TFC’s Dunfield unsure of his status for next season (with VIDEO)

Terry Dunfield PHOTO: PAUL GIAMOU/CANADA SOCCER

Although Toronto FC finished out of the MLS playoffs, midfielder Terry Dunfield’s season isn’t over just yet.

The B.C. native is looking forward to Canada’s last two World Cup qualifiers against St. Kitts and Nevis in November. But, as his club wrapped up its end-of-season press conference, he took time to reflect on his up-and-down year so far.

He started the year with Vancouver Whitecaps in their inaugural season in MLS, which opened with a resounding victory over his current team. He then got the call to the national team where he scored his first goal for Canada in a friendly against Ecuador before playing in the Gold Cup.

“I think when I reflect on the season, I think I can be pretty happy,” said Dunfield. “To start out in Vancouver was great. Captained the team for the first half of the season and couldn’t have started any better on opening day. Because of that I had the opportunity to go to the Gold Cup and represent Canada which was a huge honour.”

After Canada crashed out of the Gold Cup group stage he returned to his club and found out that he had been traded from his hometown team to Toronto. Suddenly he found himself making a fresh start.

“The way soccer works in MLS you can be traded at anytime I guess,” added Dunfield. “I found that I was coming to Toronto and if I could have chosen to be anywhere else other than Vancouver I would have picked Toronto.

“Being a Canadian club, Toronto looking to push on and get better and it’s a huge soccer city so that was exciting. I’ve come here and wasn’t really sure what I was getting myself into with such a changeover of players and I think speaking on behalf of a lot of the players we’re happy. And where we’re at now after those three months and I hope the manager thinks the same way.”

Dunfield thinks the team is not far off from having success in 2012, but thinks some of the team’s struggles were attributed to a lot of players being new to MLS.

“I still think there are a lot of players here new to the league, players that played in Europe who don’t have MLS experience, so we’re learning game by game,” said Dunfield. “I think we can cut out some of those mistakes. I think we have a nucleus of a great squad…there’s definitely players here to work with for sure.”

“Every team I’m sure will look to strengthen in the offseason but speaking for myself I think we’re pretty close. Our results for the last three months of the season speak for themselves.”

Nobody can argue with the progress TFC made in the final three months of the season, but there are still many areas in which the team will need to improve. Head Coach and Technical Director Aron Winter will definitely shake up his roster in the offseason, but will evaluate his players in the coming days in one-on-one chats regarding their future with the club.

When asked about his contract status and his future with TFC, Dunfield was very vague.

“Yeah I guess sit down with the manager and see what happens for next year,” said Dunfield. “We’ve yet to have our end-of-season talk yet, but I’ve enjoyed my time here and just sort of see what happens.”

His answer was simple and offered no specific details — but when asked his contract would expire at the end of the year he responded by saying “Again we’ll just sit down and see what happens.”

It doesn’t exactly come across on the page but his tone of voice and his body language seemed to suggest that there may be more to the story. Other players were clear about their situations whether they had options or that their contracts were up on Dec. 31, but Dunfield would not clarify.

The 11 caught up with Dunfield after his season ending press conference and tried to find out if he had more to say about the matter — click the video below to watch Aman Dhanoa’s short one-on-one with Dunfield as he talks about TFC and looking ahead to Canada’s World Cup qualifying campaign.

If Dunfield is back in the fold with TFC next season he does have high hopes for next season, but admits there will be a lot pressure on the club to make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

“I think Aron said, and Bob (de Klerk), that this was going to take time. Football doesn’t happen overnight,” said Dunfield. “Yes, there’s going to be pressure on us next year. Next year is going to be a big one for the players and the club.

“I think we had a great finish to the season. We’re on the up right now and if I was a Toronto fan I’d be very optimistic.”