Why Toronto FC will be an MLS force for years to come

It took 10 years for Toronto FC to reach the MLS Cup final, and despite the narrowest of losing margins – dropping a heartbreaking 5-4 loss on penalty kicks after 120 minutes without a goal – there’s a good chance it won’t take another decade to get back to this stage.

With some of the game’s top talent under control for several seasons, TFC has found exceptional stability in a league that typically features plenty of offseason turnover, fueling expectations that Toronto will be one of MLS’ elite teams for at least the next few years.

“I think there are a lot of lessons for this group to take away from this run,” said head coach Greg Vanney, who has guided TFC to back-to-back postseason berths. “That will only make us stronger as a group going into next year as we try to get back to this and come away winners. But it’s a group that’s grown incredibly over the past two years so I know their heads are down but I know they’ll come back fighting to start preseason next year.”

Following the club’s first ever final appearance, next year figures to carry heightened expectations for a team that was already expected to be a favourite. Anchored by designated players Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco – along with key additions in Clint Irwin and Drew Moor – to turn around what was once a struggling defensive unit, TFC is in good position to pick up where it left off in Saturday’s dominating, yet heartbreaking, effort.

Looking at Saturday night’s game, Toronto deserved to run away from Seattle but were stymied by the Sounders’ winning tactics and the inability to finish around the goal. With a lopsided 19-3 shot total, including an advantage of 7-0 on target, it was a night where the star tandem of Altidore and Giovinco just couldn’t find the back of the net.

Credit to Seattle, which weathered the storm time and again and had former TFC goalkeeper Stefan Frei pull out a simply outrageous save late on Altidore to keep the game scoreless. But in every aspect of this game, except in the one that mattered most, Toronto was the better team.

“We had a lot of good looks, a lot of half-chances, a lot of opportunities, we just couldn’t get it on frame or one little window or one pass away,” said Vanney. “Obviously Frei makes a couple of big saves that really keep them in it. Credit to them and congratulations to them because they came into a tough place and they fought hard and held strong and were able to come away with the win.”

MLS is a league where parity reigns supreme (Seattle is the 11th champion in the league’s 21-year history), and the carrousel of player movement starts with a half-day trade window Sunday morning followed by the expansion draft on Tuesday. In that sense, it’s likely that less than 72 hours after its MLS Cup appearance, change could already begin – but it won’t be too radical to a championship-calibre team.

Minnesota United and Atlanta United will each pick the first five members of their burgeoning franchises but existing teams will only lose a maximum of one player in the expansion draft. With Toronto able to protect 11 players along with those under Generation Adidas contracts – like backup goalkeeper Alex Bono, who performed admirably with Clint Irwin injured during the season as well as homegrown talents like Jordan Hamilton and Jay Chapman – Toronto won’t be losing much to that draft.

The next question becomes how Toronto can work under the salary cap that will be just a shade under $4-million next season. The club announced on Monday it had exercised contract options on 13 players and veteran Will Johnson is now out of contract with his status unknown. The question now is if TFC wants to bring him back on a new deal and if there’s space under the cap.

One strength of this team, however, is its depth, which features Tosaint Ricketts, who will be in his first full season with TFC next year and with the Canadian Chapman making good strides as an attacking midfielder this season, 2017 could be a big year for him.

There is still the depth to not only look to reach the postseason but also to go deep and potentially return as hosts to the MLS Cup final.

“We turn the page now,” said Altidore, who had scored in the five previous playoff games prior to Saturday. “It’s a long turn of a page. It’s a long wait but it’s all about bottling this feeling and try to get ready for next year and try to let this feeling out next year and try to get to this spot again.”