ESPN Soccernet's Ives Galarcep sizes up the storylines for Thursday night's prime-time match-up between the New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC. For starters, several former Red Bulls have moved to the Canadian club: there's former New York coach Mo Johnston, who's now in charge of building TFC; there's former MLS MVP Amado Guevara, who the Bulls traded away more than a year ago; and finally Marvell Wynne, who was drafted by Johnston in New York only to join him later in Toronto. Finally, Red Bulls defender Kevin Goldthwaite was also a former TFC player.
Guevara says that the match will be "very special" for him in particular. "I played four years there, it's my team in the league, I feel a love and respect," the Honduran tells Galarcep. "It's the first time I'm going to have to play against them and it's a strange feeling because I've never played a team that I care about and respect so much."
The other big storyline for TFC is its revamped attack. Without recent arrivals Guevara, Rohan Ricketts and Laurent Robert, Toronto was 0-2 with six goals against and one goal scored. Since their arrival, the club has gone 3-0. A big question for them will be how that trio stacks up to New York's defense. Likewise, a big question for the home team is whether its defense can cope with the Bulls' formidable offensive pairing of Juan Pablo Angel and Jozy Altidore.
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