TFC Makes a Small Roster Move
One day before the Major League Soccer Waiver Draft takes place, Toronto FC on Tuesday made a small roster move as part of their preparations for the upcoming season now about two and a half weeks away.
Emmanuel Gomez, with the club since 2009, and out for all of 2010 with a knee injury, has been waived by the club which means he will either be plying his trade elsewhere or will be leaving MLS altogether. He will be available for any other club to select in the waiver draft, that takes place Wednesday afternoon.
Speaking of the waiver draft, there might be a piece or two in that mix that might be worthy of a look.
Chicago released 25 year old goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra via the waiver process today as well. In 2010 he secured five shutouts for the Fire before losing his reserve spot this off season to former TFC player Jon Conway. 27 year old forward Pablo Campos with Real Salt Lake looked quite strong in limited minutes down the stretch for them last season in MLS and Champions League play. He might be an ideal backup player for a club playing a 4-3-3.
Getting back to Gomez for a moment I think it is fair to say that he was a victim of the limited number of International roster spots available to TFC and the relatively difficult time he would likely have to get significant minutes ahead of stalwarts like Adrian Cann and Nana Attakora. TFC did not confirm if his recovery (or lack thereof) from his serious knee injury had anything to do with his release.
This move leaves Toronto FC with fourteen players under contract as of March 1st. One of these, youngster Nicholas Lindsay, is of course out for the season due to an off season injury.
Dykstra is horrendous and should be nowhere near an MLS job. He was a disaster for Chicago and needs a couple of seasons at least in the NASL or USL to see if he has anything worth giving at this level. The fact that he was displaced by the plaeyer we lost confirms it would be a downgrade to bring him on board. Likewise, Campos’ 2 goals in 27 odd games doesn’t appeal. I watched him, mainly as a sub, and have never been impressed.
I do like Irving Garcia, Michael Orozco, Nick Zimmerman and perhaps even Carlos Borja (plays both FB positions so would be useful). Not convinced many hispanics would love the TO weather in general, but Guevara certainly played okay and we took a punt on Plata (who, by the way, needs to be added to your list of players under contract).
Al:
Agree to disagree on Dykstra I suppose. Campos looked like a real impact sub in the CHampions League last season. Quite fast and lively.
I do agree on Zimmerman in particular. He might be a nice acquisition.
Thanks for the input.
Why would we want another goalkeeper?.
Kip, we need three goaltenders and with the reserve league coming back there will be opportunities for them to play. Perhaps the TFC brain trust might like him over Monsalve and/or Kocic… who knows… they might not either.
At the very least there might be a piece or two on this waiver list that might be attractive for Toronto to pick up, especially considering how very very thin the roster is only seventeen days out from First Kick.
Thanks for the feedback.