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Mo Johnston not afraid to make deals
Comments (8)
Friday, June 1, 2007 | 09:19 AM ET
In need of some goals after his team scored just five times through the first seven games of the season, Toronto FC coach Mo Johnston made another big move last week when he acquired forward Jeff Cunningham in a trade with Real Salt Lake.
In exchange for Cunningham, Johnston gave up forward Alecko Eskandarian and a first-round pick in next year's MLS draft.
Cunningham, a member of the U.S. national team, had three goals this season for Salt Lake, while Eskandarian, who had been battling injury problems, had one.
Despite his lack of goals, Eskandarian earned the respect of his teammates and fans alike with his hustle and hard work on the field, not to mention the passion with which he played the game.
Dealing away a fan favourite such as Eskandarian didn't sit well with some Toronto FC supporters, but Johnston said he can't take that into consideration when doing what he feels is best for the team.
"It doesn't matter if he's popular or not. Maybe he's popular in his [neighbourhood], but he played seven games and he only scored one goal," Johnston told reporters last week.
"He hadn't been healthy a lot. He picked up some niggling injuries on the turf and for me adding Jeff Cunningham was something we've been looking to do since November."
Give Johnston a lot of credit: he took immediate and decisive action and made a tough decision, one that he knew would not be popular with the fans and would lead to second-guessing.
The easy thing to do would be to look at the half dozen trades Johnston made this season and declare that the Scot has a trigger finger when it comes to making deals – that he's too quick to trade players away instead of giving them enough time to prove what they can do.
Every deal he's made thus far, though, has improved the team.
This latest trade wasn't so much about dumping Eskandarian but about adding Cunningham, last season's top scorer and the fourth all-time leading scorer in MLS history.
"We felt we were getting a better player. Twenty-one goals in five years [for Eskandarian] compared to 95 [for Cunningham]. For me, it's a no-brainer," Johnston said in explaining why he made the deal.
Toronto has only played one game without Eskandarian, but you can already notice the difference with Cunningham in the lineup.
In last Saturday's 2-2 draw with the Columbus Crew, Cunningham had three quality scoring chances (two more than Eskandarian registered for Toronto in seven games), and was far more effective playing alongside fellow forward Danny Dichio.
Dichio and Cunningham made excellent use of each other's strengths with the Englishman winning the ball and holding up the play before setting up his American teammate to use his speed on breakaways.
Dichio and Cunningham had great chemistry in the Columbus contest, a fact not lost on Johnston who told CBC Sports after the game that he was "very pleased" with his new forward combination.
Fans might miss Eskandarian, but he'll quickly be forgotten once Cunningham begins scoring for Toronto. And when he does, those same fans will likely give Johnston the benefit of the doubt when he makes his next trade.
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John F. Molinaro is a reporter for CBC Sport Online whose chief love is international soccer. John served as senior editor of Sports Online's Euro 2004 website, which helped him win a CBC.ca Award of Excellence, and was the driving force behind our coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He holds an honours BA in sociology from York University and a print journalism diploma from Sheridan College, and is also the author of The Top 100 Pro Wrestlers of All Time (Stewart House, 2002).
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Comments (8)
Chris
Sudbury
The way this is written makes it seem like Alecko was a hinderance to the team. Although he may not be as good as good as Cunningham in terms of offensive capability, he was still an asset to the team, and it is wrong to say that "he'll quickly be forgotten". However, I hope that this move will benefit Toronto and that Cunningham will help them get some much needed goals.
Posted June 1, 2007 01:03 PM
Inter 15 Scudetto
toronto
I like the Fc ...i really do ..and i agree with Mo Johnston on this one. hes is obviously looking for a natural goal scorer and he isnt going to get that with Eskandarian. Since Dichio and Cunningham arrrived i feel the team plays harder and just gell together better. but that my personal opinion.
Mo isnt looking for popularity...he could care less bout jersey sales..he looking for somone to win you a game. So if Eskandarian says hes a professional he should suck it up and take it like a professional.
and oh yeah Nerrazzuri forever
Posted June 1, 2007 01:33 PM
Dimi
Toronto
Honestly, I don't know where the notion that Eskadarian was a popular player comes from. I thought he was actually quite a weak player who made little impact, and the fact that he hussled and still only made a minor impression on the field makes his ability appear to be that much less impressive.
As for Mo, I think b/c the team is still so new, he is able to tinker with it more freely without fearing any real disruption in the chemistry the team has.
Posted June 1, 2007 02:15 PM
Jeremy A
Mo gets a lot of criticism on MLS message boards, but I tell you, the man has a VERY clear vision of what he wants his team to look like, and is making aggressive trades to accomplish that. As a former NBA Vancouver Grizzlies fan, I can tell you that there is NOTHING worse than a front office that has no idea what it wants to do, or no will to actually get anything done. Mo is exactly the kind of manager TFC needs. In a few years I'm convinced we'll look at the Tossers and really marvel at Mo's front office smarts.
One last thing: Inter 15, the name of the team is NOT "the FC". Or, if it is, sadly, half the teams in the world are also called "The FC", and soccer team names are even more boring than CFL, circa 1990's (when the CFL contained the Roughriders, the Rough Riders, and the Riders.)
Tossers, Redcoats, or TFC will suffice. =)
Posted June 1, 2007 05:38 PM
.steven.
canaduh
IN MO WE TRUST.
Posted June 1, 2007 08:32 PM
Cashcleaner
Mo has made some outstanding deals so far for TFC and the aquisition of Dichio is a testament to his skill as a talent-spotter. While it's true Esky was a fan favourite, sometimes hard decisions need to be made for the betterment of the team. I'm confident with Mo's decisions thus far, but I am starting to doubt Andy Welsh's laurels.
Posted June 5, 2007 01:26 AM
cwithy
vancouver
mo knows best. 1 goal in 7 games should bench any striker in any league; it was good to get rid of him before he scores 2 in 20.
Posted June 5, 2007 04:22 PM
mitchell b.
Kitchener
i think MO is one of the best managers a team could have. he is not afraid to make deals and makes smart one's. i agree with him completly in the trade for cunningham who although has not scored yet he is clearly ine if the most talented FC players.
Posted June 9, 2007 10:16 AM