Fraser stresses need for unity, hard work and pride as he takes charge of Toronto FC

Robin Fraser, Toronto FC's new head coach, holds up a team jersey with his name during a press conference in Toronto, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

TORONTO — Toronto FC formally introduced Robin Fraser as its 15th head coach Wednesday, preaching a message of hard work, determination and unity of purpose in returning the underachieving MLS club to its former glory.

The 58-year-old Fraser was a key assistant to head coach Greg Vanney from 2015 to 2019 before leaving Toronto to take over the Colorado Rapids.

Fraser was part of Toronto's 2017 Treble-winning season (MLS Cup, MLS Supporters’ Shield and Canadian Championship). TFC also won two Canadian Championships (2016 and 2018), made the 2016 MLS Cup final and was runner-up in the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League during his time with the club.

With Colorado, Fraser was runner-up for coach of the year in 2021 when the Rapids finished atop the Western Conference with a club-record 61 points. But he was fired in September 2023 after compiling a 47-48-34 record across all competitions.

Sixteen months later he is back with TFC, this time in charge.

"Coming into this building, it was like putting on an old shoe," Fraser said with a smile. "I've really enjoyed my time here. My first time around it was a situation that TFC had never made the playoffs before and I was really, really proud to be part of the group that moved the club forward and to the upper echelons of the league."

"Having said that I know that it's not the same," he added.

Toronto, which missed the Major League Soccer playoffs for the fourth straight season last year with an 11-19-4 record, has been without a coach since John Herdman stepped down in late November.

Asked how he felt as he watched Toronto's decline from his vantage point afar, Fraser replied: "To be quite frank, it was saddening."

Keith Pelley, president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, says the club has been engaged in a "methodical, meticulous rebuild."

Fraser said that after talks with Hernandez, Pelley, and MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum, he was convinced everyone shares the same vision moving forward.

"It just felt like from top to bottom the club is unified in what they want," he said. "Again I'm not going to keep referencing '16 and '17 but during that time, that's how it felt, with Tim (former MLSE CEO Tim Leiweke) and Greg and the rest of the staff and the scouting staff. It was so unified … Every day you walked in here, you felt like it was a family pushing in one direction."

Fraser inherits a squad that is still a work in progress with the club searching for a striker to augment Italian stars Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi.

Insigne has shown flashes of brilliance but, frustrated by injuries and a subpar supporting cast, the 33-year-old winger has seemed a forlorn figure at times.

Fraser says it will take a "collective approach" to turn the TFC around.

"If everyone does their job, then we move forward … And if people don't want to be on the bus, then they'll have to go."

Since last making the playoffs in 2020, when the club fell at the first post-season hurdle, Toronto has compiled a 30-75-31 record in MLS play and finished 26th, 27th, 29th and 22nd in the Supporters' Shield standings.

The current squad, which scored 40 goals while conceding 61 in league play last season, probably needs help at every position other than goalkeeper.

Hernandez, who spent two seasons as a TFC player while Fraser was part of Vanney's coaching staff, calls Fraser a coach with "a steady hand" and "a "person of very high integrity."

"A person who has a clear, high-level tactical acumen and a ton of experience in MLS. There is not much he hasn't seen or done as far as our league goes," said Hernandez.

While the Toronto roster has changed radically since Fraser's last stint in Toronto, it is an organization that the new coach is invested in. Hernandez says that is invaluable.

"He has already a grasp of our building, a grasp of our staff, a grasp of our team, a grasp of our market, a grasp of our ownership, a grasp of our expectations," the GM said.

Hernandez says he and the new coach share a common bond when it comes to TFC

"I do believe there is a real benefit to having someone within this building and on the first-team sideline that it means more to them than just coaching football matches."

The club leaves for Spain on Friday to continue pre-season preparations.

Fraser played for the Los Angeles Galaxy, Colorado and the Columbus Crew, earning MLS all-star honours five times and was twice named MLS Defender of the Year. On the international front, he won 27 caps for the U.S.

He started his MLS coaching career at Real Salt Lake as an assistant from 2007 to 2010, helping the team win the MLS Cup in 2009. He was head coach at Chivas USA in 2011 and 2012 and was an assistant coach with the Red Bulls before his first stint with Toronto.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2025

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press