Doneil Henry is the weak link.
This is what we've been told from the beginning. The Brampton-native was too raw, too Young, too Canadian to possibly be up to snuff. And, that was what Canadians were saying. American observers were even more dismissive, if they even remembered him at all.
Ignored were the voices that suggested that Henry was an intriguing talent that seemed ready to break out. Those voices are still being mostly ignored as commentators on both sides of the border continue to suggest that TFC's back-line, and Henry in particular, are an issue.
But, has he been? Let's look at the raw performance data of the first three weeks.
Limiting output look at players that have regularly played at centre-half we looked at the too ten performers in four key defensive areas -- tackles, clearances, interceptions and aerial wins. Here's what we found.
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Tackles
1. Dylan Remick (Seattle) 4 (per 90 min)
2. Aurelian Collin (SKC) 3.7
3. Matt Besle (SKC) 3
4. Shaun Francis (SJ) 3
5. Victor Bernardez (SJ) 3
6. Tony Lochhead (Chivas) 2.7
7. Bobby Burling (Chivas) 2.5
7. Doneil Henry (TFC) 2.5
7. Ibrahim Sekagya (NYRB) 2.5
7. Waylon Francis (CBS) 2.5
So far so good for the Henry backers. However, Henry has always been known for his tackling. Let's look at the rest of his game.
Interceptions
1. Norberto Paparatto (PDX) 8.5
2. Johnny Leveron (Van) 6
3. Bakary Soumare (Chi) 5.7
4. Chris Schuler (RSL) 5
4. Doneil Henry (TFC) 5
6. Bobby Boswell (Chivas) 4.5
7. Chad Marshall (Sea) 4
7. Eric Miller (Mtr) 4
9. Matteo Ferrari (Mtr) 3.7
10. Ibrahim Sekagya (NYRB) 3.5
So, Henry is once again in the top 10, this time in the more technical category of interceptions.
Clearances
1. Chris Schuler (RSL) 17
2. Jose Goncalves (NER) 14.5
3. Doneil Henry (TFC) 12
4. Jermaine Taylor (Hou) 11.5
5. Giancarlo Gonzalez (CBS) 10.5
6. Matt Hedges (Dal) 10.3
6. Nat Borchers (RSL) 10.3
8. Aaron Maund (RSL) 10
8. Austin Berry (Phi) 10
10. Victor Bernardez (SJ) 9.5
Ok, so top 10 again. Are we seeing a trend?
Aerial wins
1. Ibrahim Sekagya (NYRB) 7
2. Bobby Burling (Chivas) 6.5
3. Chris Schuler (RSL) 6
4. Chad Marshall (Sea) 5.3
5. Matteo Ferrari (Mtr) 4.7
6. Doneil Henry (TFC) 4.5
7. Aaron Maund (RSL) 4
8. David Horst (Hou) 4
8. Ike Opara (SKC) 4
8. Jose Goncelves (NER) 4
8. Norberto Paparatto (PDX) 4
Ok, so Henry is the only defender in MLS Currently ranked in the top 10 in the four most important defensive categories.
Forget arguments about whether he's TFC's weak link. The argument is whether he's in the (albeit absurdly early) running for Defender of the Year!
If you look at the overall Whoscored.com game ranking, Henry actually comes out third overall.
1. Bernardez (8.39)
2. Paparatto (8.08)
3. Henry (8.00)
That's the highest number on TFC by the way.
Clearly, early days, but if Henry's the Reds weak link this team is better than people think...