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jloome
12-06-2008, 08:40 PM
I'd venture that our absence of a solid central defense may be as big a problem as our inability to consistently find the net. With that in mind, is it a bigger priority to find a DP-level striker, or to find a couple of centre halfs who can shut a game down? And given the number of decent ones in MLS, is there one worth trading for here, or do we go overseas?

Beach_Red
12-06-2008, 09:01 PM
The amount of games we lost inthe last few minutes - or gave up leads to become ties - would say that defenders who can shut a game down are the higher priority.

It really looked like last year was a season of filling holes as fast as they opened up, and overall the team did a good job, but the guy they never replaced was Tebily. In the few games he played there was a clear difference in front of our net.

CretanBull
12-06-2008, 09:59 PM
It's not one or the other...we won't do shit unless we solve both problems.

Beach_Red
12-06-2008, 10:33 PM
It's not one or the other...we won't do shit unless we solve both problems.

Well, I hate the stupid DP rule - we're going to give one guy two million bucks, the whole salary cap is $2.3? Why can't we just increase the cap by the two million and have a $4.3 million dollar roster? Sheesh - but it's the rule, so would you be okay with the DP being a defender?

We can't even split the DP salary and have two one million dollar guys, it's crazy.

CretanBull
12-06-2008, 10:35 PM
I can't imagine any team using a DP slot on a defender....

Ron Manager
12-06-2008, 10:49 PM
I can't imagine any team using a DP slot on a defender....


Carragher??

Beach_Red
12-06-2008, 10:49 PM
I can't imagine any team using a DP slot on a defender....

It does seem unlikely. Still, it may come down to the best player that's willing to come to TFC.

there's another thread on here with the rumour that someone (Gomes?) turned down an offer of double his salary from TFC. That's disappointing, but maybe not so surprising.

Nuvinho
12-06-2008, 10:57 PM
I think a strong central defender is the priority.

I know we had problems scoring goals, but at the same time, we didn't have an entire season from Barrett, Ibbe, and Dichio. As well, the draft may net a striker.

The major problem we had last year was defense, and having someone who can control the backline and be a vocal leader.

CretanBull
12-06-2008, 11:37 PM
Carragher??

If we were going to bring in Carragher, or a striker of the same quality as him...the striker would have more of an impact (I'd still take Jamie in a heart beat though ;))

Cashcleaner
12-07-2008, 01:22 AM
I can't imagine any team using a DP slot on a defender....

Not at the moment in MLS. Teams are more interested in the marketability of players - which means to say they want goal-scorers. I fully expect when more DP allocations are allowed, we'll see the talent spread out a bit on the field.

T_Mizz
12-07-2008, 01:30 AM
I could definitely see us doing it as we don't really need to sell more tickets with such a ridiculous waiting list and our fans are knowledgable enough to understand that in the long run it would be better for the team.

UltraSuperMegaMo
12-07-2008, 01:45 AM
It's not one or the other...we won't do shit unless we solve both problems.

I agree 100%. Also, it’s a little chicken and egg. Better offence, less pressure on the defence and the other way around.

I would be shocked if the DP was used on a central defender. If we look at our squad and around the league, it’s reasonable to assume that we can find some quality defenders working within the salary cap. If the MLS has taught us one thing, it’s that you can get some pretty good footballers for some pretty low salaries - 100k - 200k.

Marc"2L"
12-07-2008, 01:56 AM
2 CBs, a Mid and at least 1(one) new striker. If we really could..

But most likely a CB and a new striker.

On top of that,

Grass and a training facility and put every last dollar tfc has available into the academy.

Have all this done by 2012 and then worry about expanding the stadium (if it's still needed, but at least put some money into getting the rest of the ikea set it came in).

LucaGol
12-07-2008, 08:06 AM
The best defense is a good offense.

The more we have possession in attack the less will have to worry about gaffes from our back line.

Ossington Mental Youth
12-07-2008, 10:08 AM
Great question, what do you think Jloome?

My only issue with grabbing a couple of decent or even fantastic CBs here is that i suspected we'd have to give up too much (we all know how people exploit weaknesses/needs in this league, our own Mo is arguably one of the best). I think we maybe have leeway for one and we'd hopefully find one outside of the league.

This second season almost seemed the reverse of our first, ie we could score goals (provided our strikeforce was healthy) but we couldnt defend for shit in the last 15 minutes of the game.

Does anyone know how many games this past season it was that we lost or tied in the last 5-10 minutes of the game?

I also seem to think itd be easier for us to grab one proven/decent striker in this league. However one can easily reflect on the fact that two relatively proven strikers we've had, Cunny and Buddle, did poorly while here. Dunno if thats a factor to take into consideration.

As for which one is a greater need?
Im gonna have to go with a striker only because i come from the school of thought that says you score 8 goals, we'll score 12 even if that will never be the case with our beloved TFC. Especially, as mentioned earlier when it debatably seems our defensive lapses out number our offensive ones. Also having reflected on this season there are alot of teams (KC, NY, LA) that had terrible defenses as well that could easily be exploited by a semi decent strikeforce. Granted they are prob in the midst of improving those right now (you can count on LA doing so at least, but theyve also lost Donovan and you can bet that BUddle aint gonna carry em)