With a second consecutive loss in the MLS regular reason, Toronto FC’s worst fears are slowly becoming a reality. The 2011 league-worst defense has conceded six goals in two games, leaving Aron Winter with a lack of options, depth and answers.
Toronto FC’s two-game series against Los Angeles in the CONCACAF Champions League quarter-finals may have given TFC fans some hope for the regular season, but a lot of the defensive responsibility that kept Toronto in the two games in the first place fell on the shoulders of Torsten Frings. With Frings out of the picture due to injury for at least the next three games, Toronto FC’s backline is in trouble.
When Aron Winter slotted Torsten Frings in the backline last year, something clicked. Frings’ IQ coupled with the able bodies of both Andy Iro and Ty Harden gave Toronto FC some smarts in the defense. In it’s own unorthodox way, adding the midfielder Frings between the two centerbacks fixed Toronto’s backline.
It also ruined it.
The reliance placed on Frings lulled Toronto FC into a false sense of security. It gave TFC the illusion of competency in the back. What was a temporary, stopgap measure last year turned into a turn of the season permanency, one that Frings himself probably didn’t want and is much too soft-spoken to argue against.
If Toronto FC had brought in the likes of Michael Ballack, and put him in the backline, it wouldn’t take long for the German midfielder to make his concerns over his position on the field heard. Frings is not Ballack – he’s quiet, he does the job he’s told to do, and he puts in 110% effort doing it.
So Frings remained a fixture in the backline, and Aron Winter and co. did nothing to solve the real issue – Toronto FC don’t have a proper defensive line. There’s no question about it; between Richard Eckersley, Ty Harden, Miguel Aceval and Ashtone Morgan, there is not enough experience and simply not enough quality.
Just take a look at who is available for Toronto FC:
Ty Harden – A constant in the backline but riddled with mistakes, own goals and poor marking. Harden is not good enough yet finds himself starting game after game.
Miguel Aceval – A smart defender oozing experience and quality but is nowhere near fast enough to take on some of the speedier wingers and forwards in this league by himself.
Adrian Cann – Recovering from an ACL injury, still needs to find match fitness afterwards. Though he’s being touted as a replacement to Harden, Cann didn’t really flourish under Winter’s 4-3-3 anyway, constantly turning back and passing to the goalkeeper instead of playing it to the winger. Cann still needs to prove himself in this new system.
Dicoy Williams – Similar to Cann, Williams was decent in the back but fell to injury and does not look like coming back anytime soon.
Ashtone Morgan – Young, fast and offensively smart, Ashtone Morgan is a strong candidate for the leftback spot, yet besides a full-blown slide tackle or two, Morgan lacks the defensive aspect of the game and chooses to run with his target rather than commit to a challenge.
Richard Eckersley – Similar to Morgan, an offensive asset but defensively, Eckersley is left exposed due to his high positioning – he makes up for it with pace to burn but when you leave room in the back, anything can happen, and often does.
And then you have Doneil Henry, Logan Emory and Aaron Maund, each lacking the experience or the quality to be the answer to Toronto’s defense. What then is Toronto FC left with? There was one pressing need in the offseason – a stud centerback capable of leading the backline. Aron Winter himself made it clear that he wanted one leader in each segment of the team, but he never got one in the backline.
Instead, he put Frings in the back, hindering the development of Toronto’s other defenders, who grew reliant on his presence, and gave Terry Dunfield a spot in the midfield he does not deserve to have. Torsten Frings is a midfielder, whose distribution and vision are far greater assets to Toronto FC than his defensive side, and yet he is misused in Aron Winter’s team.
In a perfect world, Frings’ preference for the midfield would have resonated louder within the team, Aron Winter would not have considered him an option in the back, and a real centerback would have been signed in the offseason to compliment Miguel Aceval.
Because this didn’t happen, Toronto FC will continue to struggle, continue to make the same silly mistakes, and concede easy goals, until a proper, long-term answer in the defense is found.
Eckersley, Aceval and Morgan are capable, provided that a strong voice, a strong leader is available to them. As much as Frings filled that role, it was never supposed to be his to fill, nor should it be De Guzman’s.
Until Aron Winter finds this leader, Toronto FC’s defense will remain a pressing concern in 2012. The international summer transfer window cannot open soon enough for Toronto FC.
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