Skip to main content
soccer

Toronto FC defender Eriq Zavaleta heads the ball during a game against Montreal Impact on Sunday.John E. Sokolowski

Toronto FC definitely does not want to be trendy when it comes to the Supporters' Shield.

As the Major League Soccer playoffs approach, the Reds are eyeing Sunday's regular-season finale on the road against Atlanta United FC as a tuneup for the postseason and do not want to follow in the tradition of the majority of the league's first-place finishers. Since the league was founded in 1996, only six teams have finished first in the regular season (the Supporters' Shield became the award for it in 1999) and gone on to win the MLS Cup.

The MLS shares the disparity between regular-season and playoff winners with the NHL. It is a well-established superstition in hockey that winning the dreaded Presidents' Trophy means a Stanley Cup championship is unlikely.

While the leading theory in the NHL is that too much energy is wasted chasing first place, leaving not enough for the playoffs, some Reds think the much smaller margin for error in the postseason is why most MLS regular-season champions fall short.

"The margin for error in the regular season is very big," TFC defender Drew Moor said. "A lot of times those points you pick up from wins in March and April don't seem that big, but if the Supporters' Shield is the goal for you they do become very big come the end of the season.

"In October and November, the margin for error becomes very small. To be able to flip that switch to playoff mentality, it can't happen in your first playoff game. It has to happen in the last couple weeks leading up to the playoffs. Some teams might struggle with that. I'm excited to see how we respond to it. I think we've been in playoff mode for a couple weeks now. That's a good sign."

TFC head coach Greg Vanney played for two first-place finishers that fell short in the MLS playoffs, the 1998 Los Angeles Galaxy and the 2007 D.C. United. Throw a little misfortune in with the reduced margin for error, he says, and good teams can go down quickly.

"I think a Cup competition is about the form you're in in the moment," Vanney said. "With D.C. United, unfortunately the leading scorer of the league, Luciano Emilio, took an injury leading up to the playoffs. So we went into the playoffs not having our No. 1 striker. The margins become so fine in a knockout competition, we didn't score at the rate we were before and we made a couple of defensive lapses. We ended up in a 3-2 series aggregate and we were out.

"The playoffs are really about the form you're in in the moment and finding that rhythm. Everybody's going to be good, everybody's going to come in with intensity. Then it's really about executing."

That is why all concerned regard what is known in the MLS as Decision Day, the final day of the regular season when the playoff matchups are determined, as a big one for the Reds even though they had first place locked up three weeks ago. TFC has been off its form in recent weeks and going into Atlanta for the first time – where an MLS record crowd of 72,000 is expected, and playing a surprising expansion team that needs a win to clinch home-field advantage in the single-game knockout playoff round – is just the tonic it needs.

"I've said many times to get a game to get some rhythm, to get back together as a group on the field, these are all important things as we prepare for the playoffs," Vanney said. "The result is also important for us. To see that environment, it's something we've never been to before, to have that before the playoffs is important. Our paths could cross again in the playoffs so it's always better to know where you're going than never having been there before."

There is something else at stake for TFC. The Reds need at least one point to break a tie at 68 points with the 1998 Galaxy and set an MLS record for most in one season.

While Moor and other TFC players say the team is already in playoff mode, chasing a second consecutive appearance in the MLS Cup, that is belied by their play lately. The Reds lost two games in succession for the first time this season just before clinching first place with a win over the New York Red Bulls and they looked out of sync despite a 1-0 win over the Montreal Impact in their last outing.

"I think everybody realizes what is at stake," said defender Steven Beitashour, who played on the 2012 San Jose Earthquakes, another Supporters' Shield winner that came up lame in the playoffs. "I think we're confident [about the playoffs], more confident than last year. Also, being the Supporters' winner, we should be more confident. I think that will reflect in the playoffs and you will see that mentality."

Spanish national team defender and Barcelona soccer star Gerard Pique is backing off considerations to quit the team after mounting criticism over his vote in Catalonia's controversial independence referendum.

Reuters

Interact with The Globe