Great Expectations - Victor Vazquez

Our series of summer articles focusing on those players who head into the new season bearing the weight of expectation from MLS Fantasy managers begins this morning.

Toronto FC's Victor Vazquez – are one of those players who will bear the weight this season – especially given how the midfielder managed to perform last season.

Snapped up from Mexican side Cruz Azul on a reported free transfer last summer, throughout the season, Vázquez drew praise in the media for adding depth to Toronto FC's attacking play, courtesy of his his vision and distribution

The 30-year-old arrived on the back of having limited amounts of playing time with Cruz Azul in Mexico - meaning that it was largely unsuccessful - Vazquez would only make 19 appearances scoring once.

Vazquez over the course of his debut MLS season with Toronto would score 8 goals and 16 assists. He would form a notable partnership in midfield with the club's captain, Michael Bradley, who was in turn freed from much of the team's creative responsibilities, and played more of a defensive role, while still sharing some of the club's playmaking duties with the Spaniard.

Toronto captured the Canadian Championship that season, followed by the Supporters' Shield, for most points in the league, following a 4–2 home win over New York Red Bulls on 30 September, in which Vázquez scored from an injury time penalty.

KEY FACTORS

• Delving deeper into Vazquez’ MLS Fantasy output over those final few months looks encouraging. In his last 10 appearances, he delivered three 10+ points hauls. Yet, this is even though, during that time, his minutes were managed, especially in DGW29 against Montreal Impact when he played 0 minutes and 75 minutes against New England Revolution.

• Despite that encouraging finish to the previous season, Vazquez has ended his first year at BMO Stadium with 213 MLS Fantasy points. A significant price rise is certainly anticipated as a result, and should ensure that he continues as a mid-price option for our MLS Fantasy squads around the same 9.0-mark. With Michael Bradley expected to remain in the premium midfield bracket and Sebastian Giovinco vying with Jozy Altidore for our three-man frontlines, the Spaniard international could offer the best value route into Toronto’s attack.

• While Vazquez will always likely be overshadowed in the MLS Fantasy Bonus Points System by the likes of Bradley, his debut season statistics suggested that he will remain a stronger option than Delgado in this respect. Vazquez certainly retained possession more often, with Delgado suffering heavily from BPS penalties via the “Tackled” metric. Delgado succeeded with 53% of his “take-ons” and was “tackled” every 17 minutes compared with Vazquez’ 60.9% success rate, losing possession every 20.4 minutes.

• Vazquez should be an integral part of Toronto FC's push to secure a spot in the MLS Cup final when they take on Columbus Crew later this month.