Something Smelly?

Toronto FC overcame tremendously long odds to win the Nutrilite Canadian Championship last night in Montreal with an emphatic 6-1 win over the host Impact overcoming a tie breaking four goal differential and thereby leaving the Vancouver Whitecaps (who were in attendance) out in the cold.

The Montreal line-up, game plan (or lack of one) and apparent lack of effort has left fans seething in two cities and celebrating in another and almost everyone unsatisfied with the ending of what up until this point has been a great competition.

For Impact coach Mark Dos Santos who faced the prospect of playing two games in three days - the first a meaningless game in a competition his side were already eliminated from and 48 hours later an important league game - the game represented the ultimate no win situation.

Put your best team on the field and risk further injury to an already injury depleted side before facing the Whitecaps in what is turning out to be a must win game league game for the Impact on Saturday

OR

Field a mostly reserve squad, hope to keep the score close, bow out of the competition gracefully and rally the troops for Saturday’s USL1 showdown with Vancouver. . (You think this game suddenly has new meaning for the Whitecaps? – Oh and it just happens to be live on the CBC network…)

Most, make that almost all, coaches in the professional game would choose option two and hoped that their reserve players would come through with a professional effort in order to raise their stock in the eyes of the coach.

Ah the best laid plans of mice and men and coaches…

Unfortunately for Dos Santos his players laid the proverbial egg and have left a proud franchise looking very, very bad.

For the club it the third body blow in the past six months the first being rejection by MLS, the second the on field collapse in last year’s Champions League quarter-final versus Santos Laguna and then last night’s collapse.

It’s is going to be interesting to see how the Impact win back the faith of not just their followers but MLS. The first be a much more difficult task the second answerable with dollars.

The much bigger question for Canadian soccer is how to fix the Championship so the chance of this kind of thing is reduced (it is almost impossible to eliminate).

Among the ideas bring a fourth team or initiate some sort of pay for points system that rewards teams for every point won during the competition.

While both ideas have merit both have problems at this point.

The idea of a fourth team while intriguing is probably the one farthest off if only for the reason that determining that fourth entry from the myriad of non-amateur sides in Canada would require a great deal of money on the part of the teams who would like to challenge the big three and it is money they just do not have at this point.

The pay for points concept is an interesting one if the sponsorship money could be found. How the money was distributed would be the main issue – does it go to the club? The players? And who decides?

All in all a disappointing ending to what up until now has been a hugely successful effort to determine a true Canadian champion – let’s put it down to growing pains, move to improve things and continue to support the growth of the professional game in Canada.