Goal Number 2: Keep The Players Healthy
As someone from Toronto who has never really had an injury playing sports, I can confirm that there isn’t something in the water here that is causing all of the injuries in training at TFC. This has been a theme with the club since Greg Vanney was with the club and something that I also said needs to be addressed in the 2019 offseason.
Given when that article was written and what subsequently happened afterwards… I’ll give them a pass on not going all-in on addressing the injuries. It is a worrying trend, however, and is something that has to be addressed. All three of TFC’s DPs missed multiple games due to injuries, not to mention a number of other key players missing time this season.
If TFC wants to get back into contention, the frequent injuries need to stop. You can’t compete in MLS when your three DPs only spend a handful of minutes on the field together due to injuries. If Bob Bradley and Bill Manning really want to take a step forward next year, that needs to be a primary area of concern and seriously addressed.
Goal Number 3: Fix The Roster
Again, so far nothing I’ve said has been too shocking. It’s very clear that the roster currently doesn’t work, which means some serious questions need to be asked by the front office of the current talent on this roster. If that means that a DP, or two, or maybe even three depending on the offers you get, need to be moved out, so be it, but there are definite changes that need to be made.
This likely begins by deciding who you want to keep at the club. I wrote four articles walking through what my roster decisions would be that has already been released. So, if you’d like to check out my decisions on the goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders, and attackers, click the links and let me know what you’d change.
In terms of the notable players, I’d imagine they want to keep list would include Chris Mavinga, Richie Laryea (as long as he doesn’t secure a move to Europe), Jonathon Osorio (same situation as Laryea), Mark Delgado, Auro Jr., Jacob Shaffelburg after his great season, Ifunanyachi Achara, the other young guns like Jakheele Marshall-Rutty, and Ralph Priso, and, finally, Michael Bradley.
Now, you likely noticed I omitted three notable players. Those three being all of Toronto’s designated players, and there’s a reason for that. This season was disastrous for each and every one of them. Alejandro Pozuelo suffered a couple of injuries that resulted in him only being able to play 1347 MLS minutes this season. Add on the fact that he’s in a contract year, is 30 years old, and simply didn’t produce even when he was on the pitch, and it might be time for Toronto FC to cut bait with the former MLS MVP.
Yeferson Soteldo, while being able to play and scoring at a reasonable rate, has not been what fans were hoping for. He’s clearly struggled in Toronto and, if rumours are to be believed, the club is looking to move him, likely to a club in Brazil. So TFC may are likely looking to cut bait, which wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world given his time with the team and the fact that it would open up a DP slot. Finally, Jozy Altidore. We won’t dive into his situation just yet, but later in the story, I’ll dive into what I think TFC should do with him.