Toronto FC playing with backbone for first time this season
After countless spineless displays this year, TFC has suddenly rediscovered its will to win and is playing like a team with purpose.
A not-so-quiet storm of ineptitude that enveloped Toronto FC through the first five months of the season has been replaced in recent weeks by mild flurries of quiet confidence.
Former coach Chris Armas resembled a struggling video-game player during his time in charge, frantically mashing as many buttons as he could in a vain attempt to rescue TFC from ignominy. Opposing teams routinely pollinated Toronto’s defence with panic, as the Reds coughed up goals at an alarming rate and lurched forward from one on-field crisis to the next. Eventually, the club was mercifully unshackled from Armas and his anvil-like tenure that kept dragging it down.
Armas' exit paved the way for Javier Perez to bring some much-needed calm and stability to the side. The early returns under the cerebral Spaniard were promising: TFC went unbeaten in their first five games at the helm, collecting nine of a possible 15 points on offer. A corner appeared to be turned with the Armas era firmly in the rearview mirror.
