I was never a mssive Soolsma fan. He was alright, had his moments, but if we want to improve overall, we need to be hitting higher than him in quality.
I was never a mssive Soolsma fan. He was alright, had his moments, but if we want to improve overall, we need to be hitting higher than him in quality.
I believe that's due to a major injury he picked up early in the season. Something like an ACL. Plus it's hard to get accurate information and individual stats on the Eerste Divisie. It's a shame really, I was hoping he could make it up to the Eredivisie after a solid season, however it's possible that Excelsior could get relegated (they're only two points ahead of last) if the Topklasse winner should chose to be promoted.Originally Posted by Abou Sky
I would take him back in a second, but I doubt that he would come back. I think he mainly came here because of Winter in the first place.
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
^^^ exactly, he had his moments, as I said. But overall his form was up and down. If we want to improve, we need somebody with consistency, we need a whole team with consistency! I can find a nice highlights real about any player and make them look great in little 3 second bursts! That doesn't mean to say they are great. Just my opinion, of course
quality is relative. You can have all the skill in the world and still be ineffective. Soolsma was relatively low on skill and real low on speed, yet he managed to be one of the most effective players we've had since he was able to outwit almost every fullback he went up against. I'd rather have a low skill player who can execute his role extremely well and be incredibly effective than one with lots of skill but doesn't use it right. And in this league you aren't going to get many players who have both skill and superior football IQ. The ones that do have both are usually among the highest paid on the squad. Soolsma didn't even make the average top 20 salary, so I would say he was excellent bang for the money and didn't inhibit the team's ability to bring in superior talents.
The Soolsma DK connections was really starting to heat up last season before he was let go.
Never understood the move and still think he would be our best winger right now.
i posted this before about Soolsma... why make a fresh post:
Nick Soolsma
- 24 Years of Age
- $110,000 Salary
- Right Winger
- 31 League Appearances
- 3 Goals with 7 Assists
- Don't forget his goal in Los Angeles during the quarter-finals
The only negative is that he takes up an international spot, and he's known as one of "Winters signings" which was suspected could be troublesome for Paul Mariner. He's played good. Its not as if he's off every night getting smashed before game day, can't judge the guy from one poor decision. Havn't there been multiple pictures from clubs of de Guzman partying before game day in Toronto? He's paid for what he produces $80,000 to $110,000 is appropriate so you can't say he's over paid. He's fairly young. One of his gifts is how he's figured out how to beat MLS defenders quite simply and deliver a solid cross from the right side of play onto Koev.
In the end of the day, I have no idea why we go on and on about players we USED to have at TFC. We need to look to the future. Almost every player that has left the club would never come back. Let's move forward. Digging up favourite players from the past isn't going to do anything to the current team, and they won't be resigning for us, that's almost a certainty! I'd rather talk about our expectations for Laba than our desire to bring back old players. Sure, Vitti, Soolsma, Stefanovic, and many others should all come back to play and do better here, but will they....no, unfortunately never! Let's move forward, not backwards
Deceptive is the word to describe Soolsma. You think he has low skill and slow but in a blink he would beat you. He has good ball skils for what he does, there is a certain finese and intelligence about him.
funny. I think consistency is one word I'd use to describe Soolsma's time with TFC^^^ exactly, he had his moments, as I said. But overall his form was up and down. If we want to improve, we need somebody with consistency, we need a whole team with consistency! I can find a nice highlights real about any player and make them look great in little 3 second bursts! That doesn't mean to say they are great. Just my opinion, of course
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
Would love to have him back!
Yohan, thanks for those Soolsma highlights! I had forgotten most of those.
Huge difference between those three players being that Soolsma was very effective with TFC, especially for the salary he was paid. And for most of his time here, he was extremely consistent, beating fullbacks & putting in multiple good crosses just about every game. (Of course there wasn't always an effective striker at the end of those crosses, especially when Koevs wasn't playing.)Sure, Vitti, Soolsma, Stefanovic, and many others should all come back to play and do better here, but will they....no, unfortunately never! Let's move forward, not backwards
Sure it can make sense to remember previous players: 1) In cases like these, to realize what a silly decision it was to let him go. Just like Cronin & a few others. Who knows, maybe it can help to avoid similar dumb decisions in the future. 2) To realize what type of player is missing now. TFC doesn't have anybody at the moment who can work the wing & whip in crosses nearly as well as Soolsma. That will become even more noticeable when Koevermans is back -- with our current players he won't be getting much of the service he needs. 3) Who knows, maybe Soolsma would come back under new management, especially if Koevermans starts playing again, and if Soolsma has been recuperating from injury & hasn't had much playing time in the Netherlands. Doesn't hurt to ask; or at least to chat about it in this thread!
I realize Soolsma's international spot was a strike against him. However, these days we're trying the likes of Hogan Ephraim on the wing: also international; MUCH less effective than Soolsma; and I bet Ephraim is being paid MUCH more than Soolsma was. Maybe current management needs to be reminded to look around in other countries for decent talent.
Until we get another winger as good and as (relatively) inexpensive as Soolsma, we will probably keep talking about him!
Last edited by Auzzy; 04-28-2013 at 09:54 PM.
If healthy, I'd take Soolsma back in a heartbeat. Great first touch, ball was always glued to his feet and he could find his target with ease. What more do you want from a winger? Especially at what? $80k or something like that? Dude was a bargain.
He'd still be here if Mariner didn't have that drunken night as an excuse to cut him and thus, rebrand the team after Aron Winter was gone. God I hate what Mariner did. His legacy still haunts us with the greatest haircut of the modern era as well.
If it was a choice between Reggie Lambe and Nick Soolsma...
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
I would take Soolsma over Lambe. Soolsma is more skilled and can actually cross the ball into the box. Soolsma is probably best winger in TFC history (not saying much besides TFC have been doing a bad job finding a great wingers). Bostock is a central midfielder playing as a winger (reason why Bostock isn't as an effective as he could be), but he still have potential become a good player as a winger for TFC.
Agreed especially since current state of some European countries' economy, TFC could potentially sign some really good players for a bargain, but it seems KP is bent on signing "latin" players (based on his recent interview).
No. Bostock doesnt have enough technique and footy Iq to play as Central midfielder and thats why he plays as winger.
I realize alot posters dont really have a full grasp on the midfield position, and barely understands its importance.
The midfield is the engine room, those players are supposed to be the smartest most technical players on the pitch.
Plus he could pop up in the box on occasion to coolly slot in a goal. Something else our wingers don't really know how to do (they just stay out wide until they get the ball and don't recognize space in the middle to run into).
This is why I and some others were calling for Mariner's sacking before the end of the season when many others were saying we might as well give him some time to see what he does. All he succeeded in doing was trading away our first round pick and chasing away every skilled player but Silva. Don't get me wrong, I accepted that Winter didn't have everything it takes to coach here, but Mariner turned out to be exactly what was likely to happen when an architect/engineering executive hired the replacement.He'd still be here if Mariner didn't have that drunken night as an excuse to cut him and thus, rebrand the team after Aron Winter was gone. God I hate what Mariner did. His legacy still haunts us with the greatest haircut of the modern era as well.
In summary? Fucking glad all those fucks are no longer in control of this team and we actually have people who know the sport (and sport in general) throughout the organization who are all on the same page.
BTW, people should refer back to this and threads from last year whenever they feel that things aren't going well. Right mow they're going fantastically compared to what it was not too long ago. I remember I was prepared to give up on this team for a while back when Anselmi said that Cochrane and Mariner would be in charge this year. Can you all imagine where we would be right now if that had happened? For one, We'd probably have a 200k+ nick Ledgerwood patrolling the midfield right now instead of 200k Laba. Think about that next time you think this team isn't heading in the right direction.
This probably won't happen this summer, but I hear the new MLSE president said that TFC fans deserve a world class player and wants to bring the "next Beckham" (face of the league I guess) to TFC. This should make this thread a bit more interesting in that TFC can now be included in all the speculation whenever a star player expresses interest in coming to MLS. I wonder who we could get who would 1) fit in with the team 2) be the biggest star in MLS. Not that I really want a big name, but I imagine that will be important to them as well if they are going to fork out shedloads of money. I also hope they don't make that kind of move before the team is ready with a solid core. Then again, if we get a player who becomes the face of MLS, they will probably do what they can to make us succeed.
Oh god, would Ledgerwood have cost $200k?
On the latter point it's definitely going to be interesting playing the speculation game from now on. After watching Quincy Amerikwa play I basically gave up, I was at that point and if the managerial changes didn't take place, I'm not sure if I'd following the team as closely. After Amerikwa scored that open net goal against Liverpool you could see Mariner's raging hard on. A goal against 'pool? Totally justifies everything!
That best player in MLS talk has me thinking. At first it was "Lampard!" (like Beckham, an aging Englishman with a few good years left) but now I'm wondering if they were talking about Laba. I don't know what to expect form the guy, I've seen the hype machine get out of control before so now I'm sticking with cautious optimism.
^ They definitely weren't talking about Laba when Payne was talking about getting the "best player in MLS." (If Payne even said that -- so far just an unconfirmed post from a single person here on the board.) That "best player"would be a new signing, in the summer or later, not Laba who is now already signed.
He probably meant CAM and he's right. Bostock's played in the hole his entire career, he's never been a wide player. We're just using him there because we don't have other options.
Yes, I meant CAM. Bostock does have enough technique/skills to play in midfield in MLS (I would say he's one of most skilled players we have right now on this roster). People forget that Bostock is only 21 years old. He still have enough time to develop his game and IQ to become successful player in MLS.
it doesn't help that the off the ball movement by TFC players is so terrible that Bostock often has no choice to try to dribble 1v1 against a defender. the passing option isn't there, especially on wing
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
In that equation, I would actually take Lambe as he works hard off the ball and does a lot all over the field. BUT, if I was to compare Soolsma with Ephraim or Bostock, I would take Soolsma both times.
It was the new boss who said that.
That's kind of interesting... Not that interesting though.
Regarding a lot of the names being thrown out there: Lambe, Soolsma, Bostock, etc... I'd rather move forward than backwards. Particularly Soolsma, lack of pace kills it for me. With the type of football we want to play (high pressure, capitalize quickly on mistakes, winger must play two-way) he is not a fit.
This league has an adjustment period so I would not be too quick to push anyone out the door. That being said I haven't seen enough from any of our wide players to suggest they can stick.
Considering how he's thrashed us in the past, it would be nice to have Gomez on our side.
That Gomez articles reads like a Fox News hit piece.
Gomez to TFC?
Obama a secret muslim?
We ask the questions, you decide.
Normally I'd dismiss this just as a typical trade rumour, but if Grant Wahl is saying this, I'd give it a little more credibility than normal
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
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