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  1. #1651
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    Quote Originally Posted by stegosaurus View Post
    Their other sport coverage is pretty decent, but the Athletic’s MLS stuff is spotty depending on the team.

    Their TFC coverage isn’t great.

    Their business model is also pretty stupid, but I subscribe so I’m part of the problem I guess, haha.
    On the flip side, The Athletic’s first market was Toronto for a reason. They’re one of the few sports journalism sites that remain independent of the Bell-Rogers duopoly.

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    Quote Originally Posted by noimpactinmtl View Post
    On the flip side, The Athletic’s first market was Toronto for a reason. They’re one of the few sports journalism sites that remain independent of the Bell-Rogers duopoly.
    Toronto is the perfect market for just about every VC-backed disruption project for a lot of reasons.

    Cabs vs Uber, Hotels vs AirBNB, Telco Oligopoly vs The Athletic...

    It’s too bad their TFC coverage is so weak...

  3. #1653
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ultra & Proud View Post
    A big problem is that our window doesn't jive with most of the world. Historically most of the very good signings are in the summer. Of course some come in the beginning too (DPs usually) but when dealing with transfer fees and TAM players, it's tough because of the fee counting against the cap. MLS needs to stop that in the next CBA because it's ridiculous.
    Still defending them, eh? You put lots of effort into that. Yes we have different transfer windows, but our primary (winter) window is after the big international ones. So smart teams make the bigger deals in January, and then complete the transfer into MLS after our window opens in February. It's a byproduct of MLS's schedule. The winter window is mid-season for most leagues, so they won't want a long window, with trades & disruptions reaching into the game days, and even playoffs or international competitions as we saw with Genk. Whereas MLS won't want their primary window closing in the middle of the winter, before a ball has been kicked in anger.

    I gave plenty of hints on how to deal with that differently in my post above. The transfer windows are well known, FO has to make plans (and backup plans) accordingly. Or they don't, shut up about it, and make better plans for the summer. BTW MLS has more flexibility than many other leagues: the total transfer window length (winter + summer) is almost 4 months here. Many of the big European and SA leagues have a total of 3 or 3 1/2 month transfer windows. Italy is even shorter: less than 2 1/2 months. (Brazil is a bit longer though; closer to MLS in total.)

    Who knows, maybe Curtis still pulls a rabbit out of a hat tonight. Or Vanney & the gang play tactically smarter to limit the defensive problems, and survive until the summer w/o reinforcements...???

  4. #1654
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    It’s pretty obvious we have been waiting for the Diego Godin announcement today lol

  5. #1655
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    Quote Originally Posted by Joe Kool View Post
    ABC....Always Be Closing....C'mon Curtis get us some help where we need it.
    Haha, yes! I was waiting for this reference to come in somewhere. Curtis would never cut it at Mitch & Murray

  6. #1656
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    Quote Originally Posted by stegosaurus View Post
    Toronto is the perfect market for just about every VC-backed disruption project for a lot of reasons.

    Cabs vs Uber, Hotels vs AirBNB, Telco Oligopoly vs The Athletic...
    Wow that is good. I am going to steal that. Thanks.

    I don't think you were around, but I spent months on the Leaf boards here (which were very active in those days, hat tip to Whoop) arguing that Bell/Rogers needed to be stopped for anti-competitive reasons, because it blocked new entrants on telco side.
    “What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”

  7. #1657
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    Quote Originally Posted by Auzzy View Post
    Still defending them, eh? You put lots of effort into that. Yes we have different transfer windows, but our primary (winter) window is after the big international ones. So smart teams make the bigger deals in January, and then complete the transfer into MLS after our window opens in February. It's a byproduct of MLS's schedule. The winter window is mid-season for most leagues, so they won't want a long window, with trades & disruptions reaching into the game days, and even playoffs or international competitions as we saw with Genk. Whereas MLS won't want their primary window closing in the middle of the winter, before a ball has been kicked in anger.

    I gave plenty of hints on how to deal with that differently in my post above. The transfer windows are well known, FO has to make plans (and backup plans) accordingly. Or they don't, shut up about it, and make better plans for the summer. BTW MLS has more flexibility than many other leagues: the total transfer window length (winter + summer) is almost 4 months here. Many of the big European and SA leagues have a total of 3 or 3 1/2 month transfer windows. Italy is even shorter: less than 2 1/2 months. (Brazil is a bit longer though; closer to MLS in total.)

    Who knows, maybe Curtis still pulls a rabbit out of a hat tonight. Or Vanney & the gang play tactically smarter to limit the defensive problems, and survive until the summer w/o reinforcements...???
    It is a bit harder to make the signings now because of the temporal difference, like in the case of Pozo.

    However, you can simply avoid these issues by being proactive and having an effective FO that knows what they’re doing.

    Even if Jozy made up a bunch of nonsense because he’s passionate, even if both Seba and VdW lied about mentality issues because they’re really big jerks, especially Seba because he dives and likes having lots of money, even if the FO was acting in good faith when they told us transfers are difficult business, even if Ali Curtis is some sort of transfer genius, even if we score 3-4 goals a game the whole season, even if we win every game, even if we win the cup...

    The FO still lied about the no major changes thing, as well as the acquisitions this window.

    With no fans or supporters, there’s no team. It’s not like the Leafs where there’s a perennial product no matter what. We’ve stuck by this team through years of the worst team in the world and don’t deserve to be lied to. Just tell us the truth.

    “No signings until summer.” The reaction almost certainly wouldn’t be as negative as lying about acquisitions this window.

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    I have no problem with building around the summer window. Several successful teams do it, notably Seattle.

    But if you do that, you need a roster for the first 20 games. We do not have a single winger. We are using one of our worst players from 2018 as core depth at CB.

    We have not set up for this. If we get through it, it'll be by luck not design.
    “What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”

  9. #1659
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    Quote Originally Posted by stegosaurus View Post

    The FO still lied about the no major changes thing, as well as the acquisitions this window.
    I'm pretty sure they were caught by surprise by the Seba to Saudi move, and Vazqez came to them after Curtis took over.
    MLS is a tough, physical league, that emphasizes speed, and features plastic fields, grueling travel, extreme weather, and incompetent refs. - NK Toronto

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    Quote Originally Posted by Oldtimer View Post
    I'm pretty sure they were caught by surprise by the Seba to Saudi move, and Vazqez came to them after Curtis took over.
    No kidding. That’s what I’m saying.

    If they were competent they would have been able to predict their aging superstar in contract talks could potentially find other suitors, especially because finding other teams interested in your player is the primary means an agent has to drive up the value of your player and thereby their own profit.

    Mavinga tweeting doesn’t mean he’s unsettled and is a huge stretch, but that’s because I’ve followed him as a French youth international and know how he acts. Seba was visibly and obviously unsettled by the contract stuff while he was playing here.

    FO dropped the ball, and were caught “by surprise” as if these things don’t happen in world football. If you get caught by surprise by two of the players responsible for and integral to “the best MLS team ever” then you’re probably not competent. If your goal was no major changes and there are, you’re probably not competent.
    Last edited by stegosaurus; 05-07-2019 at 06:51 PM. Reason: English

  11. #1661
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    ^I am not kidding when I blame the Argos. Maybe more as a metaphor, but we clearly had a “drop in” President in 2018, one who was not ready to step into the breech.

    It's a classic suit screwup. Manning was worrying about the Argos or booking concerts at BMO or something, he had his eye off the ball, Bez left, and there was no resiliency when all hell broke loose.

    I blame Friisdahl and Tanenbaum for involving him in all this non TFC crap.
    “What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”

  12. #1662
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    Quote Originally Posted by ensco View Post
    ^I am not kidding when I blame the Argos. Maybe more as a metaphor, but we clearly had a “drop in” President in 2018, one who was not ready to step into the breech.

    It's a classic suit screwup. Manning was worrying about the Argos or booking concerts at BMO or something, he had his eye off the ball, Bez left, and there was no resiliency when all hell broke loose.

    I blame Friisdahl and Tanenbaum for involving him in all this non TFC crap.
    Manning isn’t making any moves for either team I dont know what that has to do with this thread.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mikmacdo View Post
    Manning isn’t making any moves for either team I dont know what that has to do with this thread.
    I think you are misinformed.
    “What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”

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    Our start to the season gave us the luxury to not need to rush a signing. If the start was a disaster you can bet they’d be moving. I get what people are saying about doing what you committed to but I don’t feel that worried at the moment and don’t feel too pissed at them.

  15. #1665
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    2 hours to go ..lets go ali,,lol

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    Quote Originally Posted by Canary10 View Post
    Our start to the season gave us the luxury to not need to rush a signing. If the start was a disaster you can bet they’d be moving. I get what people are saying about doing what you committed to but I don’t feel that worried at the moment and don’t feel too pissed at them.
    It’s not about “rushing” or that we started the season off poorly. It’s about the FO not doing what they have said they’re doing. These signings weren’t a “rush” in that they were scrambling to figure out what to do, Janson played for us, Menendez was a repeated target, Pozo was on the radar for years.

    It’s that the FO can’t competently sign targets without scandal and issues, that they can’t make good on things they’ve promised, and that they can’t deal with players who are currently here in a satisfactory way.

    Everyone here is happy that the team has a good PPG and scored lots of goals. That doesn’t fix the FO issues and ignoring them just allows them to do the same nonsense in the future.

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    Still defending them, eh?
    No, because I don't care what they say they're doing or whatever. Right now, we're alright and improving gradually but more importantly I have a vivid memory of the moves to make us "better" in 2011/12 and I can live without that kind of 'proactive' FO management.

    Seriously, if you changed the header here it could pass as a Revs or Rapids supporters forum based on the consensus that we're trash.

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    I don't want a move because we are trash.

    I want a move to make us better.

    We were told they were ready to make one, had the info to make one & were trying to make one.

    We will not be as better in the next few weeks as we could have been if they had figured out how to make such a move.

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    Quote Originally Posted by OgtheDim View Post
    I don't want a move because we are trash.

    I want a move to make us better.

    We were told they were ready to make one, had the info to make one & were trying to make one.

    We will not be as better in the next few weeks as we could have been if they had figured out how to make such a move.
    Two weeks. Dreams fulfilled.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ultra & Proud View Post
    No, because I don't care what they say they're doing or whatever. Right now, we're alright and improving gradually but more importantly I have a vivid memory of the moves to make us "better" in 2011/12 and I can live without that kind of 'proactive' FO management.

    Seriously, if you changed the header here it could pass as a Revs or Rapids supporters forum based on the consensus that we're trash.
    If you’re taking a shot at me everything you’ve said is wrong. All the previous management decisions were reactive including the BBD. That’s the opposite of proactive (syntactically).

    I have a vivid memory of every season I sat through since the beginning. If your plan for turning a corner is to win an MLS cup and then lie to the fanbase you’ve established promising stability and signings and not doing it...

    Not good.

    Like I said before, there are lots of poorly managed MLS teams. If we strive to be one then why even bother wasting money? If the Raptors got rid of their good players after bombing out before the playoffs there’d be no one there. Just like the Jays during ages of being terrible. MLSE doesn’t want that, but the FO are clearly incapable of doing business in the right way.

    If your star players and decent players are unsettled and you can’t make signings how skilled is the FO?

    Edit: wait, I missed the “improved gradually” part. If you mean from the season we won you’re wrong, if you mean in general over a lifetime we’ve improved all of a sudden and then have not since.

    No way we’ve improved since our title winning season and we can’t win the cup with our current squad and system.
    Last edited by stegosaurus; 05-07-2019 at 10:51 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ensco View Post
    ^I am not kidding when I blame the Argos. Maybe more as a metaphor, but we clearly had a “drop in” President in 2018, one who was not ready to step into the breech.

    It's a classic suit screwup. Manning was worrying about the Argos or booking concerts at BMO or something, he had his eye off the ball, Bez left, and there was no resiliency when all hell broke loose.

    I blame Friisdahl and Tanenbaum for involving him in all this non TFC crap.
    I think this is really accurate. Pretty sure when Manning took on the Argos it came with a promotion and increased responsibility for Bez on the TFC side. Bez leaves and Manning scrambles.

  22. #1672
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    This just in from my sources on Neptune....Toronto FC just signed InnVisible Maan on a 12 year TAM deal. He will be a lynchpin on the 4-4-2, but Bono must be in goal for every game he plays. #StopLyingToYourFanbase

  23. #1673
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    Quote Originally Posted by ensco View Post
    ^I am not kidding when I blame the Argos. Maybe more as a metaphor, but we clearly had a “drop in” President in 2018, one who was not ready to step into the breech.

    It's a classic suit screwup. Manning was worrying about the Argos or booking concerts at BMO or something, he had his eye off the ball, Bez left, and there was no resiliency when all hell broke loose.

    I blame Friisdahl and Tanenbaum for involving him in all this non TFC crap.

    I think the avid reaction to this window is all a bit odd. They said they were trying for a few players. They didn't get them.

    But that's not that surprising; we have limited needs, limited funds, limited roster spots, and a GM in Ali Curtis who is renowned for being conservative in the transfer market and instead favoring internal development.

    Then look at who our prospects were: Omar Gonzalez, who is an MLS 2.0 star but Ciman version 2.0 in the current league, large, slow, and makes poor decisions. His play was already declining in his final LA year, assuming that wasn't just from having already signed in Pachuca.

    Signing him would be repeating the same mistake as Ciman: we don't need another aerial bruiser, we need a smart line-leader. We play better with Moor on the field because he directs traffic, not because he's a great natural athlete. It's his brain we value most and we need a player equally smart to put next to Mavinga, or Ciman, or both.

    Janson I"ve already stated my peace on; he's not a good enough forward or winger to be worth TAM or DP money.

    The reason they let Telfer go is that he's not good enough; he might develop more, but he's older and they probably think it's an outside chance. But he can excel in the CPL and they might either get a little money or some goodwill for him if they want to keep him. If he's so breakout dominant all of a sudden -- he takes another skill step up, ala Oso bulking up and becoming more aggressive around the box -- they can recall him. Loans aren't always contractual obligations for a certain period, many have right of recall.

    CB is the priority, because our best formations require tight triangle support play and building from the back. So we don't play much in wide isolation, and a winger, though obviously useful in some situations, is less a priority than an actual hole in our squad. And right now we have no line leader.

    I'd actually rate another winger behind a wrecker, an Alonso-level or Mattias Laba-level defensive midfielder who can shield the backline. Bradley does a good job at it, but it's a waste of half his skill set to have him play back so much. And when he plays forward, we're left with Marco, who seems to have never quite fully recovered from the miss in the final, as the only real defensive option going back.

    So if it means we only missed out on Gonzalez and Janson, no big whoop. We hang in with good performances until the summer window.

    Of course, if we get any significant level of injury to Pozuelo, we're entirely fucked. I love Osorio and I think Chapman is as good, probably, at this point, or close. But neither can carry the team, Jozy is injury prone. If Pozo goes down at any point, with our defensive blunders? Then we can kiss the season goodbye.

  24. #1674
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    Quote Originally Posted by stegosaurus View Post
    If you’re taking a shot at me everything you’ve said is wrong. All the previous management decisions were reactive including the BBD. That’s the opposite of proactive (syntactically).

    I have a vivid memory of every season I sat through since the beginning. If your plan for turning a corner is to win an MLS cup and then lie to the fanbase you’ve established promising stability and signings and not doing it...

    Not good.

    Like I said before, there are lots of poorly managed MLS teams. If we strive to be one then why even bother wasting money? If the Raptors got rid of their good players after bombing out before the playoffs there’d be no one there. Just like the Jays during ages of being terrible. MLSE doesn’t want that, but the FO are clearly incapable of doing business in the right way.

    If your star players and decent players are unsettled and you can’t make signings how skilled is the FO?

    Edit: wait, I missed the “improved gradually” part. If you mean from the season we won you’re wrong, if you mean in general over a lifetime we’ve improved all of a sudden and then have not since.

    No way we’ve improved since our title winning season and we can’t win the cup with our current squad and system.
    Improved gradually this season. Who cares about 2017 or 2018. None of that matters now. Slowly we've looked better from week one until now. Still flawed but improving which as long as that trend remains, we will be okay in the East until July.

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    Quote Originally Posted by jloome View Post
    I think the avid reaction to this window is all a bit odd. They said they were trying for a few players. They didn't get them.

    But that's not that surprising; we have limited needs, limited funds, limited roster spots, and a GM in Ali Curtis who is renowned for being conservative in the transfer market and instead favoring internal development.

    Then look at who our prospects were: Omar Gonzalez, who is an MLS 2.0 star but Ciman version 2.0 in the current league, large, slow, and makes poor decisions. His play was already declining in his final LA year, assuming that wasn't just from having already signed in Pachuca.

    Signing him would be repeating the same mistake as Ciman: we don't need another aerial bruiser, we need a smart line-leader. We play better with Moor on the field because he directs traffic, not because he's a great natural athlete. It's his brain we value most and we need a player equally smart to put next to Mavinga, or Ciman, or both.

    Janson I"ve already stated my peace on; he's not a good enough forward or winger to be worth TAM or DP money.

    The reason they let Telfer go is that he's not good enough; he might develop more, but he's older and they probably think it's an outside chance. But he can excel in the CPL and they might either get a little money or some goodwill for him if they want to keep him. If he's so breakout dominant all of a sudden -- he takes another skill step up, ala Oso bulking up and becoming more aggressive around the box -- they can recall him. Loans aren't always contractual obligations for a certain period, many have right of recall.

    CB is the priority, because our best formations require tight triangle support play and building from the back. So we don't play much in wide isolation, and a winger, though obviously useful in some situations, is less a priority than an actual hole in our squad. And right now we have no line leader.

    I'd actually rate another winger behind a wrecker, an Alonso-level or Mattias Laba-level defensive midfielder who can shield the backline. Bradley does a good job at it, but it's a waste of half his skill set to have him play back so much. And when he plays forward, we're left with Marco, who seems to have never quite fully recovered from the miss in the final, as the only real defensive option going back.

    So if it means we only missed out on Gonzalez and Janson, no big whoop. We hang in with good performances until the summer window.

    Of course, if we get any significant level of injury to Pozuelo, we're entirely fucked. I love Osorio and I think Chapman is as good, probably, at this point, or close. But neither can carry the team, Jozy is injury prone. If Pozo goes down at any point, with our defensive blunders? Then we can kiss the season goodbye.
    How is Janson not worth TAM money? He is one of the best wingers in Argentina right now.

    Ciman is coming around, I think the defense will be fine until the next window.

    Telfer was a solid backup last year to say hes not good enough isn’t fair. I dont think he would fair any worse than Deleon with his 1 goal in however many games. Telfer is good enough just like M.A.K was good enough but they let him go.

    I am pretty sure Omar is an organizer on the back line and TFC does need some kind of threat in the air. Hes 30, hes not washed up, He could be solid for 3-5 years.

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    I don’t believe for a second, that FO seriously attempted to recruit more players during this now closed, window. In 2010, FIFA released a comprehensive report indicating there were 265 million people playing soccer in the world, of which, 113,000 were playing professionally. Put that in perspective when assessing the veracity of FO claims on how hard they tried.
    Last edited by 69Chevy396; 05-08-2019 at 07:17 AM.

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    They could have traded for Calvo, who would have solved the CB depth problem. Cost Chicago $150K in TAM this year and next. He was the captain in Minnesota. A WC starter.

    This isn’t that hard.
    “What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”

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    Quote Originally Posted by jloome View Post
    I think the avid reaction to this window is all a bit odd. They said they were trying for a few players. They didn't get them.

    But that's not that surprising; we have limited needs, limited funds, limited roster spots, and a GM in Ali Curtis who is renowned for being conservative in the transfer market and instead favoring internal development.

    Then look at who our prospects were: Omar Gonzalez, who is an MLS 2.0 star but Ciman version 2.0 in the current league, large, slow, and makes poor decisions. His play was already declining in his final LA year, assuming that wasn't just from having already signed in Pachuca.

    Signing him would be repeating the same mistake as Ciman: we don't need another aerial bruiser, we need a smart line-leader. We play better with Moor on the field because he directs traffic, not because he's a great natural athlete. It's his brain we value most and we need a player equally smart to put next to Mavinga, or Ciman, or both.

    Janson I"ve already stated my peace on; he's not a good enough forward or winger to be worth TAM or DP money.

    The reason they let Telfer go is that he's not good enough; he might develop more, but he's older and they probably think it's an outside chance. But he can excel in the CPL and they might either get a little money or some goodwill for him if they want to keep him. If he's so breakout dominant all of a sudden -- he takes another skill step up, ala Oso bulking up and becoming more aggressive around the box -- they can recall him. Loans aren't always contractual obligations for a certain period, many have right of recall.

    CB is the priority, because our best formations require tight triangle support play and building from the back. So we don't play much in wide isolation, and a winger, though obviously useful in some situations, is less a priority than an actual hole in our squad. And right now we have no line leader.

    I'd actually rate another winger behind a wrecker, an Alonso-level or Mattias Laba-level defensive midfielder who can shield the backline. Bradley does a good job at it, but it's a waste of half his skill set to have him play back so much. And when he plays forward, we're left with Marco, who seems to have never quite fully recovered from the miss in the final, as the only real defensive option going back.

    So if it means we only missed out on Gonzalez and Janson, no big whoop. We hang in with good performances until the summer window.

    Of course, if we get any significant level of injury to Pozuelo, we're entirely fucked. I love Osorio and I think Chapman is as good, probably, at this point, or close. But neither can carry the team, Jozy is injury prone. If Pozo goes down at any point, with our defensive blunders? Then we can kiss the season goodbye.
    This was the concern when they brought in Curtis in the first place. If Curtis manages the team like he did the NYRB we are probably in trouble unless we look to the distant future. TFC’s internal development producing results on the pitch today, tomorrow, this season, or the next one simply won’t happen.

    The squad is hinging on Pozo having Bradley+ fitness and Jozy not getting injured. Even the guys managing Osorio and Chapman’s Facebook fan pages wouldn’t put them up to the task of carrying the team on their own. We’d basically need Bradley to score 3 or 4 goals per game instead of just a brace, lol.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ensco View Post
    I think you are misinformed.
    Manning is probably involved in the big ticket stuff but you think he's getting involved in picking players up in the re-entry draft, keepers from France etc etc?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Areathrasher View Post
    Manning is probably involved in the big ticket stuff but you think he's getting involved in picking players up in the re-entry draft, keepers from France etc etc?
    I am certain he is involved in everything, as he was with Bez until 2018
    “What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”

 

 

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