Toronto FC Discussion Thread

[Kaizen]

Our under 20 team did not qualify for the World Cup. Lost 3-0 to Mexico. Only good news is the US and Honduras did not qualify either.

[Kaizen]

Bechkam will finally play TFC in Toronto tonight.

[LittleOzzy]

TFC Agree To Terms With Joao Plata

Toronto FC announced Wednesday that the club has agreed to terms on a multi-year deal with forward Joao Plata, keeping the Ecuadorian international at Toronto FC. As per team and league policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“We are very happy to get this deal completed and keep Plata at our club,” said Toronto FC Head Coach & Technical Director, Aron Winter. “Plata had a great year with us in 2011. He made a strong contribution on the pitch.

“Re-signing Plata was a high priority for our club during the offseason. I have to compliment everyone involved for making this a reality. Plata wanted to remain in Toronto and we wanted to keep him. We know our fans will be happy with this announcement.”

Plata, 19, completed his first season in Major League Soccer (MLS) and Toronto FC after being selected 49th overall in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft. The Ecuadorian finished the regular season with 26 appearances adding three goals and five assists. He was also the recipient of MLS Player of the Week for Week 8 when he scored his first goal in league play and set-up the eventual winner in a 2-1 victory over the Houston Dynamo at BMO Field.

In the Nutrilite Canadian Championship, Plata made his first ever start for Toronto FC, contributing two assists in a 3-0 victory over FC Edmonton. Plata made four appearances during the tournament, scoring one goal and recording three assists during the national championship. He was named the George Cross Memorial Trophy winner, as the tournament’s MVP.

http://www.torontofc.ca/news/2012/01/tf ... joao-plata

[LittleOzzy]

TFC Gears Up For Media Day

Thursday's event will be broadcast live on TorontoFC.ca from 1 p.m. ET with a press conference.

http://www.torontofc.ca/news/2012/01/tf ... -media-day

[edfmx86]

I just saw Toronto FC's new supporters kit. I think its one of the best looking jerseys in the league! looks great.

[LittleOzzy]

2012 Toronto FC Preview: Is this finally the year?

After failing to make the MLS Cup Playoffs for the fifth consecutive season, Toronto FC salvaged some self-respect on Oct. 18 with a 3-0 victory over FC Dallas to reach the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League.

That performance justified a massive midseason overhaul as first-year coach Aron Winter found players who fit the 4-3-3 system he introduced. Most notably, Danny Koevermans and Torsten Frings signed as Designated Players at midseason and helped engineer improvement on the field, as did Ryan Johnson after arriving via trade.

Many of Toronto’s stuggles came on the defensive side of the ball, which wasn’t altogether surprising considering center backs Adrian Cann and Dicoy Williams both suffered season-ending injuries, creating a chasm in central defense.

The offseason signings of Miguel Aceval and Geovanny Caicedo and using a first-round SuperDraft pick on Aaron Maund addressed that need while Cann and Williams recover from their injuries, plus the club also signed Richard Eckersley and Joao Plata to permanent contracts after they had performed so well on loan deals.

And despite the rough start to Winter’s tenure in Ontario, much more is expected of this squad. The Reds entered the preseason with the core from the team that finished well last season, but it will still take quite an effort to finally reach the playoffs.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2 ... nally-year

[LittleOzzy]

Tonight's preseason game is available online at 6PM.

http://www.torontofc.ca/live

[Relentless88]

I'm actually pretty excited for this season. The team finished the season strong especially with the CL win against FC Dallas. Hopefully all that carries over to this season and they finally make the playoffs!

[carl_english]

rly excited for the team and what the new pick can do

[baulderdash77]

I finally got through the waiting list this year and have season ticket now. It should be exciting.

With the additions and actual team stability, this should be the first cup playoff season.

[ForeverTFC]

rly excited for the team and what the new pick can do

Not really sure who you are referring to (as we had many picks this year) but if we are talking Silva, buzz around the league is that he may be the best rookie of the year.

Here is hoping.

[Raptors Aiya]

Hey guys, last week I caught a video on either Yahoo! sports' Ball Don't Lie or Dirty Tackle blogs that talks about why Soccer has been so irrelevant in North America for so long.

In the video he breaks down that its because the announcers/commentators do a bad job of educating the fans watching on basic fundamentals because soccer doesnt have the luxury of going back to show replays during time outs. NFL, MLB, NHL all have the luxury of going back to replays to show "how it was done" and soccer's continuous clock just doesnt allow for that.

He used a backdoor cut play the Miami Heat used against Dallas to show that the commentators went back on replay and explained exactly how they pulled it off. Then switched to a Barcelona tic-tac-toe passing play that never gets the chance to be explained on Replay.

It was a very interesting video and i never go to finish it.

Has anyone else seen this "Phantom" video? I've been searching up and down youtube and Yahpp! sports' blogs to no avail.

If it helps, the Yahoo! article also states that the guy in the video has a Degree in Marketing.

[jerrod]

i saw it too, i thought on kckrs.com but i just looked and couldn't find it.

[LittleOzzy]

Winter: Reds Well Prepared

“Green.”

That was the word Toronto FC coach Aron Winter used to describe the pitch at the Rogers Centre.

You may have heard the Reds play the LA Galaxy Wednesday at 8 pm in the CONCACAF Champions League quarter-final. The rematch in the two-game series is set for a week later in California.

While the playing surface has been burnished to accommodate soccer, the coy Winter wouldn’t be drawn into a conversation on the esthetics of the game.

For that matter, he couldn’t be counted on to say very much at all. With Julian de Guzman suspended, rookie midfielder Luis Silva, a standout at spring camp, figures to see some playing time. Winter declined to speculate and the world, or at least the 45,000 who will fill Rogers Centre and the hundreds of thousands watching live will have to wait to find out.

Winter did promise one thing. After an encouraging camp, the Reds will be well prepared.

“Everybody was speaking, writing and talking about this game months ago,” Winter said. “Finally the moment is almost here. We have to be ready. We are ready.”

The Champions League encounters set the stage for the club’s MLS opener, March 17 in Seattle. That makes for an interesting few weeks, especially when you consider the Galaxy feature Landon Donovan, one-time TFC player Edson

Buddle, Robbie Keane and, oh yes, David Beckham. There is no shortage of star power but TFC has been nicely remade by Winter in just over a year. With Torsten Frings and Danny Koevermans, the club is far from punchless.

The star, Wednesday night, will be the people in the seats. The game is a sellout. “We’re making history,” said defender Ashtone Morgan, a Toronto native. “I want to be part of that.”

http://www.torontofc.ca/news/2012/03/wi ... l-prepared

Just two days away!

[Maillard965]

SPAM

[LittleOzzy]

To celebrate the biggest game in TFC history the team took a very special picture.

Everyone should check it out. It's a 360 HD pic from the game last night.

http://gigapixelfancam.com/fancams/socc ... /20120307/

[Relentless88]

http://www.tsn.ca/soccer/mls/story/?id=389874

Toronto FC and defender Geovanny Caicedo have parted ways.

Toronto terminated Caicedo's contract Friday by what the team said in a statement was mutual consent.

"We are certainly disappointed with this outcome," said Toronto head coach Aron Winter. "During the pre-season Geovanny expressed difficulty adjusting to the style of Major League Soccer. This reason combined with being away from his family, we were willing to accept the contract termination.

[DatHomieYouHaTe]

When are tickets available for the next champions league game?

[ForeverTFC]

When are tickets available for the next champions league game?

You'll see them released in the next week. SSH will get first dibs on the seats though, and for the game at the dome, we snapped up over 20K in the pre sale. We'll see if they keep some open to the public or set a limit on how many SSH can buy.

I will let you guys know once the emails from the club come in.

[LittleOzzy]

For the match on the 28th.

As per TFC

1) Match will be at BMO
2) Tickets go on sale on the 22nd