The Long Game

[backbeat]

This is the right way for ownership to think about it.

I question whether that will happen. I hope it does.

Manning's interview with Totera suggests that TFC will spend the TAM - i hope so but we'll see soon enough

[ag futbol]

Why does a rebuild need to happen? If you have players coming out of your academy at a decent pace, you are constantly signing and upgrading mid-level talent in order to keep those positions competitive, and then targeting your DP's early on (1-2 years out) - why do you even need a rebuild?

This isn't MLB or the NHL or the NBA - The talent pool is a lot bigger than those other sports. There's no reason why we need to be scraping a team together for 2-3 years before we are competitive again.

We shall see. The first “huge” signing we pinned our hopes on ended up being not the right fit. Bradley’s shoes will be hard to fill.

[Auzzy]

I looked for this but couldn’t find. Do you have a source?

RE owner getting handed the MLS cup first: for example see at 3:25 of last year's highlight video:
https://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/ma...nders-fc/recap


RE the long game: even if they decide to cut the payroll a bit in the coming years, I'm not worried. For the first time I feel they will have a plan for what comes next, for example after our DP's current contracts expire.

Most of TFC's excess salary compared with other MLS teams is due to our three DPs. I'm very happy with the DPs overall, and they were exactly what we needed to get us out of the depths of despair when they got here a few years ago (with Altidore essentially being a face-saving measure after Defoe decamped). They've been amazing.

But honestly, when you see what Vazquez and others have contributed, TFC could surely find some other great DPs in the future in the $2-4 million range if they want. At the same time improving the team with extra TAM going to more players, and still cutting their overall wage bill (again if that's what they want).

TFC had goals scored by 16 different players this season; I believe that's another MLS record. Clearly they've got great depth and aren't overly dependent on the DPs. We're no one-pony trick.

We've had some great luck with European signings as mentioned, but I still hope they tap more into the South & Central American player pipeline in the future.

[Detroit_TFC]

Been thinking about this issue on and off for a while. I guess sometimes due to injury it is forced on a FO, but this must be an extraordinarily complex process to consciously manage, knowing when to wind down a valued component of the team that you spent years putting together. I don't envy Bez and Vanney this task.