Greg Vanney on Robin Fraser: 'The right guy to help turn this back around'

Greg Vanney and Robin Fraser go back a long time. 

When Vanney joined the LA Galaxy as a rookie out of UCLA during the inaugural 1996 MLS season, one of his teammates was fellow defender Robin Fraser, a grizzled veteran and U.S. international who had experience playing in the old A-League. A friendship between Vanney and Fraser was forged back then and remains strong to this day, even after their respective career paths have intercepted and diverged over the past 29 years.

Fraser was an assistant with Real Salt Lake under Jason Kreis and was part of the coaching staff when the Utah-based club won the MLS Cup in 2009. At the same time, Vanney served as the team's academy director. Fraser left Salt Lake in 2011 to take charge of Chivas USA in his first head coaching job and hired Vanney as one of his assistants. 

When Vanney took over as Toronto FC's head coach in 2014, he returned the favour by bringing in Fraser (who was an assistant with the New York Red Bulls) as a member of his staff. Together they won an MLS Cup, a Supporters' Shield and three Canadian Championships before Fraser left to become head coach of the Colorado Rapids in 2019. Vanney quit after more than six years in charge to become the head coach of the LA Galaxy in 2020. 

Now Fraser is back in Toronto, this time as head coach of the Reds, officially hired last month as John Herdman's successor. And Vanney couldn't be happier for his former teammate and colleague who has remained a close friend for nearly three decades. 

In this one-on-one interview with TFC Republic, Vanney opens up about his relationship with Fraser and shares his views on his close friend becoming the new coach of Toronto FC.