Toronto FC Announce End Of Season Roster Moves
2023 was one of the most disappointing seasons in the history of Toronto FC. With the likes of Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi up top, key MLS veterans like Sean Johnson added, and Bob Bradley in charge… Toronto FC was primed to be contenders in every competition that they were playing in. Things did not go according to that plan… Internal strife began in the locker room, their star DPs did not perform, Bob Bradley was fired, front office changes occurred, and kids developed in their academy did not seem ready for the MLS level. There is a lot of detail in which people can dive into specific occurrences around this 2023 Toronto FC side, but in the end, it boils down to the point that it was a mess.
Heading into 2024, the refresh has already been put into place. In June Jason Hernandez was hired as the club’s next General Manager, they hired former Canadian Women and Men’s National Team coach John Herdman as their next manager, and the club seems to be moving back towards a positive direction. With all these changes, the club announced their season ending roster moves for the 2023 season. The club exercised their contract options on midfielder Alonso Coello and goalkeeper Luka Gavran. These two are both academy products of Toronto FC and both got chances to impress at the first team level in 2023. In my eyes Coello was the more impressive of the two youngsters. The midfielder played up to the MLS level and had to fill multiple roles for Toronto in replacement for Michael Bradley, Brandon Servania, and others this past season. I see him being a very good depth piece for this midfield in 2024 if Toronto can build up this side. Luka Gavran was also a pleasant surprise for a side that had poor goalkeeping luck all around in 2023. With injuries to Sean Johnson, international duty for Tomas Romero, and a few others getting a chance… the 23 year old Gavran impressed enough to earn himself an opportunity within the Toronto FC organization in 2024.
Toronto FC decided not to pick up their contract options on; C.J. Sapong, Victor Vazquez, Themi Antonoglou, Tomas Romero, and Greg Ranjitsingh. In addition, left-back Cristian Gutierrez and Aime Mabika are out of contract (the club announced they are in discussions with bringing back Mabika for next season). Many of these names are not surprises on being let go for Toronto. Sapong and Vazquez are older bench options at this point in their careers. Both of their seasons combined for a little under 2,000 minutes played and 1 goal. The only two more surprising moves for me came in the form of Tomas Romero and Cristian Gutierrez. The 22 year old Romero is a fully capped El Salvador international and has impressed in spurts for club and country. He is someone who I’d feel confident to have as my backup keeper, but maybe the contract would be too expensive? For the 26 year old Gutierrez, I am personally a big fan of his game. I think when he is healthy he is arguably one of the better options for a league weak at the position overall. He has even been called into a Canadian Men’s National Team camp by John Herdman before after playing within the Vancouver Whitecaps organization for so long. He clearly is a player that Herdman valued enough to try and bring in as a dual national.
Former MLS-er Jason Hernandez has a lot to work on here with this roster heading into his first off-season as General Manager. I have faith in former players being able to see and make the right calls, but time will only tell as this Toronto roster and club needs A LOT of help right now.
