second trade of the off-season sending Ryan Johnson and Milos Kocic to Portland for goalkeeper Joe Bendik, allocation money, and the third pick in the 2013 SuperDraft.