MLS 2013 Preview – The Big Questions: Eastern Conference

    While most folks are busy foretelling and projecting just how this season will play out, we – the royal we – here at POV-FS prefer to offer you questions.

    Each offseason MLS clubs undergo radical player overhauls, in part necessitated by the restrictions of the salary cap and roster spots.

    As such, sometimes it can take weeks - or months - before a club’s true nature presents itself. Some clubs will not have their rosters sorted until the midway point and with the nature of playoffs being what they are, it may not matter how things began, only how they end.

    Remember, prediction makes fools of us all; so, on with the questions.

    In this installment: the Eastern Conference.

Beyond POV-FS – TSG’s 2013 MLS Preseason Prediction Preview – Part II

    Part II of The Shin Guardian's wide-ranging preview looks at the MLS Cup Winner; Rookie of the Year; best goalkeeper; best American and most Un-American player; best African contribution; most unnecessarily physical and most annoying players; best Canadian team not playing in Canada; outrageous predictions and a host of other entertaining topics.

    Check it out, you will not regret it.

A Quick Glimpse – Canadian Notes on Will Johnson, Gershon Koffie, TFC Kit Launch and the U-20’s

Notes on Will Johnson, Gershon Koffie, the TFC Kit Launch and the U-20 Loss to the USA

First Person View – The End of Frings

    Yesterday, after months of speculation, Toronto FC’s captain Torsten Frings announced his retirement after a glittering eighteen-year career in the game.

    Such occasions are always bittersweet; time to celebrate the good, lament the loss, and look to the future.

    For Torsten, it begins a second act to his career in the game; for the club it was the turning of yet another unfinished page. It would be grandiose to proclaim it the end of an era, but in many ways, it was.

What Ever Happened To … Cuba’s Toronto Defectors

    In homage to MLSsoccer.com ‘What Ever Happened To…” series, an update on one of the more intriguing stories Canadian soccer endured in 2012.

    Toronto was captivated when Canada’s World Cup Qualification match against Cuba last October began with the announcement, well not quite that official, that several players – news reports oscillated from seven to four to three - defected prior to kickoff.

    The prematch buzz quietly faded after the initial flurry, but now several months later one of those who chose to start a new life has surfaced on the pitch.

Beyond POV-FS – TSG’s 2013 MLS Preseason Predicition Preview – Part I of II

    POV returns from its offseason torpor - long overdue, by the way - with a contribution to The Shin Guardian’s 2013 MLS Preseason Prediction gambit.

    Part I looks at Supporter’s Shield Winners; Overrated, Improved and Underrated Players; Coach and Anti-Coach of the Year; and a few other useful tidbits.

    Predictions make fools of us all…

    Do go check it out, and keep an eye for Part II due in the coming days.

Should Toronto FC Fans Be Worried About the Club's Lack of a Preseason?

    In last season’s exit interviews, many players associated the failings of the club with the lack of a testing and thorough preseason.

    With the first few weeks of preparation for the 2013 campaign having come and gone, it seems a good time to ponder whether anything has changed.