Toronto FC Roster Assessment Part 4/4 – Forwards

This part of the assessment is, by nature, short, and it's because Toronto FC has all of one striker. How did it come to this? Well, Toronto FC academy graduate Nicholas Lindsay broke his knee last week. And this week we traded Chad Barrett to the Galaxy. It's quite comical how any team can have only one player in a position that usually fields 2-3 not to mention multiple more in depth. 


Toronto FC has been plagued by not having or finding the right striker in the past and this issue still has not been solved. The one striker we have left is good, but isn’t even quite starting material. Heck, if TFC were to start the season today, they might as well field one of the “modern” striker-less formations (4-6-0) that Sir Alex Ferguson and Roma have tried in the past. 


But the season, thank God, isn’t starting today, and they have time to get some new strikers. Seeing as they've been yearning for a prolific striker since the retirement of Dichio, I suggest Toronto FC a solid and proven DP striker. Yes it’ll be costly, yes we already have one DP already, but this is a very important position and it must be solved.


Maicon Santos 3/5

Maicon Santos is they only forward on TFC's
roster - for now. Photo by Reuters

Maicon came in later last season from Chivas, and has largely impressed. He has skill, height, power and can seemingly play anywhere across the forward line. He has scored some great goals, and showed some nice skills and link up plays. 


However his injury and joining late may have hampered his debut season and we haven't seen enough of him to make a final verdict. I doubt that he is the ultimate solution at striker but he will without a doubt assist Toronto FC greatly in the coming season.

Improvements Needed?

Obviously. Toronto FC needs 4-5 new strikers, with at least two being of high degree of pedigree and skill. And if they are lucky, hopefully we can bring in a DP as well; a DP unlike the absolute flop that was Miguel Mista. This said, I’m confident that the new management team will bring in some quality new additions.


Stay tuned for my next piece about TFC’s recent roster moves and pick-ups in the MLS Super Draft.