Toronto FC II finished the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro season strong at the start of the month, defeating Crown Legacy FC 4-1 in North Carolina on October 6.
It was an emphatic conclusion to the campaign. Marko Stojadinvoic and 17-year-old Joses Chukwu scored their first goals for the Young Reds, Julian Altobelli set a new club record with goals in nine straight appearances and becoming TFC II’s all-time leading scorer with his 21st goal in the process, and Nate Edwards, recently signed to a first team contract, bagged one as well.
“I was really proud of the way we ended,” said TFC II Head Coach Gianni Cimini last week. “Crown Legacy had eight first team guys on the pitch. [Away from] home, in the heat, against a side we knew was a quality side, older players, and we go there and end up winning 4-1.”
“That was a good response, especially losing 5-1 to Chattanooga the week before,” he continued. “From a mental standpoint to show that level of response was important at the end of the season. To say there's something about these guys – from the compete, from the character building, all that kind of stuff – that we're happy about.”
Toronto’s long shot hopes of a playoff berth came to an end a few weeks earlier with a 2-0 road defeat against New York Red Bulls II. The home finale against Chattanooga FC got away from the side, but they head into the offseason knowing they weren’t far off the pace this year.
TFC II finished eight points off the playoff places in the Eastern Conference.
“From a result standpoint, inconsistent,” assessed Cimini. “But to take a contextual view, a new year with a new system, new language, new types of profiles and new positions, new academy players coming in, the likes of Mark Fisher, Ythallo, Hassan [Ayari], Charlie [Staniland] and Abe [Rodriguez], some new faces in the group, you put those things together you can see the reason why.”
“It's a jump in terms of the record, 10 wins, 12 losses, six ties – teams are making the playoffs with 10 wins,” he compared – Toronto were 6W-14L-8T in 2023. “We’re really happy that we were able to integrate some younger TFC Academy guys. We went the youngest we've ever gone. Richard [Chukwu, 16], a 2008, ended up playing 450 minutes, six starts; [17-year-old] Andrei Dumitru had a large amount of minutes with us this year.”
In parallel with the first team, players wrapped up training to finish off the year.
“We had exit medicals and meetings attended by [TFC Technical Director] Sean Rubio and myself,” explained Cimini. “[The players] get sent home with individualized workout programs.”
“From that point on, it's preparation for next year,” he continued. “A lot of watching the academy games, identifying which TFC Academy prospects are coming up, and then looking to add to the roster for 2025 to see what type of prospects we can bring in to fill a need.”
Roster decisions have not yet been announced, but the side, like much of MLS NEXT Pro, is trending younger.
“We are shifting to using the platform to gain that experience and to get real assessment on players, who can and who can't do it,” outlined Cimini. “Everybody wants to make the playoffs and I’m a firm believer that the team is the vehicle in which you develop individuals.”
“You can't separate them,” he added, balancing success and development. “You just look at them in different ways.”
“We want to use this platform in the right way,” Cimini emphasized. “We wanted to make sure that we were providing those experiences for our younger players to get answers. The MLS NEXT Pro team is a vehicle for experiences, for high potential prospects to accelerate their pathway to the first team.”
Now three seasons in, the MLS NEXT Pro landscape continues to evolve. Two independent clubs, Carolina Cora FC and Chattanooga FC, joined the league in 2024 and different teams use the resource in different ways.
“I like the fact that there's a mix,” said Cimini. “If you're using the platform the way we are, you want the right level of challenge. You don’t want to be winning every game. If you're really pushing younger guys it [ought to] be hard. You don't want the league to be easy to win for young guys because that creates a whole different problem from a mental standpoint.”
“I like the direction the league is going where [depending on the opponent] you're playing in front of fans and you're playing against guys that are 30 years old. Look at that Huntsville 3-2 loss, that's older guys understanding how to get the moment back,” he highlighted. “We miss two or three [chances] and they score the two or three that they get. That's the difference when you're playing an older team.”
“You want those moments to teach players that you don't get 10 chances, you get two chances and one of them has to go in the goal and that's the difference between winning and losing,” Cimini added. “MLS NEXT Pro as a platform has grown because of the variety.”
TFC II helped advance two more prospects – Charlie Sharp and Nate Edwards – to the first team this year. Adam Pearlman, on loan from the first team, was one of the first names on the team sheet, a broken foot limited Lazar Stefanovic’s action this season, and on the other side the likes of Kobe Franklin, Kosi Thompson, Alonso Coello, and Luka Gavran all contributed to John Herdman’s side.
“I feel good about that,” said Cimini, listing the numerous TFC Academy players to break into the first team in recent years. “That is something that you, as a coach from both the academy and now the second team, can look back and appreciate the work that was done, but you can't be satisfied with it.”
“Under my three years here [with TFC II], there's been nine players that have signed first team contracts. Guys that are at that calibre to win,” he added. “You're happy to see that. You see that there's purpose and there's reason to the work that you do.”
And with the first team retooling this offseason there may be more ready to make the jump.
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” anticipated Jason Hernandez on Monday. “If we had a handful in the first team preseason who were able to impress and make their claim for why they should be with the first team more regularly.”
