Toronto FC undergoes unique growing pains

There are growing pains involved with the success of any team endeavor, and very few experience instant positive results.

The interdependency of team chemistry and the creation of a group identity are still in the early stages for Toronto FC, Major League Soccer's newest team.

Juan Miranda/WireImage

Midfielder Richard Mulrooney is one of many new faces at Toronto FC.

Toronto FC is unique in a number of ways. It is the first MLS team to start its existence in its own soccer-specific stadium. It is the first MLS team to commit permanently to an artificial surface for the field of play. It is the first MLS team to enter the season alone, without a fellow expansion team also coming into the league the same year.

It is also the first MLS team based in Canada, or anywhere outside the U.S.

Even before a ball was ever kicked on the field, Toronto was surprising the league. When a record number of season tickets were purchased, the organization capped sales at 14,000 -- an unprecedented amount that exceeded the attendance average for many teams in the league.

What remains to be seen, however, is exactly what those new fans will be getting with the squad. Their first league game was an inauspicious 2-0 loss to Chivas USA on April 7 in California.

"We can't get too down on ourselves after the first game," said goalkeeper Greg Sutton after the match. "It's a bunch of guys who haven't played with each other long, since the inception of this team. It's going to take a bit of growing pains, but hopefully, there's not a lot of them."

Time will tell, but a few of the signs are not in the squad's favor. The player turnover on the team is already notable. Most of the personnel chosen by coach Mo Johnston in the expansion draft have already moved elsewhere.

Granted, some of them, like Jason Kreis, were acquisitions designed to be trade bait for other teams to offer allocation or draft picks so that Johnston would be free to pick from a larger pool of players abroad.

One player surprisingly was traded away. Canadian defender Adrian Serioux reportedly had asked the Houston Dynamo, the squad which he had helped to the league title in 2006, to leave him unprotected in the draft in the hopes that Toronto would bring him in.

However after Houston complied with his request, Toronto selected him in the expansion draft only to turn around and trade him to FC Dallas. It seemed like a small slight against a player trying to return to his hometown. A knee problem that might keep Serioux sidelined has given Johnston ammunition in saying he made the right move. But the trade indicated two things. One, that TFC was willing to put a Canadian player who wished to join the squad on the chopping block. Secondly, it signaled to other teams around the league Johnston's willingness to cut a deal.

A flurry of transactions followed, and even when the dust settled, players continued to shift from a possible starting spot to being sent packing.

Sometimes, it was due to mutual agreement.

"Pepe [Jose Cancela] wasn't happy in Toronto," explained Johnston after dealing Cancela to Colorado. "I don't want anyone who is unhappy. We made the switch."

Cancela's own teammates were unsure, at least on the record, about what prompted the switch.

Yet captain Jim Brennan doubted the situation was due to any difference of culture between Canada and the U.S.

"Have you ever been to Canada?" the squad captain responded to a question about Cancela. "There's not much difference. He wasn't happy. Maybe he wanted to go to Colorado. He came up to Toronto and he just wasn't happy."

Unlike Chivas USA, which trumpeted its Mexican focus from the start, Toronto has been more circumspect about representing Canada as a whole.

"We're out there to do a job." Brennan said. "Yes, it's a little bit more that we're playing for Canada, but we're mixed in this dressing room here. It's not all Canadians and everybody is together here, regardless of where you're from. We're playing for Toronto. We're playing for the city."

Yet after playing his entire pro career to this point with D.C. United, forward Alecko Eskandarian has struggled to adjust to different players.

"There were times that I thought I was playing in D.C. and I was playing passes that I know in D.C.," said Eskandarian. "But this is a new team and new players and I have to adjust to that."

Eskandarian also has been linked with a possible move to Red Bull New York.

"The rumor is going to be there, because I'm from the New York area," Eskandarian said about relocating. "I'm grateful to be a soccer player. That's my job. As long as someone gives me a jersey, I'll play."

Other signs of discord linger. Ronnie O'Brien's recent knee injury apparently was sustained when he tried to kick a teammate.

Ultimately, the identity of the team has yet to be decided, with different philosophies emerging.

"We have a lot of pride in our country and we have a number of guys who play for our national team," said Sutton. "We want to put out the best side that we can. Our country means a lot to us, but also our city. We want to represent well."

Others didn't see such direct pressure to be a country's emblem.

"You don't think about nationality, ethnicity -- you just think about playing with your teammates and giving a good account of yourself," said Bob Gansler, the team's assistant coach. "We had five Canadians out there, but I don't think they were pushed on by the Maple Leaf, just like guys in the U.S. aren't pushed on by Uncle Sam. Once the game starts, it's just 11 guys who have bonded and will continue to bond and give a good account of themselves."

Even losing experiences can bring a team together, but Toronto FC now looks to share the feeling of winning together. If that inspires soccer in Canada, so much the better, but in the short term, the players are focused on gaining that first victory.

"We do have togetherness here; we've got good character here," said Brennan. "The league has just started. We're going to progress as a team and we're going to get better."

Andrea Canales covers MLS and women's college soccer for ESPNsoccernet. She also writes for topdrawersoccer.com, lasoccernews.com, soccer365.com and contributes to a blog, Sideline Views. She can be contacted at soccercanales@yahoo.com.