^ there’s a purchase option in there, which is usually a sign he’s not coming back.
I’m sad about this one. He seems like a genuinely likeable guy and had something to offer the team.
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^ there’s a purchase option in there, which is usually a sign he’s not coming back.
I’m sad about this one. He seems like a genuinely likeable guy and had something to offer the team.
Just over 10 days to go… temperature check on the roster everyone?
I’m very cold ftr (like anyone can’t already tell).
It feels incomplete, in particular on defence.
We really will have no clue until the Dallas game.
Looks like we maybe tried to sign a young DP.
https://www.arqtricolor.com/ultimas/...-gabriel-sara/
A lot turns on Pozuelo and Osorio. These are our world class players and they could be as good as any pair in the league.
If Pozo is fully back, and Osorio is used in a way that develops some chemistry with him and Jimenez … we will score goals, and it’ll help make up for deficiencies elsewhere.
Oso especially, I am hoping for a breakout season. It is his time and he is ready. He can and I believe will make this his team.
Assuming we primarily play a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1, in order of comfort I’d go:
CM: Pozuelo, Oso, Bradley, Priso, Okello is a solid group. As long as BB limits MB’s minutes we should be fine.
ST: I really like the Jimenez signing, I think he’s going to score a bunch of goals for us. Peruzza as the backup and hopefully soon Akinola competing for starts looks good to me.
CB: Salcedo is an upgrade over Gonzalez, O’Neill is an upgrade over Zavaleta, don’t know much about MacNaughton but he can’t be worse than Singh. Fine.
GK: Need an upgrade here but if Westberg can regain some of his form we can manage.
Wingers: Relying a lot on unproven youth here. I hope Nelson, Achara, and Kerr can do the job but Insigne can’t get here fast enough.
Fullbacks: Huge concern. Two players learning a new position and almost no depth. It could get ugly.
Overall I like the spine of the team but we obviously have some major holes. It was never going to be fixed in one window though. I like BB’s approach so far, he can use the first half of the season to see what he has in the young players while still retaining the flexibility to make some moves in the summer.
I'm not concerned but that could be because my expectations for this team are low. I would expect for the most part that we play some nice tidy football, but we'll lose games due to defensive errors / lack of quality in certain positions. But overall, the structure of how we play should be in place.
When Insigne + whomever arrives in July, that should solidify our attack and possibly a little bit on defence. Depending on how well we do in the first half of the season and how quickly Insigne adapts to MLS, he may be able to steal us enough points to squeak into the playoffs - but that is best case scenario.
In the off season (3rd transfer window for Bob) we should be bringing in pieces to start the 2023 season with a competitive edge.
bobs 4th transfer window in July 2023 should be solidifying our bench to make a decent run at the Shield / Cup
Dom Dwyer on trial with Atlanta United
https://www.dirtysouthsoccer.com/202...atlanta-united
I’m mostly fine as is. Fullback positions are a bit of a question mark but otherwise I think we have enough to work with.
I don’t think it’s smart to fully build out the roster until you better understand where the areas of need are. If we fire all our bullets now, we’ll have nothing left to address problem areas.
I know everyone wants an instant rebuild but I think it’s best to be realistic and realize you can’t do it all at once.
Letting Lawrence and Auro go at the same time is a bit odd, unless there is someone specific coming in or we are starting with 3 at the back (which is possible now with Mavinga Solcedo and ONeill) (but doesn’t seem to be being used in the pre season). Given how organized BB’s thinking normally is, this seems to be a very unusual gap.
Everyone being purged is an older player and a theory around the club is that some of the older players had tuned Vanney out before he left, were effectively coaching themselves.
My sources on that are close to the club but not close enough to make it sacrosanct. They're getting it second hand but have their own contacts who are pretty good.
Their take is that some of these guys have been making their own calls for several seasons now and weren't going to buy into whatever Bradley was selling, so it seems likely he got rid of them rather than have them disrupt the dressing room.
They thought they knew better how they should play and weren't open to adapting to something new. He wants guys who buy in 100 percent and are disciplined. Anyone who doesn't or isn't, they'll get rid of, basically.
I don't know if Lawrence is part of that, I suspect not. There's total silence there, which makes me think they're trying to move him to accommodate family concerns.
Having said that, the game where he criticized Altidore on a corner for fighting with a guy from the other team probably didn't do his rep any favors. That's not a guy fighting for the badge, when he criticizes his own teammate for being aggressive.
On top of that, he's a true fullback, not a wingback, and has never been strong on the overlap. Auro is arguably in the same boat. Neither is dangerous offensively and he wants wingbacks who cut in and cause problems in the opposing box.
Anyone got an Athletic subscription?
Something about Kemar Lawrence being sued over an unpaid loan in this story, but it's cutoff by the subscription gate.
https://theathletic.com/3130092/2022...ged-his-loans/
He allegedly owes $117,000 for an unpaid loan. Filed in July according to this. Anyone got access to the Florida courts database? I'm guessing not.
https://dockets.justia.com/docket/fl...cv61538/597008
Let the speculation begin.
"Sure Sports is also suing soccer player Kemar M. Lawrence of Toronto FC for $117,614 plus interest and costs over a loan that the firm purchased ..."
.... is as much as I could get from the Google News capture.
Woah.... seems he has a slate of lawsuits flying:
https://unicourt.com/search?q=Kemar+Lawrence&a=p
EDIT The 2017 case is an old MVA lawsuit so unrelated.
EDIT 2, Weird, the 2020 one is also an MVA lawsuit but against a different corporate defendant, filed three years later.
The Sure Sports one is "Sure Sports, LLC filed a Government Benefit - Government Benefit Recovery lawsuit against Lawrence. This case was filed in U.S. District Courts, Florida Southern District. The Judge overseeing this case is Rodney Smith. The case status is Pending - Other Pending."
It appears Sure Sports took over a debt, possibly from Balanced Bridge Funding, and want a piece of a government benefit or payment to Lawrence.
^I read the story. It's about athletes who take out high interest loans (why do these guys ever do that? *slaps head*) and then wind up sued if they don’t repay. These lenders are also sometimes agents or financial advisors, it is a brutal conflict of interest.
This is how mostly about Evander Kane and how he went bankrupt. Lawrence is a small footnote in the story.
Not obviously related to TFC (or any team Lawrence ever played for)
I have no problem with moving Lawrence or Auro out. I am kind of surprised by the timing/delay on Lawrence . I mean, anyone in MLS would want him in camp by now.
I am kind of bummed at losing Richie just to see him DNP in the Championship. Get him back here on loan!
According to a few court databases, he's also being sued by the Port Authority of New York for something, and has a pending case in which he's the plaintiff against a company in a motor vehicle accident.
Have to wonder if the distractions are related to his absence. The fact that they don't directly involve TFC may be irrelevant, if reputation is involved.
I agree with this. Both guys can't drive the net for shit. They are not wingbacks.
The Shaffelburg transformation to a wingback is interesting and I'm feeling positive about that one. I think his speed and strength will help him on the defensive end of the game. Salcedo will keep him in check and in the right position.
JMR seems more like a shot in the dark. Going forward on the attack he'll be great, no questions there. I think he'll be able to defend higher up the pitch - I just wonder what he'll be like when TFC are pressed back. And I wonder if he can hold a defensive shape or will he tempted to just run all over the place.
I guess we'll see.
Cautiously optimistic but tempered expectations.
I'm happy to be patient for another window or two to make sure they re-build this roster the right way. Don't expect them to light the world on fire first half of the season off a pretty heavy rebuild.
Forwards should be in much better shape this year based on Jimenez and a healthy Ayo / Achara which might get bolstered mid-season.
Mids Delgado out, but a healthy Priso and another year of development for Okello shouldn't have us any worse than last year as long as MB doesn't regress/get overworked.
CBs are definitely improved.
The lack of backs is terrifying especially given Beita and Morrow were the unsung heroes of the glory years - don't need world beaters there but solid, dependable MLS players should be the bare minimum.
As long as we qualify for CCL next year I'll be happy.
If we sneak into playoffs that would be a huge bonus as the team should be competitive enough to go on a run after the next window. I'd accept missing playoffs as long as the team was actually looking great by end of season with all the additions and have CCL to gear up for.
They've been pretty open about taking a few windows to rebuild which is worth getting right. If JMR/Shaff don't work out as backs, they can fix that next window. I'm fine with experimenting these first few months at the expense of this years MLS playoffs if it sets us up better the next 2-3.
One thing everyone should check out is other team's roster contruction. We're not the only ones with holes and seem to be leaving areas unaddressed. I randomly roll through various teams chats to see what's up and there's a lot of this going on this year. I am always suspicious of MLS and it's inner workings so I assume something is up with the new TV deal and how it will affect the cap & clubs.
Hard to see them as the ideal option... but I'm an optimist on both. I think they'll do well. They'll get beaten for naivete a few times, but both are extremely fast, both have great close control, which translates well to tackling accurately, both have exceptional backward recovery when out of position.
They sort of have all the right tools, but zero experience. So... I don't think it will go badly. But I expect they would prefer them to be platooning with more experienced players.
I also think Luca Petrasso will see some time and he looked pretty ready last season at TFCII.
It would be great to get a two-footed veteran who can play either side.
He's stepped into a potentially very good situation but with not the best timing. The player ahead of him, Djed Spence, is the hottest player in the Championship right now (he's on loan from Middlesborough) and expected to go to the Prem next season. They thought he might go during the transfer window but that didn't happen.
Their manager sounds a little skeptical about MLS, and has mentioned it taking awhile to get him up to speed. Having watched a few of their games, I can see it. It's a very different game both tactically and at pace.
Jury's out. He was on the bench on the weekend. Maybe he gets a legit shot and maybe he doesn't, but it's too early to say. He's missed two of their four games since he moved due to int'l commitments.
Possibly just that the window is a month shorter. League doesn't usually start until late March but they moved it up due to the World Cup. A month is a loooong time in transfer terms.
You're right about them being short. The manager of Charlotte FC declared them "screwed", given that it's first-year roster and they're still missing so many pieces. But everyone has gaps.
Great analysis! Thanks for this
Petrasso looked good last game I thought. Like someone who has a serious amount of tools to play in MLS but maybe needs a bit of game time to sand off the edges. Overplayed a few sequences but otherwise very comfortable.
Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s our LB of the future but 2022 probably too soon.
We're obviously going to be relying heavily on our youth out of the gate. Hopefully, our veteran presence will be enough to insulate them until more reinforcements arrive.