I’m resurrecting this thread where I essentially talk to myself about the MLS and Canada Soccer (as in the team/FA)…
John Herdman has left the Canadian national team as manager for woefully terrible MLS side (and my team) Toronto FC. Toronto FC are on 4 wins, 10 draws and 15 losses despite having the highest payroll in the MLS. They’re dead last in the Eastern Conference out of 15 teams. We have absolutely no chance of making playoffs and the games that Herman will coach are effectively meaningless. We signed Italian internationals Federico Bernadeschi from Juve and Naples legend Lorenzo Insigne last year. Both have been terrible and their frustration at the lack of decent players around them has boiled over with both refusing to train, lambasting the former manager in the press (Bob Bradley - Toronto FC midfielder Michael Bradley’s dad) and storming out of training.
Toronto FC’s ownershit have money, but their upper management is clueless and seemingly more interested in basketball (NBA team Toronto Raptors), gridiron football (Canadian Football League Toronto Raptors) and ice hockey (NHL team Toronto Maple Leafs and AHL team Toronto Marlies) - of which Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment also own. Despite their awful performance since winning the MLS Cup in 2018, Bill Manning - the President of Toronto FC & President of Toronto Argonauts hasn’t been sacked. He was responsible for sacking Bob Bradley and hiring Herdman. The Argos are doing great though!
Herdman was increasingly growing frustrated with his time as the CMNT head coach and the lack of funding. He also plateaued at the World Cup and has since. He’s struggled to win games and keep his locker room in check, so it might not be terrible that he’s left. He was also the highest paid salary at our very broke FA, so no doubt they’re happy to remove that burden from their books. The downside is they’re going to have to be able to afford someone of decent quality to replace him. I’m not confident we will or who in their right mind would want to take on that job anyway.
The upside is that Herdman is known for turning squads around and making them winning teams. However, he’s never coached at the club level. Unlike Europe, the MLS has salary caps and roster limitations that try to make it so that all teams in the MLS are competitive. He’s going to have to learn how to navigate the intricacies of MLS rules regarding players and find a way to get Bernadeschi and Isigne on side. Toronto FC tried to make moves on selling both players in the 2023 transfer window, but were unable to offload them from their books.
Our FA, Canada Soccer is effectively bankrupt. The Canadian men’s team still haven’t been paid from the World Cup. We’re so broke that we didn’t have enough money to play any of the men’s friendlies this month during the international window last week. Our FA’s president recently stepped down, along with the VP after pressure from players and Parliament due to mismanagement of funds. We have a interim general secretary (Jason DeVos - ex-CMNT player and ex-CMNT technical director) and an interim head coach in Marco Bello - who was an assistant with John Herdman and was formerly the head coach of CF Montreal in the MLS. Phil Neville was an assistant to Herdman after Neville was sacked as Miami FC’s manager, but considering his woeful record as a manager I’m hoping his name isn’t in the mix to take control of our men’s side.
Our women spectacularly crashed out of the World Cup at the group stage. Christine Sinclair, who’s the all time leading goal scorer across both the men’s and women’s games, absolutely roasted our FA for their lack of support and pulling of funding in the lead up to the Women’s World Cup. They missed being able to play several friendlies because again, we had no money. Both the womens and mens teams are in a contract dispute over equal pay with Canada Soccer. It’s gotten ugly and there’s currently a committee dealing with it in front of Parliament because Canada Soccer is that inept with their books. Both the women and men have formed unions in an effort to increase their chances of getting more money and the unions have traded barbs with Canada Soccer - and vice versa - very openly on social media and in the press.
According to Canada Soccer, they’re looking to find DeVos’ full time replacement and then we’ll be seeking a full time head coach - all of this in the lead up to COPA America that we’re invited to and the 2024 World Cup that we’re co-hosting. It’s fucking embarrassing.
So that is my catch up post for all .5 of you who care.
