Toronto FC and Ali Curtis: Trust the process

Toronto FC have hired former New York Red Bulls Sporting Director Ali Curtis as their new General Manager. It is crucial that the club now trusts the process.

It was a surprise when Ali Curtis departed from the New York Red Bulls. After re-shaping the very fabric of the organisation, moving away from the Thierry Henry-led, high-profile Designated Player structure to a focus on home-grown, well-integrated talent, Curtis and the club just split. Suddenly.

That was almost two years ago. Since then, Curtis has taken the opportunity to spend more time with his family, re-align his work-life balance, and continue to study and hone his ideas on leadership, management and MLS in general.

That two-year hiatus is now set to come to an end. Toronto FC lost their own revolutionary general manager this offseason to the Columbus Crew, Tim Bezbatchenko wanting to take on the new challenge at a new club.

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Immediately, they turned to Curtis. Bezbatchenko asked to talk to the Crew just before Christmas. By January 3rd, Toronto already had their man. As TFC President Bill Manning stated, Curtis was unanimously seen as the best man for the job:

"“We [Greg Vanney and Manning] talked about moving forward; who we thought would be the best person that could lead our soccer operations; Ali was at the top of both of our lists.”"

Irrevocably, Toronto FC have tied themselves to Curtis.

Curtis is an extremely intelligent and studious individual. He is a soccer academic, as much as anything else. He studies the structures of successful organisations, he is a leader in the surge in analytics, as Toronto have been also. As this brilliant piece in The Athletic details, when Paul Tenorio went to visit Curtis a month before he was hired by Toronto, Curtis, in his downtime, has continued to hone his skills and improve his process.

He has branched into other industries, even asking a friend of his who was a successful teacher how he was able to maintain such a close and productive relationship with his students — this human connection is something that Curtis has been criticised for lacking. Curtis is expanding his horizons.

This two-year break from the sport has helped Curtis sharpen his ideas, his process. Stating in his introductory press conference:

"“I have some ideas, different programs and initiatives, to put my fingerprints on the organization. I’m looking forward to adding and improving the club in different ways.”"

This is the individual that Toronto have entrusted themselves to. It is now essential that they trust his work, his studies, his process. When speaking with Tenorio, Curtis revealed that he and his process need to be ready for when the ‘next opportunity comes’.

That opportunity is now here. And Curtis has been preparing for two years. All he needs now is time and belief. It is up to Toronto FC to give that to him and trust the process.