MLS week 24: Toronto FC are setting a new standard

Toronto FC took a big step forward in the race for the Supporters’ Shield in week 24, beating the Chicago Fire 3-1 at Toyota Park.

MLS week 24 gave us two massive top-of-the-table matches that will go a long way toward determining the final look of the standings. In a possible Supporters’ Shield decider, Toronto FC told the rest of the league they are not to be messed with in a 3-1 road win over Chicago, giving them 50 points from 25 games and a seven-point lead atop the Shield table. Sporting KC beat FC Dallas at home to sink FCD all the way down to fifth in the conference and put themselves solely ahead of the pack in the Western Conference.

This week, we’re looking specifically at just how good Toronto are and much more on the week that was:

Alone

At the beginning of the season, pretty much everyone had Toronto FC winning the Shield. I did, and it required little thought: they probably should have won MLS Cup last year; they have the league’s best player (Sebastian Giovinco), its best defensive midfielder (Michael Bradley) and arguably its best No. 9 (Jozy Altidore); their depth is far and away the best MLS has ever seen, and Greg Vanney has been smart enough to use it almost flawlessly; and they added whatever necessary pieces were left after building such a great roster, picking up final third distributor Victor Vazquez and depth center-back Chris Mavinga while also promoting wing-back Raheem Edwards to the first team.

For the most part, it didn’t seem like many observers even tried to look away from the Reds as Shield favorites. The fact that they have easily lived up to those expectations speaks to just how good they are.

MLS, as you may have picked up on, is not a very predictable league, and often those predictions make us look stupid. But TFC were even better than they were always going to be, to a point that goes beyond simple trophies: there’s an argument they’re the best MLS team ever.

I’m not going to state that argument here — you can read it elsewhere, something I’d recommend — but it’s worth looking at why they are as good as they are, and how exactly they achieved this high bar.

To start, they have the best trio of Designated Players of any club in the league, and given the superstar-driven nature of soccer and sports in general, that is the primary difference between them and, say, Montreal, who can count just one elite DP. Giovinco has yet to even hit his peak this season, which is kind of scary, and his partnership with Altidore is as good or better than any MLS striking partnership ever, including the fearsome Dempsey-Oba in Seattle earlier in the decade.

Bradley speaks for himself. He is a machine, first and foremost, a guy with a never-dying motor and the ability to go 90 minutes every single week. He is a leader, clearly seen by his constant communication with teammates and his captain’s armband. He plays a supremely important position at a higher level than anyone else in MLS, and that value can not be forgotten when discussing TFC’s success.

The rest of the starting XI — say, the TAM-level guys — have varying levels of skill and importance. Justin Morrow has an argument as MLS’ best left-back, putting himself in the USMNT discussion with his dominant (and often goal-filled) performances on both sides of the field at wing-back. How many other clubs in this league can boast a legit goal-scoring threat at left-back?

In addition, Steven Beitashour could well have quietly made himself the best right-back in MLS, and Edwards has performed so well as his backup that he has received looks from the Canadian national team, at just 22. Vazquez (and his 11 assists) is a best XI candidate, adding another creative element to an already-overpowered attack. It’s kind of ridiculous that TFC employ two of the league’s best strikers, one of its best attacking distributors, and its best overlapping left-back.

The backline (generally consisting of some variation of Drew Moor, Mavinga, Nick Hagglund and Eriq Zavaleta) is not necessarily a top-tier one, but it has more than done the job, and it doesn’t have to be world-beating with Bradley in front of them. Alex Bono has developed into a solid MLS starter, although I have concerns about his hands and ability to handle faster-paced shots.

This all is without mentioning 22-year-old Marky Delgado, a calm possession No. 8 who does not give the ball away. He has been very, very impressive, and the only reason he hasn’t received the same plaudits as his midfield partners Bradley and Vazquez is that the best parts of his game do not include assist-getting or being the captain of the national team.

So you could say they’re pretty good. After their win in Chicago on the weekend, they advanced their current unbeaten run to seven games. They’ve lost just three games all season, and have a shot to become the second full-season, non-shootout MLS club to average two points per game in the regular season.

None of their players have won the World Cup, and none can be counted as ‘legends’ in any part of the world outside of North America. They win because they made smart DP signings who play a lot and score a lot, and who last more than two years. They win because they’ve used Targeted Allocation Money to fill out the squad with quality starters and to add depth in places that need it. They win because they’ve trusted the academy and the SuperDraft to produce quality players, both giving a platform to lesser-known Canadian and American players and freeing up cash that can be spent elsewhere.

Other teams win for other reasons. But all of them have similar elements to their roster-building as TFC; just not to Toronto’s extent. The Reds will — at this point, it’s certain — become the first Canadian team to win the Shield, and very well could win MLS Cup as well, giving them a fully-fledged treble. They have done a lot of things better than other teams, and that has won them trophies, possibly crowned them as the league’s best ever, and blazed a path that will significantly advance MLS squad-building strategies.

Next: The best under-20 player on every MLS team

Weekly awards

Best team in the league: Toronto FC. See above.

Worst team in the league: Colorado Rapids. Colorado hosted D.C. United, the previous holders of this dubious distinction, and lost 1-0 in a game that I did not watch and do not plan on watching anything more than these few seconds:

That’s Jared Watts passing the ball into his own net. It was the difference. What a game.

Random result of the week: Montreal beat Chicago 3-0 midweek. Not a great week for random MLS results, but we’ll give the nod to Montreal here for their domination of the Fire on Wednesday. They jumped out quickly at home and handed Chicago another road loss.

Minnesota United, playing on the road against red-hot Seattle, almost gave us a weird result, but they committed a handball in the dying seconds which Clint Dempsey converted to give the Sounders a 2-1 win. ‘Twas not to be for the Loons, who saw Ethan Finlay score in his debut but little other positives. Time for an overhaul.

Predictable result of the week: Portland beat the Red Bulls 2-0 at home. The Timbers hosted NYRB on Friday night and gutted out an ugly three points that they desperately needed in order to keep a safe distance between them and the red line. The Red Bulls’ first team played 120 minutes on the hard football turf of Cincinnati on Tuesday, so after traveling cross-country to play a non-conference game on more turf, Jesse Marsch rested almost every starter.

The Timbers, it should be mentioned, are struggling to rev up their talented attack and create chances from deeper possession. Caleb Porter has not done a good job of designing game-plans that fully take advantage of his front four, and to compound this, has been unable to make the correct in-game adjustments and substitutions.

Attacker of the week: Ignacio Piatti, Montreal Impact. In two matches this week, the Impact won 3-0 over Chicago and 3-1 over Real Salt Lake. Piatti picked up a brace in both, giving him four goals on the week.

All of a sudden, Montreal have shot up the Eastern Conference standings and currently are enjoying a week above the red line. They are sixth, with 36 points from 24 games, one point ahead of Atlanta having played two more games than the Five Stripes. ATL somehow endured a two-week bye week, so they have two games in hand over the Impact, but Samuel Piette has done a lot to transform this side.

GK howler of the week: Sean Johnson vs. New England. NYCFC came back to beat the Revolution at home on Sunday 2-1 thanks to goals from David Villa and Jonathan Lewis, but before that, Sean Johnson had a bit of trouble:

This win keeps NYC in the Shield for at least a little bit longer, although it’s hard to imagine a scenario where they overtake TFC.

As for the Revs, they’ve become the most confusing team in the league recently and it’s not close. Everything from their roster decisions to lineup choices to in-game substitutions have been confounding. Safe to say they won’t be making the postseason.