Defoe for Altidore plus undisclosed negotiation TBD

[Yohan]

best part of Altidore to TFC deal is Old Man Bill losing his shit. it's absolutely hilarious

[69Chevy396]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4Rh...ature=youtu.be

Strange, a local Italian-Canadian journalist claims that the agent representing Giovinco had told them that TFC has yet to contact him..

This is just blather, he will never come here.

[Yohan]

I believe Wheeler has sources and is not making this up.

I believe that Head Office is painting yarns because they are quite rightly worried about what is going in on NY, RBNY are for sale, ownership has cut off the spend and the team is in disarray. Suddenly they want to spend millions on Altidore? Not everyone just fell off the turnip truck. Garber and Abbott are getting worried about fan reaction/backlash there.

I also think SKC never seriously played for Bradley. I think these stories are rolled out to placate pissed supporters in markets whose teams aren't playing the DP game.

If Robb heineman says skc made a pitch for Bradley, I believe him. That guy doesn't say stuff for giggled

[Auzzy]

New CP article: http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/sourc...with-altidore/

And two sources with knowledge of the deal said Black Cats striker Jozy Altidore will become a Toronto FC player.

The U.S. international, who has agreed to terms, is due in Toronto on Thursday for a medical with a contract signing to follow if all goes well.

Polish those rollerblades, ready, set...

[Blixa]

MLS is a funny league with really goofy rules. It's extremely jarring given how this sport operates outside this continent.

[anto7]

@SoccerByIves: The year was 2007. Altidore was pretty dominant as a 17-year-old playing next to Juan Pablo Angel. Think he’ll score 15+ for TFC in 2015

[Detroit_TFC]

$7.5M valuation for Altidore. I have nothing against him, but that shows the world, especially the transfer market, is in the grips of madness.

[molenshtain]

I'm not really bothered by this stuff so much compares to what goes on in Europe where agents run everything. it's fucked up either way, but it actually scares me I live in a world where an agent has enough influence to get someone to pay 50 million for David Luiz AND get him on the world team of the year.

[ensco]

If Robb heineman says skc made a pitch for Bradley, I believe him. That guy doesn't say stuff for giggled

Really? I don't pay that much attention, but he seems to go on like this about how his team is the greatest in history, and KC is the greatest, a lot, for a guy whose team won one title.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/ccl/news/ar...ampions-league

[Yohan]

Really? I don't pay that much attention, but he seems to go on like this about how his team is the greatest in history, and KC is the greatest, a lot, for a guy whose team won one title.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/ccl/news/ar...ampions-league

so far, he's done everything he said he'd do with SKC *shrug*
might be a bit of loudmouth, but can't recall much he said he'd do, but haven't done for SKC

[reggie]

any spies at the ACC tonight?

[OgtheDim]

C

best part of Altidore to TFC deal is Old Man Bill losing his shit. it's absolutely hilarious

You got a link for that or do I have to find him on Twitter?

[Pookie]

Am I missing something or is it weird that this isn't yet part of the "news" on MLSSoccer ?

[ManUtd4ever]

Am I missing something or is it weird that this isn't yet part of the "news" on MLSSoccer ?

Perhaps the league is waiting for Altidore to pass his physical tomorrow before making an official announcement.

[DOMIN8R]

Report: New York Red Bulls lose out on Jozy Altidore; Toronto FC wins the race

(sorry - no sour grapes emoticon)


So this is where I look big for twelve.

I liked Ives view on the Jozy acquisition. I can live with 15 goals from JA .

It's not a good day to be an Red Bulls fan, I guess.

Oh....the Red Bulls are......

[MightyDM]

Jeremy Hall spoke very highly of Defoe when he left us, he had a chance to stick the boot in big time but chose not to, I also see Wiedman has went out of his way to talk highly about his attitude in training. Nelsen and Poyet, who have both worked with him previously were very keen to work with him again. Spurs his old club were happy to let him train with them recently to keep fit.
The public perception of him here in TO is he's a sulky overpaid primadonna, but the spin doctors at TFC might have had more to do with that than reality. When people who have worked with you before are keen to do so again, it says a lot more about you than some "source" leaking info to a newspaper.
I don't know the lad, and probably most here on this board don't either, so none of us can really know the full story, the only thing we can do as fans is make sure we try and look at both sides of the coin. It seems like a lot on here aren't.
I defo don't think his heart was in it towards the end but until Defoe gives us his side of the story, we are kind of assuming without truly knowing.

Hear hear.

[Areathrasher]

C

You got a link for that or do I have to find him on Twitter?

Think hes referring to Bill Archer on Big Soccer

[MightyDM]

Rumour was TFC doctors were recommending surgery to Defoe to fix his injuries.
He didn't listen to them, which is when he then went back to England to get a second opinion and rehab.

When he came back, he clearly wasn't the same player, re-injured himself, and ended up having the surgery in the off-season that the TFC doctors had recommended right from the beginning.


Larson's not talking about the actual process of passing a medical, more just about actually being fit to play.

so Defoe was hurt enough to require surgery, turned it down, tried to play through it, and is criticized on the boards for a lack of commitment? People should give their heads a shake.

[MightyDM]

What's interesting to me is we are a team that have to consider this deal

1. From a money perspective. It shouldn't be the priority but with the record breaking aspect of the first aquisition I'm glad we aren't hog tied after this deal that could've been a fire sale.
2. From the perspective of a downgrade. Such high hopes for Defoe but are we concerned Altidore can't at least match 12 goals? I think it's a pretty easy sell. Factor in Gilberto doubling his output and that could make the difference right there. That's before any Italians enter the mix.

Not a bad save to the offseason so far.

we need 25 goals from Altidore. That's the return (at least) from a healthy Defoe.

[flambe]

Think hes referring to Bill Archer on Big Soccer

http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/...#post-31636978

[molenshtain]

we need 25 goals from Altidore. That's the return (at least) from a healthy Defoe.

that's a very simplistic view of it. A) defoe would never give given us us 25 goals in a season because he wouldn't have been healthy enough to do so. He broke down in his first year. B) Altidore provides a lot more in terms of build up play than Defoe does, enhancing the ability of those around him, which Defoe was entirely incapable of.

[molenshtain]

http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/...#post-31636978

Syrup sucking cunts is a new one. I like it.

[MightyDM]

http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/...#post-31636978

Oh that's rich. Brilliant.

Started from the bottom, now we here.

[OgtheDim]

The internet is full of name callers. Has always been true. Archer is neither relevant nor effective in his bile.

I found some of the discussion points in that thread interesting - seeing stuff from the perspective of a fly over team in a small market is helpful.

We are creating a stir. Nice to be doing that.

[Areathrasher]

No cash involved according to this http://www.sunderlandecho.com/sport/...dore-1-7051198
A near record MLS fee according to Larson

Guess the truth is in the middle?

[MightyDM]

that's a very simplistic view of it. A) defoe would never give given us us 25 goals in a season because he wouldn't have been healthy enough to do so. He broke down in his first year. B) Altidore provides a lot more in terms of build up play than Defoe does, enhancing the ability of those around him, which Defoe was entirely incapable of.

I should have made my point in more detail. If we are going to succeed we need goals from our strikers and a DP striker should deliver in that range or they aren't worth the money, particularly if he is replacing someone who had that potential. If we only replace Defoe's actual goals, we will be about the same - likely to miss the playoffs. But if we have a player who can score at the rate that a healthy Defoe would, we have a real chance to be a very good team. And that I hope is our goal.

[Phil]

$7.5M valuation for Altidore. I have nothing against him, but that shows the world, especially the transfer market, is in the grips of madness.

I was sitting around last night thinking the same thing.

Then I thought back to how the last generation felt about inflating prices on the market. While 7.5 is a crazy number, its just a number and those numbers are never going to go down. Just like groceries dont get cheaper. It a fact of life now.

[brad]

we need 25 goals from Altidore. That's the return (at least) from a healthy Defoe.

For sure their is a difference in class between the two players, but over the season I could see it being a wash.

The odds of actually having a health Defoe over the course of the season are very low - based on his past injury history. 10-15 over the course of a season would be a reasonable expectation from JD, with an outside shot at 20-25 if he stayed fit (he'd likely score that many if fit - but it's an outside shot that he stays fit for a season).

Applying that to Altidore who doesn't have injury problems - I would say 10-15 would be a decent and quite possible return from him - with an outside shot at 20+.

I think the bigger difference is how the team around Atlidore looks. Defoe was an unreal finisher and could score a goal out of nothing. I don't see Atlidore doing that. If we actually manager to build a team that can provide service up front for the first time in the history of our club, he'll do okay.

[Fort York Redcoat]

so Defoe was hurt enough to require surgery, turned it down, tried to play through it, and is criticized on the boards for a lack of commitment? People should give their heads a shake.

And yet he didn't come back for the last games when it was said he was cleared to. Guess he didn't want to play through that. People need to keep perspective on what is a rumour and what is fact. We don't know how hurt or committed he really was. He's last seasons news at this point anyway.

we need 25 goals from Altidore. That's the return (at least) from a healthy Defoe.

Way to put the failed expectations on another player.

Not that I disagree with that possible output. In my ideal scenario I'd rather see both Jozy and Gila just under 20 and share the wealth.

[brad]

Regarding Jozy - the times I saw him play in the EPL, he looked like a lost little school boy. He had no idea how to move off the ball or run channels or any of the things that a striker needs to do at that level to create spaces to score. He won't be facing that same level of organization in the MLS.

It sort of reminds me of Eddie Johnson. Decent scoring record in the MLS. Went to the EPL and totally flopped. Went on loan to the Championship a couple of times and totally flopped. 2 goals in 71 appearances in England. did a bit better Greece but still flopped - 5 goals in 19 appearances. Then came back to the MLS with Seattle and scored 17 goals in 38 games and then 12 goals in 27 games.