This is pre-season 2014.
That’s the reality staring Toronto FC fans in the face as this weekend’s season opener looms closer and closer with the squad looking woefully thin, both in depth and in first team players. Meanwhile, new club president and GM Kevin Payne makes expectation dampening statements about just how long this rebuild is going to take, that coming from so far back can’t be done overnight.
Paul Mariner might have thought that same line of thinking could have helped him keep his job and continue the rebuild he started after taking over from Aron Winter last season. Instead, he became the biggest part of the Payne clear out, replaced by Ryan Nelsen.
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Plenty of players have also left from last year’s squad, both before and after Mariner’s exit. Eric Hassli and Torsten Frings were the biggest names, leaving the still injured Danny Koevermans as the only remaining designated player. All together 14 players from the roster that finished the 2012 season have left in one way or another.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as a rebuild can only happen after a purge of the previous team, and if any team needed a good purge it was last year’s version of TFC. Where it gets worrying is just how slowly the rebuild is going. Cap space has been cleared, allocation money collected and plenty of names have gone through the rumour mill and still the squad is lacking in many ways. Payne and Nelsen are obviously thinking of the long term, 2014 and beyond, trying to find the right players rather than ‘right now’ players. But the longer it takes, the more it looks like there’ll have to be some last minute and short-term panic signings to bring the numbers up for this season.
What exactly does Toronto have to play with so far? We’ll start with the less scary end of things, at the back. In goal, Milos Kocic was traded to Portland with Joe Bendik one of the pieces coming back. In pre-season games Bendik showed that he’s not a liability, but on the other side he didn’t really show he can be more than a reliable backup. A lot will ride on the health of Stefan Frei; a broken nose can be written off as a freak injury, but it’s two seasons running he’s suffered season ending injuries. If he gets into injury trouble again, TFC will be in trouble.
While there are question marks with the defence, compared to the midfield and up front it’s a model of upgrades and stability. Adrian Cann, Dicoy Williams and Ty Harden were let go, but Darren O’Dea, Ashtone Morgan and Richard Eckersley will all be in that starting lineup. They’ll be joined by the biggest acquisition of the off-season so far, Danny Califf, picked up from Chivas USA in the waiver draft.
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Califf and O’Dea look like becoming a very tough centre back partnership, but the main question will be their lack of speed. While Eckersley and Morgan do provide pace, and a good attacking threat from the full back positions, defensive responsibility and smarts aren’t their strong points. So it will be very interesting to see how those four players complement each other, if their collective strengths can outweigh their individual weaknesses. The other defensive pick up is more of a long-term gamble on a player who’s yet to realise his potential in Gale Agbossoumonde, though he showed in pre-season he should be able to contribute as a backup this year.
In midfield, Frings, Eric Avila, Joao Plata and Aaron Maund are the main absences from last year’s squad. Because of the lack of options up front, Luis Silva is also so far lost to the midfield options. As for replacements, Julio Cesar, signed after being released by Sporting Kansas City, seems a like-for- like replacement for Frings, bringing skill, smarts and experience, if not athleticism.
Kyle Bekker was also added to the midfield via the SuperDraft, and has shown promise both with Canada and in pre-season. Though he’ll likely not be an automatic starter, he should get plenty of playing time in his rookie season. Despite those additions, it was mainly Terry Dunfield and Jeremy Hall getting most of the defensive midfield action — a thoroughly below par combination.
Then things start looking really scarce, as a lack of options on the wings meant rookie Emery Welshman received a lot of time in pre-season playing on the flanks and may well find himself in the lineup. It’s a risky option, but one that may be better than the lacklustre devil you know of Reggie Lambe or Andrew Wiedeman.
Up front Hassli and Ryan Johnson were both traded away and the lack of quality replacements is glaring, with Justin Braun the only recognised striker other than the injured Koevermans officially signed, with Silva playing behind him so far.
With so many players let go or traded and so few brought in, there are of course plenty of roster spots left, and all the allocation money accrued at the SuperDraft is still burning a hole in Kevin Payne’s pocket. There’s definitely wisdom in making sure the right players are signed, and Payne has after all talked about changing the culture of the club and how he values character as important in a player. In normal circumstances it’d be easy enough to swallow a short-term bump in the road for the promise of a brighter future.
But these aren’t normal circumstances, and no one needs reminding of TFC’s long history of failure and though it might be unfair, fan patience for a third serious rebuild in four years won’t last long if there aren’t serious improvements made. Leeway might be given until the summer transfer window when it comes to bringing in big names who can have a real impact on the future of the club, but time is running out to bring in even depth players for the start of the season.
That’s the other alarming part of pre-season – even with the players that are here there are fitness issues, and there seems to be no agreed upon first team that’s been given the chance to play together to gain familiarity. TFC was already starting from the back of the pack, but the way pre-season has gone it has just handicapped them even further.
Payne is obviously determined to put his stamp on the club and the biggest way he’s done that since his arrival was with the appointment of Nelsen, and it’s also his biggest risk. This is of course Nelsen’s first coaching gig and assistant Fran O’Leary hasn’t coached pro before, so there’s a huge unknown there as plenty of successful, big name players have failed to successfully make that transition.
Nelsen has given a clue as to what can be expected on the pitch this year, with a lot of talk of defensive responsibility and hard work, to create a safety net so that if things aren’t going well up front, and basic team effort to fall back on and grind out a result. With the lack of forward options currently, that’s a very wise focus. If a team-wide focus on defence can allow them the freedom to attack without compromising the defence too much, it would be a good thing.
Really though it is about the defence, and again taking the long-term view, that will be very helpful. The defence is the one part of the team that stands a good chance of being together for the rest of the season and beyond. If a good understanding can develop and a solid base be established, then that’s something that can slowly be built upon.
As hard as it is to get behind yet another rebuild, that’s probably the best Toronto FC fans can hope for this season. A reliable style of play slowly ingrained, and a squad with the quality to compete slowly built up in time to challenge for a playoff spot or more next season and beyond.
In other words, pre-season 2014.
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