It's true. Christian Ramirez scored 15 last year for Aberdeen before falling out with their manager (and before he was sacked). His best year in MLS I think was 9? Something like that.Originally Posted by JoesphNdo
It's true. Christian Ramirez scored 15 last year for Aberdeen before falling out with their manager (and before he was sacked). His best year in MLS I think was 9? Something like that.
The American Soccer Analytics guys (always worth a read on their yearly previews) suggest we are good but old & that Insigne has problems hitting the net.
https://www.americansocceranalysis.c...anta-united-fc
This seems to be pre-Servania as the article still says we've got Jayden Nelson - not that it matters, we're still old and at our point, that ain't a bad thing.
Thanks for the insight Yuushalinsky and jloome; appreciated.
He's having probably his worst season since he joined, 9 goals in 33 games in Scotland is a terrible return for a striker of one of the big 2 teams. He's still not fit and a lot of that is due to him coming in overweight earlier in season. He also had attitude issues with previous boss that saw him dropped for big european games earlier in season. He has improved somewhat since Beale came in, as have the whole team, but he's still below the form he has shown in previous seasons. He'd score goals but he carries a lot of baggage, he was saying as far back as 2018 publicly, he was hoping to leave Rangers to play for a "bigger" club. I feel he thinks he belongs to a bigger club, it's very telling that 5 years after he said that that no, so called bigger teams, has come in for him. I get the feeling if he came here it would strictly be for the money, and there is nothing wrong with that, plenty of others have done that and succeeded in mls, I just feel with him, if he's not fully focused, he could become disruptive. For a professional athlete to come back as overweight as he was earlier in season is criminal
So this is what the depth chart looks like before the season starts, pretty much.
Am I high or does this actually not look that bad (given Akinola can play on the wing)?
Let me know what kind of edibles you takeSo this is what the depth chart looks like before the season starts, pretty much.
Am I high or does this actually not look that bad (given Akinola can play on the wing)?
Life
Your cynicism is unrealistic. On paper, it's easily one of the strongest teams in the East. I mean, a lot of us have been supporting them since day 1 as well, and I get it. This team could fuck up bouncing on a trampoline. But I can't look at that lineup and think "yeah... we're in trouble."
This is a shot in the dark but Justin Smith from the U-20 team is seeing limited playing time in France. He’s was on the books at Nice but loaned and eventually transferred to a 2nd division side.
From what limited time I’ve seen of his game he’s the best prospect for a Canadian youth team since Buchanan.
Plays both CB and DM. Very positionally responsible and not small for his age (still only 20). Transfer market has has value as a paltry $250k. I think it would be a low-risk, high upside move that we should consider.
I see some question marks. In no particular order - Do we have a striker that can complement the Italians (And does it even matter as they're so good I could probably get 10 goals on a team with them)? Is our mid field good enough and is there a blindspot on reliance of [redacted for peace in our time] and will MAK be the player advertised? Will our defense gel, and the players who are unknowns there work out? What happens when Laryea leaves? And of course, do we have the depth?So this is what the depth chart looks like before the season starts, pretty much.
Am I high or does this actually not look that bad (given Akinola can play on the wing)?
But. No team in MLS goes into a season without questions. We still have a dp slot and hopefully some capacity for moves in summer when it becomes clearer which one of those issues is truly a potentially big one. So overall, that lineup doesn't look half bad except maybe in mid field and the Italians are so good if they click this year they will simply single handedly win us games over and over
My main concern is the cap situation and if we've traded too much future for a present that is far from a lock. But in isolation, that team should be a good MLS team. They should be a very good one, if enough of the above questions bounce in our favour and if injuries and tiredness don't become big issues
Last edited by JoesphNdo; 02-23-2023 at 12:16 PM.
Only issues bothering me are depth at FB and wing but as you said Akinola can do that. He won't be great at it though and it will be a steep, steep drop off if he were to be starting there due to injuries for an extended period. Toss Franklin in there and the FB is a little better but I would feel better still with a DeLeon type 'be okay at multiple positions but not great at any of them' type MLSer.So this is what the depth chart looks like before the season starts, pretty much.
Am I high or does this actually not look that bad (given Akinola can play on the wing)?
I am sure Ayo can technically play the wing, but can he actually play the position effectively?
He played there regularly until about age 18. He's quite good with the ball at his feet, not a trickster, but he can beat a man. My question is whether he has the second-gear he still clearly had in 2020 before the knee injury. About half his goals during that MLS is Back run were beating a defender for pace.
If he doesn't have the pace anymore, then perhaps not. But as a temporary measure, chances are good most of his work would be in the final third, as Bradley seems to be setting us up to pin teams back.
we need a fullback, and the empty DP spot is enticing.So this is what the depth chart looks like before the season starts, pretty much.
Am I high or does this actually not look that bad (given Akinola can play on the wing)?
but for start of season, not bad. looking around the league we're not too far behind the 8 ball.
Just get Antoine Griezmann to fill out that depth chart, I say.
just get osimhen imo
are there any actual swiss army knives out there in the MLS nowadays? I don't know of many players that can play multiple, disparate positions nowadays.
MLSE: 'Hold on... while we rummage through our spare change pocket for that +120 million Euro transfer fee'.
Gressel?
The XI can be one of the best but the depth? Even Matt Doyle says it's the worst in the league.
"And unless they have three or four major signings hidden in their pockets – which they might, since their current DP usage allows them access to all three U22 Initiative spots, and boy could they use a José Cifuentes of their own – they will be by far the league’s shallowest roster."
About that. I'm starting to think that many of the teams in the league will have the exact same depth problems we do with regard to dropoff in case of injury - how do you get a starting quality player to settle for a backup position? In addition, our main dropoffs are on the wings, I wouldn't classify our midfield or our cb situation as nearly as bad anymore (and if one of LI/FB were injured, it's a DP injury anyways, no winger of any reasonable MLS quality is going to replace them).
Gressel? Interesting... maybe. IMO, current league best is (a) Latif Blessing. Blessing and BBradley would be accustomed to one another. The question for BBradley would be, how bad do you need or want him? At what price? With all indications being that TFC cap space is extremely tight, I suspect the only way to get Blessing right now would be a try at a far-fetched trade with NER/Arena of players with some value yet also are some what expendable against current TFC plans; win now. Maybe an Akinola and O'Neill package, otherwise it's JMR with a significant sell-on clause? BTW, if Akinola were to go then, as some in the community may say, it's the year of Perruzza! As the second chair until at least the summer window.
we do need a couple more in, imo, whether it be a dp and a utlity player, or 3 u22 signings.
but i will say that the drop off from certain areas from starting XI to bench for us is a lot larger than other teams. part of that is a lack of depth in parts, but another part is the strength of the starting XI. is it realistic that an MLS team will remove bernardeschi/ insigne from the XI and be able to field a player of remotely similar quality?
we have TAM/ DP signings at virtually every spot, if you don't see some sort of drop off from XI to bench you're not getting your money's worth.
i do think that the holes were discussing now will be filled as the year goes on, though. roster flexibility as you move towards the summer is what you want.
And for us to have TAM-level/top cap level players even in the backup spots, we're over the cap. At some point, we're basically saying "find the one arbitrage player that's vastly underpaid" and scouting only gets you so far on that.
i wonder if he likes snow
I think the current more appropriate ask will be if you think he will enjoy Nasi Lemak; Kante's favourite food.
It is important to understand Doyle's blindspots. He is a huge USMNT booster. He follows every kid who has a chance of playing for them. He almost completely ignores Canadian kids. He would be a lot higher on Kerr, JMR, and Franklin if they were USMNT eligible.
The problem with our depth is that it is unproven, and requiring improvement. If we get the requisite improvement we go from no depth, to all the depth we need. JMR could very well be the jackknife we need. Wing cover LB/RB cover. Kerr showed an interesting nose for goal. If he can use his pace and the things he learned as a mid last year, he could develop into an interesting winger, who provides cover at the 8. Just those two developing could lead to us having the depth we need. If Ayo recovers fully from his ACL and gets back to his best, we have our 9. The real problem with our depth is that it all comes with ifs and buts. The hopeful thing is that they are all young, growth Should be expected.
Doyle and other MLS pundits were saying last year that Akinola was going to have a break out gigantic year & score 15+ goals.
They rate youth too high in general.
He has picked him as a darkhorse to score 15-20 THIS year as well.
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