Torsten Frings is back home.
Toronto FC says that the former German international is home to deal with personal matters, but that hasn't stopped the rumour mill from buzzing that this is the end for Frings. He was already slow by the time hip surgery knocked him out of the back half of 2012. Now, fans and media are openly wondering if he's close to good enough to still compete in MLS.
Not technically. He's clearly the most intelligent player that has played for TFC. His vision and awareness are dramatically superior to almost every other player on the pitch when he plays.
Physically, it's a different conversation. He clearly conserves his energy for long stretches of the game. That can lead to him being a defensive liability at times. There is only so much that smarts can make up for. Sometimes a younger, faster player can burn a player – even one that has played in the World Cup for Germany.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Paul Mariner was widely criticized last season for daring to suggest that Frings was at fault for a goal – “I don't appreciate him diving in like that,” the embattled skipper said. Mariner was criticized for beer prices, bad weather and the election of Rob Ford too. That doesn't mean that he wasn't on point on that day.
There was and is a strong argument that can be made that Canadian plumber and all around try-er Terry Dunfield was and is as effective as Frings in the holding midfield position.
At times. And it's the “times” that make it hard to imagine the 2013 season without Frings. As stated, he has a quality that can't be measured. Although I'm a big proponent of advanced stats in soccer, and in pointing to empirical evidence to make an argument about a player's effectiveness, Frings does seem to tap into that undefined “intangible” characteristic that the more romantically inclined like to point to.
Frings has already said that 2013 will be his last year in the sport. He would like to go out strong with TFC. He legitimately seems motivated both from a personal level (if you were Frings would you want your last moments as a player to be associated with the ****show that was TFC in 2012?) and on a team level – he does seem to care about his teammates. So, hopefully this is just a personal matter and not a deflection while the team works out the buy-out.
Yes, the DP slot and near $400,000 cap space he would free up could be useful, but, bluntly, the club already has lots of cap space, allocation and a DP slot to work with. It seems unlikely GM Kevin Payne will have spent all the money by March 2 so there is no rush to rid the team of Frings.
He probably needs to be managed in 2013. However, half a season of a fresh Frings – along with a veteran day-to-day presence in training and in the room – could help a great deal. That's especially the case with inexperienced head coach in Ryan Nelsen taking over. Many people seem to be in a rush to throw everyone associated with TFC 2012 overboard, but the simple truth is someone has to fill out the roster and it does no one any good to actually be worse in 2013.
Unless Frings is completely fried physically he will be far more useful to TFC on the pitch than the cap relief he represents to the club would be.