TORONTO -- There are dozens of possible playoff scenarios with two weeks left in the MLS regular season, but for Toronto FC, the formula is simple: win. No amount of scoreboard watching will help unless TFC takes the maximum six points from their remaining two games.
"We were very unlucky down in Dallas last week and I think if we could've gotten three points there it would've put us in the playoff mix," said striker Danny Dichio. "Now we're relying on other people a lot and we've just got to go on the field and [win]."
Kenny Cooper's penalty kick in stoppage time last Saturday in Dallas led to a 2-2 result, and cost TFC two crucial points against a fellow playoff hopeful. The Reds are just four points behind New York for the final playoff position, but three other clubs (FC Dallas, Colorado and D.C. United) are in front of Toronto, with Los Angeles and San Jose nipping at their heels.
The bottom line is that a number of things will have to break the right way if the Reds are to gain their first-ever playoff spot, but the bright side is that TFC's late-season surge has at least put them in the post-season conversation. Toronto is unbeaten in their last three games (1-0-2) and now host a Chicago side who already clinched its playoff ticket with a 2-2 draw last Sunday against Columbus.
Dichio speculated that Toronto's recent good form may be due to the team embracing something of an underdog role.
"In England when people are out of the playoff picture you always notice teams step up because the pressure is off of them," Dichio said. "I wouldn't say we're out of the playoff picture but a lot of people have written us off, so maybe that gives us an edge.
"We still feel ourselves that we have a small chance going in and you never know, it's playoffs. In any sport you can't give up until you're mathematically out of it."
The forward has himself played a key role in TFC's last two games, as he and Chad Barrett have formed a potent strike force. Dichio and Barrett each picked up an assist against Dallas, and Barrett scored a brace in Toronto's 3-1 win against New York on Oct. 4.
This scoring touch looks to bring a positive ending to what has been an injury-plagued season for both men. Barrett has been plagued by leg cramps, and Dichio missed nearly two full months of action due to a concussion. It took a while for both men to get some consistent time together as a unit, but Barrett said the extra time has finally paid off.
"I don't think any two forwards can come into a system and work [together] straight away," Barrett said. "I had to get used to the turf, then I had to get used to Danny, and then Danny was hurt, and then [Carlos] Ruiz came in for a game. But now that it's more consistent with just me and Danny up top now, we've had some time in practice and in games to get to know each other.
"Having a big man in the game, it's not the same as in Chicago when I was playing with Chris Rolfe and I had to be the big man and hold up balls and stuff like that. ... Now I get to do the little man stuff. I make my runs, I get to run off of [Dichio], get in the little spots to get off shots and that's what I like to do."
After spending most of the past eight months trying to assemble a suitable striking tandem, TFC head coach John Carver said it is a little bittersweet that Barrett and Dichio have both found their form this deep into October.
"They've been catalysts for us playing well over the last three or four games," Carver said. "Give me those guys fit and available six weeks earlier and we might not be fighting to get to the playoffs. We might already be there."
Toronto's best friends in the league right now are the five clubs who have already qualified for the playoffs -- Columbus, Houston, Chicago, New England and Chivas USA. If those five win out (the exception being Chicago on Saturday against the Reds, of course) and hold down the other playoff contenders, it might open the door for TFC to squeak into that eighth spot.
The Reds might not control their own destiny, but they at least know that unless they can beat Chicago on Saturday, they won't even have a playoff destiny left to be controlled.
"I just wish there was another six or seven games to play in the form that we're in because we do have some momentum, we are playing well now," Carver said. "You never know. It might be too late, but we're not giving up on it yet. ... We play Saturday early on and we'll know when the full-time whistle goes where we stand and if we still have a chance."
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