Nick Soolsma
From being on trial in January '11 to signing a contract with a trio of Dutch players, which he is now the only one left, to working his way from a Trialist->Depth Player->Sub->Semi Starter->??? Starter?
Personally I like Soolsma I think he's one of our best players sure he dosnt have great pace but he's good on the ball in most aspects, wonder what everyone else thinks of him and what they see him as?
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I'm not entirely sure how much he's getting paid, but overall I'm pretty satisfied with him I guess.
Did the USA , of all countries, just fix soccer? - C. Ronaldo, May 27th commenting on the FBI-led investigations into fraud and corruption throughout FIFA.
After seeing him early on, I didn't think I would ever say - "We really miss him on the pitch." He doesn't have a ton of pace but has excellent control and causes trouble on the flanks which pulls the attention of the defense away from our AM and/or strikers. Gives them a little more room to operate. Definitely missed by Eckersley.
I was totally dismissive of the guy last year because he has pub league foot speed, but man, was he a force against Santos Laguna. He owned those guys. Every move down his wing resulted in a dangerous ball in, or a corner. He's never looked that good in MLS, but maybe he can.
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
Totally agree - I never thought we would miss him either, but he is good on the ball up top which frees up the forwards to get open, etc.
As crap as the team has been so far this year, with all the bodies healthy they could just as easily (albeit unlikely) pull off 8 straight wins.
He serves a purpose and has earned a place as a starter on this team or at least a sub on the team we want to be.
FORMER FULL TIME KOOL-AID DRINKER
There is tons of potential with this man. There is a good deal of untapped potential on TFC which is being held back by coach, management, lazy players (take your pick).
I knew we would miss him and Danny Koevs (who is also Dutch, ManUtd3TFC). TFC is running on empty, we need everything we can get and if Soolsma starts on Wednesday the IMPACT are DEAD!
posted it elsewhere, ill post it here. soolsma can get the ball up the flank in our style. plata, i like.. but hes too fast for the rest of our attack. he'll charge up the pitch with the rest of us struggling to keep up, only to throw a weak cross into the box.
I meant of the 3 on trial (Martina, Soolsma, and buy...buky... What ever Hea irrelevant) but yea I knew Danny k was a Dutchmen, and I pray we get Soolsma vs the impact would give us a little pep in our step I thinkOriginally Posted by bigredone
Soolsma lacks pace ? His absence from the squad has been noticeable. We'll defo be a better squad with him than without.
Last edited by TOBOR !; 05-08-2012 at 08:23 AM.
a ha ha heh he hoo.. ha
The thing that makes him so good isn't his speed, it's his touch on the ball. If you watch how he gets into the corner and then comes out untouched, it's all in the small touches he makes combined with his sharp movements. For a big guy, he's got a great short game.
I strongly believe that people are confusing Soolsma's lack of acceleration with a lack of pace.
Comparing Soolsma to Plata is always done poorly from a quickness standpoint. Without the ball, it is clear that Plata has better acceleration and top speed, but with the ball, Soolsma at least equals him on both fronts. Throw in the fact that Soolsma is more agile, has much more strength, and has far superior technical ability on the ball, means I'd take Soolsma over Plata any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
I mean, take Saturday as an example. A fresh Plata was brought on at half, and yet was still slower than Andy Najar, who had already played a half.
A decent defender who knows how to play angles can compensate for the speed of most guys in this league. I think this is why we have seen Plata's impact drop off a bit. Defenders now know what they need to do to defend the guy. It's now up to him to expand his game to give defenders something else to think about and up to the team to figure out how to get him in better positions to use his skills.
Soolsma may not blow past anyone. But get him the ball in the attacking third man-on-man and I like our chances of him making something happen.
not that he's fast, but he's deceptive. He'll move by players skillfully enough to give him a half step here and there.
A great example and observation on Plata. I love Plata, but I can also identify weaknesses. How about a first half start for Plata to tire the opponents and bring in Soolsma at the half to use his foot work around the exhausted opponents. Soolsma taking corners would replace Plata's weak kicks.
Does anyone know how often the TFC player active/inactive stat is updated on the torontofc.ca website?
Nick Soolsma is a perfect example of why we have had so many issues in the past.
Had Soolsma signed under the Mo Johnston regime, he would no longer be a TFC player. So many times we have had ok, decent, good players that needed time to adapt to the league, to get themselves settled and to become contributing members of the team.
I won't lie. I wrote him off at the beginning of last year, wondering why he took up a valuable international roster spot. After the Vancouver peformance, I said to myself, I'll be surprised if he's still with us after the summer. He has proven his worth and earned every minute has gotten.
Imagine if we had been this patient with some of the other players we have had on our team (Pablo Vitti comes to mind)
Or Andrea Lombardo! If only we had the patience to see that guy turn into a fantastic players!
Will Soolsma be back for the montreal game?
From another thread (the 'Frings' one):
....so, hopefully?
I like Soolsma, good close control, can take on a man and provide good service into the box. He can be a bit of a liability getting back though.
As far as lack of pace - he is slow, but at the end of the day it's end product that matters. I never judge players based on their individual attributes, but on whether or not they accomplish their job on the pitch. Soolsma is slow, but compensates for in in other ways.
He gets to much hate in my opinion. Out of all the forwards he has been the most consistant, he may not score a bunch of goals or assits yet but i believe we will see some results from him soon. As of right now he is an important part of the linkup amongsnt the forwards, he has i think the best technique which fools the opposition every time then he makes up for his lack of pace by out smarting them as wel. I couldnt believe how he shreaded the Santos fullbacks it was amazing. From a winger i expect them to get past the opposition, link well with forwards and deliver balls, he has done all of this.
I like Soolsma. While I didn't write him off, I never rated him. At first. Really he represents what is wrong with football. His body type/size doesn't suggest his style. Too often in sport coaches get caught up with players who 'look the part'. Soolsma does not. He looks like he might be better suited to tennis, or cricket, than football. But then he does something magical, and it becomes apparent this is where he belongs. Credit to Winter, or Mariner or De Klerk, or all of them for seeing the guy for what he produced, rather than his appearance.
Regarding Vitti, don't forget that he wasn't released. He was offered a contract on a reduced salary and chose not to take it. I wish he'd stayed as I was always a defender of him.
Oh well, That was then ...............
Last season he impressed me with his only negative being his lack of speed down the wing....
This season he has blown me away and made up for that lack of speed with tremendous skill and the ability to spin defenders like a toy top!
I think he was a great pickup
It's all about how a player uses what they are given, and Soolsma was doing it well. Would like to see him use his size a bit more though.
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