Since joining Major League Soccer in 2007, Toronto FC has been setting all kinds of records. The problem is that they have almost all been of the negative kind.

In their short history the club has seen unparalleled player turnover, a rotating door on the coach’s office, and not a single playoff appearance.

With such a tumultuous and unsuccessful existence one would think that for TFC the only way to go was up. Problem is that when the final whistle sounded on their 2-0 defeat at home against DC United the Reds found a new low. This time it was a low that no other club had ever managed to reach before in the league.

The defeat to DC, the club’s eighth straight to start the campaign, moved them beyond Kansas City for the longest losing streak to begin a season. It was a mark that no one would have expected the club to reach as they came into 2012 with a lot of promise. For fans the CONCACAF Champions League quarter-final win over the LA Galaxy will now feel like a lifetime ago as the team has failed to register a single win in nearly two months now.

On Saturday, TFC were not completely inept and probably could have been up at the half based on the run of play. But DC coach Ben Olsen made the necessary adjustments at half time to take control of the game and Toronto failed to make the right moves to counter.

In the first half, Dwayne De Rosario was marked out of the contest by former teammate Julian de Guzman. Olsen picked up on what was going on and moved De Rosario forward, allowing him to find more space and fill a creative role. It was a move that TFC coach Aron Winter did nothing to answer as his side continued to play the same way they had from the opening kickoff.

The tactics he set the team up with were not bad and they did work effectively for the first 45 minutes. But soccer is like a chess match in many ways in that every move your opponent makes needs to be countered or even better pre-empted.

It seems that Winter just does not have the foresight to make those in-game adjustments that are needed to give his team the edge. His side was on the front foot in the opening half but failed to create any quality chances or get on the scoreboard. Most coaches would then make changes at halftime to exploit the advantages that they had in the first half. Winter instead took off Luis Silva for Joao Plata which added very little to the attack and resulted in Eric Avila moving more central where he was less effective.

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In close games like this one was for most of the way the end result can come down to the small adjustments that are made during the course of the match. It was a battle that Olsen won handily over Winter.

When the manager fails to make the needed changes it puts even more pressure on the players to produce something special. That is pressure that this side is not able to deal with right now. They seem to be at a point now where they are so mentally fragile that as soon as one thing goes wrong in the match they get down on themselves and are unable to fight back.

The players’ damaged mental state was on full display in the post game interviews and the frustration was clearly evident on players like Ryan Johnson. They, like the fans, seem to be at the point where they have been searching for answers for so long without success that they just do not know what to do next.

The only thing left to do for now is hope that Toronto can get a result against Montreal in midweek and remain in the Amway Canadian Championship. If they fail to do that the season will be completely lost before the middle of May and when the season is gone you have to question how much longer the coach will last.

David Rowaan is a Toronto-based writer and key contributor to Waking the Red, a blog about Toronto FC and Canadian soccer. Follow Waking the Red on Twitter.

TORONTO — It wasn’t a loud and gregarious guarantee like Broadway Joe before Super Bowl III or Mark Messier in the buildup to Game 6 of the 1994 East Conference final.

What is was was a quiet, simple and confident statement of intent.

“We’re making the playoffs,” Toronto FC coach Aron Winter told reporters after the team’s Tuesday practice.

He even repeated it to emphasis the point: “We’re making the playoffs.”

It’s a bold proclamation from a coach whose team has lost its first six matches of the Major League Soccer campaign, has been outscored 13-4, and is one loss away from tying the league record for the worst start to a season (Kansas City went 0-7 in 1999.)

But Winter insists TFC will end its playoff drought after five years and is confident that MLSE, the club’s owners, will give him enough time to see out his three-year plan.

“I’ve got the support from (MLSE) and I always believe in my vision. …We’re going to make the playoffs,” Winter said.

While not impossible, it is an uphill battle.

No team in MLS history has ever qualified for the playoffs after losing six in a row to start the season. And it doesn’t get any easier for the Reds, who travel to Utah for Saturday’s match against Real Salt Lake, a team with 15 points this season.

If TFC doesn’t win, you can bet even more questions will be asked from fans and the media about the coach’s tenure with the club. Winter was hounded and pressed by reporters Tuesday as though he were a man living on borrowed time.

Despite all the speculation about his future, the Dutchman is confident he’ll be given the time to sort things out after recently chatting with MLSE executive Tom Anselmi

“The confidence and support is there. The rumours are coming out … But I don’t think about those things. I’ve got the confidence and I’m focused from game to game to get the points. We’re going to work it out.”

The suggestion has been made that Winter’s favoured 4-3-3 system can’t work in MLS, and that after using the formation for a year that it’s time to adapt and try something new, like a traditional 4-4-2 setup.

But the Dutchman remains defiant: “My vision with three strikers — 4-3-3 — is going to stay always.”

After last weekend’s 3-2 loss to the Chicago Fire, Winter was not shy about saying that part of the team’s problems is that it lacks quality in certain areas and needs reinforcements. Those comments didn’t go over well with in the locker-room with a few players, in particular goalkeeper Milos Kocic.

Winter didn’t back down from that stance Tuesday, and added that the team lacked leadership on the field in the absence of Tortsen Frings, the club’s injured captain who made his return against Chicago.

“We need players coaching (on the field),” Winter said.

In past games this season, the TFC coach has cited bad luck, a lack of sharpness, individual errors, and not having good enough players for the team’s losses. Absent from that laundry list of reasons was himself.

On Tuesday, though, the Dutchman assumed some responsibility for the club’s lacklustre start to the season.

“We have a management team; at the end I’m responsible for everything. But we’re doing it together,” Winter said.

Any suggestion that the locker-room is coming undone with turmoil is also off base, according to the coach.

“The most important thing is that we keep everyone together and committed to each other. You always have chats with the players. Nothing is wrong with the organization. Nothing,” Winter stated.

Asked directly if he still has confidence in Winter as coach, forward Ryan Johnson gave the Dutchman a strong endorsement.

“I believe in Aron. I have confidence in him,” Johnson said. “For me and the players, we still believe in him. I’m going to continue to fight for him.’

Midfielder Terry Dunfield added: “There’s no lack of confidence (in Winter) whatsoever. The players are 100 per cent behind his approach and want he wants.”

Dunfield is of the opinion that a victory against Real Salt Lake would mark the beginning of the club’s turnaround, a view shared by his coach.

“It’s very important to get the first points. And the moment we get the first points, everything is going to turn,” Winter said.

NOTES: Forward Danny Koevermans (groin) and midfielder Nick Soolsma (hamstring) trained on their own during Tuesday’s team practice. Winter said both remain questionable for Saturday’s match in Utah. Koevermans missed the Chicago game, while Soolsma has sat out the last two matches… Defenders Dicoy Williams (knee) and Jeremy Hall (sports hernia) participated in full training for the first time. Both have been sidelined while recovering from long-term injuries…