TFC Republic Weekly: August 17-23

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 also get a glimpse of what to expect at TFC Republic in the coming days.

So, without further ado...

Toronto FC ends 12-game winless skid in MLS

There appears to be some life in Toronto FC after all.   

Toronto benefitted from an own-goal and an absolute screamer from Niklas Dorsch to earn a 2-1 win over the New England Revolution on Saturday in its long-awaited return to BMO Field.    

It was a much-needed result for Toronto (4-7-8) who snapped a 12-game winless run in MLS (13 in all competitions) and earned its first win since April 4.   

Toronto was back at BMO Field for the first time since May 9 as the stadium was one of the venues for this summer’s FIFA World Cup. The Reds rewarded the hometown fans with a spirited display and an impressive win over the third-place team in the Eastern Conference that suggests they might have enough fight in them to get back into the playoff race.  

"We needed three points, and we got three points. So, definitely it feels great. At the end of the day, for everything that's been going on, we just need to win games," coach Robin Fraser said.

Toronto also showed plenty of resilience in playing a man down for the final 14 minutes after Djordje Mihailovic was red carded.

Fraser admitted that TFC "didn't play as well as we would like to have," but he felt games like this could serve as a turning point for his team.

Toronto FC vs. New England Revolution: 3 takeaways

It wasn’t pretty, but TFC managed to end their 12-game MLS winless skid with a gritty display in their homecoming on Saturday.

TFC REPUBLICJohn Molinaro

Man-of-the-match display from Niklas Dorsch

For the second time in a row, Niklas Dorsch put in a solid showing for Toronto FC and this time it rightly earned the German midfielder man-of-the-match honours. 

Dorsch was masterful as TFC's midfield general against New England with his superb two-way play, helping the club to build out from the back while also serving as an effective defensive shield in front of the back four. He finished with a team-high 89.3 per cent passing success rate and one key pass.  

On the other side of the ball, Dorsch made two tackles and had one interception and a defensive clearance while offering Toronto a resolute physical presence in central midfield (as evidenced by his team-high five fouls). 

"He was fantastic. I thought he covered a ton of ground, and you could tell he was pretty tired toward the end, and he just wouldn't stop running, wouldn't stop going. I thought it was a really good performance, obviously capped off by a fantastic goal," Robin Fraser said. 

Indeed, the highlight of Dorsch's display came in first half injury time when he was teed up by Djordje Mihailovic and let loose a gorgeous shot from 25 yards out that beat Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner and nestled into the top right corner of the net. 

Reader mailbag: Can Niklas Dorsch be TFC’s new Michael Bradley?

We’re still very early into the German’s MLS career so it’s too early to tell. But there are a lot of similarities between the two players.

TFC REPUBLICJohn Molinaro

TFC confirms Dorsch is a TAM-level player

Toronto FC's original announcement about securing Niklas Dorsch via transfer last month caught a lot of people by surprise because the club made no mention of whether the German was either a TAM-level player or a designated player.  

Many assumed that TFC was able to secure Dorsch without having to use one of those two player classifications. But GM Jason Hernandez confirmed last week when asked by TFC Republic that Dorsch is a TAM player and that he could be changed to a DP before the end of the season. 

“It's probably most similar to Richie [Laryea] when we acquired him from Nottingham; considering the fee and the whole bit, we decided to designate [Laryea as a] DP for a season, just to maximize cap efficiency and strategies that way, but he never actually required a DP slot. Niklas is the same way. He's a TAM player, so he doesn't require a DP slot. But I would say, in all likelihood, for us to maximize ourselves in the near midterm, it's probably most likely we'll use the [DP] tag on him for the rest of the season," Hernandez said. 

Converting a targeted allocation money (TAM) player into a designated player (DP) is a strategic move that MLS clubs use to maximize roster flexibility and free up salary cap room. To keep a high-earning player in a TAM slot, GMs must continuously spend allocation money – either TAM or general allocation money (GAM) – to "buy down" that player's salary cap hit below the threshold of $803,125 US, which is league's maximum salary budget charge. 

For DPs, the cost of their salaries above the maximum salary budget charge is paid directly out-of-pocket by the club owners. GMs don't have to continue to burn through their reserves of TAM and GAM to buy down the player. By preserving their TAM and GAM funds, they have the freedom and flexibility to spend that money on other roster spots. 

5 players who need to step up in a big way for Toronto FC

With only 16 games remaining, TFC needs all hands on deck – especially from key starters – to climb back up the ladder in the East.

TFC REPUBLICJohn Molinaro

The MLS summer transfer window 

Major League Soccer observes two transfer windows each year.  

This season's primary transfer window ran from Jan. 26 to March 26. The secondary transfer window opened on July 13 and closes on Sept. 2.  

During the summer transfer windows, MLS clubs can:  

• Sign players who are out of contract. 
• Buy and sell players via transfer both from teams within MLS and from abroad. 
• Make trades with other MLS teams, either for players or assets (GAM, draft picks, etc.). 
• Sign players on loan from clubs within MLS and from abroad.  

Thus far this window, Hernandez pulled off acquisitions for Niklas Dorsch and Nelson Palacio, moved up Richard Chukwu from TFC 2 to the first team, and parted company with Henry Wingo and Cassius Mailula.

TFC newcomer Niklas Dorsch in MLS ‘to achieve something’

Toronto FC has fallen on hard times in recent years, but that didn’t scare off the German. If anything, it helped draw him to the club.

TFC REPUBLICJohn Molinaro

2 games for TFC this week

Saturday's win over New England allowed Toronto FC to close the gap from six to four points on D.C. United who hold down the ninth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

And while the club's first victory in four months will give it a big boost in confidence, the Reds can't rest on their laurels as they have two games in the span of four days this week against teams ranked in the top half of the East.

Toronto hosts fifth-place Charlotte FC (8-7-4) on Wednesday in the series finale between the clubs – Charlotte earned a 3-1 home win in May. The Reds then hit the road for a date with Lionel Messi and second-place Inter Miami (11-3-5) on Saturday. The Herons bested Toronto 4-2 at BMO Field in May.

With only 15 matches remaining in the regular season, Toronto needs to keep the momentum going this week and can't afford to walk away with nothing from these two matches.

"I think for us going against Charlotte, it's about a little bit of our defensive structure and our defensive mindset and we've done some really good things with the ball over the last couple of weeks. We had a few moments today where we did some good things with the ball, but if we don't stop teams, we don't give ourselves the opportunity to do that ... That certainly will be part of our focus going into Wednesday," Robin Fraser said on Saturday.

RELATED READING: Newsletter || Features || Match reports || Opinion || Q&As || Videos || News || Transactions || TFC 2 ||

Stories to look out for at TFC Republic     

Defender Reid Fisher has been a workhorse for TFC 2 this season, starting in 18 of the club's 22 regular season matches in MLS NEXT Pro while logging a team-high 1,625 minutes. He also made his senior team debut earlier in the season and looks poised to land an MLS contract for next season. TFC Republic recently chatted one-on-one with Fisher. Look for my feature story in the coming days. 

Other stories that will be published this week include:                            

• A new TFC Talk interview with beat reporter James Grossi.   
• A piece on the four stories to watch for this week.    
• My weekly TFC random thoughts column.
• In-depth pre- and post-game coverage of Toronto's match vs. Charlotte FC.      
• An audio interview with reporter Sam Spencer of Soccer Sheet ahead of Wednesday's home game.    
• In-depth pre- and post-game coverage of Toronto's match vs. Inter Miami.        
• An audio interview with reporter Franco Panizo of the Miami Total Futbol website ahead of Saturday's road game.    
• The latest edition of the reader mailbag.     
• Regular "TFC Tidbits" news stories throughout the week.
• 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.