|
|
Remember Logan Emory?
Of course you do! The defender was one of the latest departures from the club, during another rebuilding year at Toronto FC. Emory is the first Toronto FC player in this series who has played under Ryan Nelsen, so RedNation Online spoke with him about the manager, the club and his thoughts on the season.
So, how is life after Toronto FC for Logan Emory?
“It’s been all right,” said Emory, disappointment in his voice but with a positive outlook all the same. “Obviously I’m not in the league at the moment so that’s frustrating, just because there’s a huge discrepancy between just how the teams are run. I went to San Antonio for two months to keep my playing fitness and keep sharp but other than that, there’s not a lot going on.”
Emory played in 29 games for the club. He signed for Toronto FC back in 2012 from preseason in Orlando. He was used as a central defender and, later on, as a left fullback. His David Luiz-esque ‘fro and soft-spoken demeanour ran opposite his defending, which was physical, thought out and often consistent.
It came to a surprise for many when Toronto FC announced it had cut Emory at the end of June, halfway through the 2013 season. Emory himself wasn’t sure why he was released.
“My first game back, I thought I played pretty well but I picked up that injury in the end,” said Emory. “I wouldn’t say that the injury stopped me from playing at my full potential but it made things difficult. So there’s that, and obviously the blunder in Colorado didn’t help. I don’t want to speculate a whole lot, because I don’t know why I was released, but it was definitely frustrating and interesting to say the least.”
At the end of the season, Danny Koevermans complained that communication lines between Ryan Nelsen and some of the players could have been better. We asked Emory if Nelsen had been open with him about his release.
“No, I guess not,” said Emory. “I mean, I spoke to him, I went into his office while I was recovering from my shoulder, just to kind of get a feel of where I was at. Being injured for that long and missing preseason, I just wanted to get a feel of where I was at in the team. He sounded pretty positive.”
His shoulder injury kept him out of the team sheet for a while, but he returned to action baring the scars. When we first contacted Emory in the middle of November, he was in New York tending to his shoulder but that injury is now fully healed.
“It’s good, it’s perfect,” said Emory, of his shoulder. “The surgeon in Toronto was amazing, rehab was amazing, the medical staff at TFC was amazing and my shoulder feels great. I’m definitely ready to give it another shot in MLS.”
Emory isn’t looking to return to the NASL. He believes his performance at Toronto FC warrants another chance in the league.
“My time in Toronto didn’t quite go the way I wanted it to, not just for myself but for the team,” said Emory. “There will always be people that question my ability or doubt if I’m ready to play in MLS but I think the minutes that I did play, the games I did play proved, at least to myself, that I am worthy of a spot in MLS. I’m giving it one last push to get my foot back in the door.”
Emory spent some time in Colorado and San Jose before playing for Toronto FC. Since then, though, Emory explained that the coaches have changed and he doesn’t have many connections to either side. Still, Emory isn’t too picky about which team he would like to play for.
“Being a Northwest kid, anywhere close to home would be great!” he said. “If you had asked me what team I had wanted to play for a few years ago, I wouldn’t have said Toronto but it turned out to be amazing. I really enjoyed my time there with the club and in the city.”
On Ryan Nelsen and Kevin Payne
Logan Emory is the first former Toronto FC player that played under Ryan Nelsen that RedNation has had a chance to speak to. Much has been said about the rookie coach, but there is still plenty that followers of the team don’t know about Nelsen.
Emory has every right to be disgruntled with his former manager; yet, he had nothing but praise for the Kiwi coach of Toronto FC.
“I actually really enjoyed playing for him,” said Emory. “I think he’s a great coach. Sometimes you forget that it is his first year. I do think that there was a lot of friction between Nellie and Kevin Payne. A lot of the decisions made weren’t purely Nellie’s. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with the club moving forward as Nellie is given a little bit more control.”
“I’m sure you know there was a whole lot of drama between Ryan Nelsen and Kevin Payne and the front office in general,” said Emory, with hesitance. “Again, I don’t want to speculate on whose final decision it was [to cut me], but the timing of it was very interesting to say the least.”
“I think that Nelsen really has his head on his shoulders in terms of coaching,” said Emory. “If the club trusts him to make his own decisions I think he’ll do pretty well.”
Toronto FC missed out on the playoffs once again this season, in a year riddled with losses and draws; the club managed to win six games in league play, and staff turnover continued as Kevin Payne was dismissed and Tim Bezbatchenko took his place.
“I definitely think there were some real, tangible issues,” said Emory. “They brought in a rookie coach, as great as he may be, with a GM that didn’t see things the way he did, and had different plans and ideas.”
“Things started off well against Kansas City and there was a definite plan for how things were going to be run and somewhere along the lines shortly after that it seemed to change. It all just fell apart. From there it was just picking up the pieces.”
“This season was always going to be a massive challenge for Nellie and I would like to think they have the pieces in place now to build like he wants, not something that he just has to agree with and go along with,” said Emory.
The relationship between Nelsen and Payne seemed to take a turn for the worse during the negotiation stages of Maximiliano Urruti. Emory says it’s not hard to see what was happening at the club.
“I can’t speak to their relationship, all I can speak about is what appeared to be happening. Kevin Payne was the guy that brought Nellie in, so there had to be some kind of good relationship. But, Urruti is the perfect example – they scouted the guy for a year, they talk to the media about this guy being the next best thing, he gets there for however long he was there, plays like 30 minutes and is gone.
“There’s not a whole lot of reading between the lines that needs to happen,” said Emory. “By that point, I was gone and you can start to see there’s something not quite right going on.”
Emory believes Toronto FC doesn’t need to look far to find a solution to its problems.
“To fix this, you just need to let Nellie do what he wants to do, because he has the experience, knowledge and resources to build a winning team,” said Emory.
On DP Signings and the Revolving Door
Tim Leiweke has made no secret of his intention to sign big-name stars. The latest reports say that Leiweke has given TFC fans a 30-day window in which to expect the signing of one of the biggest, if not the biggest name in league history.
Emory believes the key to finding success lies in the fundamentals of team management.
“All it takes is consistency,” Emory continued. “If you look at the teams that are in the playoffs still – taking away Portland who’s an exception – those teams have been together for quite a while. They’ve been with the same coach, the same front office for quite a while. They’ve really built something. They didn’t just throw a bunch of players together and hoped to win.”
Still, a pair of DP players won’t hurt. Do Toronto FC’s woes end with the signing of a pair of Designated Players?
“I don’t think it’s that easy at all,” said Emory. “If you look at some of the DPs that have come in, it’s not like you sign any big international player and they come in a score a dozen goals – you have to do your research and your due diligence, vet all the guys that are coming in and make sure they’re not just quality soccer players but they’re quality guys that have bought into MLS and the team.”
It’s this locker room cohesiveness that Toronto FC has lacked in the past. Rumours of in-fighting, squabbles and poor team chemistry hurt the team during the earlier years in the league, but Emory says that’s not the case at all anymore.
“We started the season, my first with the team, 0-and-nine, and I’ve never been a part of a locker room that was that cohesive,” said Emory. “Everybody got along, everyone was professional, no one had any blow ups, there was never any fights; it was actually pretty impressive how well the team stuck together. That remained the same throughout my time at Toronto. There was never any player that tried to take away or distract from what the team was about.”
Still, the rotating door turns, and that must have some kind of affect on a player’s mentality.
“Yeah, I think so,” said Emory, when we asked him if there’s a consequence to the amount of players Toronto FC has released. “It’s kind of running joke is looking at the number of players who have left Toronto and have gone on to be successful,” said Emory. “Just off the top of my head, Joao Plata. He wasn’t used at all in Toronto, left, and he was contributing for one of the top teams in MLS. Ryan Johnson, Jacob Peterson, I’m sure you know the list more than I do.”
“The players are definitely very aware of that revolving door,” Emory continued. “I know I was, and I know people talked about it in the locker room. Some of the guys have added up how many players they’ve played with just at TFC and it’s pretty ridiculous.”
“I know it was there for me when I wasn’t playing, and after the Colorado game, it was definitely in the back of my head that I’m one of the players that they could release if they need cap space.”
Toronto FC looks set to continue with the annual player exodus. The primary casualties include Koevermans, who is set to return to his native Holland, as well as Stefan Frei and Richard Eckersley, due in part to their massive contracts.
“When you talk about loyalty to TFC, those two have to come up on the top of the list,” said Emory. “Stefan Frei has pretty much been Mr. TFC for a number of years but having said that, just because he’s loyal doesn’t mean he has to stick around. If you talk to Stef, he would be the first to say that he’s making too much to be on the bench. He wants to play, he’s a good enough keeper to be playing.”
“Rich was kind of a weird situation because he’s been there through everything and he’s always been positive and a good spokesperson for Toronto,” he continued. “What happened at the end of the season was kind of mind-boggling to me, at least. It’s a professional soccer level, though, and it’s cut throat.”
Looking Back At Toronto FC
“One thing I really enjoyed about Toronto was the area behind the North goal, where fans meet and party after the game. It’s directly attached to the stadium,” said Emory, referring to the Budweiser bar area.
“After the game, especially if we had won, I had to walk through that because I was living in Liberty Village,” Emory continued. “It was amazing being able to share that with the fans. They had no clue who I was, they didn’t recognize me at all! That was always really fun, seeing how happy the team had made people.”
“Being able to walk through that in anonymity and enjoy that with them was really cool!”
“But I’m not happy with how things went,” Emory continued. “That’s not just about being released and not being with the team anymore. As much as any fan wanted TFC to do well, I wanted them to do well just as much, especially being part of the team. I wanted success to come to Toronto, just because I know what it would have been like if there had been success.
“I can’t imagine a playoff game at BMO Field, it would be ridiculous, just the atmosphere around the city,” said Emory. “I’ll always wish that things would have gone a bit different and I still hope Toronto does well, for the guys I know there and for the fans especially.”
“Am I content with how it ended? I guess I have to be. It’s professional soccer and I’m extremely fortunate for the opportunity to play for a club like Toronto FC,” said Emory. “I’m very proud of that and happy that I had that chance. I’ll always look at that experience positively.”
“Things happen, and you move on, and hope that you get another chance. If not, I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished.”
Related: Life After Toronto FC: Nick Garcia
|