GOALS,GOALS,GOALS

What brings out the ultimate emotion from fans watching a game of Soccer? Whether it is a sublime finish or crosses the line from the backside of a prone player . . . GGGGOOOAAALLL!!!! We live it and we love it. Goal scorers are premium assets on any team and therefore generally command the big money around the world. Even so, a supporting cast is a must for any club to be successful.

Looking back from the inception of Toronto FC to the present day our total number of league goals scored is 275 for an average of 34.4 goals per season.The winning Eastern Conference teams from 2007 onward have scored 387 for an average of 48.4.The western Conference has higher numbers and is a lot more difficult to win at the present time.

Our leading goal scorers from 2007 onward look very tame compared with the league's best:

Year Toronto FC Leading Scorer Goals MLS Leading Scorer Goals 2007 Danny Dichio 6 Luciano Emilio (DC United) 20 2008 Danny Dichio 5 Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy) 20 2009 Dwayne De Rosario 11 Jeff Cunningham (FC Dallas) 17 2010 Dwayne De Rosario 15 Chris Wondoloski (San Jose) 18 2011 Danny Koevermans 8 Dwayne De Rosario (DC United) 16 2012 Danny Koevermans 9 Chris Wondoloski (San Jose) 27 2013 Robert Earnshaw 9 Camilo (Vancouver Whitecaps) 22 2014 Jermain Defoe 11 Bradley Wright-Phillips 27

The most obvious statistic being that Toronto FC have only had 2 players who have scored into the double digits – Defoe and De Rosario.

If we are to believe the stories in the press, Defoe is 'odds on' to be back in the U.K. at one minute after midnight on January 1st 2015. De Rosario is apparently thought to be surplus to requirements. That means that two avenues of goals are no longer with us which therefore leaves an even bigger question. Who or what is left on this squad.

Across the middle, Kyle Bekker, Jackson, Daniel Lovitz, Dominic Oduro, Jonathan Osorio, Collen Warner, Michael Bradley, Manny Aparicio, Chris Manella and Marky Delgado have 17 goals COMBINED for this club. No double digit scorers here.



Oduro and Jackson are living on past successes with contracts that no team will touch. Both of them are second tier and will only go down hill.

Bekker, Aparicio, Manella and potentially Delgado will most probably be with the USLteam so that leaves us with Osorio, Bradley, Warner and Lovitz, It is getting pretty thin across the the middle area.

Then we look at the goalscoring list; With Defoe likely gone we end up with Gilberto, Robbie Findley, Bright Dike, Jordan Hamilton and that gets even thinner here if Hamilton goes to the USL, which is likely.

The leading goal scorers across the league have averaged 20+ goals per season so WHO is coming to our rescue? Only Tim Bezbatchenko has the answer, or at least we hope he does. He has to FIND and SIGN some TOP CLASS players for 2015 to enable TFC. to get into the playoffs.

Our need is both desperate and acute for an attacking midfielder, accurate left and right wingmen and another goalscorer. We need quality players. All of the teams are looking to improve this off-season so we hope that we are not left behind AGAIN.

This team has to find a way to score at least 50+ goals in the coming season AND to reduce the goals scored against as well, which will require another top defender. Maybe the club has have a picked out their targets and we will end up with a very competitive squad but at this time of year we are all entitled to speculate.



If the club is reportedly looking into players like Steven Gerrard and Wesley Sneijder, how about someone like Xavi Alonso, Lukas Poldolski or Georgios Samaras (who has been linked to Toronto in the past) all sitting on a bench somewhere what a difference they could make. Use Defoe money in a very positive way and just maybe we WILL we see a league table showing Toronto FC. with these numbers at the end of the 2015 regular season ?

Games Played Goals For Goals Against Goal Difference Wins Losses Ties Points 34 55 34 21 16 11 7 55

Only time will tell, but this is what fans of Toronto FC want and expect going forward. We live in hope.