"These are players who have been in these situations. Not to slag off young players, but you only know what it's like when you're in the positions and Danny has been in these positions for years," O'Dea said. "It's a bit of experience and mental toughness and we lacked a bit of that last year."

With the MLS season moved up to its earliest start ever, forgive us if we don’t feel 100 per cent totally prepared for First Kick. Judging by the way many MLS teams finished preseason, with tentative matches and still looking at trialists with a week to go before the games count in the standings, a lot of coaches aren’t quite ready for the early start, either.

And it was hard to tell if both the Impact and Crew were going through the paces, saving energy for their openers, or if this game was a sign of two teams screaming for more preseason time.

And, the Impact scored early and often as it overwhelmed the reigning NASL champion Tampa Bay Rowdies 4-1 at the Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic in Orlando, while Toronto FC overcame a terrible start in a torrential first-hald downpour to overcome USL-Pro’s Orlando City 2-0.

We looked back at Toronto FC’s disastrous 2012 campaign, but we broke down the games minute by minute. From that, we came up with a goal difference for every player on the Reds, similar to a plus-minus in hockey.

Henry has made some of the top defenders in the world look silly in his star-studded career. Against a defence as suspect as the Reds? Well, it looked like a pick-up game at times.

"It doesn't matter how well you play for 89 minutes, it's the whole game that matters," said O'Dea. "The ability is there. There is no question of that. The team is mentally weak. Tough times in games we don't hold out, we concede late goals."

"If you want to give teams a two-goal stand then carry on, but we’re not that good. We were the architects of our own downfall, playing ridiculous balls in the wrong area of the field. I thought we eradicated that, but obviously some of the lads that have been in the squad haven’t been listening."

Despite running the balance of play and looking like they were on their way to locking up a relatively easy three points, the Dynamo and their fans looked stunned the Reds escaped with a 1-1 draw at Houston's BBVA Compass Stadium on Saturday night.

"It was a bit of a nothing match, to be perfectly frank," said TFC head coach Paul Mariner.  "It was a bit of a stalemate and then suddenly they got the goal."