Overbooked

So we've reached the middle of what must be the longest week in the year for Toronto FC.

Last Saturday they fielded what was supposed to be their strongest lineup ever (Carlos Ruiz paired with Chad Barrett up front, Jim Brennan replacing Laurent Robert) against what was supposed to be a weakened Chivas team.

We all know how that worked out.

With this Saturday's home game against Chivas falling on the same date as World Cup qualifiers across the globe, TFC figures to enter that match with the weakest (on paper) lineup ever.

Just in case you've lost count, nine guys who dressed for TFC last week will miss this Saturday's game while playing with their national teams:

* Jim Brennan (Canada)
* Greg Sutton (Canada)
*Amado Guevara (Honduras)
* Marvell Wynne (USA)
* Julius James (Trinidad)
* Carl Robinson (Wales)
* Jarrod Smith (New Zealand)
* Carlos Ruiz (Guatemala)
* Tyrone Marshall (Jamaica)

The optimists among you will point out that it could be worse. If Maurice Edu hadn't headed to Rangers TFC would have 10 regulars missing.

Still, there's no getting around the fact that the team practised with just 13 players on Tuesday, and will probably have to sign a few CSL players to short term contracts just to fill out their bench.

Before we go on, we should remember that TFC isn't the only team losing key players this weekend. The L.A. Galaxy, sitting on 25 points and scrambling for a playoff spot, will face Real Salt Lake without Landon Donovan, Ante Jazic, Eddie Lewis and some other guy. And don't forget that most times Canada plays the Houston Dynamo they lose two stars in Dwayne De Rosario and Pat Onstad.

Still, while this round of qualifiers has dented several MLS lineups, it has gutted TFC's, and again raised questions about the league's policy of scheduling games on international match dates.

If I were running the league I'd be a little uneasy this weekend.

At the State of the League address earlier this summer MLS Commissioner Don Garber emphasized that rather than trying to siphon fans away from mainstream sports like baseball and football, the league was happy appealing to the Americans who already follow soccer.

But even those fans need a reason to keep paying attention, and the prospect of watching MLS teams devoid of their biggest stars isn't exactly appealing, especially when the weekend sports schedule presents so many other options. Baseball has begun its critical final month, the NFL kicks off Thursday and NCAA football is already underway, not to mention that anyone can digital cable can now access the Premiership, La Liga and any other European league on any give weekend. Only the hardest hardcore MLS fan chooses star free soccer over all that.

The rest will let their attention wander, and that's never a good thing for a league still finding its niche in the crowded North American sports marketplace.

TFC head coach John Carver has pointed out several times this season that this situation would never occur "back home" -- meaning England. Over there leagues postpone games when either team has more than about three guys gone for national team matches.

As Carver has learned in a number of ways since February, he's not in England anymore.

When Carver contacted the league to request that they postpone Saturday's game, MLS considered his proposal, then declined it.

MLS spokesperson Stephen Rodriguez says in this league, when schedules are determined nine months in advance, it's never as simple as just changing a game date.

Unlike English teams, few MLS clubs own their own stadiums, which means they have little control over stadium scheduling. Switching game dates at the last minute might mean trying to bump other tenants who might have the stadium rented, something that don't work well when you're sharing space with, say, the Jets and the Giants.

Teams at smaller stadium often encounter the same problem.

Rodriguez points out that the Home Depot Center -- home to both the L.A. Galaxy and Chivas USA --  is on the campus of Cal St. Dominguez Hills University, making it difficult to book midweek games there during the school year.

He also says the broadcast schedules are set out months in advances, and that MLS doesn't have the clout to switch game dates and TV slots on short notice.

"We're not the NFL and we're not the NBA," he says. "A lot of times we have to bend over for broadcasters, and not the other way around."

So will the league's scheduling policy change?

We won't have that answer until we get deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis on the phone, and he wasn't available for comment today.

But with World Cup qualifiers, the CONCACAF Gold Cup and FIFA Confederations Cup all happening in 2009, MLS will have to confront this issue again.

And soon.

-- Morgan Campbell

Waiting for Mr. Ruiz

REUTERS PHOTO

What pace will Carlos Ruiz set with Toronto?

In case you're curious, Carlos Ruiz wasn't at practice today.

But that doesn't mean he's not coming.

TFC head coach John Carver headed off any "where is Carlos Ruiz?" questions by volunteering that the Guatemalan striker and L.A. Galaxy castoff should arrive in Toronto Monday night and connect with the team by Tuesday morning, when they head to Collingwood for a two-day training and bonding retreat.

If you haven't been keeping track, TFC acquired Ruiz last week in a trade with the Galaxy, who needed the roster spot and salary cap space (Ruiz makes $460,000 per season) to sign U.S. national team defender Eddie Lewis.

By now we're all aware that once upon a time Ruiz was the perhaps the league's most potent scorer, striking 24 times in 30 games in 2002.

We also know that the pace of his scoring has slowed dramatically since then -- seven goals last season in 22 games with FC Dallas.

But if you're ready to write him off as a player in decline, here's one more stat to muddy the waters -- 17 career playoff games, 16 goals, including one in the first round last year.

TFC acquired this guy in exchange for two picks in the 2009 supplemental draft.

So which team came out ahead in this trade?

Depends on who you ask.

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America says TFC got fleeced.

Meanwhile, Ives Galarcep of Soccer By Ives says  Mo Johnston got one over on the Galaxy.

I say wait at least until Ruiz touches down at YYZ before declaring winners and losers in this deal.

And John Carver, naturally, thinks reports of Ruiz' decline have been greatly exaggerated, and says after a rough stint with LAG, Ruiz will love BMO and flourish with TFC...if the coaches give him some TLC.

"He's one of those players you need to love," Carver said, hinting that former Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit didn't take the time to learn Ruiz' interpersonal intricacies. "He gets a couple of goals and he'll be a cult hero. He'll be the next Danny Dichio."

-- Morgan Campbell

Still reeling in the Little Fish

Toronto FC ran through a short practice this morning ahead of tomorrow night's game against the New England Revolution, but they did it without brand new striker Carlos Ruiz.

As of Friday afternoon the Guatemalan forward -- who for reasons that still aren't clear bears the nickname "El Pescadito" (the little fish) -- was still en route from Guatemala City, where he played 90 minutes for the home team in their 1-0 loss to the U.S. Wednesday night.

Right now head coach John Carver's not sure if Ruiz will play, but says Ruiz he will dress if he arrives by Saturday morning. Whether or not he'll play depends on how he feels. Carver said the 90 minutes Ruiz logged against the U.S. shows he's in shape, but Carver's not sure how fresh Ruiz will be after a full game and two days of travel. But Carver says if Ruiz feels good he'll probably play.

FAST FORWARD

Mo Johnston said Johann Smith was fast when TFC signed him, and the 21-year-old proved it Sunday with several scintillating runs in his debut against New York.

And that 10.5-second 100-metre time listed on his Wikipedia bio? Smith says he actually did run that time as a senior in high school.

As he finished high school Smith knew he'd have to choose between soccer and track eventually, but says deciding really wasn't that tough.

He grew up near Hartford, Conn., in the heart of Jamaican-American community that surrounded him with both sports.

Unless you've spent the last two weeks in a world without television, Internet, newspapers or gossip, then you know that Jamaica's just a little above average at track and field.

And if you saw the sea of Jamaican flags at BMO Field during Wednesday's World Cup qualifier, then you know soccer's also sort of important in the Jamaican community.

Smith's father ran track before moving to the U.S., but Smith says the more he played soccer, the more it appealed to him.

Late in his last year of high school, Smith qualified for the state championship in the 100 metres, but the final race was scheduled for the same time as a big game with his soccer club.

Do I even have to tell you which one he chose?

I'll give you a hint: he's never had to compete against Usain Bolt.

"Soccer's not just about being fast," Smith said. "In track you're fast or you're not. Soccer's about skill. That was a challenge."

LEST WE FORGET

Maurice Edu is officially, officially on his way to Rangers after securing his work permit earlier today. Like Ruiz, Edu spent Wednesday playing in Guatemala City, except his team won.

And like Ruiz, Edu plans to be at BMO for tomorrow night's game.

TFC has scheduled a farewell news conference for 7 p.m. Saturday.

-- Morgan Campbell

One more midfielder gone

File this under the heading "least surprising transactions of the summer."

TFC waived Laurent Robert this afternoon.

He came here in April, highly recommended by folks back in England, where he last played for the since-relegated premiership squad Derby County.

"If he produces anything that I saw when he was in Newcastle then we've got a good player." That's what the TFC head coach said upon acquiring Robert. "I know him better than anybody. I know what he's like. I know he's a good professional. I know he looks after his body. I know he's got a lot to offer this club. He's somebody special."

Turns out that was a big "if."

Robert shone early on, setting up Jeff Cunningham's game-winning goal in L.A. in mid-April, then scoring a game-winner of his own the following week against Real Salt Lake.

But since then he has done little beyond consume a large chunk of the team's salary cap (a team-high $337,300 guaranteed) and look listless on the left wing.

Sometimes, if you were looking for them, you saw small indications that the coaching staff weren't so enamoured with him anymore.

Or just didn't care.

One night the handwritten gameday roster submitted by the team and distributed to reporters identified him as "Lauren" Robert.

But the low point came Sunday against the New York Red Bulls, when the ball rolled Robert's way and he cocked his vaunted left foot to blast the ball downfield.

Then he whiffed.

Lost his balance and hit the turf.

At halftime the team replaced him with newly signed 21-year-old Johann Smith, and even though he didn't score, he brought something to the game TFC fans hadn't seen from Robert since springtime.

Effort.

If you're keeping track, TFC signed three fairly high-profile and fairly high-priced thirtysomethings in April, an experiment in importing experience that hasn't ended well.

Defender Olivier Tebily, 32, brought a bruising physical presence to the team's back line, but then got hurt and never returned to the lineup. Late last month he convinced the team to waive him so he could spend more time with his family in France.

Robert, 33, was let go today.

That leaves 32-year-old Amado Guevara, who just finished a serving a two game suspension for punching FC Dallas' Pablo Richetti.

If Guevara returns to the team this week and plays like he did in April and May, then maybe TFC will have profited from its early-season anti-youth movement.

But if you need more evidence that the team is looking to move in a new direction after cutting ties with Tebily and Robert, consider that the average age of its last two acquisitions, Chad Barrett and Johann Smith, is 22.

This isn't to say that TFC has given up on winning this year in favour of building for the future.

But throw in the recent trade of Jeff Cunningham -- a 32-year-old who made $257,000 -- and the trend becomes even more clear.

Looks to me like the days of building around aging, expensive players is over.

For now, at least.

-- Morgan Campbell

Mo on Mo

Three days after reports first surfaced that TFC midfielder Maurice Edu was headed to Glasgow Rangers, the folks at Toronto FC have finally broken their silence on the subject.

Normally they prefer to stay quiet on player transactions until they're 100 percent official, but with news of Edu's $5 million transfer continuing to circulate, TFC director of soccer Mo Johnston figured it was time to speak out and clarify a few things.

Again, this deal isn't completely done, but Johnston confirmed published reports that it's all sewn up except for Edu's work permit. That process could take a few more days, but Johnston doesn't foresee any major holdups.

According to Johnston, Rangers have been interested in Edu since last season, but the league wasn't ready to sell him back then. (Remember, MLS and not the teams owns the players' contracts.)

So Rangers sat tight and monitored Edu's progress, and after watching him play for the U.S. Olympic team, they made another play for the 22-year-old Californian.

This time, the timing and the price were right. The league okayed the sale, and so did Johnston, even though it meant letting go of one of the team's most recognizable faces, and the first player the franchise ever drafted.

"You can't hold someone like that back," Johnston said. "I'm a bit upset, but there's a bit of joy."

Upset because Edu's departure leaves a big hole in TFC's midfield. Johnston said he's already trying to land "the next Edu," but says that won't happen until next season.

And joy because the move to Scotland is another step toward soccer's biggest stage for a guy who has vaulted from college student to draft pick to Scotland's premier league in a hurry.

"It's a hell of a story in 16 months," Johnston said.

Johnston might also be happy because the deal gives TFC plenty of what every team needs.

Ca$h.

A few commenters had asked what happens to the transfer money when MLS holds all the contracts.

Here's what happens:

League takes one third of the money, which in this case is a little under $1.7 million ($1,666,666.67 to be exact).

Of the roughly $3.3 million that remain, $500,000 goes to the team's allocation fund, which seems to grow with every transaction.

The final $2.8 million belong to the team to spend on soccer operations, which could include anything from the academy to training facilities to, dare we mention it, a grass playing surface.

That last suggestion's not coming from me. Johnston threw it out there during our conversation today. I'm sure it was mostly hypothetical. Johnston knows as well as anyone that there's a lot of politics involved in converting BMO Field to grass. But if the Edu sale helps make it possible, do you think they would name the new surface after him?

Maurice Edu Pitch at BMO Field?

Just a thought.

-- Morgan Campbell

That Was Fast

Minutes after I mention that John Carver is waiting for the team's latest target to sign, TFC sends out a news release announcing that they've signed 21-year-old American striker Johann Smith.

With four goals in five games with the U.S. under-20 national team, Smith might provide the solution to TFC's lack of scoring touch. But he's also a free agent who didn't stick with Bolton's reserve and has more teams (3) than goals (1) in the last two seasons. So he might just be a young journeyman in training.

TFC fans won't know until he lines up.

But at this point one thing is clear:

Smith can run.

Browser beware when it comes to Wikipedia, but Smith's bio there says he has covered 100 metres in 10.5 seconds.

If the number is too abstract for you, Mo Johnston makes it concrete in the press release: "He's got the pace of Marvell Wynne."

I guess he's fast.

-- Morgan Campbell

It's true. No Mo Edu

Big week for (former?) Toronto FC midfielder Maurice Edu.

First comes the Olympic tournament in Beijing, where U.S. coach Peter Nowak once again used Edu as a central defender, but where no amount of lineup juggling could save the Americans from elimination. Especially not with cards of both colours keeping Freddy Adu and Michael Orozco out of action.

Last night came news that Edu, last year's MLS rookie of the year has been named the the U.S. team for the next round of World Cup qualifying, a high compliment for a player who, as far as the U.S. national teams are concerned, still doesn't have a true position.

But the most important development in a week full of them came this morning, with reports that MLS and Glasgow Rangers had worked out a $5-million transfer deal for the 22-year-old Californian.

Of course, the deal's not official yet, which would explain why nobody at TFC would elaborate on why Edu missed today's practice, or where he would be this weekend when they play the Red Bulls in at the Meadowlands.

Attempts to reach Mo Johnston for comment were unsuccessful, the team's PR staff saying simply that he had not comment on reports of an Edu transfer.

But people I talked to close to the situation said that if the deal's not final yet, it's definitely heading that way.

So how does this deal affect TFC?

It depends on who Johnston and head coach John Carver have coming in.

We've heard it before, but after today's practice Carver assured reporters that TFC would beat the FIFA transfer deadline and have a new player in by the end of the weekend. Reminded that he had made similar promises in the past, Carver chuckled and without naming names reiterated that a transfer is pending. He said he had hoped to have the player on the roster last week against Colorado, but factors beyond the team's control delayed the deal.

In the meantime folks who follow TFC shouldn't be surprised to see the Edu transfer happen. Edu's been the subject of transfer talk intermittently since last summer's friendly against Aston Villa. The club even invited him to train with them this winter, but he turned them down to work out with the national team.

When I interviewed Edu about his future plans late last season he said he hoped to play in Europe, but he just wasn't sure when the opportunity would arise. Around the same time, Johnston said he would never stop a young player, no matter how useful or popular, from realizing a dream to play overseas.

So Edu was never going to end up like New England's Taylor Twellman.

In January English club Preston North End made a $2.5 million offer for the high-scoring forward, and Twellman, eyeing an increase in pay and prestige, was eager to accept.

But the Revolution refused to transfer him.

That was never going to happen here.

As soon as Edu was ready to go, Johnston was resigned to letting him go.

That's the problem with adding talented young players to your team in this league. Sooner or later some team with more money is going to want them.

In Edu's case it was sooner.

-- Morgan Campbell

Barrett, but who (or what) else?

Regarding that last post...

It's Chad Barrett.

Ives Galarcep reported earlier today, and I just confirmed it with a source who knows these things.

I still don't know if the deal will become official before the end of the work day, but it looks like the Fire has already prepared for Barrett's departure. They've already wiped clean the Barrett biography page on the team's website.

Still no word on when he actually joins TFC, but stay tuned.

-- Morgan Campbell

A Done Deal....almost

It might happen today, it might happen Monday, but somehow, some way, TFC has finally made a deal with the Chicago Fire for the rights to American striker Brian McBride.

Our guy Luis Arroyave from the Chicago Tribune broke the news on his blog last night, while the rest of us were mesmerized by the Blanco and De Ro show at BMO.

And this morning at practice, TFC director of soccer Mo Johnston said the two teams indeed reached an agreement this week, though he still wouldn't reveal exactly who (or what) TFC would receive in return for McBride's rights.

Any other week the league would ratify this deal quickly, but the day after the all-star game a lot of MLS officials are either in Toronto or travelling back to New York, possibly dragging out the process until Monday.

Early Monday, Johnston hoped.

In late May, when McBride first announced he would return to Major League Soccer, hoping to play for the Fire (his hometown club), Johnston joked that he was "sitting on a pot of gold," and said he planned to receive "something big" an a trade with the Fire.

Just how big?

I'm trying to find out, but if not we'll all see once the league makes the deal official.

-- Morgan Campbell

On O'Brien, On Huckerby, On Turf

How starved are the San Jose Earthquakes for goals?

Consider that sixteen games into the regular season they've scored only 11 times, putting them well behind the pace TFC set last year when they established the league record for futility with 25 goals.

Or consider that new signee, 37-year-old Brazilian Francisco Lima, reputed to speak no English, managed to shout "C'mon, Kamara!" when striker Kei Kamara missed a sitter during a light scrimmage.

I guess they all count.

Finally, consider the ovation that Kamara received when he headed the ball into the net during a post-practice drill.

A drill!

Yeah, they're goal-thirsty.

ON O'BRIEN, ON HUCKERBY, ON TURF

Neither of them likes it. It hasn't changed for O'Brien since I talked to him in a hotel lobby in March. And it hasn't changed now that Huckerby's in San Jose.

But we knew that already.

DOUBLE DUTY DAVID

Dropped in on San Jose practice earlier this afternoon and noticed the goalkeeper in jersey number 31 looked a whole lot like David Monsalve.

Because it was.

Monsalve might practise with TFC as the backup to their backup keeper, but he belongs to the league. As one of Major League Soccer's pool goalkeepers, he trains with one team but is available to any squad who needs him on a given weekend, just like Sam Reynolds, the Chivas USA keeper TFC enlisted several times last season.

The Earthquakes called him up for Saturday's game against TFC.

But unlike Reynolds, who would fly from L.A. to Toronto to practise and play with TFC before heading back out west, Monsalve only travelled about a mile -- the distance from BMO Field to Lamport Stadium, where the Earthquakes worked out on Friday.

SPEAKING OF ITINERANT FOOTBALLERS

If you're like me, then you probably had a few questions about the guys filling out TFC's roster during Tuesday night's friendly against Independiente. The guys who materialize for games like this, then vanish until the next time the team needs bodies. Guys like Murphy Wiredu, Gerard Ladiyou and Frank Jonke.

Where do they come from? Where are they headed? And most importantly, do they get paid?

Couldn't find the answer Tuesday but luckily I ran into Earl Cochrane, TFC's manager of team operations, who broke it down for me so I could break it down for you.

For reserve games at home, the team usually tops up its roster with a couple of trusted CSL players. Their clubs release them to TFC, who sign them to a short term (like two day) contract, then return them to them to their club. So yes, they get paid.

At least they do for reserve games.

Friendlies work sort of the same way, except without the cash. The players, though, are compensated in that they get to keep a jersey.

No guarantee that the jersey will be their own.

Cochrane said that after Tuesday's friendly, all 22 Independiente players wanted to trade jerseys with their opponents.

Problem.

TFC only dressed 18 guys, forcing TFC staffers to scramble for some spare shirts.

I think a few Andy Welsh jerseys were lying around somewhere.

-- Morgan Campbell