Brian Dunseth: Toronto FC players “absolutely should be held accountable at the highest level”
Two days removed from the decision, the fallout from Toronto FC’s firing of Chris Armas over the weekend continues to circulate around the club. There are plenty of questions remaining about this change of direction made by Toronto FC as well as the hiring of Armas in the first place.
And for Toronto FC, there are precious few answers right now concerning the coaching position.
On Monday’s ‘Counter-Attack’ on Sirius XM, hosts Tony Meola and Brian Dunseth discussed the decision by Toronto FC sporting director Ali Curtis and team president Bill Manning to let go of Armas after just 11 games played. Hired this offseason at what appeared to be the start of a rebuilding process at Toronto, the Armas-led side managed just five points and a 1-8-2 record.
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On Saturday, Toronto FC lost 7-1 at DC United, leading to the removal of Armas as head coach.
Former United States international goalkeeper and MLS star Meola called it “accountability with zero consequences” when Armas was fired but the decision makers behind the hiring (and firing) of the former head coach remain in place.
Dunseth agreed in part with this sentiment while providing a nuanced answer behind the hiring and firing of Armas.
“I’ve been a part of teams that have gotten absolutely slaughtered. Absolutely slaughtered the old days of the New England Revolution, I can remember games really losing four-nil, five-nil, 6-1 on a pretty regular basis it felt like. And managers were losing their jobs and players were getting traded and player contracts weren’t getting picked up and, you know, things happen,” Dunseth said on Monday’s show on Sirius XM.
“First off credit to DC United and Hernán Losadabecause you’ve got seven different scorers, you have a ruthless killer mentality, because when you’re up 4-1, you and I both know how easy it is to take your foot off the gas pedal and just manage the result because you know you’re getting the three points. This team DC United, was the most ruthless that I have seen them post Lucho Acosta and Wayne Rooney. It’s, it’s the most ruthless I’ve seen so got to give them credit.”
Armas was an unpopular hire from the perspective of the Toronto FC fanbase, many of whom wanted a high-profile head coach. His previous head coaching stint saw Armas win a Supporters Shield with the New York Red Bulls and then be fired last summer.
Back to the show, Dunseth then launched into his assessment of a struggling Toronto FC side, including how captain Michael Bradley stood up and defended Armas following the loss at DC United.
“For Toronto FC, Michael coming out afterwards, I think, was absolutely correct. But that was, I have not seen a less prideless performance in a long, long time, there was no pride in TFC over the course of those 90 minutes,” Dunseth said on the popular Sirius XM show on Monday afternoon.
“They got a goal back, maybe they had some momentum but how naive they were tactically, shocking, if you just go back and watch the highlights. It was shocking. It was embarrassing. And there’s players that absolutely should be held accountable at the highest level. And, unfortunately, like we’ve talked about the manager Chris Armas, is he was let go [Sunday].”
Toronto FC has endured a difficult start to the season. The rebuilding squad, the core of which remains a group that won MLS Cup in 2017 but is now past their prime, has had to play all their matches in Florida due to COVID-19 restrictions. Surely not an easy task.
Of the three Canadian clubs, all temporarily based in the United States, only CF Montreal (4-3-4, 16 points) has a winning record.
It is also Toronto FC side that is caught a bit in no-man’s land in terms of rebuilding a roster and yet still clinging to several veteran players with large salary cap hits. And there is the whole messy situation with Designated Player Jozy Altidore, an ordeal that doesn’t appear to be getting better anytime soon.
None of that is to make excuses for the results, but in moving forward, Curtis and Manning clearly need to spell out and define the direction of the club.
Armas may not have been the right choice for this moment in the club’s development. Perhaps he simply wasn’t the right move now or ever. But Toronto FC has a host of issues that they need to resolve on their roster, the first of which is if they are truly rebuilding or not.
At the end of the day, if they don’t answer this issue about their direction and intent as an organization, it doesn’t matter who gets brought in as the head coach. There will still be problems.
Follow Kristian Dyer of ‘MLS Multiplex‘ on Twitter @KristianRDyer