What's wrong with Toronto FC?
"It's a disaster. I'm embarrassed, Armas told the media. Im tasked to do a job here. And yeah, we all know it's been hard. You play without your DPs, you can go down the list. It's not time to do that. You've got to figure out a solution. You can't accept this. Chris Armas doesn't accept this, supporters [don't accept this]. It's sickening." With only five points from their first 10 games of the 2021 MLS season, things are bleak for Toronto FC . And after last Saturday's 2-0 loss to FC Cincinnati extended their losing streak to five games, head coach Chris Armas didnt hold back. "Everyone understands that we have everything we need in the locker room to make it right, but we're just hurting ourselves." The Armas era is clearly off to a difficult start. Toronto are 13th in the Eastern Conference standings, just ahead of Chicago Fire FC on goal difference. Theyve allowed 20 goals, which is tied for the most goals conceded in MLS. And, as maybe the most obvious sign of all, you know things arent going according to plan when your coach dips into a third-person monologue during his post-match comments. Still, like Armas said, you must find a way to get results even when missing big-name players and facing challenging circumstances. Toronto FC havent done that. Looking at their on-field product, there has been a major change from 2020 Toronto FC to 2021 Toronto FC  and its certainly connected to head coach Greg Vanney departing to lead the LA Galaxy. Toronto were a high-volume passing team, moving the ball quickly and spending a lot of time in possession. Under Armas, that style is gone. So far this year, Toronto average 346 completed passes per 90 minutes, which is down from 439 in 2021. Out of all teams across 2020 and 2021, Vanneys 2020 team was in the 88th percentile in terms of time spent in the buildup phase (when the offensive team is comfortably in possession against an organized defense, per Second Spectrum). Armas 2021 team is in the 33rd percentile in terms of time spent in the buildup. Things werent all rosy for last years version of Toronto FC; they didnt create chances at a particularly high rate, averaging just 1.088 xG per 90 minutes. This years TFC are nearly in the same place, averaging 1.07 xG per 90. However, their established tactical identity gave them an overarching blueprint for how to approach games. That blueprint is gone now. And its been replaced by a team without an effective tactical approach. Many of the statistical differences between Vanneys Toronto FC and Armas Toronto FC illustrate one thing: a decreased emphasis on possession. Decreasing emphasis on one particular phase of play and instead emphasizing another phase of play isnt a bad thing. Teams evolve all the time, often for the better. In this case, though, the issue is that Toronto havent seen an uptick in efficiency in any other phase (organized defending, attacking transition, or defensive transition). When organized defensively, Toronto are giving up the 12th most xG per 90 minutes with 0.693, which is up just slightly from 0.68 last year. In defensive transition, Toronto allow the 5th most xG per 90 minutes with 0.627, which is nearly double their 0.334 total from last season. Theyre also giving up more shots per 90 minutes in defensive transition and allowing higher-quality shots in 2021 compared to 2020.