PDA

View Full Version : Today's News,Monday,Oct.24



denime
10-24-2011, 05:39 AM
Mornin'



Reds Look Forward To 2012 (http://www.torontofc.ca/news/2011/10/reds-look-forward-2012)


Kelly: Season over, clock ticking for Toronto FC (http://www.thestar.com/sports/soccer/mls/torontofc/article/1074408--kelly-season-over-clock-ticking-for-toronto-fc)



SUNSHINE (http://www.torontosun.com/sunshine-girl)


_

ensco
10-24-2011, 06:47 AM
Kelly's piece is mostly right. For all the happiness caused by the CCL qualification....we're still nowhere near good enough. We're light years from the quality of LA or RSL or Seattle.

The second half of the season was only better in comparison to the epic grease fire that was the first half of the season.

MG42
10-24-2011, 07:34 AM
Kelly's piece is mostly right. For all the happiness caused by the CCL qualification....we're still nowhere near good enough. We're light years from the quality of LA or RSL or Seattle.

The second half of the season was only better in comparison to the epic grease fire that was the first half of the season.

hahahaha nice!

keem-o-sabi
10-24-2011, 07:44 AM
Coed Girl (http://thechive.com/2011/10/18/melanie-iglesias-is-using-the-twitter-machine-properly-25-photos/)

Auzzy
10-24-2011, 08:19 AM
I thought there was lots of BS in the Kelly article, as per usual.

Such as: "The 2-2 finish flattered the hosts." Check the stats: they were very similar throughout. TFC wanted it more at the end. Which is one reason you had our DP striker helping out in defense for stretches, and everyone including Torsten pushing forward at times, near the end of the game.


But then there's this gem: "Torsten Frings, who played in all three positional phases of Saturday’s game. When any one man is a defender in the first half, a midfielder an hour later and a forward at the very end, you know you have a problem."

Total facepalm bullshit.

You will like this article if you want to preserve a mostly negative outlook on the whole season. For a """"""""journalist"""""""" to publish an end-of-season overview, but to mention the Dallas win as the only (& "unexpected") positive of the season, is hogwash. (He also contradicts his own article from a few days ago.) At least he could acknowledge the last third of the season turnaround, in both results & quality of play. But he might have to do 5 minutes of research on the web for that, which is obviously too much hassle for this hack.

Redcoe15
10-24-2011, 09:20 AM
Cathal Kelly needs to die in a fire, along with a lot of the Toronto sports hacks.

ManUtd4ever
10-24-2011, 09:27 AM
Total facepalm bullshit.

You will like this article if you want to preserve a mostly negative outlook on the whole season. For a """"""""journalist"""""""" to publish an end-of-season overview, but to mention the Dallas win as the only (& "unexpected") positive of the season, is hogwash. (He also contradicts his own article from a few days ago.) At least he could acknowledge the last third of the season turnaround, in both results & quality of play. But he might have to do 5 minutes of research on the web for that, which is obviously too much hassle for this hack.

Agreed. Fortunately, Kelly is the lone TFC beat writer to draw those shortsighted conclusions.

jabbronies
10-24-2011, 09:34 AM
Not sure what all the Cathal hate is about. he was pretty much bang on for most of the article.

The team looked horrible on both goals. It was flashbacks of yer 1-4 in both with the stupid defensive breakdowns.

As for the Frings comment - he's right. If we were a complete team we wouldn't need to cycle 1 player through all those ranks. Name one team in the world that would take 1 player and start him as a CB, then move to Defensive Mid then Attacking mid in one game. We don't have the depth needed to fill these positions so we lean on 1 guy to do the work? That is not normal and it shows a lack of quality in a squad.

Love what Winter has done this season and I trust he'll fix these problems in the off-season.

Canary10
10-24-2011, 10:11 AM
Kelly's piece is mostly right. For all the happiness caused by the CCL qualification....we're still nowhere near good enough. We're light years from the quality of LA or RSL or Seattle.

The second half of the season was only better in comparison to the epic grease fire that was the first half of the season.

I don't agree. TFC's top 11 can compete with any team in the league on any given day. The real challenge is to do it consistently. We gave up way to many draws this year that could have been wins. Converting those to wins will get us in the playoffs next year.

Roogsy
10-24-2011, 10:24 AM
I don't agree. TFC's top 11 can compete with any team in the league on any given day. The real challenge is to do it consistently. We gave up way to many draws this year that could have been wins. Converting those to wins will get us in the playoffs next year.

What was apparent was that double-digit wins was needed to get in the playoffs. Which means at least 4 more wins for us next year minimum. I think it's doable, but not much more. I foresee a 8-10th place finish for us.

The way I look at this team is that it got a head-start on 2012. That is good. However, that also means teams got a look at us and will also improve with us having little room to sign any more impact players. That will mitigate the improvement we see next year.

It's another reason I wanted to capitalize on this year in the form of playoffs. We should have and could have taken advantage of the arrivals of these DPs and we didn't.

Auzzy
10-24-2011, 10:25 AM
Not sure what all the Cathal hate is about. he was pretty much bang on for most of the article.

The team looked horrible on both goals. It was flashbacks of yer 1-4 in both with the stupid defensive breakdowns.

As for the Frings comment - he's right. If we were a complete team we wouldn't need to cycle 1 player through all those ranks. Name one team in the world that would take 1 player and start him as a CB, then move to Defensive Mid then Attacking mid in one game. We don't have the depth needed to fill these positions so we lean on 1 guy to do the work? That is not normal and it shows a lack of quality in a squad.

Love what Winter has done this season and I trust he'll fix these problems in the off-season.

The defensive weakness is acknowledged all around. That helped lead to both goals. But we're also in MLS. I have seen frequent defensive breakdowns from almost all teams -- including many of the supposed top teams. But yes we're the unfortunate leaders by far in the category. Pray, pray, pray that they have already started fixing that, as they say (i.e., looking at other players).

Frings playing defense at times, is tied directly to that defensive weakness (and is also a sign of a smart/versatile DP signing). But teams switching up formations in different phases of the game (e.g., "point forward" or "point back"); or midfielders switching off between themselves; or specific players helping out in the back (e.g., even Koevermans) or pushing up front (e.g., Frings) to push for a certain result, is for the most part just smart & not necessarily a sign of anything. Dunfield subbed for JDG; after that it made more sense for Dunfield to hang back more & Frings to push forward more. Plus you had the fact that NE was trying to preserve a lead for a while, and then to preserve the tie; good time to push some players forward.

Auzzy
10-24-2011, 10:35 AM
Why is there "little room to sign any more impact players"?

- Deals for Barret & DeRo, that saw TFC still paying part of their salaries, are expiring: that's a significant chunk of cap space.

- AFAIK, we get more allo cash for making it to the CCL QFs.

- AFAIK, a number of other older deals are expiring; and I think a couple of the new guys were on 1-year deals. Who knows what will happen there, but there's room for something to happen. In some cases, that may mean we're dumping players & clearing cap space; in some cases we may end up paying more, e.g. to sign Ecks & Plata, while some other guys are due for a raise.

- They may make a deal for one of our goalies.

- Etc...???

Canary10
10-24-2011, 10:39 AM
What was apparent was that double-digit wins was needed to get in the playoffs. Which means at least 4 more wins for us next year minimum. I think it's doable, but not much more. I foresee a 8-10th place finish for us.

The way I look at this team is that it got a head-start on 2012. That is good. However, that also means teams got a look at us and will also improve with us having little room to sign any more impact players. That will mitigate the improvement we see next year.

It's another reason I wanted to capitalize on this year in the form of playoffs. We should have and could have taken advantage of the arrivals of these DPs and we didn't.

I think this team should be shooting for 50 points and should fight for first in the eastern conference next year. The positive I take out of the last few months of play (including Saturday in flashes), is that this team can attack and move the ball with fluidity and purpose. I don't see that in a lot of teams in MLS frankly.

JonO
10-24-2011, 10:48 AM
However, that also means teams got a look at us and will also improve with us having little room to sign any more impact players. That will mitigate the improvement we see next year.

Here's where the joys of a salary capped league and everyone's favourite word - parity - come into play. The reason TFC can improve is because we have players that aren't good enough who can be replaced with ones who are, at comparable salaries. Teams who are doing really well right now will struggle to keep the team together and stay within the cap. There is little room to improve because it is difficult to sign better players for the same $$.

Obviously this is over-simplified, but I think it is the general model of the league...

Roogsy
10-24-2011, 10:59 AM
Here's where the joys of a salary capped league and everyone's favourite word - parity - come into play. The reason TFC can improve is because we have players that aren't good enough who can be replaced with ones who are, at comparable salaries. Teams who are doing really well right now will struggle to keep the team together and stay within the cap. There is little room to improve because it is difficult to sign better players for the same $$.

Obviously this is over-simplified, but I think it is the general model of the league...

Absolutely true. But the "silver bullet" is the DP tag. We have used all 3 of our magical bullets. Other teams still have them available, either all or some. Look at Chicago. Now there is a year-end rally worth feeling positive about next season. They also made an impact signing at the transfer window and almost made it into the post-season despite also battling in the US Open Cup. One more team that will be hard to beat next year and they still have room to sign more DPs. We don't.

What this tells me that more teams are disposed to sign DPs. Vancouver is smarting from this year's beat and will be ready. They will be gunning for us. Chicago will be feeling confident after just missing out on the bubble. DC United will not allow themselves to go 5 years without post-season action. They will bring in talent for sure. I don't see Houston or NY falling off much if at all. Columbus is the big unknown. And New England will continue to suck under their cheap-ass owner. Other than those two last teams, who exactly are we going to be dominating? It's going to be a grind all year long. (And let's not forget, we STILL didn't beat New England in the last game of this season, arguably the worst team in the league.)

MLS will be a much tougher league next year than this year. So while we are indeed improved and will have all our DPs for the full year instead of half the year, we still finished with only 3 league wins after their arrival and a 1.15 ppg average (playoff teams have a 1.35 at least). The positivity should be kept in check lest we become Leaf fans.

Oldtimer
10-24-2011, 11:05 AM
Why is there "little room to sign any more impact players"?

- Deals for Barret & DeRo, that saw TFC still paying part of their salaries, are expiring: that's a significant chunk of cap space.

- AFAIK, we get more allo cash for making it to the CCL QFs.

- AFAIK, a number of other older deals are expiring; and I think a couple of the new guys were on 1-year deals. Who knows what will happen there, but there's room for something to happen. In some cases, that may mean we're dumping players & clearing cap space; in some cases we may end up paying more, e.g. to sign Ecks & Plata, while some other guys are due for a raise.

- They may make a deal for one of our goalies.

- Etc...???

DeRo alone expiring means $250k free in cap space. You can get a top MLS quality non-DP CB for that price.

Don't forget that TFC also gets the "You suck" allocation for missing the playoffs. Add the expiring players and there is over $750k to spend. Winter/Mariner could do a lot with that kind of cash.

ArmenJBX
10-24-2011, 11:08 AM
Players who will probably stay

Milos Kocic
Stefan Frei
Richard Eckersley
Adrian Cann
Dicoy Williams
Doneil Henry
Ashton Morgan
Julian de Guzman
Torsten Frings
Matt Stinson
Eric Avila
Terry Dunfield
Ryan Johnson
Joao Plata
Nick Soolsma
Peri Marosevic
Danny Koevermans

Everyone else is expendable, so we'd need

1 goalkeeper
1 right back
1 top quality centerback
1 left back
1 attacking midfielder
a couple wingers
a backup target striker.

JonO
10-24-2011, 11:14 AM
Absolutely true. But the "silver bullet" is the DP tag. We have used all 3 of our magical bullets. Other teams still have them available, either all or some. Look at Chicago. Now there is a year-end rally worth feeling positive about next season. They also made an impact signing at the transfer window and almost made it into the post-season despite also battling in the US Open Cup. One more team that will be hard to beat next year and they still have room to sign more DPs. We don't.

Sure, but they need to free up cap space to sign DP, so that means potentially letting go some other players. There's never a guarantee how these things will work out. If we are able to sure up some glaring holes, then there is no reason we can't finish some in the middle of play-off pack next year.

That's the thing with MLS - there's not a lot of difference between many of the teams - especially those in the middle of the pack...

Canary10
10-24-2011, 11:16 AM
We really need one more top quality winger. Having a Plata on the other side would make this team very dangerous and take a load of the back as well. I really liked how Soolsma played, but I'm not sure he's a top 11 player. And of course a central defender.

backbeat
10-24-2011, 01:32 PM
There are a number of areas we need to shore up but to me the 3 critical spots are:

a big strong commanding CB

A creative AM

A fast technical Right Forward

Stryker
10-24-2011, 02:21 PM
Don't forget that TFC also gets the "You suck" allocation for missing the playoffs. Add the expiring players and there is over $750k to spend. Winter/Mariner could do a lot with that kind of cash.

They will also get some coin from MLS for progressing to the knockout stage in CCL.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/help-way-mls-teams-champions-league

SoccMan
10-24-2011, 07:29 PM
Look you can say whatever you want about Kelly but the facts speak for themselves, this was another lousy season. In five years this team has not made the playoffs and had the worst MLS season statisticaly ever in it's five year history. Kelly is a casual fan( observer) and to the casuals they look at the standings and they once again see a bad team. To the hardcore fans we can see a light at the end of the tunnel hopefuly, but to casuals like Kelly they don't and you can't realy blame them, when all they care to look at is the standings.

rocker
10-24-2011, 07:37 PM
on the points made above (TFC gets allocation $$ for sucking in the league + allocation $$ for succeeding in the CCL), I have a question:

Which other MLS qualifies for both!?!?

Carts
10-24-2011, 07:39 PM
They will also get some coin from MLS for progressing to the knockout stage in CCL.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/help-way-mls-teams-champions-league

I didn't know that - but its GREAT to hear...

Auzzy
10-24-2011, 07:40 PM
Kelly is supposed to be a journalist, not a casual fan w/o a clue.

Speaking of cap space & room to sign players: after listening to the player interviews, there are LOTS of players on option years for next season, or with contracts completely expiring on Dec. 31st (including some of the new guys signed this season). Although I'm really hoping there won't be too much turnover, and although expiring contracts can mean more money being spent on some players that are staying -- I think Winter/Mariner/BDK have quite a bit of flexibility in this off-season.

Hearing about these contracts, looking at the salary list http://www.mlsplayers.org/files/September%201,%202011%20Salary%20Information%20-%20By%20Club.pdf and thinking of the number of youth & home-grown players we have (that don't affect our cap) -- just seems to confirm that the days of so many awful deals under Mo Johnston are truly over.

sidvan
10-24-2011, 08:15 PM
will we be given allocation $$ for losing all our third round draft spots we traded for?