TORONTO — And that’s a wrap.
After winning its first two games of the season, Toronto FC closed out the 2014 Major League Soccer campaign with a 1-0 road loss to the New England Revolution last weekend to finish seventh in the Eastern Conference with an 11-15-8 record.
Toronto set club records for most wins (11) and points (41) in a season, but the only metric that mattered was qualifying for the playoffs. On that score, 2014 was a failure, as the Reds were unable to earn a post-season berth for an eighth straight year.
TFC players talked to local reporters for the final time on Tuesday afternoon at the annual end-of-season wrap-up session. Here were the highlights:
Players insist Defoe saga not a distraction
Not every player was made available to speak to reporters, which is fair enough — if they were, we’d have been there all day. Also, forward Jermain Defoe (groin) and midfielder Michael Bradley (foot) were away in England and New York, respectively, in order to receive treatment on their respective injuries.
Even though he was out of the country, Defoe, who led the team in scoring with 11 goals in 19 MLS appearances, was the major topic of discussion Tuesday.
TFC turned down a transfer offer for Defoe from Premier League side Queens Park Rangers on Aug. 31. Defoe also returned to his native England for most of the summer to nurse a nagging groin injury before returning in early September. Ever since then, his commitment to the club and the legitimacy of his groin injury has been questioned by fans and media.
Defoe shot back at his many critics last week, but was non-committal when directly asked whether he’ll still be a TFC player in 2015. With the Englishman absent, his teammates fielded a barrage of questions about his future on Tuesday, with all of them insisting the Defoe saga was not a distraction in the locker room.
“I think that was more of a distraction for you guys [the media],” midfielder Jonathan Osorio quipped.
“You can’t blame him for getting hurt,” defender Mark Bloom said.
Defender Bradley Orr also stood up for his fellow Englishman: “Jermain is a fantastic lad. … I don’t see why he won’t come back.”
Brazilian forward Gilberto was blunter when asked about Defoe’s future with TFC.
“I don’t think about that,” he answered.
Why didn’t Toronto make the playoffs?
It was a question that this correspondent asked most of the TFC players on Tuesday. There were a variety of answers given, but the common theme was that the team lacked consistency, fell short in key moments in games, and was unable to grind out results when it mattered.
Left back Justin Morrow pointed to matches such as a 2-2 draw in New York in June when the Red Bulls tied things up in extra time, and a 2-1 home loss in July against Sporting Kansas City (who were reduced to 10 men and came from behind to win) that Toronto should have put away.
Fellow defender Mark Bloom agreed: “There were plenty of games where we dropped points when we shouldn’t have — a couple of losses that really should have been ties, and ties that should’ve been wins. Even if it’s three or four games, if we [get] those results we’re in the playoffs.”
Captain Steven Caldwell also pointed to the team’s lack of consistency as a major failing.
“We were hot and cold. We’d win a few, we’d lose a couple — we never went on that run that, in my opinion, teams need to do in this league to make the playoffs. … We need to be a little bit more resolute and tougher at difficult times. I felt we were a little bit easy to beat and at times we weren’t tough enough,” Caldwell explained.
Defender Bradley Orr doesn’t think management needs to make wholesale roster changes in the off-season. Only a few tweaks are needed.
“There are teams in the playoffs that are not as good as Toronto FC, in my opinion. But they have got players who have been in and around the league, know what it takes to win in this league and when that penny does drop with this group… [this team] will be a force to be reckoned with,” Orr stated.
“I don’t think blowing up the roster is a good idea,” rookie defender Nick Hagglund offered.
Dwayne De Rosario echoed Hagglund’s sentiments: “We’ve seen that every year here. … Every year we’re in the same predicament. I don’t think it would be an ideal thing to keep following in the same footsteps as we’ve done in the past.”
Morrow added: “We have a lot to build on.”
Gilberto, who finished second in team scoring with seven goals in 28 MLS appearances, believes this year was a learning process and that this collection of TFC players need a little more time to gel.
“As we play together more and more, the results will start to come,” the Brazilian said.
Greg Vanney was installed as the team’s new coach on Aug. 31 after the club fired Ryan Nelsen. A few players admitted that the coaching change with 10 games remaining in the season was a bit of disruption. But winger Dominic Oduro said that ultimately the players have to take responsibility for TFC not making the playoffs.
“Honestly, it was a bit of a distraction, but at the end of the day we players need to be accountable for our performances on the field,” Oduro said.
Gilberto wants to stay
The future of Gilberto, one of the club’s three designated players, has been the hot topic of discussion in recent weeks after one report said he told club management he wanted to leave this coming off-season.
“If I had my choice I would stay here with Toronto FC,” Gilberto said through an interpreter when asked about his commitment to the Reds.
Henry’s future
News broke last week that Doneil Henry was sold to a club in Cyprus in April, and that the Cypriot team then loaned the Canadian defender back to TFC for the duration of the 2014 season. Henry declined to reveal the name of the Cypriot side when asked by a reporter on Tuesday.
Henry also said he has to talk with Toronto to determine whether he’ll stay on loan with the Reds in 2014, go to Cyprus, or if the Cypriot team will sell him to another team in Europe. Henry claimed TFC didn’t tell him not to talk about his sale — he decided not to disclose it because he didn’t want it to be a distraction during the season.
“I’m hoping in three, four to five years I can establish myself as a top centre half in Europe. I have real big ambitions and dreams of not only being known as a Toronto FC players and a Canadian player, I want to put myself on the level where I’m established worldwide,” Henry stated.
Orr doesn’t expect to be back
Bradley Orr spent this season on loan at TFC from English Championship club Blackburn Rovers. He scored one goal in 19 appearances (14 as a starter) for the Reds, but the veteran defender said that he expects to return to Blackburn and that he doesn’t think the loan deal with TFC will be extended.
Bloom’s pay raise
Right fullback Mark Bloom was one of Toronto FC’s most consistent players this year (26 MLS games, all as a starter), and he did it while earning a meagre $48,825 in 2014. Club GM Tim Bezbatchenko told reporters a few months ago he planned to talk to Bloom about his contract in the off-season, and offer him a raise. Bloom said those discussions have yet to take place, and that he hopes to talk to the club about his contract sometime this week before he returns home to Florida.
“It’s definitely frustrating to not make the playoffs with the team we had,” Bloom said in a moment of candour.
Labour talks looming
The collective bargaining agreement between MLS and the players’ union expires at the end of the current season.
Goalkeeper Joe Bendik, who is a player union rep for Toronto, isn’t sure whether or not games will be lost to any kind of work stoppage. But he made no bones about what the players want to get out of the upcoming labour negotiations.
“More money and some kind of free agency — those are the only two things that really hold any weight,” Bendik said.
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