Forward Mason Toye joins the Impact
In the middle of what’s been a challenging sequence for the Impact, a new signing couldn’t have come at a better time, and that addition came on Thursday in the form of Mason Toye.
The 21-year-old American forward will join the Impact in New Jersey, where the team is settled as it plays its home games at Red Bull Arena. Selected 7th overall in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft by Minnesota United FC, Toye managed to break into the Loons’ line-up in 2019 and impressed, scoring six league goals, two more in Minnesota’s US Open Cup run, and adding three assists.
For those who aren’t familiar with the young goalscorer, here’s an idea of what he can do.
Toye’s addition to head coach Thierry Henry’s squad will be good for a few reasons: the Impact just played six games in a 17-day stretch, all away from home, before returning to Montreal for a few days. Now, the team gets set to kick off one of its busiest sequences ever, playing eight games until November 1, starting this Saturday, before closing out the season on November 8 in Washington.
Fatigue, mental and physical, as well as injuries, are sure to be a factor for this stretch of games as it was during the last sequence, so Toye’s addition will be sure to benefit the team from that standpoint.
Secondly, Toye offers something different to Montreal’s offense, and working with a former world-class striker like Thierry Henry at such a young age may pay dividends on the pitch. I say this because Toye, for those who haven’t watched too many of his games, has the instincts and movements of a natural striker. He moves smartly for his age, finding tight spaces behind the defense with his movement, as seen in this goal scored last year at Stade Saputo.
We’ll be looking forward to a lot more of that at Stade Saputo, but this time for the right team.
