The Molinaro article today pointed out that Bakero is a #2 striker who can play in the space behind Seba, hold up then pass on - something we don't have apart from Altidore. People think Spanish forward and maybe don't realise he's 6 foot 3.
Hopefully Bakero is better technically now then Spencer was. The only negative I've heard is he's not quick but nobody can be as glacial as Spencer. Might see him on Wednesday .
As with all forwards in our system, he has to learn positioning with his teammates & play defence when called upon. That will take time. He's a project but technical skills are never a bad thing.
That person is Vasquez... the key to TFC’s next stage is a replacement who is as good..younger ...fitter. That and a third too class striker.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/...-turning-pointGetting them healthy will be huge for Toronto, with Bezbatchenko saying that their returns will effectively serve as TFC’s big acquisitions in the Secondary Transfer Window. That strategy is partially due to TFC’s faith in those players and partially due to a lack of roster flexibility. Toronto tore through a large chunk of Targeted Allocation Money and budget space as they geared up for a run at CCL this winter and spring. The additions of Aketxe and Gregory van der Wiel and new contracts for Vazquez, Mavinga, Moor, Justin Morrow and Eriq Zavaleta and, in June, Alex Bono left them with little room to maneuver this summer.
According to Bezbatchenko, Aketxe’s loan to Spanish club Cadiz freed up a prorated amount of TAM but didn’t give Toronto any budget relief. Last Friday’s trade of Nicolas Hasler to Chicago in exchange for Jon Bakero and $50,000 in General Allocation Money opened a little space on the cap. Still, it’s not much for a team that basically maxed themselves out in the early stages of the season. Bezbatchenko hinted that they’ll still look to make moves this summer and said that they could look for a more physical version of a player with Aketxe’s skill in the midfield, but summer additions will likely have to be smaller in nature.
“We have the amount that we need to do the level of changing that we want,” said Bezbatchenko. “For us, the return of our injured players represents the summer signings. I think that’s very clear in terms of how we see our roster. We don’t feel like this team needs an overhaul or any significant changes. I think we need to look internally and look at ourselves and collectively reset our goals about how we’re going to go about our season and how we’re going to improve and get better.”
Regardless of how the rest of this season goes, expect TFC to take a bit of a different approach this winter. Toronto understandably prioritized continuity this winter as they prepared for their shot at the CCL. That resulted in a somewhat older roster, with many of TFC’s key players, including Giovinco, Moor, Morrow, van der Wiel, Vazquez and Michael Bradley all at least 30.
“I think that’ll be the push into next year, focusing on getting younger, for sure,” said Bezbatchenko. “I think there’s certain areas of the roster where we want to get younger and we have a number of players coming up through our academy that we’re excited about, so that’ll be a push, but I think that’s one factor as we’re looking to evolve the roster over the next year or so that we’re looking at closely.”
That’s a long way off, however. For now, TFC – who Bezbatchenko said would have to be blown away to even consider moving Altidore, Bradley or Giovinco this summer, despite recurring rumors – are focused on getting healthy, fighting for the playoffs and, three months after a tough result against Chicago helped put them in a tailspin, turning last weekend’s win at the Fire into a different type of turning point.
Washington Corozo scouting report
https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&sourc...BTW5rDF14cflSr
It's odd that there isnt a lick of info about Washington Corozo to TFC in the Ecuador media. Normally once there is a link the local press talks about it.
maybe he is not in the plans...bez did say recently that they are looking at a more physical aketxe type player
Per Oli Platt, Endoh is back with the team with a view to a USL contract.
You gotta let him go man, he's not coming back. He was a good player, and we did need him for our championship run, but come on. He was never an offensive threat(unless you consider very ordinary crosses as threats). He was getting older, and missing him really has nothing to do with our record this season. Comes down to injuries.
VDW, and Auro are better players, more versatile as well. The only knock on the move away from Beita is that VDW makes a ton of money, but he can be CB as well, and is very good on the ball. We would have never done so well in champions league without Auro/VDW being able to be shifted to different defensive positions due to necessity.
The Beitashour thing... we let Will Johnson go and brought Vazquez in. It was exactly the same, the guy was a warrior, did great things, got moved. There was howling about that for months... maybe we should keep talking about that too.
You can’t stand still. You have to swing the bat every year. It's not going to work all the time.
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
Keep an eye here, I think this guy is coming.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/...aring-mls-move
This seems like what we need and the type of story we like. A CB out of the Barcelona youth system, so Vazquez knows him.
He was a regular under Luis Enrique, but hasn’t played as much the last two years.
Last edited by ensco; 07-28-2018 at 08:18 AM.
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
Call this observation nit picky but I notice he’s left footed. Would you play him to the inside of Mavinga?
Some coaches see those two CB spots as separate and distinct positions and prefer guys with good feet matching the side of the field they are on.
Would be great, if it was indeed for us. Not sure how the cap situation would pan out.
looks like that team has a game tomorrow..wonder if they will feature in it
It’s all gone quiet on the trade/transfer news. We opened up that cap space for something....
Hasler: Being traded by TFC felt like ‘a punch in the face’
https://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/hasl...ke-punch-face/
We have another rumor
Check out this tweet at [COLOR=#14171A][FONT=&]https://twitter.com/Mati_Martinez/status/1023381528905179136[/FONT][/COLOR]
Translation
During the whole day today was working on the loan of Jonathan Menendez to #Toronto FC MLS. There was no agreement with the footballer's contract. At this icy hour.
https://us.soccerway.com/players/jonathan-menendez/192634/
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/jona...spieler/232142
Forward/Left Winger
That doesn't seem like an immediate need. We need another CB and a guy who can fill at RB/RWB.