Team Focus: Defoe and Bradley Bringing Exciting Times to Toronto

“It’s a bloody big deal,” said Toronto FC as they hyped up the unveiling of two new designated players on Monday. Indeed the captures of Jermain Defoe and Michael Bradley have caught the imagination of MLS.

Since their first season in 2007 Toronto FC have underperformed. While Canadian rivals Vancouver and Montreal have both made the playoffs since their expansion year Toronto FC have finished no higher than 11th in the MLS standings.

But now Tim Leiweke, the man who lured David Beckham to the LA Galaxy, is in town as the new owner of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, the club’s ruling group. Toronto FC have long threatened to make the jump to genuine marquee franchise and the signings of Defoe and Bradley, as well as Gilberto and Dwayne De Rosario, has made them the team to watch in MLS this year.

Defoe is the player Toronto FC have taken out full page newspaper adverts for, and he’s the one likely to attract most attention when both players are unveiled, but it is the signing of Bradley that provides a real landmark for the Canadian side.

Bradley was a key player for Roma last season, starting 24 games and holding down a position in the centre of the team’s midfield. This season has been a little tougher for the 26-year-old, after being ousted from Rudi Garcia’s side by new signing Kevin Strootman.

A number of Premier League clubs, rival Serie A teams and Bayer Leverkusen were keen to sign Bradley in the January transfer window, just months after the player came close to joining Sunderland in the summer. But at the peak of his career, at the peak of his value as a player, Bradley has moved back to the league that gave him his start as a teenager.

Whether he was a central figure at Roma or not Bradley has left behind a team on the verge of qualifying for the Champions League to join a club often seen as MLS’ most aimless franchise. As the USA’s best and most consistent player at international level Bradley has made a risky move, just months before the World Cup.

But then Bradley’s career path has never taken an orthodox route. After starting out with the Metrostars he moved to Holland with Heerenveen before stints with Borussia Monchengladbach, Aston Villa, Chievo and finally Roma. He’s taken in five countries in just eight years and now he’ll move to a sixth.

As is often the case with DP signings in MLS, those Defoe and Bradley are largely designed to make a statement, in the same way David Beckham and Thierry Henry did, but what will these two players contribute on the pitch?

Of course, Bradley’s greatest asset is his passing range, dictating the pace of what he sees in front of him with an innate presence and composure on the ball. His pass success rate in 11 appearances for Roma this season stands at an impressive 91.9%, the third highest in Serie A. In fact, Bradley also boasted the third best pass success rate of any midfielder in Serie A last year (89.4%).

Far too often last season Toronto FC lacked control over possession. Ryan Nelsen’s side had the third lowest share of the ball (46.3%) in the league, with only the Chicago Fire and Chivas USA sitting below Toronto FC in this regard. Bradley will undoubtedly give Toronto more control when the new season kicks off.

One aspect of Bradley’s game that could return is his attacking instinct. His three years in Italy have turned Bradley into a deep-lying pass-master who rarely leaves the centre circle. That’s no bad thing but earlier in his career Bradley was more of a goal threat and could always be counted on for an assist. MLS might afford him the freedom to work on that side of his game again.

Bobby Convey led Toronto FC for key passes per game last season, with just 1.7. To put that into perspective Federico Higuain topped the MLS-wide column with an average of 4.1 key passes per appearance. Indeed Nelsen might be counting on Bradley’s attacking flair returning.

Defoe, meanwhile, has plenty of work to do as well. Toronto FC averaged the second lowest shots per game (10.1) in MLS last season, scoring just 20 goals from open play (the third lowest tally in the league). Both players possess quintessential strengths for their position; Bradley – a midfielder – is good at passing and Defoe – a striker – is good at scoring.

Last season saw Defoe net 11 times in the Premier League (15 in all competitions) for Spurs. The season before that he scored 11 goals in 11 league starts. However, the past 12 months have seen Defoe’s profligacy in terms of shots on goal slip, averaging just 1.5 shots per game this season as opposed to 3.2 per game last season.

Defoe’s game is all about goals. He contributes very little else to the team, averaging well under one key pass and one dribble per game over the past four Premier League seasons. But goals are the currency of football and if Defoe delivers them at Toronto, as he has at every club he’s been at, nothing else will matter.

“Why can’t we be great?” asked Leiweke at the unveiling of the two players in downtown Toronto. There’s no doubt the arrival of the former LA Galaxy chief has lifted the air of failure that has dogged Toronto FC for too long, but now it’s up to Defoe and Bradley to do the same on the pitch.

Can Defoe and Bradley bring success to Toronto? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below