Toronto FC has good core

Toronto FC's Julian de Guzman

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Toronto's protected list included Eric Avila, Terry Dunfield, Richard Eckersley, Stefan Frei, Torsten Frings, Ty Harden, Andy Iro, Ryan Johnson, Milos Kocic, Danny Koevermans, and Joao Plata. That meant that the club exposed the likes of Julian de Guzman, Adrian Cann, Nick Soolsma, and Peri Merosevic to the Impact. In the end the club's choices paid off as Montreal didn't pick anybody from Toronto. The club did waive seven players later on that same day, but from the perspective of Red's fans the best part of the day was that Montreal did not get the chance to do anything to tick them off.

On the whole these protected lists are not something that you should read all that much into. However, in the case of TFC the list can give some insights into how management views the current squad or at the very least it raises a few questions.

Leaving de Guzman unprotected raised some eyebrows, as did choosing to protect much maligned centre backs Andy Iro and Ty Harden over proven veterans Adrian Cann and Dicoy Williams. There was also the club's decision to include two players who were on loan this past season (Plata and Eckersley) and might not even be able to return to the club next year.

This was the second year in a row that the club took a gamble in not protecting de Guzman, their original designated player, and for the second year the Canadian international went unselected. This was clearly a calculated risk on the part of the club as they would have viewed de Guzman's contract and status as a DP as enough of a deterrent to Montreal. In the eyes of most fans, myself included, his exclusion from the protected list is neither an indication of his standing in the club or their desire to retain his services.

We all know de Guzman earns a large salary and even if he was much improved in the second half of the past season he would still not be seen as good value for money in a salary cap league. Had Montreal selected de Guzman it would have taken a large chunk out of their cap space and used up one of their three DP slots. Thus far club management has suggested that they are not looking to sign a DP for their first season and even if they do it will be one that they track down themselves, rather than one they select via the expansion draft.

In the end there was almost no chance that de Guzman was going to be taken in the draft so the risk that TFC management took by leaving him unprotected was small. In fact that club even discussed it on their official website when Asif Hossain took time to assure fans that the move to leave JDG unprotected "should not be viewed as a slight against De Guzman" but rather "his exposure to this draft (was) for strategic reasons only." In other words, his being left unprotected had nothing to do with his standing at the club, and everything to do with taking a calculated risk.

The debate over which centre backs to protect was a lot more contentious. Many TFC fans were worried when they saw Adrian Cann was left unprotected, since as a Canadian international and former Montreal Impact player he would surely have appealed to the Impact. In the end Cann was not selected That might have come down more to the fact that he is currently still rehabbing a major knee injury and despite his hopes to make it back in time for training camp in January it would have remained a question mark whether he would be able to return to his top form from 2010.

The same could be said for Dicoy Williams, who was also left unprotected. He is another quality centre back and a Jamaican international who picked up a major knee injury at this past summer's Gold Cup. Like Cann he is hoping to be back for the start of next season but would also have questions asked about his fitness and possible return to his old form. For the Impact to pass over both of them is not a surprise since they already had Nelson Rivas under contract and there were a number of central defenders left unprotected by other clubs that came with less question marks. Again this can viewed as a calculated risk that paid off for TFC.

The question then is why did they decide to protect Iro and Harden instead of the injured veterans?

Clearly the club felt that the pair of players who are fit, under contract, and younger would have represented a greater appeal to the Impact. TFC fans might argue that neither Iro and Harden impressed enough last season to merit a spot on the protected list. But the fact is that it can be hard to find quality defenders in the MLS, so even depth guys such as Iro and Harden have an increased value.

It should also be noted that despite having their share of struggles this season both players did show some upside. Iro brings a very appealing package of size and strength but the problem was that he lacked the pace and awareness required to mark the better forwards in MLS. When Frings played the back line, Iro was exposed far less often and as a result he preformed much better. It would appear that Aron Winter feels Iro still has enough value to be worth holding on to even if he is relegated to more of a depth role next season.

The exact same could be said for Harden, who although lacking size and strength proved to be willing to make tackles and was a competent man marker for the most part. In the second half of the season, again with the help of Frings, Harden developed into a decent centre back and seemed to play much better with increased confidence. His inclusion on the protected list was less of a surprise than Iro as most Reds fans would be happy to see Harden come back next season as a backup player or even an occasional starter.

For both Harden and Iro the potential to be solid defenders is still there and management noted that in deciding to protect both of them. If the club does bring in a quality defender who is capable of acting as a stabilizing influence it should only help to bring out the best in both players.

The choice of which two centre backs were protected should not be viewed as evidence as to who sits at the top of the depth chart. It doesn't mean Iro and Harden will be starting ahead of Williams and Cann next year (assuming all four remain with the club) but it does mean that they were considered to be assets that TFC needed to protect from the Impact. Again, it was a gamble that paid off.

The question of what we can read into the club's decision to protect Eckersley and Plata, both on loan, is a bit more tricky. It's unlikely that their inclusion means the club is any closer to securing their services for next season but what it does suggest to me is that those negotiations have at least not hit any major snags thus far.

Both players have made it clear that they would like to be back in 2012 and the club has stated that they are working on bringing them back. Considering the quality of both players the only reason for the club to risk exposing them would have been if there was no chance of them returning for next season.

On the whole the list that Toronto went with was all about taking calculated risks and trying to protect all the players who would have a high level of appeal to the Impact. In the end, TFC made all the right moves and the core of the roster will be back with the team come the start of training camp in January.

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