TFC Republic Weekly: October 14-20
Welcome to the latest edition of TFC Republic Weekly, an email newsletter that will land in the inbox of both paid subscribers and free members of TFC Republic every Monday.
This newsletter will look at what's in store over the next seven days for Toronto FC and offer a glimpse of what to expect at TFC Republic in the coming days.
So, without further ado...
Happy Thanksgiving to all TFC Republic readers
TFC Republic wishes a Happy Thanksgiving to all its subscribers and followers. We hope that you have a restful holiday and get to spend it with family and friends.
Bernardeschi a nominee for MVP award
Italian DP Federico Bernardeschi and Toronto FC captain Jonathan Osorio are among the nominees for this year's Landon Donovan MLS MVP award.
The list of 34 players nominated for the honour, which was announced by the league last week, also includes Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez of Inter Miami.
TFC's John Herdman is among the 22 nominees for the Sigi Schmid Coach of the Year Award. Also nominated are former Toronto FC coaches Chris Armas of the Colorado Rapids and Greg Vanney of the Los Angeles Galaxy.
TFC defender Kevin Long and midfielder Matty Longstaff are up for Newcomer of the Year, which the league defines as "a player with previous professional experience who made his MLS debut in 2024."
Toronto fullback Richie Laryea is nominated for Comeback Player of the Year. Long and Nicksoen Gomis are up for Defender of the Year. Gomis and midfielder Kosi Thompson are among the nominees for Young Player of the Year (aged 22 or younger).
Voting for the awards will be conducted through Oct. 21 with MLS club technical staff, MLS players, and media members each accounting for one-third of the ballots. Club technical staff and players are not allowed to vote for their own team’s nominees.
To see the full list of nominees for each award, CLICK HERE.
Toronto FC post-mortem has yet to take place
At the end of every MLS season, Toronto FC holds its annual locker clean out day.
It's a chance for the media to grill TFC's coach, General Manager and players one last time at the club's training facility in North York before everybody goes their separate ways until pre-season camp kicks off in January. Locker clean out day also gives club management a chance to talk about the past season and discuss its future plans, both in the short- and long-term.
Traditionally, the annual media session takes place after TFC's last game of the season. The Reds closed out their 2024 MLS campaign on Oct. 5, and under normal circumstances they would have held locker clean out day some time last week.
But nothing has been scheduled yet because the MLS regular season doesn’t end until this Saturday, and TFC Republic and its media colleagues are still waiting to get a chance to interview coach John Herdman, GM Jason Hernandez and the players one last time.
When locker clean out day does happen, readers can expect in-depth coverage from TFC Republic, so stay tuned.
Important off-season dates to remember
With TFC coming off a disappointing campaign, this off-season is going to be one of the most important in club history. Club management will have to make a series of moves in order to improve the roster and set things right for the 2025 MLS campaign. With this in mind, here are some important off-season dates to circle on your calendar.
Nov. 27 is the deadline for all MLS clubs to decide which players will have their contract options exercised and which players won't. Thirteen TFC players will be in the option years of their contracts for 2025: Alonso Coello, Kobe Franklin, Kevin Long, Shane O’Neill, Prince Owusu, Greg Ranjitsingh, Brandon Servania, Luka Gavran, Deandre Kerr, Aime Mabika, Tyrese Spicer, Kosi Thompson, and Luke Singh.
Dec. 9 – Following a three-month roster freeze, MLS clubs can conduct trades with other teams in the league during a half-day trade window that runs from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET.
Dec. 11 – Expansion club San Diego FC will become the 30th team in MLS in 2025. But before that, San Diego will get to pick up to five players during the MLS Expansion Draft.
Dec. 12 – Free agency kicks off! MLS clubs can start engaging with players, other than their own, who are eligible for free agency. Free agency eligible players are out-of-contract and option-declined players who are at least 24 years old and who have completed a minimum of five years of service in MLS. On the same day, the end-of-year waivers process begins. The waiver process pertains to players whose options were not exercised and who are not eligible for free agency or the re-entry process.
The MLS re-entry process kicks off on Dec. 13 with stage 1, while stage 2 is scheduled for Dec. 19. Essentially, this applies to MLS players who are out of contract (or had their option declined) but are not eligible for free agency. Instead, they go into the re-entry process, where they are eligible to be selected by another MLS team.
Dec. 20 – The 2025 MLS SuperDraft will consist of three rounds. The draft order is set by taking the reverse order of the league standings at the end of the regular season, taking post-season performance into account, with expansion club San Diego FC holding the top selection in each round.
CanMNT vs. Panama on Tuesday
Jesse Marsch has invited three young players into their first national team camp for Canada's international friendly this month.
The Canadian coach recently unveiled his 26-man roster and included in the list are former Canadian youth internationals Kwasi Poku (RWD Molenbeek), fellow forward Santiago López (UNAM Pumas) and defender Jamie Knight-Lebel (Bristol City).
With any luck, all three youngsters will see action when Canada faces Panama on Oct. 15 at Toronto’s BMO Field. The game will be Marsch’s first on Canadian soil since his hiring in May.
Toronto FC’s Jonathan Osorio and Richie Laryea are both included in Marsh’s latest Canadian squad. Other familiar names in the Canadian team include fullback Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich), midfielder Stephen Eustáquio (FC Porto), and forwards Jonathan David (Lille) and Cyle Larin (Mallorca).
Canada is 38th in the current FIFA world rankings, one spot below Panama. They were the only Concacaf nations to advance to the knockout round of this summer’s Copa América – Canada finished fourth, while Panama reached the quarter-finals. The last meeting between the teams saw Canada defeat Panama 2-0 in Las Vegas last June in the semifinals of the 2022-23 Concacaf Nations League. The Canadians are 5-2-6 all-time vs. Panama.
Marsch is using this October window as preparation for next month’s two-legged Concacaf Nations League quarter-final against an opponent that is still to be determined.
RELATED READING: News | Features | Match reports | Newsletter | Opinion | Q&As | Roster moves | TFC 2 | Audio | Videos
Stories to look out for at TFC Republic
One of the biggest talking points about Toronto FC at the moment centres on Lorenzo Insigne, specifically his future at the club. The Italian DP had another disappointing season in 2024 as he suffered through injury problems and put up very poor numbers in MLS – just four goals and seven assists in 23 games, 17 starts. A lot of fans want him gone, feeling the Reds should try to sell him or buy him out of his contract. But how likely is it that TFC will part ways with Insigne? I'll have a feature article looking at the Insigne situation in the coming days. (Note: This story was supposed to run last week. Apologies for the delay).
Other stories that will be published later this week include:
- My “Random Thoughts on TFC” column.
- Regular "TFC Tidbits" stories throughout the week.
- My feature story on the "big questions" facing TFC this off-season.
- A new instalment in our TFC flashback history series.
- Another edition of the reader mailbag.
- In-depth pre- and post-game coverage of the Canadian men's team's friendly vs. Panama at BMO Field.
- An audio interview piece with David Sakata of Diario Pro ahead of Tuesday's game between Canada and Panama.
- Full breakdown of the latest Canadian women's team roster when it's announced.
- And much more!
TFC Republic mailbag
TFC Republic will feature a regular reader mailbag column where I answer questions from subscribers about Toronto FC and Canadian soccer in general.
I'll answer the best questions submitted to me by TFC Republic readers, so feel free to drop me an email at jmo1897@gmail.com. You can also reach out to me via Twitter.
(Top photo courtesy of Lucas Kschischang/Toronto FC)
TFC Republic has a comments section! At the very bottom of every story, there is a feature where you can post your comments, so be sure to share your thoughts and views.