If someone has to make way for Bradley, would anyone else dump Gilberto (if it could be done) if it meant keeping Laba?
If someone has to make way for Bradley, would anyone else dump Gilberto (if it could be done) if it meant keeping Laba?
If he fits in as a supporting player (read: bench) then everybody wins. Good on him for showing confidence but he has to realize at this point that he's not the main guy on the squad (I would even rate him lower then Rey or Osorio in terms of the depth chart). Regardless, I have no doubt in my mind that if the MeRo act makes it's second run in Toronto this management will be bury him in a hole so deep we could loan him to a Chinese club.
While I think Gila is a better player than Defoe, I think Defoe is a better fit for TFC over the next couple of years, due to him being less reliant on quality service into the box. Over the course of the contract though, I think Gila would be the better option - since Defoe is more dependent on pace and once his pace goes (more than it has) I worry about what happens when his pace goes even more. He's not the most intelligent footballer - which doesn't bode well IMHO for him adapting his game.
Gila + Defoe would have been a terrorizing proposition for the next couple of years though...
“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
Impossible to say without seeing what Gilberto actually brings to the table, and what we would get in return for Laba. If Gilberto performs at a decent level this year, I think that unloading Laba is the right move - especially if we can get a good quality MLS midfielder in return. Let's say (pie in the sky dreaming here) we were able to trade him for Cronin or Johnson, we'd come out ahead I think.
Make no mistake, I think Laba is a fantastic player, I really hope we find a way to keep him, but if something has to give, it has to be him.
^Gilberto can not go, MLS made a big deal about getting him, but lossing Laba without getting something BIG IN THE MID, is a bit of a step back.
I know he can't go. But I'm feeling more and more this was a bad move that has us hamstrung. He doesn't have the physical build to be the hold up player to Defoe (which Dike has at least). I'm not sure they'll make a good pairing. We could have got a proven MLSer like Kenny Cooper to be the foil to Defoe for next to nothing. He's a big shot in the dark for a lot of money.
You gotta think the brain trust knew what they were getting in Gilberto combined with Defoe. There's too much being invested here to not have considered all this.
Gilberto scored 14 goals in 24 apps on a crappy team (they got relegated) in Brazil's top league. i am still optimistic. read somewhere people wouldn't be surprised if he scored more then defoe. can't wait to see him in all the preseason games coming up, paired with dike/de rosario until defoe comes march 1st
Why are people jumping at assumptions about what Gilberto can/can not do without even seeing him in a single match for us?
Lol Laba for Cronin is closer to Magee for Rogers than it is a fair trade. TFC would sell him abroad if there's no significant MLS return possible. BUT HE CAN'T LEAVE DON'T GO LABA YOU HAVE IMPORTANT WORK TO DO FOR BRADLEY AND CBs.
Trade for allocation to pay down Laba's contract? I don't want to lose Laba who has great potential to become an all-star in MLS.
no player is worth 1 mil in allocation money (if paying down transfer fee with allocation money after fee has been paid is possible)
“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 think Laba can be great, and might be already close to it, but he's played in 16 games for us. Can we hold off on calling him a sure thing for a bit? It's about as ridiculous calling him a sure thing as it is assuming Gilberto won't cut it because of his size and style of which we have never seen on display in our league because he hasn't played a single minute yet.
We've seen Laba play for over half a season where as we've seen nothing from Gilberto. So in a sense you can say we've been exposed to Laba infinitely more than Gilberto. We've seen enough of Laba to make a judgement call, if Terry Dunfield were his place all year we'd have finished on par with DC United.
Me too, Canary10 has brought up some great points. There's an opportunity cost associated with Gilberto and while it could pan out, it's a gamble considering all that bollocks they fed us about maintaining a core.
^ this is my problem, generaly I prefer the bird in hand. In this case the bird I know something about, but Gilberto is a complete unknown to me, other then what I can gather on the internet including PES and FIFA stats, which is clearly not enough.
I'd say in Bez we trust on this one. Let's see what this guy can do..