TFC locker clean out day: Reds in a 'full rebuild' going into 2025
This off-season will be one of the most important in Toronto FC's history after it failed to make the playoffs for a fourth straight year.
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A 2024 MLS season that began with such hope ended in utter despair for Toronto FC.
TFC collected three wins and 10 points from their first five games and were contending for a top four spot in the Eastern Conference in mid-May. But a disastrous second half of the campaign that saw them win just four matches and collect 13 out of possible 51 points sealed their fate.
Toronto (11-19-4, 37 points) won almost three times as many games and nearly doubled its points total compared to 2023 when it finished dead last in the MLS table. It also advanced further in the Canadian Championship (final) and Leagues Cup (round of 16). But the progress made by TFC was minimal and inconsequential as they failed to qualify for the playoffs for a fourth straight year.
Toronto FC's traditional end-of-year media availability, otherwise known as locker clean out day, was the last chance that TFC Republic and its media colleagues had to grill MLSE President & CEO Keith Pelley, GM Jason Hernandez, coach John Herdman and captain Jonathan Osorio before the official start of the off-season.
Here are the main talking points from Thursday's locker clean out day.
Jason Hernandez: Reds in a much better salary cap position
The rebuilding process at Toronto FC began last summer when Jason Hernandez was named the club's new general manager following the firing of Bob Bradley.
A former TFC player, Hernandez made a series of moves in the following three transfer windows and in the 2023 off-season, but he was somewhat hamstrung by the poor salary cap situation he inherited and by too many bad player contracts signed before he became GM.
Hernandez said on Thursday he has a lot more salary cap room to operate this off-season compared to 12 months ago, which should allow him to make significant roster upgrades going into the 2025 campaign.
"As far as cap space goes, we were in a much better position. Not to put a number on it but it’s more than double what we had last year. … [But] the space that we do have is only as relevant, as good, as smart as you use it. So, we certainly are in a much better position. I think it's no secret that we held a lot of cap charges for players [who are no longer at TFC], so that also creates a ton of inefficiency and makes it difficult to do all the things you want to do," Hernandez explained.
"And so with some decisions coming in the off-season, with some expiring contracts and also being able to procure a healthy amount of cap space going into next season, we feel quite positive that we'll have some room to adjust some of the needs of the roster, and it'll just be the work now to understand exactly who we want to join us."
John Herdman: Reds need to get younger, more athletic
John Herdman's first full season in charge of Toronto was a bit of a rollercoaster ride for the English coach in his first run as a bench boss of a pro club.
Hired last summer, Herdman had to deal with persistent injury issues that left him short-handed at times and didn't allow him to field a consistent starting 11. The Reds enjoyed a strong start to the year, had a disastrous summer, showed a brief renaissance and then fizzled out down the stretch.
Incredibly, Toronto only won consecutive league matches on three separate occasions during the entire campaign. Even more disturbing was they conceded 61 goals, two more than they did in 2023, and sported a minus-21 goal difference.
Shooting itself in the foot was elevated to an art form by TFC in 2024. They had the worst disciplinary record amongst all 29 MLS teams with 98 yellow cards, and coughed up 23 goals in the final 15 minutes of regular season matches.
Herdman explained TFC needs to rely on more younger and athletic players to help turn around their fortunes, as those types of talents are better equipped to deal with the rigours of a long season where the club is playing in multiple competitions.
"Defensively this year, we've certainly struggled. It's been an area that's been a challenge in terms of goals conceded and goals conceded in the last 20 minutes of the game ... So, right at the core of this, these players have to be durable. The big learning out of MLS, for me, is players have got to be able to push through back-to-back 90s. This is a gruelling schedule," Herdman stated.
"You throw in [the Canadian Championship]; we had extra games in CanChamps this year. You throw in all those factors, and you know that players have to be durable. So, to me, there's a youthfulness that I think it's going to be important, and then an athleticism around certain profiles that allow any identity to be driven through 35 games plus."
Keith Pelley: 'TFC now is in what's called a full rebuild'
It was the end of an era at Toronto FC on July 11 when MLSE announced that the organization and Bill Manning had mutually agreed to part ways.
During Manning’s tenure, TFC won a treble – MLS Cup, Supporters’ Shield and Canadian Championship – in 2017, setting the league record for the most points in a single MLS season (69). The Reds also won three more Canadian Championships and reached the finals of the 2018 Concacaf Champions League during Manning's time in charge, before falling on hard times under his leadership and not making the playoffs since 2020.
Since Manning's departure, general manager Jason Hernandez has been reporting directly to Keith Pelley, MLSE President & CEO.
Pelley doesn't feel TFC have a clear identity and that's something that has to be addressed if the club is going to achieve the same success it enjoyed during the era under Manning, coach Greg Vanney and GM Tim Bezbatchenko.
Key to that will be rebuilding the team in a major way with all options considered. Nothing is off the table.
"TFC now is in what's called a full rebuild. We will over the next couple of months evaluate all facets of our operation and start the transition into what we believe is something that is absolutely critical to our fans. And that's providing a contender, somebody that contends, somebody that can win, somebody that can get back to the glory years on an annual basis. What that means is we're going to look at everything, and that's what we're doing right now. We're in the midst of it," Pelley promised.
Jonathan Osorio on TFC's future: 'I definitely have more faith'
This season was the first for TFC under new captain Jonathan Osorio, who took over the armband after Michael Bradley's retirement at the end of last year.
Osorio, 32, is the team's longest-serving member and the only player remaining from the 2017 treble winning season. Born in Toronto, the Canadian international was a natural successor to Bradley as captain and he showed great leadership during a failed 2024 season for the Reds in which he scored twice and added three assists in 22 MLS games.
Osorio's commendable work as captain wasn't enough to inspire the Reds to their first playoff appearance since 2020. The veteran midfielder believes Toronto is "not too far [away] for being a playoff team." But transforming TFC into a side that can potentially win the MLS Cup is another matter entirely.
"Being a contender, we have work to do, for sure. That's obvious. ... We got close to [winning] the Canadian Championship, and unfortunately, playing better than the other team is not good enough in finals. You have to get the job done. That's the next step going forward. Next season, the mentality has to be to make the playoffs," Osorio said.
Osorio also believes the club is in a better position now than it was at this time in 2023.
"This off-season, I definitely have more faith. I have faith in that there's a new regime here with Keith Pelley and from the things that I heard from him and the vision that I'm hearing, I have a really good feeling," Osorio offered.
Lorenzo Insigne's future at TFC still to be determined
One of the biggest talking points about Toronto FC at the moment centres on Lorenzo Insigne, specifically his future at the club.
Insigne had another disappointing season this year as he suffered through injury problems and put up very poor numbers in league play – just four goals and seven assists in 23 games, 17 starts. In 2023, the former Napoli captain had four goals and five assists in 20 games during his first full season for TFC.
Insigne didn’t record a single multiple-goal game in MLS and his last goal in league play came in a 4-1 home defeat to the Chicago Fire on June 15. He ended the regular season by going 13 consecutive appearances without scoring.
Will Insigne be back with TFC in 2025? Keith Pelley didn't rule out the possibility of moving on from the Italian.
"I think Lorenzo is somebody that is committed to Toronto, has given his heart and soul to Toronto. But in a rebuild, you have to evaluate everything … We will talk to his agent, talk to Lorenzo in the coming couple weeks, understand his desire is, and look at it from a holistic perspective and make a decision at that particular time," Pelley said.
Fellow Italian DP Federico Bernardeschi had eight goals and eight assists in 29 MLS games, an improvement from the five goals and four assists he tallied in 31 matches in 2023. But his last goal this season came in a 2-1 road loss to Atlanta United on June 29. After that, the former Juventus star went 11 consecutive league appearances without a goal (and just three assists) to close out his campaign.
"I think [Lorenzo] probably is feeling disappointed, considering how many actual 90 minutes he was able to get through, and how many points he was able to put up and help secure for the team. But we do live in the world of football, we should not only be relying on Lorenzo or Fede to determine our offensive output," Jason Hernandez said.
13 players out of contract on Toronto FC
This is shaping up to be one of the busiest off-seasons in Toronto FC’s history.
One reason why is that 13 players will be entering the option years of their contracts, which means Jason Hernandez has a lot of important decisions to make in terms of who to bring back in 2025 and who to cut loose.
The players who are out of contract are: Alonso Coello ($94,049 US salary in 2024), Kobe Franklin ($100,518), Kevin Long ($277,500), Shane O’Neill ($413,000), Prince Owusu ($807,500), Greg Ranjitsingh ($94,202), Brandon Servania ($602,708), Luka Gavran ($74,868), Deandre Kerr ($105,319), Aime Mabika ($133,125), Tyrese Spicer ($73,901), Kosi Thompson ($100,260), and Luke Singh ($147,966).
Hernandez will have until Nov. 27, per the deadline set by MLS, to make those decisions. But it sounds like announcements are coming much sooner.
"We're working through that now. We should have some hard determinations to make by this time next week. You'll be hearing some news about where those things land," Hernandez said.
Odds and ends: Neppe could help with TFC rebuild
- Toronto could receive an extra $2 million in GAM next season should it decide to adopt the 2 DPs/4 U22s model over the 3 DP model (full explanation here). Jason Hernandez revealed TFC haven't yet made a final decision about which model they will use. MLS teams have to declare which model it will adopt for 2025 prior to the start of the season. Hernandez said: "It's an evaluation that we'll go through, and certainly we'll have to work with Keith [Pelley] in that regard to understand what makes the most sense for us in [2025], how that sets us up for [2026], and all those things. So, yeah, those discussions are ongoing."
- Keith Pelley didn't give any specific timeline as to when, or even if, a replacement will be hired for former TFC club president Bill Manning, saying only that "the entire organizational structure and the infrastructure that we're going to build is something that we're going to evaluate."
- Former Bayern Munich technical director Marco Neppe has completed a "full organizational review" of Toronto FC. Neppe had been working closely with Jason Hernandez in his audit of the club, examining everything from the youth academy up to the senior team and beyond. Pelley said: "I was in Munich a couple of weeks ago, and he took me through his presentation and it was enlightening. And now, Jason and I are discussing how we implement some of his concepts, not all of them, but some of them. ... [Marco] has a number of job options right now, but we're trying to encourage him to come and help us this year with Jason as we rebuild this team."
- MLS free agency begins in December. In recent off-seasons, TFC have dipped their toe into the free agent market by signing goalkeeper Sean Johnson, and defenders Matt Hedges (now with Austin FC) and Shane O'Neill. Hernandez said: “I think traditionally, free agency is a place where we’ve tried to maximize ourselves over the years. … Free agency is something we're going to leverage, for sure… This is still a place where people in MLS feel very fond of and if there's opportunities to club and be a part of the city, people typically listen. So, I think we'll be active in the free agent space."
- Pelley said he anticipates TFC playing more weekend afternoon games at BMO Field next season.
- Pelley declined to answer questions about Canada Soccer's ongoing investigation into the drone scandal and what effect, if any, its findings could have on John Herdman's future at TFC. Herdman also declined to comment whether he's spoken to Canada Soccer about its ongoing investigation.
- Captain Jonathan Osorio was the only TFC player made available to the media on Thursday. At last season's locker clean out day, Osorio, Italian DPs Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi, and goalkeeper Sean Johnson spoke to reporters.
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Important off-season dates to remember
Aside from the Nov. 27 deadline to decide on contract options for some players, there are several other important dates this off-season that Toronto FC has to abide by when it comes to rebuilding its roster for the 2025 MLS campaign.
Dec. 9 is when the MLS half-day trade window (9:00 am to 1:00 p.m. ET) opens up after a three-month freeze. MLS clubs can start tweaking their rosters by making trades with other teams across the league.
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 on Dec. 11. TFC have to determine which players to protect and which ones to leave unprotected.
MLS free agency begins on Dec. 12. 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. 12 with stage 1, while stage 2 is on 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.
The 2025 MLS SuperDraft on Dec. 20 will consist of three rounds.
(Top photo courtesy of Jojo Yanjiao Qian/Forge FC)
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