When Toronto FC open their MLS season Saturday in Vancouver, General Manager Kevin Payne will finally have some results from which to base his rebuild.
In just three months on the job Payne acquired striker Robert Earnshaw, traded Designated Player Eric Hassli, moved the first pick in the MLS SuperDraft, selected Canadian Kyle Bekker third overall, replaced manager Paul Mariner with Ryan Nelsen and negotiated the retirement of veteran DP Torsten Frings.
Senior writer Mike Ulmer asked Payne about future players, the direction of the club and who will provide leadership now that Frings is gone.
Mike Ulmer: It’s clear TFC will struggle to score.
Kevin Payne: We are in the process of signing a player (Earnshaw) we hope will be available on Saturday who is a very accomplished EPL and Champions League goalscorer. He will help us.
MU: What about players already on the roster?
KP: Justin Braun is probably not available for this game. We drafted Taylor Morgan in the supplemental draft. His value will be as a late game super-sub. He’s a big, explosive kid with a great nose for the goal. There’s another player named Ashton Bennett who we signed and who has great natural talents around the goal and who is fast and quick. He’s going to create issues for people when he gets on the pitch. We hope Hogan Ephraim and Kyle Bekker will help.
MU: How will you shore up the team’s ability to defend?
KP: That’s where how most of the work has been done up to this point. I have a theory you have to earn the right to play good soccer. Defending is a mentality. It’s mostly about discipline and courage and mentality. That’s what we need to instill first.
MU: Is Ryan Nelsen’s background as a defender central to that?
KP: Nellie is not necessarily obsessed with a system but he is very devoted to several principles. A key one is having our players understand how they can be in control of a situation even though the situation may not be to our advantage.
MU: Explain that.
KP: He’s trying to get our players to understand how to support one another, how to delay plays. He’s trying to control what’s happening on the field even though we don’t have the ball. That was something Ryan was very good at as a defender.
MU: What are your expectations?
KP: My expectations are we will be a far more competitive team, individually and collectively. We will be far more disciplined, individually and collectively. I think we’ll l be a harder team to play, that we will give up far fewer goals and we will become a team that’s particularly hard to play against at BMO Field.
MU: Are you confident of adding more firepower as the season progresses?
KP: We will add more talent. There are a couple of players we are looking at for the summer. They are very important players on their teams so we can’t get them until then. We’re willing to wait. There are some advantages to that since they will come at a lower cap rate.
MU: Will these players be big names?
KP: One player in particular is a player we want to build around for three or four years. We’re going to spend a lot of time on due diligence over the next couple of months.
MU: How do you replace the experience provided by Torsten Frings?
KP: You can’t really replace a guy like Torsten who played in two World Cups and countless professional games in Europe. I’m looking for Stefan Frei, who has always been a leader on this team, and Darren O’Dea to step forward. Darren has the personal qualities to be a good leader. He’s a good player, he’s played at a high level and he’s very well-liked. I’m looking for a lot from Darren.