TFC Republic Weekly: June 30-July 6
Toronto FC will attempt to make it two wins in a row and try to slowly climb the ladder in the East when it visits NYCFC this week.
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 winless skid with rare home win
There appears to still be some life left in Toronto FC, but is it too late?
Time will only tell if TFC’s 3-0 victory over the Portland Timbers on Saturday at BMO Field marked the beginning of a remarkable turnaround that will see them qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
In the meantime, the Reds can take comfort in their second home win of the season that was delivered to them courtesy of goals from Alonso Coello and Tyrese Spicer. Toronto also benefited from an own goal en route to registering its fifth shutout of the MLS campaign and first since May 10.
With this result, Toronto (4-10-5) snapped a four-game winless skid and moved up one place to 13th in the Eastern Conference, four spots and 11 points out of a playoff position with a little less than half of the regular-season remaining.
The 1-1 draw vs. the New York Red Bulls earlier in the week saw Toronto come from behind with a strong second-half showing following an opening 45 minutes that coach Robin Fraser described as “terrible.” TFC learned their lesson against Portland, playing with urgency and aggressiveness from the opening kickoff and never letting up, and were justly rewarded.
"We had a good second half Wednesday, and we just said, we can't let that go to waste. The way we finish our game is the way we have to start this game. And I think undoubtedly, they did," Fraser said in Saturday's post-game news conference.
John Molinaro
TFC trying to offload Lorenzo Insigne
Italian DP Lorenzo Insigne could soon be gone from Toronto FC.
Insigne didn’t dress for TFC's in Saturday's win vs. Portland, marking the second straight game in which he was absent. The Italian was also an unused substitute in last Wednesday’s home draw vs. the New York Red Bulls.
Insigne trained with the team last Friday, and he wasn’t on the official injury list published by MLS, so the fact that he didn’t even make the gameday roster for a severely depleted Toronto FC on Saturday says plenty about his future.
Sources tell TFC Republic that the club is actively trying to offload him this summer, but that no deal is close to being done at the moment. In the meantime, don’t be surprised if Insigne continues to be benched as TFC attempt to move him out.
The former Napoli captain was similarly benched for the first four games of the season while the club was trying to figure out an exit plan for him. When possible transfers and trades couldn’t be worked out, he returned to action for Toronto on March 22 in a 2-1 road loss to the New York Red Bulls when he went the full 90 minutes.
In explaining Insigne's absence on Saturday, Robin Fraser told reporters that TFC have made the decision to give players on loan and others going into option years of their contracts a chance to prove themselves.
“The club has talked about our approach for the second half of the season. We have a lot of players on loan or young players, a lot of guys coming out of their contract [and] going into option years,” Fraser said.
“And the feeling from the club is that we need to certainly start to assess some of these players. So, this was a situation today, there was just an opportunity to look at more of the younger players. … And it's just an opportunity to look at these guys. We have to make decisions on them.”
Asked if Insigne is going to figure in future games for the Reds, Fraser replied: "We'll reassess, as time goes on."
Insigne, who is the league's second highest-paid player at $15.4 million US, has one goal and three assists in 12 MLS games this season.
John Molinaro
TFC vs. New York City FC on Thursday
Toronto FC returns to action when it visits New York City FC at Yankee Stadium on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET/Apple TV & TSN).
New York (8-7-4) is clinging to the ninth and final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference and sits four spots and 11 points above Toronto in the table.
NYCFC entered last weekend on the back of three wins and a draw in their previous five games, and they had a chance to further climb the ladder in the East, but a 1-0 road loss to CF Montreal on Saturday stopped that from happening. It marked the seventh time this season that New York was shut out.
"The most important thing for us is the reality that tonight we showed up a little bit late to the party," New York assistant coach Mehdi Ballouchy said.
"Our first half an hour or so was a little sluggish — in and out of possession. We didn’t have the right intensity. It took halftime for us to kind of get going again. The second half was much better. We had control, we were in the final third, and we just lacked that last little play — the last pass or clever pass, the right type of crosses, and finishing."
New York leads the all-time regular season series against Toronto with 10 wins and seven draws in 23 games. This is the final meeting of the regular season between the clubs – NYCFC earned a 1-0 win at BMO Field on April 26.
John Molinaro
CanWNT vs. USA on Wednesday
Fresh off a 4-1 win over Costa Rica in Toronto last Friday, the Canadian women's team faces a much stiffer opponent when it takes on the United States at Audi Field in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET/OneSoccer).
"We've got a much tougher test on [Wednesday]. It's a whole other level of opponent we're playing. If we don't start well, we could come unstuck," coach Casey Stoney said after the Costa Rica win.
Canada is No. 8 in the current FIFA world rankings, behind the top-ranked U.S.
The Americans have won five of their last six games and four in a row, including a 4-0 victory over Ireland at Cincinnati's TQL Stadium last week.
Canada is 4-53-9 all-time against the U.S. dating back to 1986. The Canadian women have not won on American soil since Nov. 11, 2000 (a 3-1 friendly win in Columbus, Ohio). Canada's last win over the U.S. was a 1-0 decision in the Tokyo Olympic semifinal in August 2021.
The previous match between the two nations ended in a penalty shootout win for the U.S. in the 2024 SheBelieves Cup final at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio.
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Stories to look out for at TFC Republic
Last week, the MLS Players Association publicly revealed the wages for all of its players for the 2025 season. Toronto FC is spending big on its roster, but is it getting value for the money it's splashing out? Some of the contracts they have signed will surprise you, both in a good and a bad way. I'll take a deep dive into the numbers, examining every player's pay packet and salary cap hit. Look for an in-depth feature later this week.
Other stories that will be published later this week include:
- My feature story on the big storylines to watch for in the second half of the season.
- In-depth pre- and post-game coverage of Toronto's match vs. New York City FC.
- An audio interview piece with Andrew Leigh of Hudson River Blue ahead of Thursday's road game vs. New York.
- Regular "TFC Tidbits" stories throughout the week.
- A new TFC Talk interview with beat reporter James Grossi.
- The reader mailbag.
- In-depth pre- and post-game coverage of the Canadian women's team's match vs. the United States.
- 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.
(Top photo by Lucas Kschischang/Toronto FC)
TFC Republic has a comments section! At the very bottom of every story, there is a feature where you can post your comments, so be sure to share your thoughts and views.
TFC Republic subscribers can get up to a 20% discount on ticket prices for Toronto FC home games during the 2025 MLS regular season and the Canadian Championship.
To receive the special promo code, email me at jmo1897@gmail.com
(Please don't share promo code with non-TFC Republic subscribers).
