5 big questions facing TFC at the start of the MLS season

A new MLS season with a new coach brings renewed hope for Toronto FC after failing to reach the playoffs in each of the past four years. 

A new season also bring serious questions about a team whose roster has undergone very little change during the winter. 

Here are five important queries about TFC as they get set to kick off the 2025 MLS regular season this weekend. 

How will the Lorenzo Insigne situation get resolved? 

It would appear that Insigne has played his last game for TFC. Coach Robin Fraser confirmed this week that the Italian DP wasn't with the team in pre-season camp in Florida and was back in Toronto, which means he won't play on Saturday. Fraser went on to say the situation with Insigne is one "for which we are seeking some resolution." Toronto tried to off-load the former Napoli captain during the winter, but nothing materialized. Now the Reds appear set to bench him unless he agrees to a transfer, a contract buyout or a mutual termination.  

Buying out Insigne, who earned $15.4 million US last season, would be the simplest solution. It would also open up a DP slot and up some valuable salary cap room – as a DP, Insigne’s salary cap hit for this season is $743,750. But a buyout would be massively expensive as Insigne is under contract through next June. Another option would be to come to a mutual agreement to part ways if Insigne agreed to take less money. But the Reds would not get any salary cap relief or free up a DP slot until his contract expired.  

A trade or a transfer to another MLS team before the league's primary transfer window closes in April doesn't seem likely. So, this saga could drag on until the European transfer window reopens this summer.  

Can this team come together under Robin Fraser? 

It's been a steady stream of coaches who have passed through Toronto FC ever since Greg Vanney left to join the LA Galaxy at the conclusion of the 2022 season. 

The Reds have gone through five coaches and parted company will former president Bill Manning in that same time period. Robin Fraser was hired as the new man in charge last month, a move that directly inks the current team to its glory years. Fraser was an assistant under Vanney from 2015 to 2019 when the team won an MLS Cup, a Supporters' Shield and three Canadian Championships. 

But the only player remaining from that time is captain Jonathan Osorio. Everyone else has moved on. The constant turnover of coaches over the last four years has allowed even more instability to be sewn into the very fabric of the club, so Fraser will have to earn the respect and trust of players. How quickly they rally around Fraser will be one the key stories to watch this year. 

"Robin has implemented his ideas and his philosophy, so we're excited. And I think that you'll be seeing a different team that's playing maybe in a different way than when we played [before]," Osorio said. 

He added: "He preaches [camaraderie]; that's a big and important factor in any good team is the unity between each other and a group that's willing to fight for each other. I think we built that."  

Osorio's positive comments aside, there's no escaping the fact that this team remains a major work in progress under Fraser. Patience will be required. 

"I understand fans want to win yesterday, and they want to keep winning every single day. And the truth of the matter is it's not an easy process. It's not an easy process to win an MLS championship, and we are in the infancy of what is a new regime and new ideas and that sort of thing," Fraser explained.  

He added: "We are doing our best to put together a really good team and very solid ideas. ... Having been here before and having seen what it's like when things are really good and what the fans are like, it's certainly the goal to get back to that point." 

Can Ola Brynhildsen revitalize the attack? 

All eyes will be on the Norwegian international to see if he can spark some life into an anaemic attack that produced just 40 goals last season (fourth-worst in MLS). Last year's top scorer Prince Owusu (12 goals in all competitions) didn't get his contract option picked up and he ended up signing with CF Montreal. Forwards Deandre Kerr and Derrick Etienne Jr. each had only three goals in league play in 2024.  

This team badly needed a go-to number nine to lead the front line in 2025. After tracking Brynhildsen for several months, Toronto went all in and brought the Norwegian forward in on a loan deal using targeted allocation money, and have the option to purchase him at the end of the season. 

Brynhildsen, 25, has 76 goals and 33 assists in 267 games across all competitions in a club career that began in his native Norway with Stabæk Fotball and included two stints with Molde and Danish club FC Midtjylland.  

He can operate out wide, in addition to playing up front as the lead striker, can score goals with both feet and can create scoring chances for others. He's also known for putting pressure at opponents when they're in possession. 

Brynhildsen fits the profile of the type of striker that TFC needs: An experienced player who is in his mid-20s and who has a history as a consistent goal scorer in with a European club. Toronto FC has to get younger and more athletic in order to be more competitive in MLS, and Brynhildsen helps the club in that regard.

But how will he adapt to life in MLS and playing outside of Scandinavia for the first time in his club career? 

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Will the defence be able to tighten things up? 

As poor as TFC's attack was in 2024, their defence was just as bad. Toronto coughed up 61 goals last year (three more than it did in 2023), which was fifth-worst in the Eastern Conference and eighth-worst in MLS. 

Of course, defending is a team effort and the Reds' defensive woes can't entirely be pinned on the back line. That being said, Kevin Long and Nicksoen Gomis were the only TFC defenders who gave a decent account of themselves last season, which is probably why both Shane O'Neill and Aimé Mabika weren't brought back this year. 

The club hasn't brought in any defensive reinforcements this off-season, but an announcement should be made soon about the signing of Arsenal under-21 captain Zane Monlouis. The England youth-international has very little first-team experience, so he'll likely have to grow into a role at TFC much the same way that Gomis did last year. 

It'll also be interesting to see if Sigurd Rosted can finally live up to his tag as TAM player, as he's been inconsistent since signing with the Reds in 2023. Big things will also be expected of Henry Wingo in his first full season with TFC and of fellow fullback Richia Laryea, who missed a large chunk of last year due to injury. 

One thing is clear: New coach Robin Fraser, a two-time MLS defender of the year during his playing days, will put an emphasis on TFC being defensively resolute. 

"You have to be able to stop teams. I'm a big, big advocate for how we want to attack. … I love when a team moves together in the attacking end of the field. But I also love when a team can think and move together defensively and play with the right intensity defensively," Fraser said. 

Can the Reds end their playoff drought? 

Greg Vanney's exit at the conclusion of the 2020 MLS season marked the beginning of a downward turn for Toronto FC. 

Since Vanney's departure, TFC have failed to make the playoffs in four consecutive years and have finished near or at the bottom of the Eastern Conference in each season – 13th in 2021 and 2022, 15th in 2023 (and dead last in MLS), and 11th in 2024.  

With so little roster moves made by GM Jason Hernandez this winter, a lot of fans and MLS pundits are predicting another disastrous season for TFC and for their playoff drought to continue. 

Unless Hernandez can bring in some new players to bolster the midfield and defence, the Reds could be in store for another long season. 

Jonathan Osorio isn't at all interested in what the experts say and insists the team is moving in the right direction. 

"[We'll be] fighting to be in the playoffs. That's what this league is about, is about making the playoffs. For me, we were close last year and I feel like we can take that next step this year and finally bring this club back to the playoffs. As I've said, it's what the fans deserve. It's very long overdue for these fans that we have," Osorio said. 

MLSE boss Keith Pelley recently told fans at a special reception earlier this month that "we've lost our way at TFC." However, he is confident that Hernandez and Fraser can turn things around. 

"Having not made the playoffs in the last four years is unacceptable … Our only goal is to contend for an MLS Cup on an annual basis," Pelley told the fans in attendance. 

(Top photo courtesy of Lucas Kschischang/Toronto FC)

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