TFC/MLS blogs thread

[ag futbol]

Well they are all the same age, but you can't really put Dero's conditioning in the same bracket as Koevermans and Frings. As someone aptly pointed out in the past, he's played far less total games in his career than Frings and is probably carrying less wear-and-tear.

Sure we need better players to surround our stars, but an apples-for-apples who's the designated player you want on your team? I'll take Dero. Comparatively he plays more games and has more of an impact than either of the alternatives.

[brad]

Wear and tear is highly individual and not simply a factor of age. I'd have taken a 34 year Bergkamp, Shearingham, Giggs, Scholes despite having more wear and tear. All of those players continued to play on at a much higher level passed that age - as did many others.

Point is - different players break down differently as age progresses. And with both Danny and Frings - they were run into the ground here. Hard to say how things would have panned out if they had been in a better team that managed them better.

[brad]

And apples to apples - for sure DeRo. Even with Frings fit, a player in DeRo's role is a better use of cap space in this league.

DeRo wins over Danny due to the injury factor - but damn, if Danny could have stayed healthy - no contest

[brad]

While I don't take Wikipedia's numbers as accurate - I just added up total appearances from there for DeRo and Koevermans. DeRo came out to 425 games and Danny 293.

Frings came out at 582 - quite a bit higher than DeRo

[DoubleUp]

Its the overall athleticism of the "Matureplayer", and the players that usually continue to play at a high level carry little to no body fat and generally keep themselves in top physical condition.

More fat, more pressure on the joints, more ware on the body.

When has Becks ever looked overweight???

[Alonso]

Wear and tear is highly individual and not simply a factor of age. I'd have taken a 34 year Bergkamp, Shearingham, Giggs, Scholes despite having more wear and tear. All of those players continued to play on at a much higher level passed that age - as did many others.

Point is - different players break down differently as age progresses. And with both Danny and Frings - they were run into the ground here. Hard to say how things would have panned out if they had been in a better team that managed them better.

Absolutely.

These guys need to be managed carefully to make them last the season.

I'm pretty sure Danny and Frings both got injured on turf.... so rest them at games were turf is used, or play them for 60 minutes and take them off.

All good managers do this.

[Pookie]

^ not using all available subs is a common thread

Anyways, a new one on WakingtheRed regarding Mariner and Cochrane who claimed today that they didn't sign the players, that they could presumably do a better job of recruiting players with their contacts, yet blamed their poor record squarely on losing the players that Winter signed.

Enough to give you a headache. I called it Mariner and Cochrane Inspriing No One Since 2012 though it could also be called how not to spin a story.

http://www.wakingthered.com/2012/10/...one-since-2012

[Alonso]

^ not using all available subs is a common thread

Anyways, a new one on WakingtheRed regarding Mariner and Cochrane who claimed today that they didn't sign the players, that they could presumably do a better job of recruiting players with their contacts, yet blamed their poor record squarely on losing the players that Winter signed.

Enough to give you a headache. I called it Mariner and Cochrane Inspriing No One Since 2012 though it could also be called how not to spin a story.

http://www.wakingthered.com/2012/10/...one-since-2012

Wow.

Well put. I never even thought about that. Koevs and Torsten are definitely Winters acquisitions, so where does Mariner come off blaming Winters acquisitions for his failure and at the same time blame the loss of Winters acquisitions due to injury (Koevs and Frings) as part of the reason to the poor results at the end of the season?

Well called Pookie! Way to call obvious BS!

[tictoc]

Cliffhangers. New strip now up at RedNationOnline!

[Pookie]

Wow.

Well put. I never even thought about that. Koevs and Torsten are definitely Winters acquisitions, so where does Mariner come off blaming Winters acquisitions for his failure and at the same time blame the loss of Winters acquisitions due to injury (Koevs and Frings) as part of the reason to the poor results at the end of the season?

Well called Pookie! Way to call obvious BS!

Thanks.

[Canary10]

I was really glad to see a press conference without all the spin and canned answers for once. I know five of TFC's most pressing questions I had were finally answered yesterday - these along with the player's and Mariner/Cochrane's responses broken down at Typical TFC.

[twistedchinaman]

...since Duncan is still on vacay...

Leung: Whitecap playoff loss is NOT to be celebrated.
http://www.wakingthered.com/2012/11/...off-appearance

Rowaan: What to do with Joao?
http://www.wakingthered.com/2012/11/...ldu-quito-loan

Bedakian: Hassli or Koevermans?
http://www.wakingthered.com/2012/11/...-or-koevermans

Gardner: Uninspiring Mariner and Cochrane
http://www.wakingthered.com/2012/10/...one-since-2012

Leung/Gardner/Grossi/Rowaan: Our offseason plans
http://www.wakingthered.com/2012/11/...-the-offseason

Flowers: If You Got Nothing Nice To Say...
http://www.wakingthered.com/2012/11/...-paul-and-earl

See if your MLS playoff picks matches ours:
http://www.wakingthered.com/2012/10/...s-cup-playoffs

Help us rank all 31 of TFC's 2012 players:
http://www.wakingthered.com/2012/10/...p-31-countdown

[lobo]

there's some great work being done in the TFC blogosphere in the past week ... well done all

[bgnewf]

Been out of the loop for a bit:

Belated thoughts on the end of the 2012 campaign: http://viewfromthesouthstands.com/2012/11/mercykilling/

[tictoc]

Just sayin'. New strip now up at RedNation Online!

[Pookie]

Mariner and Eckersley blame pre-season fitness as a reason for tired legs and brain cramps. If true, why did they have more of them...much more... under Mariner?

http://www.wakingthered.com/2012/11/...ness-fairytale

[spark]

A few things from over the weekend

North of 49 Podcast: Interview with Luis Silva

Terry Dunfield's Perfect 10 (players he'd want on the pitch with him)

Toronto FC's seven? There's a few more than that!

[romburgundy]

...Too bad it will never happen...
http://www.onesecondleft.com/2012/11...oronto-sports/

[scooter]

keep on drinking kool aid rommy -- it IS going to happen

[romburgundy]

keep on drinking kool aid rommy -- it IS going to happen

Red coolaid ? It's free with season ticket renewals if you renew before the team goes bankrupt

[tictoc]

Bizarro world. New strip now up at East Side Stand Up!

[Oldtimer]

Bizarro world. New strip now up at East Side Stand Up!

Even your supporter is getting fed up. ooorrrggg, time are tough indeed.

[tictoc]

^ Or did he? Hmmm...

Yours and mine. New strip now up at East Side Stand Up!

[bgnewf]

TFC Announces Town Hall Details - Anselmi Takes A Pass
　
http://viewfromthesouthstands.com/20...wn-halls-2012/

TFC announces Town Hall 2012 details, and Anselmi takes a pass. Thoughts on why the one guy at TFC who needs to hear from fans directly should be in attendance.

[Pookie]

Today's article covers the following:

MLS does NOT have a Salary Cap. The importance of budget flexing. What those base vs guaranteed numbers from the player's union actually mean and implications for the league.

If you are an armchair GM, this piece is for you. There is no MLS salary cap. Repeat. No salary cap and the MLS never said it had one.

http://www.wakingthered.com/2012/11/...ane-toronto-fc

[brad]

Today's article covers the following:

MLS does NOT have a Salary Cap. The importance of budget flexing. What those base vs guaranteed numbers from the player's union actually mean and implications for the league.

If you are an armchair GM, this piece is for you. There is no MLS salary cap. Repeat. No salary cap and the MLS never said it had one.

http://www.wakingthered.com/2012/11/...ane-toronto-fc

Excellent read. Really points towards the importance of
a)being in good with the league (which we are not)
b)gaming the system properly (IE hitting up player like Keane that the league is going to drool over vs players like Melberg)

Also gets me thinking about how much of an opportunity TFC have blown in going from the most darling franchise of the league to the black sheep.

[Pookie]

^ Thanks Brad. Very important points you raise above.

[Yohan]

Today's article covers the following:

MLS does NOT have a Salary Cap. The importance of budget flexing. What those base vs guaranteed numbers from the player's union actually mean and implications for the league.

If you are an armchair GM, this piece is for you. There is no MLS salary cap. Repeat. No salary cap and the MLS never said it had one.

http://www.wakingthered.com/2012/11/...ane-toronto-fc

I think poorly written article. Neglected to mention that LA traded Angel to Chivas to make room for Keane. Probably be helpful to mention the ways a teams can acquire allocation money. 'Salary budget' = cap + allocation money. I thought this was obvious? A lot of speculation without hard evidence in this article IMO

[Pookie]

^ you are free to your own opinion and can continue to believe in a cap if it suits you.

The fact remains that the league pays the salaries out of its own budget, that it allocates to its teams. Like it or not, that is the fundamental way in which the MLS operates.

If there was a cap, I'd would love to know what form of luxury tax it employs. Or, like the NHL, what the penalty is for a team that goes over its budget? These don't exist because there is no cap.

Given the way salaries are paid there is no need for a cap to control owner spending because the MLS is the owner. That's about as fundamental as it gets.

Again, this isn't a grand conspiracy type discussion. This is simply understanding how MLS works. Why TFC doesn't have maximum flexibility to sign unlimited players, why the whole discussion of base vs guaranteed comp is moot, and what we might expect from the league moving forward if we want to ensure competitiveness on the pitch and in the Front Office.

I can't make you believe it. It's up to you.

[narduch]

If there is no cap, why would teams bother trading allocation?