Why Toronto FC Is Finally for Real

Fair warning to Toronto FC fans: You're about to roll your eyes, hard. Ready?

This year, TFC is for real.

Believe me, I know. It's been said before. Pretty much every year, there are prognostications full of (increasingly implausible) optimism about the team. And yet, through nine MLS seasons, TFC has made precisely one postseason appearance—it came last year, a 3-0 blowout loss on the road in Montreal. So, your incredulity is duly noted. But even among some of the team's most justifiably jaded followers, this season feels different. Given TFC's history, "different" equals good.

With just under a month to go until the regular season, the roster is essentially set. While this would be unremarkable for most professional clubs, there have been years where TFC struggled just to fill out its bench on opening day. This time, TFC has both quantity and quality on its roster.

The "big three"—Sebastian Giovinco, Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore—are all back. Fans will be especially enthused about Giovinco, the reigning MLS MVP who, like most Torontonians, sings along to Drake while driving around downtown.

Giovinco is no Jermain Defoe, the team's much-touted "bloody big thing" who rode into town as a saviour before the 2014 campaign, then scuttled back home to England at season's end. The winter transfer window is closed and Seba is staying put, ready to terrorize opposing defenders for another year. It's not just about the top end of the roster, however—general manager Tim Bezbatchenko has spent this offseason prudently addressing the team's most pressing needs.

The right-back position was one big dumpster fire in 2015, so TFC went out and got experienced fullback Steven Beitashour from Vancouver.

The team was generally awful at keeping the ball out of its own net in 2015 (conceding a league-worst 58 goals), so Bezbatchenko plucked a pair of all-stars out of Colorado (sixth best in goals conceded last year)—central defender Drew Moor, and goalkeeper Clint Irwin.

And, to bolster an already good-looking midfield, Toronto picked up hometown boy Will Johnson, a Canadian national-team stalwart and two-time MLS Cup winner, including last season when he won with the Portland Timbers.

Unlike in previous offseasons, when TFC filled out its squad with odds and ends from European leagues, these newcomers are accustomed to the quirks of MLS—the daunting travel, the variety of playing conditions and surfaces, the physical of play. None will need weeks or months to adjust to life in North America.

Also unlike previous seasons, TFC's front office situation is actually settled. Bezbatchenko is making shrewd moves within the league's convoluted roster and salary rules, while Bill Manning (appointed team president in October) has a history of success in MLS, with two Executive of the Year awards to his name.

Of course, it wouldn't be Toronto FC without a bit of uncertainty. Greg Vanney, the team's ninth manager in nine seasons, was the first bench boss to lead TFC to the MLS playoffs—but the bitter end to last season has some fans wondering if he's the man to lead the team forward. Winning has a way of quelling such worries, however, and Toronto FC indisputably has a roster capable of doing lots of winning in MLS. The team's projected starting lineup is among the best in the league, with quality depth at nearly every position.

That's no guarantee of anything, of course. Injuries, absences, disappointments and sheer bad luck have walloped TFC in the past, and will inevitably play some role in 2016. But for perhaps the first time ever, this team is built to win—not just to muddle along, or "maybe win if everything happens to go right," but to compete for actual, in-season silverware.

You're rolling your eyes again. Go ahead, you've earned the right to be skeptical.

But after so many seasons of backroom wackiness, inept personnel decisions and hilariously tragic on-field disasters, you've also—if you can allow yourself to do it—earned the right to be legitimately optimistic.