TFC 2008 and 2009....More of the same.

[[NBF]]

Just because I have nothing to do and because I cant sleep I decided to start worrying about the 2009 season. These are my ratings for the following positions and players. As you can see the majority of TFC's failures will be the same as in the 2008 season.

Goalkeepers: Sutton, Edwards
Rating: C

It's questionable to say who's at fault for the amount of goals scored on TFC, but I would say the blame is equally shared by the goalkeepers and the back four on defense. Greg Sutton's 37 goals allowed in 24 appearances, yikes!

Fullbacks: Wynne, Brennan, Attakora, Dunivant, Gala
Ratings: B-

Probably the strongest and deepest position on the entire team. Would like to see this group dominate if it stays healthy and the team gets more attacking help.

Centre Backs: Marshall, Velez, James, Harmse
Ratings: C

Marshall is the best of the bunch and if he was paired up with someone equal in skills this group would be amongst the best in MLS. I'm not sold on James, he may be a leaper but if he cant mark his man how useful is he? I wish we had someone of Velez's marking skill and James leaping skills...hmmn...Kevin Harmse?

Wingers: Ricketts, Ibrahim, Jo. Smith, Gaudet
Ratings: C

Without Ricketts this group would be a C- rating. Ricketts is somewhat of a Houdini, in some games he tends to disappear, but thats alot better than the young kids in this group. I like Ibrahim more than I like Jo. Smith, mainly because of his play-making skills. Jo. Smith is a sprinter down the sidelines, but tends to not know what to do when he gets to a corner, it sort of reminds me of Eddie Johnson for Fulham last season when he'd get the ball and get smack from behind and lose the possession. Gaudet I hope gets more playing time this season. He's played OK, but he's not an impact player on the team.

Midfielders: Guevara, Robinson, Rosenlund, Harmse, Melo, Elkinson
Ratings: C+

Although, we have good depth in this group there's no real player that can replace Guevara's attacking skills. Without Guevara this group plunges to a C grade. Robinson is good, but not good enough to provide an attacking threat. Rosenlund is a decent sub, but nothing special on the counter. Harmse is a defensive midfielder, Melo hasn't shown much and Elkinson is off the radar.

Strikers: Barrett, Dichio, Ibrahim, Jo. Smith
Ratings: C

Dichio, I've learned to appreciate after not having him for a majority of the 2008, but he's getting up there in age and like I said didn't play much last season. Barrett will be one to watch next season, I consider Barrett to be a less than 10 goals a season striker but we will see. Other than that TFC young strikers, Ibrahim and Jo. Smith, should play on the flanks for the majority of the 2009 season to get some experience and toughen up. There's definitely a need for a striker here.

So according to my understanding, the priorities for TFC should be as follows:

1. Striker
2. Centre back
3. Winger
4. Goalkeeper
5. Midfielder

[Blazer]

^ Not sure that I disagree with any of that. A pretty fair assessment if you ask me. Nice work!

[TFC_Toon]

I agree with the priority order, striker and centerback would appear to be our top two targets. I think if they work on Jo Smith as well he will be a threat on the flank, needs to work on ball control and quality service into the box.

[Captain Croatia]

I agree with the priority order, striker and centerback would appear to be our top two targets. I think if they work on Jo Smith as well he will be a threat on the flank, needs to work on ball control and quality service into the box.

Jo. Smith on the flanks for sure. That boy can run, just teach him to send in good crosses and we got ourselves a nice pair of wingers with himself and R.R. Anther striker with Barrett and we're rollin'.

[Roogsy]

We are painfully thin on D. A centreback is a must even before a DP. Otherwise we will be leaking goals like a siv.

[Captain Croatia]

We are painfully thin on D. A centreback is a must even before a DP. Otherwise we will be leaking goals like a siv.

But the best defense is a good offense.

and the best offense is a good defense?!?!?:noidea:

:drinking:We need both, but i would like to see us score more goals first:canada:

[dag]

We need goals. And an ability to play a full 90 minutes.

[Beach_Red]

:drinking:We need both, but i would like to see us score more goals first:canada:

Yes, we need both, but if we hadn't let in those late goals in so many games last year we would have been in the playoffs and who knows how far we would have gone.

It's a gamble, for sure, but it seems the chances are better that Dichio, Barret and Ibbe will be better this year than last, but not much to show the defense we have will get much better.

Switch CB and striker and it's a great list.

[Hitcho]

Too negative, imho. What we're really lacking is a a few first XI players and a bit more strength in depth, but the core of the first XI is there.

GK - Sutton is a great shot stopper and very reliable when we played 4-2-3-1 and he had decent cover in front of him.

Full Backs - Wynne and Brennan/Todd as first choice FBs are great, and in Atta we have good young cover.

Centre Backs - One of three positions we need to strengthen. We have three players in Marshall, Harmse and Velez who could do well as a "support" CB to a top level CB, which we need to add, but we need someone to lead the line and command the defence.

Wingers - RR looks like he could come good on a regular basis next season, and in Brennan/Todd D we have interchangeable players to cover left midfield and Jo Smith has some serious potential, so we're ok here but could be strengthed - lowest order of priority though.

Centre Mid - In Robbo and Amado our starting CM's are pretty strong. Cover is there in Harmse, but we could use some more back up. Not a priority though.

Strikers - Barrett looks good, Dichio will be an asset over the course of the season, and we have Ibby as an impact fast player. So what we need is a clinical finisher/poacher type player to bolster the goals per season ratio - pretty important.

So, based on that, I'd reverse the order at the top of your priotity list and say we need a CB first, then a clinical striker/poacher. Those are the top two priotities. A left mid player would be nice, but is not essential, and any strength in depth we can add (apart from full backs) would be a bonus.

[jloome]

Too negative, imho. What we're really lacking is a a few first XI players and a bit more strength in depth, but the core of the first XI is there.

GK - Sutton is a great shot stopper and very reliable when we played 4-2-3-1 and he had decent cover in front of him.

Full Backs - Wynne and Brennan/Todd as first choice FBs are great, and in Atta we have good young cover.

Centre Backs - One of three positions we need to strengthen. We have three players in Marshall, Harmse and Velez who could do well as a "support" CB to a top level CB, which we need to add, but we need someone to lead the line and command the defence.

Wingers - RR looks like he could come good on a regular basis next season, and in Brennan/Todd D we have interchangeable players to cover left midfield and Jo Smith has some serious potential, so we're ok here but could be strengthed - lowest order of priority though.

Centre Mid - In Robbo and Amado our starting CM's are pretty strong. Cover is there in Harmse, but we could use some more back up. Not a priority though.

Strikers - Barrett looks good, Dichio will be an asset over the course of the season, and we have Ibby as an impact fast player. So what we need is a clinical finisher/poacher type player to bolster the goals per season ratio - pretty important.

So, based on that, I'd reverse the order at the top of your priotity list and say we need a CB first, then a clinical striker/poacher. Those are the top two priotities. A left mid player would be nice, but is not essential, and any strength in depth we can add (apart from full backs) would be a bonus.

It's a good anaylsis. They both are, and come to similar conclusions. I keep vacillating on whether it's a striker (excitment!) versus a CB (end the late losses) as priority. My heart says the former, head says the latter.

Then again, our goal scoring record was pretty dreadful last year..... oh I don't know. They could solve this problem by getting Mark Hughes to come out of playing retirement, as he could play both.....

Interesting that we never see any public discussion of who our defensive targets may be. That's one area where our predilection for following the English style might pay off, as there are a ton of good centre halves plying the trade in the lower leagues.

[Yohan]

I'm still of opinion that if there is a commanding CB available, use the DP spot on him.
Really regretting that Tebily left

[Blazer]

^ I agree. A leaky defence is more frustrating than a power outage up front. Both are areas of particular concern but shit…get a quality CB and watch shit unfold.

[Ontario Arab]

2 words.......Kris Boyd.

[Soods]

2 words.......Kris Boyd.

As much as I'd love to see this happening....it won't. The guy can't stop scoring for Rangers at the moment. No way he's coming here to play on our turf. Sure he'd rip the league apart, but it ain't happening. (lovely hat trick this weekend though)

[flatpicker]

2 words.......Kris Boyd.

4 syllables.... Rickie Lambert!

[Bars92]

2 words.......Kris Boyd.
:lol: :lol: :lol:

[Hitcho]

It's a good anaylsis. They both are, and come to similar conclusions. I keep vacillating on whether it's a striker (excitment!) versus a CB (end the late losses) as priority. My heart says the former, head says the latter.

Then again, our goal scoring record was pretty dreadful last year..... oh I don't know. They could solve this problem by getting Mark Hughes to come out of playing retirement, as he could play both.....

Interesting that we never see any public discussion of who our defensive targets may be. That's one area where our predilection for following the English style might pay off, as there are a ton of good centre halves plying the trade in the lower leagues.

Cheers jloome. I tend to agree with you on the head v heart dilemma too. I'm swung more by the fact that all successful teams tend to be built on a solid defence whereas it's pretty rare to see one that survives on attacking prowess alone (Newcastle under Keegan first time round is a good example). Plus DD should get more games this season than last, Barrett will be settled in more and Ibby has some experience under his belt - so a top level CB is more important than a striker in my book. We can also get goals from midfield and free kicks.

Definitely, definitely agree about getting in a CB with English experience though. If we could get another Brennan style player at CB, we'd be solid as a rock.

[Oldtimer]

Disagree about Sutton, he is more solid than our shaky defense would lead one to believe. Casillas would have looked bad with our D last year.

[Ossington Mental Youth]

I essentially said more or less the samethings in that "whihc is a bigger priority thread"
I submit an excerpt for your pleasure (HA)


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?

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)

In reflection im not entirely convinced of my argument.
However Im not entirely convinced of the arguments in favor of signing CBs (although i would love to see a CB DP, go figure right?)

[Hitcho]

^ I think the DP issue is a bit of a red herring. If we sign up a top quality CB and a clinical striker, thereby resolving our two biggest issues, without actually signing a DP, I'll be ecstatic. DP status just means you get paid more, it doesn't necessarily mean you're better (although I agree there's an obvious link with better quality players commanding a higher salary). But I guess my point is this: whether someone's labelled as DP or not I frankly don't care, I just want us to sign the players we need to really challenge for honours next season. If we do that and there's no DP signing, then I hope fans won't start raising hell about the lack of DP money being spent just because they were promised it would be!

[mighty_torontofc_2008]

went with goalkeeper....defence win championships and you start right at the back with a No 1 keeper. Edwards should be the No 1 this season or at least be giving more games.

[Ossington Mental Youth]

^ I think the DP issue is a bit of a red herring. If we sign up a top quality CB and a clinical striker, thereby resolving our two biggest issues, without actually signing a DP, I'll be ecstatic. DP status just means you get paid more, it doesn't necessarily mean you're better (although I agree there's an obvious link with better quality players commanding a higher salary). But I guess my point is this: whether someone's labelled as DP or not I frankly don't care, I just want us to sign the players we need to really challenge for honours next season. If we do that and there's no DP signing, then I hope fans won't start raising hell about the lack of DP money being spent just because they were promised it would be!

Oh i totally agree with that, i couldnt give a shit whether or not the DP slot is used and i do think that people will gnash their teeth and wail if we dont sign one regardless of the other talent signed and how well we do as they will see the lack of dp as a lack of commitment from MLSE (so tired of that bloody complaint).

[jloome]

In fact, the mere reality that Mo has saved over a million bucks in allocation money suggests he's going to do some serious topping up of salaries. My understanding is you can match the original sub-cap salary, so potentially you could pay $800,000 a year, or about 9,000 pounds a week, to a player without him becoming a DP.

That's a lot of dough for a lot of players in Europe who are't getting the $15,000 per week average in the prem (or whatever ridiculous number it's up to).

[druid]

2 central midfielders (preferably box to box with other talents)
1 striker
1 or 2 center backs

[The Oz]

2 central midfielders (preferably box to box with other talents)
1 striker
1 or 2 center backs

Agreed on what we need, but not order.
1. CB (I don't think we should be using DP money but it all depends on the situation and the player. I think we all agree on this)
2. Striker (1 and 2 are interchangeable in my mind. It really is a head vs heart thing like they mentioned up above. In the end we do really need both.)
3. 1 winger/mid (either or, with all the guys we have we could mix it up and find a combination that really works but this is a small thing compared to the two before it.)

[druid]

Agreed on what we need, but not order.
1. CB (I don't think we should be using DP money but it all depends on the situation and the player. I think we all agree on this)
2. Striker (1 and 2 are interchangeable in my mind. It really is a head vs heart thing like they mentioned up above. In the end we do really need both.)
3. 1 winger/mid (either or, with all the guys we have we could mix it up and find a combination that really works but this is a small thing compared to the two before it.)

Keep in mind we have one starting central midfielder: Robson. Guevara is a bit light weight and weak in the tackle to really hold down a central midfield slot in anything but a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-5-1. And even then you'd still want two defensive/holding or box to box for both formations. If we wanted to play a 4-3-3 we'd need one defensive or holding and two box to box. I'm not saying Amado shouldn't be played but relying on him as one of two central midfielders is a bit sketch.

Add injuries or international dates and we're looking at central midfield pairing of Rosenlund and Harmse. And while youth is great we need experience in central midfield. Many formations require three central midfielders and we we've only got one starter. That, for me, makes it our most dire section on the roster.

[dannyd]

You left out two key positions: Coach and Scout... I won't say any more than that, just that you left them out lol.

[ThunderTundra]

It's gonna be different with DeRo now! hehehe!

[Maple Leaf Red]

DERO! That is all. :)

[Stryker]

We are painfully thin on D. A centreback is a must even before a DP. Otherwise we will be leaking goals like a siv.

Even more so now.

[Big Bruva]

Need a very good striker

[greatwhitenorf]

Time to acquire Paul Stalteri for the defence. He's still got good wheels, but could easily shift from right FB to CB. About to be dropped by Spurs and reaching that time when starting positions for him in England will only open up one league down.

Good time to bring him home. Hey, what do you think Richard Peddie and co. were doing over at Spurs a while back?

[Steve]

went with goalkeeper....defence win championships and you start right at the back with a No 1 keeper. Edwards should be the No 1 this season or at least be giving more games.

I think this is ridiculous. I don't know if people are used to hockey (where a goalie can single handedly stop goals) or what, but without a defence, a keeper is fucked here. Sutton is a great shot stopper, but terrible at distribution. I'm OK with that. Actually, if you looked at the stats during the time in the early season when our defense solidified, he was one of the top 3-4 keepers in the league (while making crazy good saves). Sadly, after that time our defense fell apart again, and Sutton was left out to dry more often than not. If we get a true leader in the back and put him with Marshall, Wynne, and Brennan, you'll see Sutton start to really shine.

One thing I do think he can improve though is how commanding he his. I don't feel like he commands his defense as well as he should in certain situations.