Last night’s game was atrocious. TFC looked worse than usual. I don’t recall seeing them string together more than two passes at any point in the game. Everyone was ineffective.
Obviously big changes need to be made before next season. TFC needs a strong central defender. They need at least one midfield winger. They need one striker with proven finishing. These three players must all be strong/elite by MLS standards and of good character. To get this, a price will have to be paid and some of the current roster will have to be sacrificed.
The only players I think certainly should come back are the following:
1) Stefan Frei and Brian Edwards, 2) Nana Attakora, 3) Sam Cronin, 4) Julian de Guzman, 5) Dwayne De Rosario and 6) O’Brien White.
The players that TFC probably should keep are the following: 1) Marvell Wynne, 2) Adrian Serioux, 3) Sanyang, 4) Emmanuel Gomez and 5) Ali Gerba (he needs to lose 10-20lbs in the off-season though). They each have their flaws but they also each have upside.
To get the players TFC needs there is a need for cap space. Two players who have to go due to their poor production/performance and high salaries are 1) Barrett and 2) Vitti. Barrett has the hustle and seems to care about the team and want to be on the team. He’s no where near worth the $202,500.00 he’s being paid however. He’d be worth $80,000.00, max. Vitti, at $300,000.00 is a waste of cap space. He never reached his potential and looks like he’ll never be a producer. He has to go. There’s $500,000.00 with these two.
To free up more cap space, two of the following four players should not return: Carl Robinson ($315,000), Amado Guevara ($300,000), Jim Brennan ($190,000) and Nick Garcia ($190,000). With Cronin and De Guzman, there really isn’t a need for Robinson, at his price. Guevara has such great skills, but they only really come to play for TFC 2-3 times a year. Brennan is the original face of the team and the captain, but on the pitch he doesn’t seem to contribute much. Garcia doesn’t seem to have the pace and skills needed for his price. I’d drop Garcia and Guevara at least, though dropping Guevara is a bit of a tough call; if TFC is strong anywhere to begin with, it’s in central mid.
Dropping Garcia, Guevara, Barrett and Vitti frees up $1,000,000.00 in cap space. This is enough to bring in some good skill and balance to the team.
The final piece of the puzzle is to bring in a very competent and proven head coach. With these five moves TFC, on grass, would be a strong team next season; and a playoff team.
