Toronto FC faces tough challenge as defending MLS champion Columbus comes to town

In July, Columbus fielded five players for its home MLS All-Star Game, the most in the league: defenders Rudy Camacho and Steven Moreira, midfielder/captain Darlington Nagbe and forwards Cucho Hernandez and Diego Rossi.

Herdman sees enormous reserves of talent in these stars.

“You see how they can almost copy players. One comes, one goes … and they feel like they have a very similar profile. So when you can take (Christian) Ramirez out and then bring in (Canadian forward Jacen) Russell-Rowe as a power forward, you look at it and say, ‘Wow, that’s good to have.'”

Federico Bernardeschi was Toronto’s only star.

Columbus (14-5-8) comes to BMO Field on Wednesday in third place in the Eastern Conference, five spots and 14 points ahead of Toronto (11-15-3). With a playoff spot secured, the Crew hopes to leapfrog Cincinnati into second place.

Coach Wilfried Nancy is looking forward to the clash with Herdman.

“John is going to cook something,” the Frenchman said with a laugh. “I know John. When we played the pre-season match, it wasn’t a pre-season match. It was a real match. But that’s John. That’s why I like him, because he’s intense all the time.”

“They will try to go all out. They will try to push us, they will try to match us,” he added. “They know exactly how we want to play, so we will have to be clever and creative.”

Herdman, for his part, believes TFC will have to play error-free football.

Although the Crew have failed to score in their last two games (a 4-0 loss to visiting Seattle and a 0-0 draw with rivals FC Cincinnati), Toronto have struggled in their defense.

Nicksoen Gomis and Henry Wingo left the game in Austin early with hamstring injuries, and Herdman estimates Gomis will be out for three to four weeks and Wingo for 10 to 12 days. Veteran Kevin Long left the game in Austin after tearing his hamstring in practice and will undergo a fitness test before the game.

Shane O’Neill has been suspended for receiving yellow cards.

“It’s a tough situation,” Herdman said.

Crew is a dangerous opponent.

Columbus is tied for fifth in the league with Real Salt Lake, averaging 1.93 goals per game. Only Inter Miami (2.32), Portland Timbers (2.00), Los Angeles Galaxy (1.97) and Colorado Rapids (1.96) have scored more.

And Columbus boasts the league’s worst defense, conceding 1.04 goals per game. Toronto’s defense is 22nd, averaging 1.76 goals per game.

Toronto has conceded 51 goals, 23 more than Columbus, which has scored more points (7-3-4, 25 points) on the road in league play this season than Toronto has at home (7-7-0, 21 points).

Columbus also has Canadian defender Mo Farsi in the lineup, who scored in July’s win over Toronto.

The game in Columbus is the first of four in 11 days, with TFC visiting Colorado on Saturday, Vancouver on Sept. 25 in the Canadian Championship final and Chicago on Sept. 28. Toronto will then close out the regular season with home games against New York Red Bulls on Oct. 2 and Inter Miami on Oct. 5.

If the playoffs started tomorrow, Toronto would face ninth-seeded D.C. United in the wild-card game, with the winner advancing to the best-of-five first round to face the top-seeded team in the East — currently Miami.

Herdman would like a different scenario, with an eye on passing Charlotte, which is in seventh place and has two points and a game less than Toronto. The seventh team will face No. 2 — currently Cincinnati — in the first round.

“Right now, we’re looking up, not down,” Herdman said. “It’s good motivation for the guys to see that next level on the table. And it’s been raised. If we can get to that point, it means you’re not going to Miami in the heat, which is a tough place to be.”

“We’ll take whatever comes our way,” he added. “But the most important thing is to get to those playoffs. That’s the key mission right now.”

Toronto has not advanced to the postseason since 2020, when after finishing second overall in the Supporters’ Shield, they lost to Nashville in overtime in the first hurdles match.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published September 17, 2024.

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press