Yohan
06-14-2009, 10:01 AM
I used to be against a DP striker at the beginning of the season, but I think the situation has changed so that a DP at this point of the season is worth the risk.
TFC clearly needs a striker who can finish. I'm not sure if Gerba (if he signs for us, is going to be the solution)
Key to success for a DP in MLS is that the team has to have other solid core of players who can contribute and do NOT rely on the DP to carry the team.
The DP would be a final piece to the puzzle to push the team over the top.
Let's look at some of the teams with DP (or practically DP like players)
Seattle has Ljungberg, but does not overly rely on Ljungberg. There are other contributors like Montero, Jaqua, Alonso, Le Toux, plus other depth players who can play in MLS, so that if Ljungberg does go down to an injury, the Sounders will still be more or less a competitive team.
New England, despite being ravaged by injuries and without their star striker Twellman still managed to grind out results to be competitive in Eastern Conference, because they have a solid core of players.
On the flipside, we have Shite Bulls who are playing absolutely shite this season. This I believe primarily due to overreliance on Juan Paulo Angel who carried the Shite Bulls for two season. 19 goals in 2007 and 14 in 2008. Only 4 so far this season. Kandji is a good player, but he's not scoring that much either.
Lacking depth, and plus the rest of the team is quite shite, no wonder the Shite Bulls are playing like crap this year.
FC Dallas is another team in big trouble. Without Kenny Cooper, nobody on Dallas can be truly considered an offensive threat. No sane coach would rely on Jeff Cunningham to score goals consistently. Take away Cooper, and Cooper didn't score in a lot of games for Dallas this season, add in a shite defence, no wonder Dallas sucks too.
I believe Toronto has a decen central core, esp a midfield that can create chances. It's just that strikers can't put them away on regular basis. So if we find a DP striker who can score off the chances our creative midfielder can make, we'd be in a really good shape.
The DP striker must be able to adapt to TFC and MLS rather quickly though. We can't afford an entire half season for the DP to adjust before he starts scoring goals.
The cap hit for a mid season DP is only 200k. That sounds helluva a lot better than 400k at the beginning of the season. I think TFC is probably at max cap right now, but surely it is possible to create some cap room for only 200k?
While I normally prefer the no DP approach to building a team like Houston or Chivas or New England, (curiously, one of criticism of Houston is that they have no consistent scoring threat other than Brian Ching. can't win 1-0 game forever) I think at this point of the season, there is no harm in trying for a DP striker.
I don't know who is available on free agent market, but surely someone wants to take a stab at MLS...
TFC clearly needs a striker who can finish. I'm not sure if Gerba (if he signs for us, is going to be the solution)
Key to success for a DP in MLS is that the team has to have other solid core of players who can contribute and do NOT rely on the DP to carry the team.
The DP would be a final piece to the puzzle to push the team over the top.
Let's look at some of the teams with DP (or practically DP like players)
Seattle has Ljungberg, but does not overly rely on Ljungberg. There are other contributors like Montero, Jaqua, Alonso, Le Toux, plus other depth players who can play in MLS, so that if Ljungberg does go down to an injury, the Sounders will still be more or less a competitive team.
New England, despite being ravaged by injuries and without their star striker Twellman still managed to grind out results to be competitive in Eastern Conference, because they have a solid core of players.
On the flipside, we have Shite Bulls who are playing absolutely shite this season. This I believe primarily due to overreliance on Juan Paulo Angel who carried the Shite Bulls for two season. 19 goals in 2007 and 14 in 2008. Only 4 so far this season. Kandji is a good player, but he's not scoring that much either.
Lacking depth, and plus the rest of the team is quite shite, no wonder the Shite Bulls are playing like crap this year.
FC Dallas is another team in big trouble. Without Kenny Cooper, nobody on Dallas can be truly considered an offensive threat. No sane coach would rely on Jeff Cunningham to score goals consistently. Take away Cooper, and Cooper didn't score in a lot of games for Dallas this season, add in a shite defence, no wonder Dallas sucks too.
I believe Toronto has a decen central core, esp a midfield that can create chances. It's just that strikers can't put them away on regular basis. So if we find a DP striker who can score off the chances our creative midfielder can make, we'd be in a really good shape.
The DP striker must be able to adapt to TFC and MLS rather quickly though. We can't afford an entire half season for the DP to adjust before he starts scoring goals.
The cap hit for a mid season DP is only 200k. That sounds helluva a lot better than 400k at the beginning of the season. I think TFC is probably at max cap right now, but surely it is possible to create some cap room for only 200k?
While I normally prefer the no DP approach to building a team like Houston or Chivas or New England, (curiously, one of criticism of Houston is that they have no consistent scoring threat other than Brian Ching. can't win 1-0 game forever) I think at this point of the season, there is no harm in trying for a DP striker.
I don't know who is available on free agent market, but surely someone wants to take a stab at MLS...