Waking The Red Jan 18, 2019
Vazquez Forever: Toronto Memories of the Magician Midfielder
Share your favourite moments too! The First Signing https://twitter.com/torontofc/status/834062642172010498 Vanney’s potential “missing piece” following a near-championing 2016 season, FC Barcelona academy alumni Victor Vazquez signed with Toronto FC in February 2017 using available TAM funds on a transfer fee-free deal. After local training and the processing of his Canadian work permit, VV’s club debut would take place on March 4 vs. Real Salt Lake, followed by making the starting lineup with the Reds in Philadelphia on March 11 alongside Armando Cooper,...
Waking The Red Jan 17, 2019
Footy Talks Podcast: Toronto FC training camp starts with a bang
What is going on? It’s been several years since we’ve seen an offseason quite like this in Toronto. Recent years have been all about re-stocking, re-tooling and improving. That was supposed to be the plan this year... or so we thought. Instead, we’ve been treated to a wild offseason that has seen two key pieces of the Toronto FC treble winning side depart. First it was Bezbatchenko, and now Vazquez as part of a bombshell bit of news released on the first day of the club’s training camp. It all makes an already tenuous offseason so much more unpredictable. James Grossi of...
Waking The Red Jan 16, 2019
Toronto FC bring back Jordan Hamilton and Tsubasa Endoh
A couple familiar faces back in the mix. Toronto FC announced this morning that they've re-signed both Jordan Hamilton and Tsubasa Endoh, just a couple days after the beginning of training camp. Hamilton bounced between TFC and TFC II last season, making 19 appearances for the big club and scoring three goals. He was excellent in USL, scoring eight goals in ten games for II. The 22-year-old spent a long time in the TFC Academy before signing his first MLS contract in 2014. Endoh, TFC’s ninth overall pick in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft, is returning after a 2018 in which he was limited to a...
Waking The Red Jan 16, 2019
Losing Victor Vazquez hurts, but is it ultimately for the best?
The Spaniard is on his way to Qatar On Tuesday, news broke that Toronto FC midfielder Victor Vazquez has been sold to a club in Qatar, pending a physical. Falling on the first day of training camp, the news came as a shock to fans, many of whom are showing their disappointment at the sale of one of the most important players in franchise history. Greg Vanney told reporters that Victor had requested to leave the club, as the unnamed Qatari team had offered him a contract with more long-term security than his deal in Toronto, so when his agent contacted then-general manager Tim Bezbatchenko,...
Waking The Red Jan 15, 2019
Report: Canadian Midfielder Richie Laryea in camp with Toronto FC
The 24-year-old is looking for a new club. After a couple of years down south, it looks like Richie Laryea has come home. The Toronto native is currently in camp with Toronto FC, according to a report from The Athletic’s Paul Tenorio. Laryea has spent the past three seasons in the Orlando City organization, where he was drafted 7th overall in 2016 out of the University of Akron. He made 21 appearances for the first time over three seasons, however only three of those came in starts. He also played 35 times for Orlando City B in USL. Former Orlando City midfielder Richie Laryea is in...
Waking The Red Jan 15, 2019
Report: Toronto FC to sell Victor Vazquez to Qatari club
A bombshell report from Sportsnet this morning. According to a bombshell report this morning by Sportsnet’s John Molinaro and Joshua Kloke of The Athletic, Toronto FC have agreed a transfer deal that will send midfielder Victor Vazquez to an unidentified club in Qatar. Vazquez, 31, has been in Toronto for the past two years, coming to the Reds from Cruz Azul before the 2017 season. He was an integral member of TFC’s 2017 run to the MLS Cup and Supporters’ Shield, and although he struggled heavily with injuries in 2018, he was widely considered one of the club’s most talented...
Waking The Red Jan 11, 2019
Toronto FC select Griffin Dorsey with their first round pick
The Reds picked the midfielder sixth overall. On Friday afternoon, Toronto FC selected midfielder Griffin Dorsey with their first pick of the 2019 MLS SuperDraft. Chosen sixth overall, Dorsey comes to Toronto after spending his college career with Indiana University. After a pair of surprising picks, two high-profile Canadian players were still available for Toronto FC to select from, striker Tajon Buchanon (who Matt Doyle from MLS predicted would go first overall) and goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair, who was chosen for Toronto FC in the SB Nation mock draft. Toronto FC shocked everyone and...
Waking The Red Jan 9, 2019
Footy Talks Podcast: A New York perspective on Ali Curtis
Learn more about Toronto FC’s new GM There is still a lot to learn about the man who is now at the helm of Toronto FC. How quickly his hiring, and the departure of Tim Bezbatchenko, played out meant there wasn’t a whole lot of information released about Ali Curtis. We figured the best way to find out more would be to reach out to someone who covered and talked to Ali Curtis first-hand. On this week’s Footy Talks podcast, we are joined by Russ McKenzie, who covered the New York Red Bulls for Empire of Soccer during the Ali Curtis years. He and Mitchell Tierney discuss topics like...
Waking The Red Jan 9, 2019
Toronto FC’s schedule: If you could go to one game this year, which would it be?
BMO looks better in person for sure For those of us not able to attend TFC games on the regular (myself included), I think there’s a much different appreciation for attending games in person. Seeing the regular season schedule fixtures announced and then highlighted in Charlie’s earlier article, makes one filled with just as much envy as excitement. For sure we’re all excited to catch those 401 Derby matches, Champions League nights, and Eastern Conference rivalry matches on TV, but what if you could only attend one in person? Speaking for myself, and I’m sure some of our other out...
Waking The Red Jan 8, 2019
Year in Review: Waking the Red’s 2018 Toronto FC Awards!
As far as years go, that one... went. A little later than we may have intended, but we’re finally ready to unveil Waking the Red’s 2018 awards for the Toronto FC season that was. Better late than never, eh? We, the WTR staff, have come up with a number of categories, and we’ve all submitted our votes. You, the readers, will have the final say, by voting on some awards in a series of polls. We’ve got some serious awards, and some silly ones. Be prepared to look back on the ups and downs of 2018, and perhaps give everyone’s favourite players a bit of a light-hearted ribbing (all...
Waking The Red Jan 8, 2019
Mock MLS SuperDraft 2019: Toronto FC picks Dayne St. Clair sixth overall
Toronto FC have had success when picking goalies sixth overall... This past weekend, SB Nation’s MLS blogs held their 2019 MLS mock SuperDraft, where the participants simulated the first round of draft, which will take place on January 11th. I was representing Waking the Red and was in charge of making the sixth overall pick. Last year, TFC had the last pick of the round because of their MLS Cup success, but this year, because they had the fifth-worst record in the league, they pick sixth (expansion side FC Cincinnati get the first overall pick). In 2018, Charlie picked 23rd and 46th...
Waking The Red Jan 7, 2019
Toronto FC 2019 schedule: How the new MLS season will shape up
Are you happy with the 2019 MLS fixture list? Major League Soccer released its 2019 fixture list this afternoon, so we now know when Toronto FC will be taking the field in the upcoming season. We already knew that TFC will open the season away to the Philadelphia Union on March 2, before welcoming the New England Revolution to BMO Field for a St. Patrick’s Day home opener on March 17. We’ve also got dates for the Concacaf Champions League, with Leg 1 against Independiente FC coming February 19 in Panama, and Leg 2 back in Toronto on February 26. The schedule is an interesting one,...
Waking The Red Jan 7, 2019
Who is Laurent Ciman?
Now on the red side of the 401 derby. As Laurent Ciman was signed on December 27 through the allocation process, I wanted to take a look at who he is exactly, and what he’ll bring to Toronto FC. Laurent Ciman is an aggressive centre-back who likes to run forward a lot, and gets out of position a decent amount, but overall is a quality centre-back who is a step above most of the defenders in MLS. He was born in Farciennes, Belgium, and has continued to play for the Belgian national team since 2010, making 20 appearances and scoring 1 goal with the national side. Photo by...
Waking The Red Jan 7, 2019
Jon Bakero relishing Toronto FC challenge
The Spaniard spoke to Mundo Deportivo about the upcoming season; WTR’s Gianluca Lia has it translated. A new year has kicked in and we are already a few weeks away from Toronto FC’s first competitive fixtures as Independiente FC are awaiting in the 2019 Concacaf Champions League. A fresh season always brings in new expectations and high hopes for the fans, but the players are no exception either. One of TFC’s members who is relishing the chance to showcase his talent in the coming season is Spaniard Jon Bakero, who, following his cameo appearances during 2018, is keen to carry more...
Waking The Red Jan 4, 2019
Footy Talks Podcast: Expect Toronto FC to get younger under Ali Curtis
Toronto FC’s new manager is big on giving academy products opportunities. Tyler Adams, Sean Davis, Alex Muyl. These are three names among the many that either were signed to homegrown contracts or made their first team debut while Ali Curtis was in charge of the New York Red Bulls. It’s perhaps a sign of what is to come for Toronto FC under a man who puts very high stock in developing young players and allocating first team minutes for them. The youth movement might not happen right away. After all, this team is still built to complement three aging and expensive players who are...
