If it was easy to fix TFC someone would have by now. No one – not Paul Mariner, not Aron Winter, not Mo Johnston, not MLSE, not even M£$€ -- associated with TFC has ever wanted to lose.
Losing is miserable, soul sucking, expensive and dangerous to employment prospects. Winning is in everyone’s best interest.
So, let’s start with a basic understanding – there is no nefarious power at work within the front office of TFC with a goal of alienating fans and perpetuating a losing tradition.
Beyond that there is no single individual that is 100 per cent to blame for the mess this club has become. Sure, an argument can be made that some individuals have demonstrated incompetence in their position, and that incompetence has created the issues, but it’s not as simple as saying if you get rid of X or hire Y that all will be better.
As we argued in part three of the season review, the issue with TFC is systemic. Solving it will take an organizational-wide re-think. It’s understandable if you believe that isn’t possible. For the sake of this article, we’re going to assume it is. If you care about the club, you should hope that it is.
The other assumption we are making in this article is that there will be no major changes in the leadership structure of TFC this off-season. It’s fine to argue that Toronto should hire a president with past MLS success to oversee the operation (CSN has made that very argument), but there is no indication that will happen.
It is almost certain that if TFC is to turn things around in 2013 that Mariner and Earl Cochrane will be behind it. It’s understood that very few people believe that to be possible, so repeating that position again below this article isn’t necessary. We get it. Many people associated with CSN agree with that position. And my position of the issue isn’t nearly as black and white as many make it out to be. However, it’s intellectually pointless to debate what needs to be done in 2013 while ignoring a basic reality.
No one is getting fired.
With that in mind, we conclude our 2012 season review with part five: What now?
Below the jump, five things TFC needs to do in 2013 to revitalize the club.
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1) - Get a plan and stick with it
When Toronto hired Winter they talked a great deal about the need to establish a vision for the club. They wanted to have the Reds playing the same system from the youngest academy ages through to the senior team.
It was a lovely thought. It still is. Despite unsubstantiated claims to the contrary, TFC is maintaining that vision at the youth levels.
It isn’t at the senior level. There, the tactics and formation were simplified after Winter was fired, much to the lament of many fans. However, it was always too ambitious to try and force the possession-based vision Winter had onto a senior roster that wasn’t able to execute his vision. Getting to the point where TFC is a seamless, cradle-to-grave football club is going to take decades.
In the meantime, TFC needs to make sure it remains competitive in MLS, while establishing the academy. That will involve tactical flexibility, always with an eye to evolving the game to something that more closely resembles the academy vision.
However, there is another plan that needs to be followed. It’s a plan that has been articulated, but dismissed by many fans as being Front Office spin.
Both Mariner and Cochrane have talked about the need to build a club around a young core. To that end, Toronto was the youngest club in MLS in 2012 by mean. It showed in their record (tellingly, the next two youngest teams were Philadelphia and Portland, both of which finished near the bottom of the table as well).
TFC fans should hope that the young core vision talked about isn’t spin. The worst thing this team can do is to make widespread changes again. That’s exactly what they’ve done every year before this. Why would it suddenly work now?
Obviously a player should not be kept around simply because he is young. That’s silly. Equally silly is assuming that a 22-year-old will always play at the same level as he did in 2012, and throwing him to the side based on that assumption. Some players that fans are low on right now need to be given more time.
What players?
The following 25 and younger players should absolutely be back: Richard Eckersley, Ashtone Morgan, Luis Silva, Darren O'Dea and Doneil Henry. He’s 26, but add Stefan Frei to the list of the young core.
Those players should be untouchable. You have to believe in them and give them more time together to develop a familiarity and confidence in each other.
Reggie Lambe, Logan Emory, Jeremy Hall, Aaron Maund and, if he’s willing to come back on a minimum salary, Eric Avila should be given another year to develop. Yes, many of those players were weak at times in 2012, but they are still very young players by MLS standards. At the very least, it’s worth seeing if they can bring something to camp.
If Toronto is to breakthrough in 2013 they will need a couple players to step up their game and surprise. They can’t surprise if they are cut.
2) - Stay healthy/get healthy
Ignoring the role injuries played in 2012 is disingenuous. It’s also dishonest to ignore the possibility that the club wasn’t at least party responsible.
TFC needs to evaluate its fitness staff and training methods. It needs to make sure that it is doing all that it can to keep its players healthy – especially the veteran core of Torsten Frings, Danny Koevermans and Terry Dunfield. If TFC is to once again have a large amount of young players, it will need some veteran leadership on the pitch to stabilize things and help them get through the inevitable low points.
That can’t happen if they are in the press box injured.
3) – Make full use of the resources available.
This is common sense, but TFC absolutely needs to find two starters from the first SuperDraft pick and the first selection in the allocation order.
They also have first go at the re-entry draft. Some teams, notably DC United, have done very well with that draft over its first two years. It might be time for Toronto to take a chance there, especially since they need established MLS players to support the young core.
Ryan Johnson and Milos Kocic are two players that might bring some value back in trade. Toronto cannot afford to let any more players walk without a return. If it’s determined that a regular from 2012 isn’t going to be back, then the Reds need to find an asset for him.
Lastly, Toronto needs to be much, much better with its discovery signings. They likely have the worst record in the league in that regard.
4) - This is Our House Again
There was a time when TFC had a home advantage. It doesn’t anymore. In many ways, BMO is becoming a hostile place for TFC to play now.
Obviously, the best way to win back the fans is to win. However, it goes beyond that. Winning the goodwill of the fans back is going to take a sustained effort by everyone at the club.
Rolling ticket prices back was a good start. More is needed.
Concessions should be lowered. Incentives should be there to get people back into the stadium. Profits in 2013 need to be sacrificed with a longer goal in mind.
2013 is a loss leader.
Most importantly, the club needs to be cognizant of never taking the fans for granted again. The anger we see right now might have been blunted had we not gone through the ticket pricing fiasco of 2010.
Here’s an idea: If TFC does somehow make the playoffs, price the tickets at a breakeven point as one more thanks for our patience.
5) - Don’t make arbitrary goals
This might be the most important one of all. We cannot afford to be drawn into arbitrary goal making. Would scraping into the playoffs (like, say, our Canadian cousins on the west coast) to bunker and hope against a much better team really be cause for celebration? If it represented legitimate growth and featured a young group of players still developing, sure it would.
If it featured a bunch of past-their-prime players brought in to save face in the market it most certainly would not.
If Toronto remained one of the younger teams in the league, but were competitive all year before just falling short of the playoffs would that be a failure? Not if the core remains in place and there is legitimate hope for the future.
That, most of all, is what’s missing right now – hope.
Bringing that back has to be TFC’s No 1 goal in 2013.