Five years ago when I first came up with the format for the TFC season review the idea was that it would subtly change each year depending on how things went. Although always five parts, the first three would be tweaked ever so slightly.
Part 1: What went right?
Part 2: What went wrong?
Part 3: What went really wrong?
Part 4: Player report card
Part 5: Where do we go from here?
In seasons where things didn't end well the format would be as above. During good years we'd start with what went wrong before talking about what went right and what went really right.
So, what's gone really, really wrong?
The fact that we've never had to adjust the the format. There's still two parts wrong.
With that...
What went right?
It's always hard to talk about good things at the end of a TFC season. It's especially hard when it's the eight straight year that you're grasping at straws looking for the silver lining. It leads you to writing cliches instead of depth, actually!
However, it is important to realize that there are some positives. The instinct to blow everything up again is strong, but the cold, logical truth is that would be possibly the most damaging thing they could do. Cathartic for two minutes, sure, but ultimately it accomplishes nothing.
The front office talks a lot about the importance of building around a solid core of players. Many will sniff at that because they either don't believe TFC has a core, or don't believe the current front office is capable of building the right core. That's fine. You're entitled to believe that and you may be right. However, for the purpose of this conversation -- at this time of the conversation -- we're going to ignore those questions and instead focus on whether or not TFC is actually trying to do what it says in this regard.
The reason that's important is, on a theoretical level, they're dead right. We've been screaming it from this space since 2008 and it's hardly a complicated concept. It is a concept that TFC has ignored in the past, however.
TFC made a big splash by adding stars this year. Stars aren't what people mean by a core. Stars are what you add to a core to put you over the top. However, they also added a couple pieces to what truly does constitute a core.
Guys like Joe Bendik, Marc Bloom, Justin Morrow, Jonathan Osorio and Collen Warner are MLS average guys. Guys that fill out every single roster in the league. And guys that TFC has, in the past, thrown away for next to nothing in an effort to chase sexier things.
TFC is the equivalent of the 40 year old dude that dumps his wife because a pretty 22 year old touched his arm at Starbucks. Based on the way the club operated in regards to non-star players over the past year there is evidence their wandering eye is no longer.
Are those guys exciting? Will they be superstars? Well, probably not. Osorio and Morrow will probably be moderately above replacement level, the rest probably at it. However, as long as the club doesn't tread water by dumping these type of guys once again they can get down to the business of building upon that core.
One way they can do that is through the draft and academy. On the academy side we've seen success with Jordan Hamilton proving his pro potential first at Wilmington and later in Portugal. He's likely a year away yet, but there is real potential there.
Closer to home the TFC senior academy won the Ontario League1 championship with an undefeated season. On its own that doesn't mean anything, but it does suggest they might be doing something right.
When it comes to the draft they did a lot right. Despite drafting at a spot where not much should have been expected, TFC managed to select a player in Nick Hagglund that actually had the most appearances of anyone drafted in the 2014 draft.
That's the potatoes of TFC's draft. The gravy was Daniel Lovitz. Simply put, the second round of the draft is next to useless. The median appearances of players drafted last year in the second round is actually zero (ave is 3.3). Lovitz had 17 appearances.
Lovitz was a useful player that added creativity and width off the bench. Hagglund looks like a guy that's going to be a replacement level MLS defender for the next 5-6 years. That's a home run in the context of a MLS draft in 2014. It's a grand slam home run from the 11th pick.
When you factor in that the draft was very much Tim Bezbatchenko's baby this past year -- Ryan Nelsen basically parachuted in at the combine after most of the work was done -- you have to have some hope that something useful can come out of Toronto's selections in next year's draft where they have four first round selections, including three in the first 11 picks.
Lastly, for those that like to keep things simple, the Reds did literally improve. They were 12 points better in 2014 and had their best season, points wise, in history. It wasn't enough and it cost a lot to get there, but it's a bit disingenuous to completely ignore.