When making trades, what is often lost in the business of the sports are the human stories behind the scenes that media and fans often never hear about. When a player is traded, there can be hostility towards the old club because a pre-existing situation (i.e. Dwayne De Rosario’s contract situation) or simply because they were traded and, as a result, felt unwanted. However, there are those rare instances where a player is thankful and happy to have been traded and still keep in touch with his former manager as a result.

The Extreme Makeover: TFC Edition series continues. A day after making two major deals, Toronto FC Technical Director coach was at it again Friday, sending Generation Adidas midfielder Tony Tchani to the Columbus Crew for defender Andy Iro and French midfielder Leandre Griffit.

On Thursday, TFC made two major deals — drastically remaking the roster. The Reds acquired Terry Dunfield, who scored against TFC on opening day at Empire Field, from the Vancouver Whitecaps for allocation money and future considerations. Dunfield, who was the lone Vancouverite in the regular ‘Caps lineup, didn’t start in the the team’s most recent match, a loss at Colorado.

"I know Teal very well, we played together in the U-20s," Attakora said. "I know Teal's strengths, I know his weaknesses, and he's just a regular striker to me."

Toronto FC's busiest stretch of the season came is finally over, but if the Reds had a choice, they'd want to take the pitch again tomorrow to get the bad taste of Saturday's result out of their mouths. TFC allowed a franchise-worst six goals in a 6-2 loss to the Philadelphia Union and, incredibly, the scoreline may have flattered the Reds given all their defensive breakdowns. "It was humiliating," said Toronto head coach Aron Winter.

Only one member of Toronto FC is expected to be named to Canadian national team coach Stephen Hart’s roster for the upcoming Gold Cup. Hart confirmed that he has only one Red on his list during a conference call Tuesday.

So, Saturday’s road date in Seattle — one of the big boys in the West, and sure ro be inspired in its first game after losing midfielder Steve Zakuani thanks to a horror tackle from Colorado’s Brian Mullan — was arguably the first true exam of TFC’s credentials. And, it showed us the club has a long way to go. A long way. All of the pundits who have been placing TFC at the bottom of their MLS power rankings were proven right as the Reds stumbled to a 3-0 loss.

“A few seasons ago it was last five to 10 minutes we were giving up goals and now right when the game starts,” said defender Nana Attakora. “First 10 to 15 minutes, that’s not acceptable. We should start off fired up. Even if you need to kick it out, do what you need to do to not give up a goal. I feel like we’re killing ourselves right now starting off slowly. Even against L.A. we got lucky. All the coaches pointed it out. It’s something we need to fix.”

Another match, another slow start for Toronto FC. The Reds found themselves down two goals after just 10 minutes on Saturday night against D.C. United, and the deficit proved to be too much for TFC to overcome in an eventual 3-0 loss. "It's not good to start that way," said defender Danleigh Borman. "It's really tough on a team and it's really tough to get back from that. I think the guys tried to fight back but unfortunately it didn't happen for us today."

Five matches into the 2011 season and Toronto FC is still looking to find the right chemistry on the pitch. Perhaps that should not come as a complete surprise considering the club did trade away its captain and the face of the franchise after just the second match of the season. The constant changes to the lineup sure haven’t helped the cause in the short-term as management continues to preach patience to the fans and media who want the team to win now. The players can’t be feeling too secure, since coach Aron Winter has been public in his assertion that he is nowhere near finished making changes to his squad.