TFC Republic Weekly: September 14-20
Things don't get any easier for Toronto FC this week as it travels to take on St. Louis City SC, the hottest team in MLS.
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's 7-match unbeaten run halted in Orlando
All good things come to an end – even for Toronto FC.
Toronto was incredibly wasteful in front of goal and paid for it in a 3-0 road loss to Orlando City on Saturday at Inter.co Stadium.
The defeat snapped a seven-game unbeaten streak by Toronto (6-8-11) who hadn’t lost since July 25 away to D.C. United. The Reds have been shut out four times this season and have gone nine straight games without a clean sheet.
A win would’ve propelled TFC above the playoff line in the Eastern Conference. Instead, they squandered their chance and dropped two spots to 12th place with nine matches remaining in the regular season.
Toronto has shown great resilience in recent weeks, coming from behind on five occasions over its previous seven contests to earn a result. But there was no comeback this time around for the Reds who wilted in the Florida heat and looked leggy at the end of playing their third game in eight days.
“I thought we were pretty solid. It seemed very even in the first half. We created some decent chances. Obviously, giving up the goal right before halftime was a bit of a backbreaker, but we've seen this team come back so many times that at the time I really wasn't concerned," coach Robin Fraser said.
"Then as we started to get deep into the second half, pushing a bit, creating half chances, I thought [Orlando] defended their box unbelievably well. The players were so committed. I don't know how many block shots they had tonight; must have been several."
John Molinaro
Djordje Mihailovic sidelined with hamstring issue
Toronto FC will have to make do without Djordje Mihailovic for the next little while.
Robin Fraser confirmed last week that Mihailovic will be out "for a couple of weeks" with a hamstring injury he picked up in a 4-4 home draw vs. the Chicago Fire on Sept. 5.
Mihailovic had two assists on a pair of Josh Sargent goals in the game against Chicago, and he has two goals and five assists in 12 league appearances (nine starts) this season.
The U.S. international was sidelined with a pelvic stress fracture starting in March and didn't return to action until July 16. He missed nine MLS matches during his injury absence.
On the positive side German midfielder Niklas Dorsch started each of the Reds' two games last week after missing three matches in a row due to a facial fracture he suffered last month. Dorsch had two goals in his first three appearances for Toronto prior to the injury.
John Molinaro
GM Jason Hernandez reflects on summer moves
Although not as busy as last year, Jason Hernandez was still fairly occupied prior to the closure of the MLS secondary transfer window on Sept. 2, making several moves over the summer that he felt strengthened Toronto FC’s roster for the home stretch of the 2026 season and beyond.
The highlight of the GM’s summer activity was the addition of Niklas Dorsch via transfer from Heidenheim 1846 of Germany's second division in late July. Other newcomers included Scottish attacker Lewis Morgan, veteran midfielder Nelson Palacios and on-loan winger Alejandro Piedrahita, while TFC 2 defender Richard Chukwu (considered one of the organization’s top prospects) graduated to the senior team.
Looking back on everything, Hernandez was “quite satisfied” with the business the club was able to conduct over the summer.
“When we set out from last summer to this summer [the] design in which we were trying to populate the team and how we believed certain things would unfold – of course, everything looks on paper one way, and it typically unfolds in a different way than you plan – and so certainly we had to adapt along the way,” Hernandez said last week.
“But I think holistically in a very elementary way, what we wanted to do in the winter window was to populate the team with as many starters as we could, and then in the summer window look to add starting calibre players that ultimately will push our depth and bolster our depth to now create a more robust team of impact players.
John Molinaro
TFC and the MLS roster free date
The 2026 MLS roster freeze date is Oct. 9, at which time clubs must submit their final 30-man rosters for this season.
Team rosters can't be changed from that date through to the day after the MLS Cup final, subject to the league's "extreme hardship" rule.
The MLS secondary transfer window closed on Sept. 2. which means clubs can't make any transfer signings, trade for players with other MLS teams, or arrange any loan deals for incoming players.
However, teams can still loan or sell a player to a non-MLS club, subject to the receiving club's applicable federation transfer window, provided such moves take place before Oct. 9.
MLS teams can also still sign free agent players who are unattached. So, for instance, if there was a player who was out of contract with his European or South American club, he could still sign with an MLS team because there would be no transfer fee involved.
Also, MLS teams can still make trades with each other that don't involve players – draft picks, international roster spots, general allocation money (GAM) and other assets – even though the transfer window has closed.
John Molinaro
TFC vs. St. Louis City on Saturday
Toronto FC plays the second of three consecutive road games when it visits St. Louis City on Saturday (8:30 p.m. ET/Apple TV).
Unquestionably, St. Louis City is the hottest team in MLS right now. The Midwest club had only one win in its first 10 games of the season but has since put together a 15-match unbeaten run (10 wins and five draws) and hasn’t lost since May 3.
St. Louis (11-6-8) has climbed to fifth in the Western Conference after posting a come-from-behind 4-2 home win over Minnesota United on the weekend.
The teams have only met once before with St. Louis earning a 1-0 win at BMO Field on July 8, 2023.
This week's match is the only meeting of the regular season between Toronto and St. Louis.
Note: I will be at Energizer Park in St. Louis to cover next Saturday's game, so be sure to visit TFC Republic in order to check out our special on-site coverage.
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Stories to look out for at TFC Republic
Three quarters of the MLS regular season is now in the books, which makes it a good time to look back and look ahead. Where do things stand with Toronto FC? How did they get to this point? And where do they go from here? I'll try to answer these questions in an in-depth feature later this week.
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.
- A TFC notebook column after Tuesday or Wednesday's training session.
- A story on Robin Fraser and his working relationship with GM Jason Hernandez.
- In-depth pre- and post-game coverage of Toronto's match vs. St. Louis City SC.
- An audio interview piece with Matthew Rocchio of STL Sports Central about Wednesday's home game vs. Toronto.
- The return of the Random Thoughts column.
- The latest edition of the reader mailbag.
- The weekly TFC 2 report.
- 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.
TFC Republic subscribers can get up to a 25% discount on ticket prices for Toronto FC home games during the 2026 MLS regular season and the 2026 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).
