Pretty sure Mario would love to play between LI and Berna, as for them TFC as it stands now desperately needs a number 9 , If you got an honest answer from Lorenzo and Fede they would tell you that JJ and Diomande don’t tickle the funny bone. 4 million a season for Mario is chump change for MLSEOriginally Posted by SenorDingDong
Maybe but $4M is too much for that chump.
Now that the league is slowly getting rid of their gimmicky and frankly stupid mechanisms, the amortizing of transfer fees against the cap will hopefully be next on the chopping block.
Imagine what you could get if you could sign some under contract players to $1M to $1.5M salaries without adding a transfer fee on top to push them to DP level. It would really open the door to get better TAM level players and field stronger XIs. Hopefully this happens soon.
Comments from Bradley (picked out from the conference today by the incomparable @Total_TFC) are enlightening as to the kind of player we expect Petretta to be.
1) He was clearly not happy in Turkey, and I have a feeling those 'injuries' are a part of that. A bit of snooping around his Instagram kind of suggested that too.
2) They were in discussions with other LBs, but saw the opportunity to free Raoul from his situation, and so did.
3) They expect his FBIQ to be a big factor in his getting up to speed, especially in respect to how he plays with Lorenzo.
Also, looking forward slightly, howsabout we look at a Daniel Jebbison as a U22 - young, half Canadian, buried as the 4th Striker in Sheffield?
Would be a move worth doing but I can't see Jebbison giving up England yet.
imo johnson and hedges signings could be as big as the insigne signing (although likely not possible without that deal first).
LAFC turned themselves around last year adding proven MLS talent in free agency and via trades (hollingshead, sanchez, crepeau, acosta).
feel like we'll be dipping into the trade market later too.
Let's start talking about that - let's say we move Akinola. What does that get us, realistically? It'd probably be the promise of a double-digit, cost-controlled striker occupying a U22 slot.
i can see jiminez and akinola having trade value.
akinola contract only a 200K budget hit and was doing well in MLS before his injury, lots of GMs have taken flyers on those sorts of players in the past.
jiminez when playing with a number 10 was scoring freely until he burnt out from playing 1.5 seasons straight.
i can see a deal where we move akinola and promise to pay a portion of his salary in exchange for like 450-500K GAM and a sell on clause.
I agree, it’s too early to give up on Jimenez.
It would just appear to me we have more to gain than lose by moving Akinola. His budget charge is low but we should remember someone else with higher potential at another position could occupy that spot. At face value, he’s now the 3rd choice striker.
If we sort by goals, then, we see these ten teams at the bottom:
Columbus, Colorado, Orlando, Charlotte, Salt Lake, Houston, Kansas City, Vancouver, Chicago, D.C.
Of those teams, I'd expect Columbus, Charlotte, and Orlando to be out based on their acquisitions earlier this off-season. Out of the remaining seven teams, who ya got?
Personally, NYCFC may also be looking for some firepower, but I'll exclude them for the time being.
I don't think he'll move any of them. If his LAFC teams are anything to go by, he likes to carry four forwards, usually a couple of whom can also play wide, which both Ayo and JJ can do.
I'd expect Diomande to start, unless JJ has a great camp, and we'll see JJ coming in for Insgine, Ayo coming in for Diomande and occasionally Bernie, Kerr coming in for Bernie. Just my guess.
And finally....
https://twitter.com/tombogert/status...62631106232321
and there it is.
what a signing!
Finally!
I feel so much better about this team with Petretta and Johnson on it. Still really want to see a number 6 brought in. Maybe not to replace Bradley, but a young guy to spell him this year and take his spot next year.
With this, my expectations are that we win at least one of the four trophies available to us:
MLS Cup (Direct Path to RO16)
Supporter's Shield (First Round)
Voyageur's Cup (First Round)
Leagues Cup (Direct Path to RO16, First Round if we're 2nd or 3rd or something.)
To be clear - we have to WIN one of these. I don't care if we make it to Round 1 of CCL thru points or whatever, but we have to win a trophy.
Last edited by Yuushalinsky; 01-25-2023 at 05:33 PM.
They may see Themi Antonoglou as that; they had him pegged as a left back originally but he played in central midfield as well last year and I recall some talk about him being a natural number six.(Might have been eight, but I think it was as a DM).
I still think we're a competitive central midfielder and another centre half away from cup contenders. A lot depends on how the Italians do. If they both end up knocking in goals and assists in the teens, we might already be.
That is some impressive MLS experience and leadership being brought in with Hedges and SJ.
Sure, but we have seen Liam Fraser and Ralph Priso as supposed surefire replacements to Michael Bradley. We need to see Themi prove himself (in any position) and earn his spot on this team. Prospect hype is all well and good, but the best will force their way into the lineup.
last years insigne ended with 6 goals 2 assists and bernardeschi 8 goals 3 assists.
it's safe to assume based on timing they were probably fully fit for probably half these games.
over a full season we'd have 18 goals 6 assists insigne, 24 goals 9 assists berna.
with a better and more solid team and a full preseason (and the rest of the offseason), reasonable to believe each will be at 20 + g and 10+ assists.
if we get midfield depth, maybe fullback depth, this team is a contender.
Holyyy 18 and 24 Italian goals !? I really hope so lol
We saw these guys mostly half fit last year without a preseason.
Be shocked if both don't hit 20 this year.
Korean paper says a couple of players there getting interest from MLS. Hmm...
https://m.mydaily.co.kr/new/read.php...01252358669175
(right-click and select 'translate' to read it).
Ditto with this one, with a Japanese translation of a Greek interview confirming Atlanta will sign Giakoumakis on a DP deal.
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/74...9c72220929a684
Last edited by jloome; 01-26-2023 at 01:23 AM.
Yes - not to mention it's probably the longest off-season each of them has had in their whole careers. It would not surprise me if they came out this season absolutely flying.
I don’t think the right way to look at it is to straight line extrapolate project 42 goals for the Italians.
That scoring rate reflected our lack of balance. If we are a successful team, others are going to score more. The striker, whoever he is, Oso. Suspect a cup run team looks more like 25 goals and 30 assists for the two of them.
If the Italians score 42, we will make the playoffs, but will be shot down in the first round by a better team that schemes specifically to take that away.
Last edited by ensco; 01-26-2023 at 08:06 AM.
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
Club welcome for Petretta. Fede 'kameraden' (sympatico) with Michele and dad Robi! Didn't notice Michele in that gauntlet line; perhaps appears towards the end of the clip running in the background in a vest? Probably just paperwork/Visa related... Petretta already in camp, yet no Diomande? All indications from Denmark/Norway are still that Rosted is set to join TFC; hopefully.
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/TorontoFC/status/1618361027799785486
Last edited by Mr. Inbetween; 01-26-2023 at 09:22 AM.
Alan Sonora with a NHL assist last night.
I am in accord with some of the recent previous discussion. I think one, maybe two, of Jimenez, Akinola, Nelson or JMR will be dealt before the season starts. I suspect it will be a calculus between who is best in form for the team or to trade and what that return may be; as BB indicates, help the budget. For me, Jimenez is the most utilitarian, all three positions up front; unfortunately the most costly. I suspect it is either between or both Akinola and Nelson. I believe Giacometti just used a JMR 'waiting' GIF for SJ; that would just be so cruel. While there is this notion that TFC is positioned well with the acquisitions thus far made, and until the next window, my assessment would be TFC needs to be rocksteady ASAP; at the go. I am not sure the U22 route will satisfy that task; win now. The first half performance of this season will be key to any meaningful success in any of the Canadian Championship, The Leagues Cup and MLS Shield or Cup. BTW, the chatter about a 3rd DP and budget constraints, I do not buy it; gaslighting. They had the budget/money for Belotti. Nothing has changed at the MLSE Board level. In fact Rogers is about to resolve their issue with Shaw meanwhile blowing Hundreds of Millions on a reno for a stadium set to be demolished! TFC/BB/BM may go for a budget 3rd DP but I would guess that would be more of a question of immediate fit and potential than cost. On that topic...
Last edited by Mr. Inbetween; 01-26-2023 at 12:24 PM.
Posting Permissions
