Archive | Toronto FC RSS feed for this section

Sporting KC Trades Bobby Convey To Toronto FC

By on May 16, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |

Sporting Kansas City traded forward Bobby Convey to Toronto FC on Thursdayin exchange for Toronto FC’s natural third round pick in next year’s MLS SuperDraft (in other words the first pick from Toronto in the Supplemental Draft).

Yep. Convey re-joins Kevin Payne and former teammate (now head coach) Ryan Nelsen. Yeah.

Convey never did that great in his short stay with Sporting KC. He appeared in 20 MLS matches (including playoffs) with Sporting Kansas City, recording one goal and two assists since being acquired from the San Jose Earthquakes in December 2011.

Certainly an interesting trade for both clubs. He can help Toronto if he plays up to his ability that we’ve seen from time to time. On the Sporting KC side of things, he was an easy player to unload even with the high salary now that Kei Kamara is back. The big question for SKC is whether or not they are still picking up some or all of the tab in terms of his salary. Even if they unloaded a third of his contract that would be a good deal for them.

Continue Reading · Comments { 0 } · in MLS, Sporting KC, Toronto FC

Toronto Adds Matias Laba As A Young DP

By on April 26, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |
Can Laba help ignite the Toronto attack? (Getty Images)

Can Laba help ignite the Toronto attack? (Getty Images)

The rumors can finally be put to rest in Toronto, the Reds may have their man. The club announced Friday that they have signed Argentine midfielder Matias Laba to a Young Designated Player contract.

Laba is the league’s third Young DP, following the footsteps of other South American youngsters in FC Dallas’ Fabian Castillo and D.C. United’s Rafeal.

“We are really excited to have Matias join us. He is an exciting and energetic young player that’s captained his side and shown real leadership qualities,” said Toronto FC Head Coach Ryan Nelsen. “He has a great intensity to his play that is infectious to watch and will be a great addition to the club.”

The 21-year old joins Toronto FC after spending the past three seasons with Argentinos Juniors of the Argentine Primera División. He made 72 appearances in all competitions for the club.

Laba was selected for Argentina’s U-20 National team and represented his country at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia. He appeared in all five of Argentina’s matches during the tournament.

As a Young DP, Laba will cost Toronto $200k towards their salary cap on the season. No word yet if that number will be lower as some could argue that this is a midseason signing. That would only save Toronto $50k if that were the case.

Continue Reading · · in MLS, Toronto FC

Giving Grades: How First and Second Year MLS Bosses Stack Up

By on April 17, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |
Porterball is starting to show its way in MLS. (Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports)

Porterball is starting to show its way in MLS. (Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports)

It seems as though with each passing season in Major League Soccer we get a new crop of coaches in the league. Last year we got a couple new coaches and this season was no different with five new managers roaming the sidelines.

After seven weeks I feel as though we know a greater deal about each coach. Some are doing very well while others are still navigating the tricky and difficult MLS waters.

Typically at this time of the year we can begin to see a coaching hot seat forming and while I may get to that soon, I felt it was better to take a step back and see how the newcomers were fairing. Here is how I see them all doing so far this season with the sophomore coaches included as well.

Continue Reading →

Continue Reading · · in Chivas USA, Colorado Rapids, MLS, Montreal Impact, New England Revolution, New York Red Bulls, Philadelphia Union, Portland Timbers, Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps

2013 MLS Season Preview: Eastern Conference

By on February 28, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |
Sporting KC hopes to keep their hold on the Eastern Conference in 2013.

Sporting KC hopes to keep their hold on the Eastern Conference in 2013.

It is time to get down to it. I’ve already gone through each MLS side, along with several other previews. But now it is time to get down to where I think things will shake out once the dust settles later this year.

Yes, I am talking predictions folks.

First up is the Eastern Conference.

Right now I see the Eastern Conference as a pretty deep group of clubs. I feel confident that it could end up being a eight team race for the long haul of the season. Yes, eight teams folks. I think the top part of the conference is pretty well stacked but the middle group from about 3-8 is closer than some might think.  Continue Reading →

Continue Reading · · in Chicago Fire, Columbus Crew, DC United, Houston Dynamo, MLS, Montreal Impact, New England Revolution, New York Red Bulls, Philadelphia Union, Sporting KC, Toronto FC

2013 MLS Season Preview: Rookie Watch

By on February 27, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |
Just how good will Andrew Ferrell be for the Revs? (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)

Just how good will Andrew Ferrell be for the Revs? (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)

The new MLS season is right around the corner. Just like with every year, there are a fresh crop of rookies that hope to make their impact on the new year. Like most years it make take a little while for some rookies to break into their lineups while others may get their shot earlier in the year.

While some are predicting their Rookie of the Year winners already, I’ll save mine for later this week. Until then, I wanted to point out a few rookies that I think will have a big impact on this season.

Andrew Ferrell (New England) – The first overall pick should always have a big impact on his first year. We saw some out of last year’s number one Andrew Wenger in Montreal but I see Ferrell having a bigger impact in his rookie year than Wenger did. Ferrell will be tasked with helping repair a pretty broken defense in New England. The talent has been there with guys like AJ Soares and Kevin Alston being big parts in the defense in recent years but it always seemed as though they were missing an element. I believe Ferrell is that missing element or link that the Revs have been needing in their defense.  Continue Reading →

Continue Reading · · in LA Galaxy, MLS, New England Revolution, Rookie Watch, Sporting KC, Toronto FC

2013 MLS Season Preview: Offseason Winners and Losers

By on February 27, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |
Sporting improved this offseason. (Rob Foldy-USA TODAY Sports)

Sporting improved this offseason. (Rob Foldy-USA TODAY Sports)

Each year I’ve tried to come up with some new way to preview the new season. The last couple of years it was doing positional rankings. While those were a comment goldmine for the most part, they took forever to write up. I didn’t have the luxury of that kind of time this preseason to do that. So, some shorter kinds of preview posts have been coming out.

View all 2013 season preview material here.

So far we’ve looked at homegrown players, newcomers and each MLS squad. Today I wanted to take a quick look at three clubs that I believe knocked it out of the part this offseason in preparation for the new year. On the flip side of that I will also look at four that struggled to really improve in the offseason.

Narrowing the two lists down to just four wasn’t easy. For the top groups it mainly came down to the little additions that I like more than the big ones. Items not actually seen in a transaction listing. On the other hand, the teams that I wasn’t thrilled about going into the offseason came down to moves that just made me scratch my head a bit or the lack of moves.  Continue Reading →

Continue Reading · · in Chivas USA, Colorado Rapids, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, MLS, Sporting KC, Toronto FC

2013 MLS Season Preview: Toronto FC

By on February 25, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |
Toronto hopes to improve in 2013. (Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

Toronto hopes to improve in 2013. (Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

We’re nearly done in our team-by-team previews here. The final week of the preseason is here and we’ll go up to Canada for the final two previews today. First up is Toronto FC.

What can be said about the Reds going into the 2013 season? First of all, its is a whole new group leading this team. Kevin Payne has stepped away from D.C. United to take over Toronto. Ryan Nelsen has hung up his boots with Queens Park Rangers to become the next coach for Toronto. Lots of player trades as well have gone one this winter but the team also drafted a couple Canadians too.

Where is this club going? Well, we know they can’t be much worse than last year’s bunch so onward and upward I suppose.

Continue Reading →

Continue Reading · · in MLS, Toronto FC

Eric Hassli Sent To FC Dallas

By on February 4, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |
Eric Hassli could be going to Dallas ver soon . (Getty Images)

Eric Hassli could be going to Dallas ver soon . (Getty Images)

I’ve sat on this story all weekend, I blame the SuperBowl for that.

Late Friday afternoon FC Dallas tweeted out that they were interested in trading for forward and Designated Player Eric Hassli from Toronto FC. Yeah, the club actually tweeted out that they were in talks with another club about a specific player. You don’t see this out of Dallas that much, so it was a bit of a shock.

Today the two clubs made it official with Toronto landing a conditional second round draft pick in 2014.

So needless to say that on Saturday after the scrimmage with the University of Memphis me and other reporters in town were curious about this move. And as you would have it FC Dallas manager Schellas Hyndman was quick to give his two cents on the deal. Continue Reading →

Continue Reading · · in FC Dallas, MLS, Toronto FC

What’s Lacking: Sporting KC and Toronto Preseason Look

By on January 23, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |
Sporting KC and Toronto still have a couple holes to fill. (Getty Images)

Sporting KC and Toronto still have a couple holes to fill. (Getty Images)

 

The last of the Eastern Conference teams in my preseason look at what is still lacking as teams begin their preseason camps.

Later today I’ll begin the Western Conference clubs as I try to push this series out by the end of the week.

So far I’ve done the following clubs: the Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew, D.C. United and the Houston Dynamo, the Montreal Impact and the New England Revolution and the New York Red Bulls and the Philadelphia Union.

Sporting KC

- Defensive midfield. They got Mikey Lopez in the SuperDraft and eventually I think he’ll be a Roger Espinoza replacement in the midfield. But losing Espinoza and Julio Cesar this offseason left a void in the midfield. They did get Benny Failhaber and Pablo Nagamura seems like a decent candidate but will that be enough? I still think they are a tad thin in this department going into the preseason and it could be a problem. Their defense relied on a tough defensive midfielder in front of them last year.

- Flank play. Peter Vermes doesn’t run a typical 4-4-2 set up, or even a typical 4-3-3 set up that relies on midfielders running the wings. He uses more forward-type players on the outside which is nice and all but I do think they are a little low on bodies that can run the wings. Teams that stretch them out have success, like Houston.

Toronto FC

- Forward thinking. Sure they have two DPs in Eric Hassli and Danny Koevermans that are forwards but do either of them want to be there this season? We know Hassli wants out and who knows how long Koevermans will take to get back to his old self. That leads doesn’t leave a ton outside of guys like Justin Braun to fill the void. Toronto has to figure out what they are doing with their two forward DPs and fast.

- Creative playmaker. One thing that has always and I mean always lacked up in Toronto is a guy in the midfield that can pull the strings. Sure they had Dwayne De Rosario for a short spell but that wasn’t enough given how he didn’t have the staff around him to do that number 10 sort of thing.

- Outside help. Defensively the Reds improved in the middle but the outside backs and even wingers in general are still lacking a bit. They are either too young in this area or just not good enough. You want to find a way to beat Toronto right now, spread them out and spray balls into the box, it will break them down quick.

Continue Reading · · in MLS, Sporting KC, Toronto FC

New England Snags Top Pick

By on January 16, 2013 | Follow @WVHooligan |

Trades are coming in left and right and this one is a biggie.

The New England Revolution has acquired the number one overall pick in tomorrow’s 2013 MLS SuperDraft following a trade with Toronto FC, which held the top spot. The Revs sent the fourth overall selection and allocation money to Toronto in exchange for the top pick in tomorrow’s draft.

The pick will allow the Revs to make the very first selection in the 2013 SuperDraft, marking the team’s highest-ever draft pick in the 18-year history of the event. The team’s previous high pick – No. 2 in 2002 – was used to take the club’s all-time leading scorer, Taylor Twellman.

Continue Reading · · in MLS, New England Revolution, SuperDraft, Toronto FC