Toronto FC fires Bob Bradley, names Terry Dunfield as interim head coach

Bob Bradley was fired as head coach and sporting director of Toronto on Monday after the team won just three of 20 Major League Soccer matches this season.

Terry Dunfield, a former Toronto player and Canadian international, was promoted to interim head coach. The 41-year-old, who also played for Vancouver and Manchester City, had been head coach of the under-17 team at the Toronto academy.

Mike Sorber, Toronto’s assistant coach and technical director, also was fired.

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Swansea Citys head coach Bob Bradley during the Premier League match between Swansea City and West Ham United at The Liberty Stadium on December 26, 2016 in Swansea, Wales.  (Athena Pictures/Getty Images)

Toronto, which lost 2-1 at New England on Saturday, is 14th among 15 teams in the Eastern Conference with three wins, seven losses and 10 draws. The team has won just two of its last 17 matches in all competitions, drawing eight. Only Miami has a worse record with five runs, 13 losses and no draws.

The 65-year-old Bradley, a former U.S. national team coach whose son is Toronto captain Michael Bradley, was hired in November 2021 and led the team to 14 wins, 26 losses and 19 draws.

“Bob has been a consummate professional with Toronto FC and we thank him for his passion and tireless work during his time here,” Toronto president Bill Manning said in a statement. “We are all disappointed that we were not able to achieve the results we expected.”

Midfielder Federico Bernardeschi criticized Toronto’s style of play after a 1-0 loss at Austin on May 20. Toronto was missing 10 players due to injuries or suspensions.

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Toronto FC Head Coach Bob Bradley yells to his team on the touch line during an MLS soccer game against Nashviulle SC in Toronto, on Saturday, June 10, 2023.  (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

“We don’t play,” Bernardeschi said. “We play long pass. We don’t have an idea to play.”

“I think this city, the fans, everybody, don’t deserve this,” he added.

Bradley benched Bernardeschi for the following weekend’s game against D.C. United, a 2-1 win, calling it a “coach’s decision” rather than a disciplinary action. Bernardeschi returned to the starting lineup for the following match against Chicago, a 0-0 draw.

Toronto went through a 418-minute league scoring drought after CJ Sapong’s strike in a 1-0 win over visiting New York City on April 29. Toronto failed to score during a four-game winless run in May against New England (2-0), Montreal (2-0), the New York Red Bulls (0-0) and Austin (1-0).

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Toronto FC coach Bob Bradley watches during the first half of the teams MLS soccer match against FC Cincinnati on Wednesday, June 21, 2023, in Cincinnati.  (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

Toronto also was knocked out of the Canadian Championship at the first hurdle, beaten 2-1 May 9 by Montreal in a quarterfinal.

Bradley coached the U.S. from 2006-11 and Egypt from 2011-13. At club level, he coached Norway’s Stabæk (2014-15), France’s Le Havre (2015-16) and England’s Swansea (2016).

He became the fourth MLS coach fired since the start of the season. Chicago replaced Ezra Hendrickson with Frank Klopas on May 8, the same day the New York Red Bulls’ Gerhard Struber was replaced by Troy Lesesne, and Miami’s Phil Neville was fired on June 1 and replaced by Javier Morales.