Coaches comment after the Chicago match:
Johnston said striker Collin Samuel's play was "totally unacceptable."
Source for that quote please
Toronto coach rips team after lacklustre showing in 3-0 loss to Chicago Fire
Canadian PressToronto FC has plenty of work to do before David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy come to town next Sunday.
Manager Mo Johnston skewered his expansion team after a lacklustre 3-0 loss to the Chicago Fire on Sunday afternoon.
"I wouldn't pay to watch that," Johnston said after the game. "because for me that was unacceptable. And I don't like what I've seen."
"Today's effort, it wasn't right," acknowledged Toronto captain Jim Brennan. "We didn't put it in today. We've let ourselves down. We all know that ourselves. We've got no excuses."
Johnston was calm in his post-game news conference but spared few from his criticism, from his players' performance to the Canadian Soccer Association for the way they handle their internationals.
The injury-plagued home side managed just three shots on target while managing to make one of the worst offences in the league look potent. The Toronto defence was woeful, especially in the second half, as Ivan Guerrero, Calen Carr and Floyd Franks helped the Fire snap a six-game winless streak and give manager Juan Carlos Osorio his first league win since taking over on July 9.
Chicago, which had just 13 goals in its 16 previous games, scored three and could have got more.
"I started seeing good signs with the team today . . . hopefully we can build on today's performance for the rest of the season," the Chicago coach said.
The victory moved the Fire (5-8-4) out of the Eastern Division basement into a tie with Toronto (5-9-4) at 19 points.
Toronto's winless streak was extended to four games in its first league outing at BMO Field since a six-game (1-3-2) road trip due to the FIFA U-20 World Cup. It was not a happy homecoming and there was a smattering of boos as the game ended.
Toronto has injury problems in key positions. Missing in action Sunday were goalkeeper Greg Sutton (concussion), fullback Marvell Wynne (hamstring), midfielder Ronnie O'Brien (knee) and forward Jeff Cunningham (abdominal). All four are key contributors.
Sutton may be gone for the season and O'Brien and Cunningham need operations, Johnston said.
Striker Danny Dichio and defender Andrew Boyens both started but were not 100 per cent and did not finish the game. Dichio has a hip flexor and sore back while Boyens, who broke his nose during practice earlier, was suffering from double vision.
Goalkeeper David Monsalve, who does not turn 19 until December, made his first league start Sunday and acquitted himself reasonably well considering the porous defence in front of him. "Don't blame the goalkeeper, blame the outfield players," Johnston said.
The Toronto manager said the injury-enforced changes had caused problems. But he said "cracks" had shown in his lineup before. And he also questioned the overall attitude, especially of his injury replacements saying there was no hunger.
"These other guys need to step up, or else they shouldn't be in this league," he said.
Johnston said he expects to sign a goalkeeper from Europe this week, adding he may have to look for more players.
"When you look down our bench, there is nothing much in terms of coming in and giving us a spark," he said.
Those already in camp won't be in for an easy week. Johnston said any plans for time off had been shelved in light of the woeful performance.
"They need to come in and regroup, shake the dust off. Because it wasn't good enough."
Johnston said striker Collin Samuel's play was "totally unacceptable." Midfielder Andy Welsh was underachieving, as was some of his Canadian talent - which he described as "very average."
With Beckham and the Galaxy up next, Sunday's sellout crowd of 20,322 got to see another international star in Mexican Cuauhtemoc (pronounced quaw-TEH-mok) Blanco. The 34-year-old forward, twice named Mexico's MVP and due to earn US$2.7 million a season on his three-year MLS deal, made his debut for Chicago last weekend, scoring in a 1-1 friendly tie with Glasgow Celtic.
Playing in the hole behind Chad Barrett and Carr, Blanco was constantly looking for the ball to create something.
He had mixed success until the 37th minute when, seconds after complaining about a non-call, he found Guerrero slicing in towards goal with a perfectly lofted pass and fullback Chris Pozniak frantically chasing to catch up. He didn't and Guerrero's left-footed shot beat Monsalve high and to the short side.
Blanco almost made another goal in the 43rd minute but Barrett was judged to have used his arm to control the Mexican's pass before hammering it into the goal.
"Cuauhtemoc has a great vision and great execution of that last, final pass that a playmaker needs to do," said Osorio. "Hopefully he will continue performing like he did today and it will be great for us."
Toronto offered little offence on the day. The home side came close to scoring in the 64th but Todd Dunivant's header was cleared off the line by a defender.
The win was sorely needed by the Fire. After opening the season 3-0-1 in April, Chicago had gone 1-8-3 prior to Sunday. Coming into Toronto, the Fire had been shut out in five of its last nine outings, going 1-5-3.