Toronto FC’s season is over, but work continues on overhauling a roster that has already been almost completely overhauled after a dismal 2021 season.

A 4-0 loss to the Philadelphia Union on Sunday was just the latest slap in the face for an understaffed Toronto side and marked the fifth straight loss for a recovering team whose season has been whimpering with just one win in the last nine Play ended (1 -6-2).

Missing four starters, including Italy stars Lorenzo Insigne and Domenico Criscito, Toronto (9-18-7) suffered its third consecutive shutout and ended the season with a 293-minute scoring drought.

Toronto were eliminated from postseason contention on September 17 by a 4-0 loss to Orlando City SC to finish 13th in the Eastern Conference regardless of Sunday’s result.

That’s the same position as in 2021 in a 6-18-10 campaign that cost coach Chris Armas and his replacement Javier Perez their jobs.

“It’s been a very, very challenging year from start to finish,” said Bob Bradley, who took over as head coach and athletic director after last season.

“Challenging when we arrived and looked at existing situations. Challenging to find ways to improve the roster. Challenging with… guys coming in mid-season. Challenging with various injuries just when you might think you had a small chance of getting a little bit more consistency. We never could.”

“Just a huge challenge in every way,” he added. “In that respect, I would probably say it’s been one of the most challenging years I’ve ever had as a coach – keeping the lads going, trying to focus on things that we had to think about every day. It is a test for everyone.”

Not all passed.

Toronto, which had to shed around 20 members of its first team after last season, will undoubtedly open the exit door again.

Help is needed in goal, in defense and with the striker. The midfield needs depth.

TFC have conceded four goals in four of their last five games to have their worst franchise of last season at 66. His most recent win was a 2-0 decision in Charlotte on August 27.

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TFC has gone 15-36-17 since Greg Vanney stepped down as manager in December 2020.

Philadelphia (19-5-10) showed on Sunday that it’s already poised to wreak havoc in the playoffs.

Daniel Gazdag scored a hat-trick and Mikael Uhre added a singles win for Union, who secured first place in the Eastern Conference with the win.

With his goal and assist in the first half, Gazdag became only the sixth player in league history to have at least 20 goals and 10 assists in a single season.

Union goalkeeper Andrew Blake conceded his 15th league goal as Philadelphia beat Toronto 18-6 (9-1 on shots).

Toronto got off to a terrible start on Sunday, handing Gazdag a goal in the fourth minute. The Hungary international went unmarked in the Toronto box and volleyed the ball home after TFC failed to clear it.

Gazdag found Uhre behind Toronto defense in the 42nd minute and the Denmark striker waited for defender Lukas McNaughton to get past him before flicking the ball in for the 13th time this season.

Toronto had a chance to score again in first-half injury time, but a Mark-Anthony Kaye shot that came off a feed from Jesus Jimenez was blocked by defender Olivier Mbaizo. It was TFC’s only shot on goal at half-time.

Kaye unsuccessfully scored a penalty in the 55th minute when he tangled with defender Matt Real.

Referee Lukasz Szpala pointed to Toronto’s Shane O’Neill for handball in the 58th minute after a Philadelphia corner on the penalty spot. The defender didn’t know much about it with the ball coming from Uhre.

Gazdag didn’t go wrong in the 60th minute penalty shoot-out. He scored again three minutes later, cutting through Toronto’s defense and beating goaltender Quentin Westberg for his 22nd of the season.

Philadelphia could have scored more if it wasn’t for Westberg as the TFC defense all but collapsed in the final few minutes.

Westberg called the season “a real Demutscheck”.

Hugo Mbongue, an 18-year-old homegrown forward, made his first-team debut for Toronto off the bench in the 68th minute.

Along with the injured Insigne and Criscito, Toronto midfielder Jonathan Osorio remains sidelined with what he calls “neurological dysfunction”. Full-back Richie Laryea has been suspended.

With both Criscito and Laryea out, coach Bradley switched to a back three.

On the plus side, Italy winger Federico Bernardeschi, who was ruled questionable with a lower body injury, was in the starting XI.

TFC was surpassed 17-5 as they lost five straight games. That stretch followed a 4-1-3 run that coincided with the arrival of Insigne and Bernardeschi.