Danny Dichio, who led Toronto in scoring in 2007 with six goals, will be expected to provide more goals this season. (Aaron Harris/Canadian Press)

What will 2008 bring Toronto FC?

Toronto FC officially joined Major League Soccer last spring, and quickly earned a reputation as the league's best-supported team by selling out the 21,000-seat BMO Field for all of their home games.

Unfortunately, Toronto didn't do so well on the field, stumbling to a 6-17-7 record and finishing dead last in the 13-team league.

The off-season brought a couple of big changes for the Canadian club, most notably former coach Mo Johnston being re-assigned as the team's general manager and Englishman John Carver being installed as the new bench boss.

With Toronto FC set to open the 2008 MLS campaign Saturday on the road against the Columbus Crew, CBCSports.ca breaks down the second-year franchise in several major categories, and predicts how the league's only Canadian team will fare this season.

QUICK FACTS
2007 record: 6-17-7, 25 points (7th in Eastern Conference, 13th in MLS)
2007 result: didn't make playoffs
Key additions for 2008: Coach John Carver, midfielder Kevin Harmse, defender Marco Velez, forward Jarrod Smith
Draft picks: Defenders Julius James, defender-midfielder Pat Phelan, goalkeeper Brian Edwards
Key losses: Midfielder Ronnie O'Brien, defenders Chris Pozniak, Adam Braz and Marco Reda, goalkeepers Srdjan Djekanovic and Kenny Stamatopoulos

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP FOR 2008
GK — Greg Sutton. D — Todd Dunivant, Marco Velez, Tyrone Marshall, Marvell Wynne. M — Carl Robinson, Maurice Edu, Jim Brennan, Kevin Harmse. F — Jeff Cunningham, Danny Dichio.

GOALKEEPING
Canadian national team goalkeeper Greg Sutton has a point to prove this season — to his team and himself.

Goalkeeper Greg Sutton started just eight games for Toronto in 2007. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

Sutton, 30, came to Toronto in 2007 after five successful seasons with the Montreal Impact of the United Soccer League, one level below MLS. Toronto thought that the six-foot-six Sutton, expected to provide security and stability at the back for the expansion club, would rise to the challenge of playing in a tougher league and quickly emerge as one of the top shot stoppers in MLS.

It didn't quite work out that way: he suffered a concussion during a training session with the Canadian national team in June and missed the rest of the MLS season.

Sutton, a native Hamilton, Ont., has fully recovered and is eager to live up to the expectations that Toronto had from him when he was first signed. He will have to show a lot of improvement, though. Sutton recorded a 2-5-1 record and a less-than-stellar 1.88 goals against average in his eight starts in 2007, and he didn't exactly steal some victories like a lot of people thought he would.

Of course, Toronto will be in serious trouble if Sutton gets injured or is called away on duty for Canada again this season. Toronto went through four backup goalkeepers in 2007 and this year's No. 2 Brian Edwards, Toronto's second-round pick (28th overall) out of Wake Forest in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft, has no pro experience and looked a little shaky in the pre-season.

DEFENCE
Shoring up a defence that conceded a league-worst 49 goals in 2007 was priority No. 1 for Mo Johnston in the off-season. Little surprise, then, that the Toronto GM used his two first-round picks in January's SuperDraft to select Connecticut defender Julius James (No. 9 overall) and Wake Forest defender-midfielder Pat Phelan (No. 10 overall).

American defender Marvell Wynne will miss most of August when he is away on national team duty at the Beijing Olympics. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

Johnston believes both James, considered the top defensive prospect in the draft, and Phelan can make an immediate impact.

"Both had superb senior years and we think they are capable of battling for a place in our first eleven," the Scot said. "From what we have seen and heard they have all the attributes to be solid professionals."

Johnston made a good move in acquiring Kevin Harmse in a trade with Los Angeles, as the Canadian offers a bit of steel and grit, and can play either in defence or in central midfield.

Johnston was also wise to get rid of Adam Braz and Marco Reda — both were unequivocal failures last season — but the loss of Chris Pozniak (scooped up by San Jose in the expansion draft) is a bit a blow, as the Canadian national team member showed great work rate and versatility.

New Zealand's Andrew Boyens showed flashes of maturity in his rookie season in 2007, but his place in the starting 11 alongside veteran Tyrone Marshall in the middle of defence will be taken by newcomer Marco Velez, a Puerto Rican national team member who looked solid in the pre-season.

Americans Todd Dunivant and Marvell Wynne give the team speed and attacking options down the wings, and will be expected to link up with the midfield.

Captain Jim Brennan, a stalwart at left back last season, could find himself drafted to play in defence (either on the left or in the middle) should Toronto have injury problems or need to replace a player away on national team duty.

MIDFIELD
This is a genuine area of concern because, incredibly, the team has even less depth in the middle of the field than it did last season when it was an expansion franchise.

Ronnie O'Brien, the player Mo Johnston once called the best right-sided midfielder in MLS, was traded by Toronto to San Jose for a first-round pick in the 2009 draft and an undisclosed amount of allocation money in February.

Captain Jim Brennan, No. 11, played through fractured ribs, a broken wrist and a knee injury lat season. (Michael Dwyer/Associated Press)

O'Brien was generally considered one of Toronto's best players during its inaugural season in 2007, even though chronic problems with his right knee limited the Irishman to playing only 13 games. Johnston, who didn't want to take a chance on O'Brien's knee giving out again, was also keen to get his guaranteed contract, believed to be worth $260,000 a season, off the books to free up some salary cap space.

So far, however, Johnston hasn't signed an international star or made a trade to replace O'Brien, leaving the team to operate without a playmaker and a creative linchpin in midfield.

Carl Robinson, while a stabilizing presence in the middle last season, will have to come up with a greater offensive contribution and show greater creativity this year — the Welsh international only scored two goals last campaign and didn't demonstrate the greatest offensive instincts.

Much will also be expected of Maurice Edu. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 draft started 25 games for Toronto and scored four goals en route to being named the league's rookie of the year. The Maryland product needs to build on an excellent first season, and step his game up by become a team leader by honing his offensive and defensive skills.

Jim Brennan played mostly in defence last season, but the Canadian national team member will likely move back to his natural left midfielder position in 2008. There's not much more the team can ask of their workhorse captain — Brennan led the club in minutes (2430), and played through fractured ribs, a broken wrist and a knee injury.

Once you get past Brennan, Robinson and Edu, the quality of Toronto's midfield drops off drastically (Gabe Gala, Tyler Hemming and Joey Melo being the best of the bunch, a sobering indictment of Toronto's lack of depth in midfield if there ever was one).

As stated earlier, the addition of Kevin Harmse gives Toronto a physical and defensive presence in the centre of midfield, but what the team badly needs is a creative sparkplug, a player who can orchestrate the attack and make things happen offensively.

FORWARDS
Like the midfield, this is another problem area.

Aside from sporting the worst defensive record last season, Toronto also "boasted" the league's worst offence — the Canadian club scored just 25 goals in 30 games, including going 824 consecutive minutes without a goal, obliterating the old MLS record of 557 minutes established by Real Salt Lake in 2005.

Jeff Cunningham was plagued by a lack of finishing last season for Toronto. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

Danny Dichio led the team in scoring with six goals and established himself as a fan favourite, but a rash of injuries meant the Englishman started only 14 games. MLS veteran Jeff Cunningham, acquired in a mid-season trade, showed flashes of brilliance, but he was also beset by injury problems and demonstrated a troubling lack of finishing (he scored just three goals in 16 appearances for Toronto).

Dichio and Cunningham formed an effective partnership last season — Dichio providing the strength and power, Cunningham the speed and finesse — and will be expected to carry the majority of the goal-scoring burden in 2008. Cunningham, the league's fourth all-time leading scorer with 96 goals, has to re-discover his scoring touch in order to improve on his six goals in 2007 (three each with Toronto and Real Salt Lake, his lowest tally since the 2003 campaign.

Both Dichio and Cunningham need to stay healthy, and Toronto can't afford either one of them to fall into a scoring slump because they simply don't have any quality forwards they can replace them with — shockingly, Johnston didn't bring in any quality reinforcements during the off-season.

Canadian Andrea Lombardo (no goals in 16 appearances) and Collin Samuel (three goals in 18 appearances) were compete washouts in 2007, and it's a mystery why Mo Johnston kept them around for another season. It would be nice if Lombardo found the back of the net just once this season, and Samuel actually worked hard for a full 90 minutes, but Toronto fans shouldn't hold their breath.

Johnston needed to go out and sign two new forwards, proven goal-scorers who could provide the team with some depth up front and take the pressure off of Dichio and Cunningham. Instead, the Toronto GM signed Jarrod Smith, a 23-year-old with little experience, whose biggest claim to fame is playing for Hawke's Bay United in his native New Zealand.

COACHING
John Carver was hired as the team's new coach in February so that Mo Johnston could focus entirely on player procurement, instead of splitting his time between coaching and his GM duties as he did last season.

Toronto GM Mo Johnston has made few trade moves in the off-season. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

Johnston hasn't exactly been busy making deals and trades, but coach Carver has already made an impression as a tough disciplinarian who demands complete commitment from his players.

Carver, 43, is taking charge of a big club for this first time in his career, having previously served as an assistant manager at Newcastle United under Bobby Robson and as caretaker manager at Leeds United in 2006.

The Englishman is direct and forceful in his managerial style, constantly barking orders at players in training sessions. He also doesn't mince words — he told CBC Sports after the club's recent 1-0 loss to San Jose in the pre-season that he was "shocked and angered" by the effort of his players.

Carver has shown a lot of drive in his short time with the club, and that will serve him well as he navig ates the unfamiliar waters of MLS and tries to steer the club to respectability, a challenge that the Englishman is looking forward to meeting head on.

"I thrive under pressure," Carver told CBC Sports.

Johnston is looking forward to working with Carver to reshape and rebuild the team.

"He brings a lot of experience with him in all aspects of the game, and I'm looking forward to working together. We are committed to making this team better in every way, and John will be a big part of that," the Toronto GM said.

OUTLOOK
The 2008 MLS season is going to be a long and painful campaign for Toronto FC and its passionate supporters who fill the 21,000-seat BMO Field for every home game.

Toronto hopes Maurice Edu won't fall prey to the sophmore jinx. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

While Toronto stumbled to 6-17-7 record in 2007 and scored a league-low 25 goals, it's not inconceivable the team could be even worse in 2008. A defence that gave up a league-high 49 goals has been strengthened (although not quite enough), but a lack of off-season moves by GM Mo Johnston means the club enters the season with even less depth than it did last year, especially in midfield and at the forward position.

Toronto's appalling lack of depth will be cruelly exposed as the season progresses, especially by the time August rolls around when the team will lose key starters Maurice Edu and Marvell Wynne, who will be away on national team duty for the United States at the Beijing Olympics.

The other six teams in the Eastern Conference — the Chicago Fire, Columbus Crew, D.C. United, Kansas City Wizards, New England Revolution and New York Red Bulls — all made significant roster additions. Toronto's big addition was signing defensive midfielder Kevin Harmse, hardly the kind of move that will turn around a team that won six games last year.

Johnston could still make some trades and sign some marquee players over the next two months, but such moves should have been made months ago so that the team could gel and develop some chemistry in the exhibition campaign ahead of the regular season.

Forget about the playoffs, folks. Toronto will be lucky to improve on its six wins from a season ago, and even luckier to sneak past Columbus for sixth place in the East. Sadly, the Canadian club looks destined to finish in the Eastern Conference basement and, depending on how Real Salt Lake does, will finish dead last in MLS for a second straight year.