TORONTO — Last week at BMO Field there was a fan behind me voicing some absurd views.
“Torsten Frings is by far the best player on this team; the rest of them are scrubs,” he claimed, and then continued his rant to propose a new name for the club: Toronto Torsten Frings.
Admittedly, it was only after consulting the lyrics of TLC’s 1999 hit “No Scrubs” that allowed me to dismiss this gentleman’s derogatory assessment of Frings’ colleagues as ludicrous. I brush off the notion that, according to the pop group’s definition, Richard Eckersley is always talking about what he wants but “just sits on his broke ass.”
This TFC supporter’s view, however, does contribute to many other Reds’ fans beliefs that Frings is the most talented player at Paul Mariner’s disposal.
The German midfielder has had a fine career. He enjoyed two stints at Werder Bremen, picking up three winners’ medals and played with the likes of Miroslav Klose. He also turned out for Bayern Munich where he won the Bundesliga, and even proved he was adept in the playmaker role when he took it over from Tomas Rosicky at Borussia Dortmund.
On top of his club football, Frings earned 79 caps for Germany and was first choice for his country at both the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008. It’s quite the resume, and it beats anybody else’s at TFC.
This unrivalled experience is key to the development of the younger players at TFC, and since Mariner has given the club’s elder statesmen more responsibility, Frings off-field role has become all the more important over the past 2½ months.
On the field, however, he sometimes appears to struggle.
Just like the old days, if a rival comes within his boundary, Frings will snaffle him up. But over the past few years the midfield terrier’s chain has shortened significantly and he is left tied up and frustrated. At 35, he can’t make the ground he used to, and the creative element to his game has all but gone.
Given his lack of mobility, it is surprising that his delivery from free-kicks often hasn’t been up to scratch, either. His dead balls towards the big men are adequate, but it’s when he has a pop at goal that his attempts often fall short. True, he fired a screamer away at Montreal, but the main reason TFC went 1-0 up was because Donovan Ricketts generously let the shot through his hands.
Frings’ ability to retain possession for TFC is the reason why he’s still an important part of the squad, but rather than playing him from the start he may make more of an impact off the bench.
He doesn’t demand the highest tempo of his teammates when he dictates the play from holding midfield, and he doesn’t appear to have the legs to meet Mariner’s increasingly demanding work ethic. When going out there to win, a faster speed from the whole team is preferable.
At 2-0 down in Columbus on Wednesday, bringing off Frings in the 70th minute yielded a goal and nearly an equaliser. The pace and threat of TFC greatly improved.
Frings has a wise head on his shoulders though, and bringing him on when TFC are defending a result may calm things down and stop them from following the usual self-implosion route.
There is still a future for Frings at Toronto FC — he’s no scrub — but, come on, he is nowhere near being the Reds’ best player.
Daniel Rouse is a columnist and podcaster for Red Nation Online, and a short story writer. He moved from England in 2011. Follow him on Twitter.