What are the chances of getting Rob Friend? [Archive]

Stryker

12-15-2009, 04:33 PM

And don't say it's impossible!
Management has gotton us Serioux, De Rosario and De Guzman as we've asked, and most thought the latter wouldn't happen unless hell froze over.
Friend would be the answer to our scoring problems and the only "big man" I can think of who could ever fill Danny's shoes.
Does anyone have any info about him? His thoughts on playing here?
It appears he's in contract till July 1st 2012.

CretanBull

12-15-2009, 04:36 PM

I don't think he'd want to play here, his focus is still on Europe.

TFC07

12-15-2009, 04:37 PM

Stryker

12-15-2009, 04:37 PM

You mean like De Guzman?
:p

Yohan

12-15-2009, 04:38 PM

rule out any signings that'll involve paying a huge transfer fee

you might have better chance of getting Olivier Occean though. but only on free transfer...

CretanBull

12-15-2009, 04:40 PM

You mean like De Guzman?
:p

De Guzman was focused on Europe....it just wasn't focused on him. Friend doesn't seem to have that problem.

Stryker

12-15-2009, 04:44 PM

Well two things in our favour are that he turns 29 next month and that Borussia Mönchengladbach are currently in the bottom half of the Bundesliga table.

TFC07

12-15-2009, 04:46 PM

Well two things in our favour are that he turns 29 next month and that Borussia Mönchengladbach are currently in the bottom half of the Bundesliga table.

But he would want to get DP money though. We already used our DP on JDG.

Stryker

12-15-2009, 04:46 PM

rule out any signings that'll involve paying a huge transfer fee

you might have better chance of getting Olivier Occean though. but only on free transfer...
Him and Gerba are pretty much the same player though.
Friend has a far better eye for goal.

Stryker

12-15-2009, 04:48 PM

But he would want to get DP money though. We already used our DP on JDG.
The new CBA and changes to MLS rules as a result of it will allow for every team to have a second DP. You can count on it.

Yohan

12-15-2009, 04:50 PM

The new CBA and changes to MLS rules as a result of it will allow for every team to have a second DP. You can count on it.
care to make a bet on this?

TFC07

12-15-2009, 04:51 PM

The new CBA and changes to MLS rules as a result of it will allow for every team to have a second DP. You can count on it.

But isn't DeRo angry and wants more money (costing us another DP)? Now we got grass, isn't it better we actually get a big name player?

What makes you think Friend would want to play for Toronto instead of Vancouver (I believe that's his hometown) who will have a DP slot to use?

Yohan

12-15-2009, 04:58 PM

But isn't DeRo angry and wants more money (costing us another DP)? Now we got grass, isn't it better we actually get a big name player?

What makes you think Friend would want to play for Toronto instead of Vancouver (I believe that's his hometown) who will have a DP slot to use?
well, Vancouver isn't in MLS yet... unless Friend wants to wait a year (assuming he wants to play in MLS at all)

as for DeRo thing, just how much more money does he want? isn't he at limit for non DP salary already? or is Mo going to throw more allocation money at him?

TFC07

12-15-2009, 05:03 PM

well, Vancouver isn't in MLS yet... unless Friend wants to wait a year (assuming he wants to play in MLS at all)

as for DeRo thing, just how much more money does he want? isn't he at limit for non DP salary already? or is Mo going to throw more allocation money at him?

I have no clue, but there were reports that DeRo is mad and wants more money after TFC signed JDG. I am not sure if we have enough allocation money to pay DeRo.

Keegan

12-15-2009, 07:14 PM

Him and Gerba are pretty much the same player though.
Friend has a far better eye for goal.

No? They aren't the same player at all. Friend is a much better header, runner, better touch, better everything really. Gerba is a better finisher though, Friend misses a lot of chances in Germany but he scores great goals

ensco

12-15-2009, 07:19 PM

Friend looks to me like the kind of player that would have problems in MLS. He wouldn't get the service he needs to play his game, which is back turned to the net, and notwithstanding his size, he cannot create like Dichio could.

Keegan

12-15-2009, 07:37 PM

Keegan

12-15-2009, 07:38 PM

I think a better comparison for Rob Friend would be Kenny Cooper

AL-MO

12-15-2009, 08:18 PM

No? They aren't the same player at all. Friend is a much better header, runner, better touch, better everything really. Gerba is a better finisher though, Friend misses a lot of chances in Germany but he scores great goals

I think he was comparing him with Occean.

jloome

12-15-2009, 08:32 PM

Friend is twice the player of Dichio, not to diss the club hero or anything. Imagine a Dichio who can run, dribble, has technique and is young enough to perform bicycle kicks and diving headers and you have Rob Friend. Scored a bullet header on saturday

Holy overstatement. Danny was a coveted premiership playmaking target man. Friend is a coveted Bundesliga scorer. They were entirely different types of players.

On the whole, yeah friend is a more dangerous scorer. But back to goal, Danny was aces. And Friend wasn't a dangerous goal scorer until he moved to Gladbach and started getting Bundesliga-quality service: he's almost a goal a game better since going to Germany.

But yeah, I think he'd be great in MLS, very much in the Kenny Cooper mould and probably a 15-20 per season guy.

Super

12-15-2009, 08:32 PM

Same chances as Lloyd Christmas hooking up with Mary Swanson!

http://phoenix.fanster.com/suns/files/2009/05/picture-1.png

Having said that, if Friend starts sucking and we wave a bunch of money in his face he might take the bait. However, I fear we'd just end up overpaying to bring in a Canadian.

AL-MO

12-15-2009, 08:33 PM

Same chances as Lloyd Christmas hooking up with Mary Swanson!

http://phoenix.fanster.com/suns/files/2009/05/picture-1.png

So you are saying there is a chance.....

:D

ag futbol

12-15-2009, 08:42 PM

I think a better comparison for Rob Friend would be Kenny Cooper
Despite Cooper's half assed performance so far in B2, i'd say they are different players. Friend is much much better in the air, Cooper is much better with his feet. Friend mainly holds up the ball in the centre for his team and then sprays in out to someone like Marco Marlin and then gets in the box for headers. Cooper is more mobile up front and is basically the extreme ghetto version of edin dzeko (who i konw isn't a target but he's a big technically sound player, which is what i'm getting at). Being big targets, yeah they share that, but it's a totally different tool box.

As it stands right now the crossing quality on this team sucks balls which wouldn't play to his favor. I think he'd score tons of goals at the MLS level however the parts on this team have to fit together .. right now friend doesn't exactly mesh with what was built. Case in point: this guy can't find the goal for Canada.

Now despite getting JDG etc.. we all need to remember that these things all happened for a reason. Dero wanted to come home (Houston wanted to push Holden), JDG was black balled for speaking out against his club owing him money (and was out of contract), Serioux is a good player but not an impossible part to trade for.

What scenario allows us to pick up friend? He's not from Toronto, probably requires a transfer fee, and tons of B2 clubs would be after him again because he was a terror in that league. Is it impossible he comes here? no, but i don't see any plausable way he ends up in TFC red.

SilverSamurai

12-15-2009, 09:29 PM

Friend will never come here. If he does (for some odd reason) want to come back home, then he'll play for Vancouver instead of Toronto.
+1

rule out any signings that'll involve paying a huge transfer fee

you might have better chance of getting Olivier Occean though. but only on free transfer...
Occean would go to Montreal. That's where he's from and I think he played for them back in the day.

Well two things in our favour are that he turns 29 next month and that Borussia Mönchengladbach are currently in the bottom half of the Bundesliga table.
Didn't his team just get promoted? I don't think anyone is expecting them to win the whole thing.

Friend looks to me like the kind of player that would have problems in MLS. He wouldn't get the service he needs to play his game, which is back turned to the net, and notwithstanding his size, he cannot create like Dichio could.
He doesn't seem to be the type of player that can be a solo striker. He was most effective in that game against Mexico for the WCQ when him and Gerba linked up, but by that point the campaign was virtually over.

Still I'd love to have him here but don't think it would happen.

Ossington Mental Youth

12-15-2009, 10:10 PM

Friend mainly holds up the ball in the centre for his team and then sprays in out to someone like Marco Marlin and then gets in the box for headers.

not to nitpick but Marin plays for Bremen now
Sorry, couldnt help it (im a bremen supporter)

ag futbol

12-15-2009, 10:34 PM

Yep, i haven't watched much bundesliga as of late but i'd say that's another large reason why Rob has dropped off as of late ... M'gladback has picked up some good players, but Rob struggles to find service.

I think he'd be great in the EPL if given the proper support.

Stryker

12-15-2009, 10:43 PM

I think he was comparing him with Occean.
Quite right. Thank you. :)

ensco

12-15-2009, 10:51 PM

When Friend was scoring all those goals last year, if you watch the highlights, he was doing it two ways: in the air, and, especially, off little give and go plays with the wingers (like Marin mentioned above).

You see the first type of goal in MLS, but not the second.

MUFC_Niagara

12-16-2009, 07:18 AM

Who?

Fort York Redcoat

12-16-2009, 07:41 AM

Rob Friend. Yeah I'd like him to play for our club but think it's unlikely but not never ever unpossible.

Shakes McQueen

12-16-2009, 08:00 AM

Enough overpaying for Canadians. Getting Friend would be nice, but certainly there are better options out there for less money, who aren't Canadian.

- Scott

ag futbol

12-16-2009, 10:00 AM

^ I think that's a bit slanted. Let's face it: we're overpaying for practically everybody we signed in the market.

Outside of Attakora, Sanyang and Gomez ... there is really are no "value" players on our roster.

CretanBull

12-16-2009, 10:16 AM

Enough overpaying for Canadians. Getting Friend would be nice, but certainly there are better options out there for less money, who aren't Canadian.

- Scott

I agree with you, but with Vancouver and Montreal on the way the competition to fill up those Canadian roster spots with quality players is going to push their value up even more...its almost better to over-pay now, rather than REALLY over pay later.

spark

12-16-2009, 02:53 PM

I would be surprised if Friend came here.

Not sure who commented on where 'Gladbach are currently sitting in the table but they are one of the most in form teams in the league right now and there might be no coincidence that this run started when Friend was put in the starting XI.

Up until the end of October he was dealing with the heel injury and being subbed in late.

Keegan

12-16-2009, 08:46 PM

+1

Occean would go to Montreal. That's where he's from and I think he played for them back in the day.

Didn't his team just get promoted? I don't think anyone is expecting them to win the whole thing.

He doesn't seem to be the type of player that can be a solo striker. He was most effective in that game against Mexico for the WCQ when him and Gerba linked up, but by that point the campaign was virtually over.

Still I'd love to have him here but don't think it would happen.

Friend didn't play with Gerba vs. Mexico? We played with a B team we had Radzinski and Gerba up top in Edmonton

MUFC_Niagara

12-16-2009, 10:01 PM

Enough overpaying for Canadians. Getting Friend would be nice, but certainly there are better options out there for less money, who aren't Canadian.

- Scott

The voice of reason.....as always, Scott.

Fort York Redcoat

12-17-2009, 08:44 AM

Enough overpaying for Canadians. Getting Friend would be nice, but certainly there are better options out there for less money, who aren't Canadian.

- Scott

I'm hoping someday we won't have to overpay players to come home.

I guess it's just a question of when we get them in their career.

I_AM_CANADIAN

12-17-2009, 09:20 AM

For the sake of our national team, I want Friend to stay in Europe anyway.

Section 110

12-18-2009, 11:36 AM

Him and Gerba are pretty much the same player though.
Friend has a far better eye for goal.

If Friend is anything like Gerba then he can stay in Germany. We need a big man, yes, but we need a guy who scores buckets of goals, and one without the ponch of the legendary Colin Samuel... Oh, and two serious defenders... and that means defenders, not guys who used to be defensive midfielders that have been coverted to defenders...

Honestly, why chase after a Canadian who doesn't want to play for TFC?Let's not forget that JDG wasn't interested until he was told no by Deportivo and TFC, like an imbalanced and insecure teenaged girlfriend, promised to wait forever... hey, we got him and he's awesome. Am I digressing? Me thinks so. Anyway, with Amado gone, whose going to take free kicks and corners? I love you De Ro, but I don't think so...:scarf:

Stryker

12-18-2009, 11:40 AM

^ Friend is nothing like Gerba. I was refering to Occean whom Yohan mentioned. Gerba and Occean are the same player.
I merely pointed out that Friend is much better than the both of them.

Yohan

12-18-2009, 11:41 AM

Anyway, with Amado gone, whose going to take free kicks and corners? I love you De Ro, but I don't think so...:scarf:
DeRo used to have wicked free kicks.

Amado is clearly superior, but he had his share of goofs too.

With DeRo, Jimmy B, Chad Barrett, even Robbo in a pinch, I don't have a problem with free kick department.

Now corner.... that's another story

Stryker

12-18-2009, 11:42 AM

^ Cronin was decent from the right side. Left... well I'm hoping Jimmy will be a sub so I assume I'll have to be DeRo.

Section 110

12-18-2009, 11:45 AM

Stryker

12-18-2009, 11:47 AM

Well, we do need a big man. Gerba, to this point anyway, hasn't impressed me. In his defence, I guess I'm looking for a Dichio clone, which he is not. He's got better pace than Danny, but the way Danny could hold up the ball and distribute was so crucial.
And that's Friend. Friend is 6'4", awesome with headers and plays with his back to goal looking for a trailler.

Section 110

12-18-2009, 11:59 AM

PS. Didn't mean to offend, re: friend/Gerba. I'm not too familiar with Friend and thought you were suggesting they were alike. My bad.

I still stand by De Ro standing over dead balls. He's good, but he ain't Amado and if we don't match Guevara's skills with a replacement, we will ahve a deficit in that area... although we don't score a lot on corners anyway.

Yohan

12-18-2009, 12:07 PM

I still stand by De Ro standing over dead balls. He's good, but he ain't Amado and if we don't match Guevara's skills with a replacement, we will ahve a deficit in that area... although we don't score a lot on corners anyway.
I dont think every team has as good free kick taker like Guevara...

you wonder why TFC don't score many from corners? because Guevara's corners went nowhere. lapse of concentration and such

jloome

12-18-2009, 12:17 PM

We were generally awful in the air all season. It's gonna be one of Sanyang's big advantages if we can hold onto him that he's bigger than the rest of our defensive midfielders and can at least help out in the air.

A lot of teams get a third to a half their corner goals from defenders. Our defenders are generally short and weak in the air. Even our tallest defender, Gomez, is such a beanpole that he'll be bounced around in the box.

One more reason why we need a) a commanding centre half b) a fox-in-the-box striker

Oh, and signing a couple of true wingers would probably solve the corner issue, too. It says a lot about our wide play that Amado was taking corners.

ag futbol

12-18-2009, 12:20 PM

^ While I do agree (with what Yohan wrote about Guevara), the scouting report on TFC (reported by Vpjr on the V's board) is that our set pieces lack any sort of sophistication. Given the way we were from the run of play, quite possible. Nobody who took the set pieces with regularity was very good, Guevara was the best we had.

I would not give them to:

Carl Robinson - was an terrible free kick taker, does no one remember the amount of jokes we made about him after years 1 and 2?
Dero (for anything but a shot within 30 yards) because he will shoot every free kick he takes regardless of whether it's in his range. Wastes a lot of them.

Guys i would allow to take free kicks:

JDG, Cronin, (corners, set pieces from distance).
Barrett, Gerba, Dero (close to the box).

DichioTFC

12-19-2009, 03:17 AM

From his Wikipedia article:
After he graduated, Friend was drafted in the 4th Round, 35th Overall, of the 2003 MLS SuperDraft (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_MLS_SuperDraft) by the Chicago Fire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Fire_S.C.).[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Friend#cite_note-1) Instead of playing for the Fire, he decided to play in Norway (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway).

does that mean that the Fire still have his rights?

Yohan

12-19-2009, 03:32 AM

From his Wikipedia article:

does that mean that the Fire still have his rights?
i think MLS rights expire after 3 years

Auzzy

12-19-2009, 03:34 AM

Yohan

12-19-2009, 09:21 AM

The Star just wrote that TFC's MLS rights to Guevara, Vitti & Fellinga expire 18 months after releasing them. Not sure if that's really true -- and maybe the amount of time varies based on the circumstances?
i could be wrong. it is so hard to keep track of convoluted MLS rules :facepalm:

SilverSamurai

12-19-2009, 09:43 AM

Friend didn't play with Gerba vs. Mexico? We played with a B team we had Radzinski and Gerba up top in Edmonton
You're right, but I was referring to the game in Mexico.

If Friend is anything like Gerba then he can stay in Germany. We need a big man, yes, but we need a guy who scores buckets of goals, and one without the ponch of the legendary Colin Samuel... Oh, and two serious defenders... and that means defenders, not guys who used to be defensive midfielders that have been coverted to defenders...

Honestly, why chase after a Canadian who doesn't want to play for TFC?Let's not forget that JDG wasn't interested until he was told no by Deportivo and TFC, like an imbalanced and insecure teenaged girlfriend, promised to wait forever... hey, we got him and he's awesome. Am I digressing? Me thinks so. Anyway, with Amado gone, whose going to take free kicks and corners? I love you De Ro, but I don't think so...:scarf:
Gerba scores goals... for the national team though!

CretanBull

12-19-2009, 10:05 AM

The Star just wrote that TFC's MLS rights to Guevara, Vitti & Fellinga expire 18 months after releasing them. Not sure if that's really true -- and maybe the amount of time varies based on the circumstances?

Off hand I forget what the durations are, but they do vary based on circumstance - a player who you draft but don't sign is treated differently from a player who used to play for you and released.