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Every team needs a number 10.
He’s the player whom every play flows through. He has the technique and skill required to turn a game on its head, to find a killer through pass and expose defenders, to score from seemingly out of nowhere and to stand as an iconic figurehead of the team whose crest he wears on his shirt.
A number 10 is, in football, the quintessential superhero.
The modern game has some massive number 10 playmakers, though the shirt numbers are far more extravagant now than they were years ago, when teams lined up one to 11.
Perhaps the most famous number 10 playmaker in the current game is Kaká, though there are several alternatives across the world: Mesut Ozil gives Kaká real competition in Madrid; Juan Mata, Frank Lampard and up-and-coming star Oscar provide Chelsea with several options; David Silva is Manchester City’s playmaker-in-chief; Steven Gerrard is Liverpool; finally, Germany’s Mario Götze, Toni Kroos and Tommy Müller give their national team an endless supply of creativity.
Then there’s that Lionel Messi fellow everyone talks about, though I don’t think he’s famous enough to mention just yet. Maybe in a few years, we can discuss this Messi from Argentina in more depth.
Major League Soccer is chalk-full of number 10s, too: Graham Zusi gave Sporting Kansas City a real chance at success; Brad Davis played well for Houston Dynamo; Freddy Adu was Philadelphia’s creative force, Tim Cahill, New York’s.
Yet, Toronto FC is without a playmaker to call their very own – though Luis Silva comes closest, he is still too young and too raw to be Toronto FC’s answer in the number 10 role. It’s a big shift from Toronto FC sides of old, when, arguably, the leagues’ best playmaker, Dwayne De Rosario, played for the Reds.
Toronto FC has three designated players, two of which are forwards, the other, a defensive midfielder. Though each is a quality player in their own respects, they are not creative, attacking midfielders. Toronto FC needs a suitable number 10 to link up the defensive midfielders (if there are any…) with the forwards.
They also need a number 10 to hand a number 10 shirt to! A football team without a number 10 jersey is a strange, strange thing indeed. The number 10 shirt is a symbolic, a number every team should have.
So, Kevin Payne, your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to find Toronto FC a creative attacking midfielder, a real number 10, for our tenth day of Christmas!
Related:
• On the 9th day of Christmas, Payne gave to TFC: Nine Without Losing
• On the 8th day of Christmas, Payne gave to TFC: Eight on the Jersey
• On the 7th day of Christmas, Payne gave to TFC: Seven New Chip Butties
• On the 6th day of Christmas, Payne gave to TFC: Six Years of Memories
• On the 5th day of Christmas, Payne gave to TFC: Five ACCs!
• On the 4th day of Christmas, Payne gave to TFC: Four Midfielders
• On the 3rd day of Christmas, Payne gave to TFC: Three Smart Drafts
• On the 2nd day of Christmas, Payne gave to TFC: Two Centerbacks
• On the 1st day of Christmas, Payne gave to TFC: A Winterized BMO Field
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