loss to the eventual champion Halifax Mooseheads. L

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Toronto FCs worst ever start to a season now stands at six straight defeats after Saturdays 3-2 loss to Chicago Fire and has Tom Anselmi, the Chief Operating Officer of team owners MLSE, saying "they have to get this straightened out." Presumably Anselmi was referring to Head Coach Aron Winter in his brief statement on the clubs problems Sunday, which would indicate hes not thinking about a change in management just yet. But "straightening things out" is not a quick fix, and its unclear how long Anselmi will be able to stand by his man while results continue to fall well below expectations. A coaching change is one option as the club looks to snap out of its slump. Its a situation that seemed highly unlikely just six weeks ago when Toronto appeared in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions League after a surprise win over LA Galaxy in the quarters. When Torontos new management team was appointed in January 2011, Winter spoke of having a three-year plan. One year to sort out the issues he inherited before making the Playoffs in year two and challenging for the MLS Cup in year three. Patience and stability were two of the key words used then, and if the club is to maintain that belief, then that also has to be the mantra for the organization now. But this isnt an ideal world. With each defeat the stands get emptier and the Playoff chances look even more distant. Winter talked on Saturday about needing time to get things right and said progress has been made since a year ago even though results dont show it. However, the numbers dont make pretty reading. Aside from the fact that the club has lost six straight with four of those games against clubs that didnt make the MLS Playoffs last year, their defensive record has been shocking. The club conceded a league record 59 goals last year and has already let in 13 through their opening six matches. At this pace, theyre on track to set a new record this time around. In three of their six matches, the Reds have conceded three goals. When questioned in the post-match press conference about the defence, Winter defended his decision to play a back three and pointed to individual mistakes as the reason for the latest defeat. He was highly critical of the quality available to him and stated simply "defensively we need better players." Of course, hes not wrong - but that was exactly the same problem that the club had last year. I said heading into the season that I believed they are one quality defender away from challenging for the playoffs. Im certainly not the only person to voice that, but as long as the situation goes unaddressed, the team will likely continue to fall short. Winter believed he had solved the defensive issue with the arrivals of Geovanny Caicedo and Miguel Aceval. Caicedo didnt even make the start of the season, and Aceval hasnt shown he can be the answer, so Toronto FC finds itself with familiar problems. If the MLSE board decides Winter should be given the time to try and turn the situation around, he must bolster the defence, even if it means losing a key piece from elsewhere in the team. As the Technical Director and Head Coach, Winter is responsible for assembling a team that can compete and so far he has been unable to find the answer at the back. It has been a learning process for the Dutchman. It was always going to be that way as he embarked on his first head coaching job in a completely new league, and the teams owners knew that would be the case when he was appointed. Its not easy dealing with a salary cap, and injuries to key players, but there have already been wholesale changes to personnel without the required improvement in defence. 26 players were signed in 2011 including defenders Dicoy Williams, Eddy Viator, Andy Iro, Kyle Davies, Danleigh Borman, Mikael Yourassowsky and Dasan Robinson. Further additions came this season with Aceval and Caicedo signed along with squad players such as Logan Emory and Aaron Maund. Six games into the 2012 season, its clear Toronto FCs squad isnt good enough to play the way Aron Winter wants. Whether they would look better in a 4-4-2 is another debate, but I do think that is an option that could be explored in a bid to change things around. With a front two of Danny Koevermans and Ryan Johnson, Toronto FC could pose problems for defences in MLS. If they played Torsten Frings and Julian de Guzman in the centre of midfield and used two wingers such as Joao Plata and Reggie Lambe, they could be solid through the middle of the pitch while providing service to the attackers from the wings. If Winter isnt able to sufficiently change the personnel at this stage, a different way of playing may be their only solution. Whitecaps Win It wasnt pretty, but Vancouver Whitecaps got the job done on Saturday night with a 1-0 win over FC Dallas at BC Place. After two straight defeats it was an important result for Martin Rennies side as they picked up their third win of the season and moved onto 11 points from their first seven games. Keeping up that pace would give them an excellent chance of securing a playoff place come the end of the year. It took the Whitecaps until mid-June to reach 11 points last year, so despite the obvious growing pains under a new coaching regime, there is clear evidence of the major strides forward the club has already made in a short space of time. Saturday night was about the Whitecaps grinding out a result. Camilos early goal provided a flash of Brazilian brilliance, but the Caps could not find a way to build further on that strike. While Rennie would like to see greater fluidity in the teams attacking play, he continues to search for the best combination and on Saturday gave youngster Omar Salgado the chance to impress wide on the left. The teenager showed glimpses of what he can provide, and given time to develop in that position, will give the Caps another dangerous attacking option. After a disappointing defensive performance against Sporting Kansas City a few days earlier, it was good to see the Whitecaps backline looking solid once again. The clean sheet was their fifth of the season, matching the number of shutouts they achieved through the whole of 2011. cheap jerseys . 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But he couldnt recover after losing serve at 2-1 in the opening set at Lawn Tennis Club. wholesale jerseys .ca. Hi Kerry, Welcome back! Im sure you heard Peter Forsbergs comments last week regarding Canadian referees in the gold medal game. Seems to me that he was questioning the integrity and impartiality.LONDON, Ont. -- The Guelph Storm want to eliminate the real possibility that the London Knights could come back to haunt them at the Memorial Cup. The Ontario Hockey League champion Storm insist theyre the ones with ample motivation to beat the host Knights on Wednesday, even though Guelph is already assured of a berth in Sundays final with a 2-0 record. Londons motivation doesnt require explanation. At 0-2, they must win the final game of the preliminary round in order to get into a tiebreaker game Thursday. If they dont, the hosts will be eliminated by the same team that knocked them out of the OHL playoffs April 11. A change to the MasterCard Memorial Cup schedule has made the improbable more possible. A day of rest between the semifinal and the final was incorporated into the tournament in 2007. Thats helped teams that have had to take the long way to the title. Twice in the last five years, a team that opened with two losses ran the table to win the Cup: the Windsor Spitfires in 2009 and the Shawinigan Cataractes in 2012. Both clubs staved off elimination in their final round-robin game, tiebreaker and semifinal en route to claiming the title. "Teams have done it and I think we have a team thats special like that and is able to achieve things like that," Knights captain Chris Tierney said. "Everyone is confident we can pull it off." Because of that extra day of rest, the bye to the final is not the nearly airtight advantage to winning the Cup it once was. Guelph doesnt want to face London on Sunday in their home rink riding the momentum of three wins in a row, including one against them. "We dont want to let these guys get back in the tournament and see them in the final if they get on a little roll here," Storm forward Zach Mitchell said. "Were going to try and put them out here. We dont want to let them hang around." The Storm relish having the upper hand against the Knights. London won the OHL championship in both 2013 and 2012, while Guelph was eliminated in the first round those years. "Back-to-back champions, you give a lot of beatings," Storm captain Matt Finn said. "The London Knights did that for a couple of years. "To be able to knock them out in the playoffs was great for us. To have a chance to knock them out of the Memorial Cup while theyre hosting is something we want to do because of the history." As explosive as the Storm are with 11 goals in two games, the Knights are also capable of pouring the puck into the net.dddddddddddd London and Guelph both scored over 300 goals in the regular season. But the Knights have just two goals in two games and both were scored by defencemen. The Knights have been stopped on two penalty shots and are 0-for-8 on their power play. London has certainly had scoring chances, but havent yet recovered their touch around the net. "We looked at the first two games a little bit and we actually did outchance the teams in both games," forward Max Domi said. "It comes down to the details in terms of finishing around our own net, sharpening up our passes, making better decisions with the puck in terms of getting it in deep and being more disciplined. All that stuff kind of adds up to winning or losing hockey games." Theres also Londons unsettled goaltending situation. Anthony Stolarz was in net for the 1-0 loss to the Val-dOr Foreurs to open the tournament. He allowed three goals in two periods against the Edmonton Oil Kings, before he was replaced by Jake Patterson in a 5-2 loss. Head coach Dale Hunter had yet to inform his goalies Tuesday afternoon which would start in Wednesdays crucial game. Stolarz, a Philadelphia Flyers prospect, opened last years Memorial Cup in Saskatoon, but Patterson was in net for the semifinal loss to the eventual champion Halifax Mooseheads. Londons lineup features seven forwards from the team that both lost 2-1 in overtime to host Shawinigan in the 2012 final and suffered last years semifinal loss. "Nobody wants to feel that again," Knights defenceman Zach Bell said. "Everybody wants to be able to play some more junior hockey. They dont want to end it on a bad note." The Storm ousted the Knights in the second round of playoffs in five games. Stolarz didnt play in the series because he was serving an eight-game suspension handed down in the first round. Guelph and London were 3-3 against each other in the regular season. In seven of their 11 meetings so far this season, the winner has scored six or more goals. The Storm are comfortable in the role of villain at Budweiser Gardens and are ready to embrace that again Wednesday. "This city doesnt like us too much, especially after knocking them out in the playoffs," Finn said. "Theyre going to be looking to get one back on us. We dont want to let them back in. Theyre a team that can put the puck in the net. We need to limit their chances offensively and frustrate them." ' ' '