TORONTO — Canadian midfielder Matt Stinson was released by Toronto FC on Tuesday, and there may be more roster cuts on the way.
Stinson, a 21-year-old native of Toronto, started with the club’s youth academy before signing with the senior team in 2011. He only made 25 appearances for the Reds, in large part due to a series of injury problems that kept him on the sidelines.
Toronto coach Ryan Nelsen maintained the injuries had nothing to do with the decision to waive Stinson, explaining it was a numbers game; that his spot with TFC “became vulnerable” because the club is looking to bolster its roster in central midfield and at striker.
“Unfortunately there wasn’t enough room as we’re moving forward. We have roster spots and salary caps (to deal with) and something’s got to give. Matt’s been a fantastic servant since being here, but unfortunately it was something we had to do,” Nelsen told reporters after Tuesday’s practice. Stinson’s departure means the team is down to 27 players, three less than the roster limit, with two international roster spots left open.
A number of injured Toronto players are on the mend, including midfielders Julio Cesar and Luis Silva, and Nelsen admitted that more hard decisions might have to be made over other possible player cuts.
“With a couple of guys coming back from injury we’re looking pretty deep now. That’s been our problem — we haven’t had a very deep squad, but we’re getting stronger and hopefully we’ll become deeper,” Nelsen stated.
One possible addition could be Ryan Richter, an American midfielder who spent last season with the Charleston Battery in the USL. The 23-year-old native of Pennsylvania is the only player currently on trial with the Reds, and Nelsen has been impressed with his versatility and athleticism.
“We’re having a good look at him and he’s been great. He can play a number of positions and he’s just one of those guys who works really hard and compliments what we have here,” Nelsen said.
Earl Cochrane, TFC’s director of team and player operations, is also a fan.
“He can provide some depth in a couple of different spots. He had a great year at Charleston last year, so I think there’s something that we could probably do,” Cochrane admitted.
Nelsen reiterated what he told reporters late last week regarding the club’s negotiations with a young player from Argentina, believed to be Newell’s Old Boys forward Maximiliano Urruti.
“I think it’s pretty much done. What I’ve heard is the (Argentine) club is in some administrative trouble, which means instead of one signature it needs about five. It’s just paper work. … We’re just waiting for the ink to dry,” Nelsen promised.
Cochrane said the deal is being held up by “minor stuff” and that it should be completed soon. But whether the player will be signed in time for him to play in Toronto’s next game, on March 30 against the visiting LA Galaxy, isn’t guaranteed.
“That might be tough, just because of the nature of the deal we’re going to do. But we hope sooner rather than later,” Cochrane revealed.
Cochrane also said Toronto continues to talk to clubs in Honduras about signing two midfielders, as indicated by club president Kevin Payne late last month.
“There’s a lot of moving parts to our roster and how we want to upgrade it. At any given time (signing the Hondurans) could happen or that could go away. We’re still having discussions. We have a good relationship with Motagua and with a couple of other clubs down there. It’s just open,” Cochrane said.
Toronto has a bye this week, which gives both Cesar and Silva, and Justin Braun who is also coming off an injury, more time to train in order to return to full fitness. Nelsen said he plans to be cautious with the trio, and won’t necessarily rush them back or use them in the LA game.
Toronto is off to a 1-0-2 start to the Major League Soccer campaign, their home opening win against Kansas City sandwiched between road losses in Vancouver and Montreal.
Last season, the Reds set a new league record by losing their first nine games of the campaign under former coach Aron Winter. Nelsen admitted he was “very satisfied” with how TFC has progressed since he took over the coaching reins, while at the same time saying his team has yet to produce a complete 90-minute performance.
“If you gave me three points at the start of the season after three games, three tough games that we had, I would have taken them,” Nelsen stated.
“What’s been pleasing for me is that every game we’ve shown we can compete with three very good teams. We’ve been unlucky in all the games. We haven’t really put in a 90-minute game yet, and I think that’s probably why we had the (poor) record we did over the past few years.”
