Tyrone Marshall has been less than impressive since joining Toronto FC last season. (Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)

A central defender, a central defender, my kingdom for a central defender.

Or two.

Talk amongst Toronto FC fans at the start of 2008 Major League Soccer campaign was that the Canadian club did not make enough off-season moves to strengthen its midfield.

Over the past three weeks, general manager Mo Johnston has gone to great lengths to address its lack of midfield depth by signing Frenchman Laurent Robert (who was a standout during a five-year stint in the Premiership with Newcastle United), Honduran playmaker Amado Guevara (who was named the most valuable player of the 2004 MLS season) and Englishman Rohan Ricketts (a promising prospect formerly on the books at Arsenal and Tottenham).

So then, problem solved.

Well, no actually.

Toronto scored a league-low 25 goals during its inaugural MLS campaign in 2007, so it only made sense for Johnston to sign attacking midfielders who can score goals and give the team an offensive spark.

Trouble is that Johnston seemed to forget the team also conceded a league-high 49 goals last season, and although he wisely selected standout college defenders Julius James and Pat Phelan with his two first-round picks in January's MLS SuperDraft, the Scot didn't do enough to shore up Toronto's back line.

Johnston's negligence has born some rotten fruit: Toronto has conceded a whopping eight goals through its first three games this season.

A train wreck in the middle of defence

What's been the problem? Quite simply, Toronto's central defensive pairing of Tyrone Marshall and Puerto Rican Marco Velez has been absolutely dreadful, especially during a 4-1 loss to D.C. United in the second week of the season.

Toronto acquired Marshall, an 11-year veteran of MLS, last season in a trade with the Los Angeles Galaxy, hoping the Jamaican would anchor the club's back line and offer a steady and stabilizing presence in defence.

It hasn't quite worked out that way, though. Marshall, a physical player and a tough tackler, has looked way over his head. He's slow and plodding, he lacks pace and is routinely burned by speedy forwards, and he's caught out of position too many times.

Signed by the club in the pre-season, Velez spent the last six years playing in the USL First Division – a league below MLS – and it shows. The Puerto Rican has struggled to keep up with the pace and higher level of play of the game in MLS, and has looked completely out of his depth.

The Marshall-Velez tandem has been a complete train wreck, not that the Puerto Rican would admit it.

"I think I've played well. I'm still getting used to the league and the speed of play, but all in all I think I've been solid," Velez told cbcsports.ca. "I've had a couple of unlucky moments here and there but I think I'm getting better as I go. As a team we're getting better and we improve defensively as a team, I'll get better."

Midfielder Carl Robinson echoed Velez's sentiments that things will improve as the team as whole improves defensively.

"We score goals as a team and we concede goals as a team. It's obviously not just the defenders who give up the goals, it's the team as a unit," explained the Welshman.

It's laudable that Robinson didn't want to point fingers at any of his teammates as the cause for Toronto's defensive woes, but it's evident, even after three games, that the Marshall-Velez partnership isn't working.

Perhaps a shake up in the back line is needed – moving captain Jim Brennan into the centre of defence, and having Todd Dunivant take Brennan's spot at left-back.

Brennan doesn't seem to think so, and maintains that the current back four – Marvell Wynne, Marshall, Velez and himself – is the right combination.

"We're starting to gel as a back-line and I think you'll see massive improvement over the next five games," said the veteran defender. "I think we have good players at the back. It just takes time to get things right. Nothing comes easy, but we'll be fine."

Time to give Julius James a chance

Julius James has yet to play for Toronto, although he's believed to be close to returning to action after picking up an injury in the pre-season. When Johnston drafted James, he said he expected the University of Connecticut defender to challenge for a first-team spot and make an immediate impact.

Considering the ineffectiveness of Marshall and Velez, and the fact that Toronto's next five games are at home, the time has come to see what the kid can do.

But coach John Carver insists he doesn't want to make any radical lineup changes at the back.

"You work as a unit. You can criticize the defence, but you defend from the front, so it's about the team defending. Getting the team in the right shape, getting players in the right areas and making it difficult for the opposition to break us down," explained Carver.

It's a nice theory, and to a certain extent he's correct, but at some point Carver has to acknowledge that the team has major problems in the centre of defence and do something about it sooner rather than later.

John F. Molinaro is a reporter for CBCSports.ca whose chief love is international soccer. Contact John here.