Toronto FC hopes in Champions League, but down last at MLS

Milos Kocic embodies a key challenge facing Toronto FC’s Aron Winter.

The Serbian backup goalkeeper, who had not played a minute in any of this season’s 23 matches in the league or four in the Canadian championship, got the nod for the opener of the CONCACAF Champions League Wednesday.
With regular starter Stefan Frei, one of the top ’keepers in Major League Soccer, nursing a minor hand injury, having the 26-year-old Kocic get some much-needed playing time in the opening leg of the preliminary-round set against Nicaraguan champions Real Esteli FC made perfect sense.
Most of the night, it worked. TFC moved forward aggressively, built a 2-0 lead at BMO Field and Kocic deftly handled what little came his way.
It all changed in the 80th minute. Kocic went to dive on a loose ball ahead of defender Richard Eckersley and striker Alesandro Calero but missed. He rolled over top of the ball and Calero tapped it into a wide-open net.
While it didn’t cost TFC the match — the Reds won 2-1 — it did give the visitors an all-important away goal ahead of Tuesday’s second leg in Nicaragua. If tied on aggregate, away goals are the first tiebreaker.
But for Winter, TFC’s rookie head coach and technical director, the gaffe underscored the importance to the club of advancing to the Champions League group stage. Of course it would bring in some extra ticket sales via three home matches, and throw a bone to long-suffering fans with games against top club teams from Mexico and Central America.
More importantly, however, it would give Kocic and a host of other young Reds the chance to trot out in game action and gain experience. Sure, it will mean more mistakes — but the pitch of a real game is a wonderful classroom.
“It definitely is a different experience,” 18-year-old midfielder and Toronto native Matt Stinson said of his start Wednesday alongside fellow TFC Academy graduates Ashtone Morgan, 20, and Doneil Henry, 18.
Stinson, who has appeared in four of TFC’s 23 MLS games in his rookie season, all off the bench, said there’s no substitute for playing in “a real professional game” in terms of everything from getting a handle on your nerves and the speed of play to recognizing how match-fit you are.
“Every time I go out there, I feel more comfortable,” Stinson said.
As the comfort level of the youngsters rises, so does their value. With all the travel and the grind of mid-week and weekend games, injuries and fatigue become a factor, especially amongst the veterans. An extra six matches in the group stage would get the kids experience and increase team depth.
“We need to give those guys the experience because they’re the future,” said Ryan Johnson, a Jamaican international striker acquired in a trade from San Jose earlier this month. “It’s good that the coach has confidence in them in important games like these and they’ve done very well and held their own.
“Any chance we can give them to give some of our older guys, who would normally start, a rest . . . is very good,” said the 26-year-old Johnson.
Winter has called this a rebuilding year at TFC. He said of the lineup Wednesday — which also included 25-year-old B.C. native and MLS rookie Gianluca Zavarise — that he believes it’s important younger players are surrounded by veterans who can “coach them on the pitch” during a match.
Incidentally, the night’s hero with two goals was Joao Plata, a 19-year-old Ecuadorian.
But it’s also important that youngsters learn from their mistakes.
Henry was just 17 when he got the start in Honduras in the second leg of last summer’s Champions League preliminary round against C.D. Motagua. He was torched on the opening goal after six minutes, picked up a yellow card in the 13th and was finally substituted off after half an hour.
So far this season, Henry has appeared in six MLS games, four of them starts, and the final of the Canadian championship against Vancouver. He’s no longer wide-eyed and has looked like he belongs on the pitch each time.
“I think I’ve found a balance in getting more minutes,” Henry said after logging 90 minutes Wednesday. “I feel a lot more confident on the ball.
“I just want to get more playing time.”
Advancing to the group stage will help realize that wish.
The overhaul of the TFC roster continued Thursday as the club exchanged defenders with the Chicago Fire.
Gone is Dan Gargan, 28, who scored one goal and added four assists in 43 matches with the Reds over this season and last.

Arriving in Toronto is Dasan Robinson, 27, who has three goals and an assist in 82 games since 2006.

Defender Dan Gargan recently fell out of favour with Toronto FC coaches.
On Thursday, the defender was sent out of town.
The 28-year-old Philadelphia native was traded to the Chicago Fire for defender Dasan Robinson, a 27-year-old from Illinois.
Robinson becomes the eighth new player to join TFC this month as rookie head coach and technical director Aron Winter remakes the roster.
“We had an opportunity to acquire another defender and provide depth for our club,” Winter said in a statement. “I’d like to thank Dan for his contributions to our club but we felt this was a move we needed to make.
“Dasan brings us depth and versatility because he can play central defence or right back.”
Gargan, an affable guy who was popular with the fans for his hard work and aggressive play, struggled this season and been repeatedly exposed on the Reds backline, which has yielded a league-worst 41 goals.
He had one goal and four assists in 43 matches over this season and last.
The 5-foot-11, 160-pound Robinson has spent all of his six seasons in MLS with Chicago, scoring three goals and one assist in 85 matches.