TFC 2023 player in-season roster discussion

[Mr. Inbetween]

While I agree I suspect that Cooper would rather keep Neco Williams in that spot and I don't think Richie would go back willingly to sit on the bench again. I can see they taking the cash payout. In that case TFC would likely lose in a bidding war as we likely have zero wiggle room with our need for a proper striker.

Maybe. I think Mamah stays. I suspect there is a buy clause; standard for an EFL/MLS loan? Thereby, TFC should have the first right? They would know the cost? If so, hopefully they have/are prepared. Perhaps another factor why this years budget is tight? MSingh in the latest TTID podcast indicates TFC thinks they can hold on to him.

Also, TFC may have a ace in their pocket regarding a summer DP… Michele? He has taken a salary cut before. He could take one again? It may depend at the time on how the club is progressing. IIRC, he’s at around 1.5 million? If he goes to the minimum or even just a quarter to half million, that gives TFC an additional million plus in against any other space they may have to sign a DP in this summer’s window.

[jloome]

Sorry my bad yep that's what I ment .

Buksa would be perfect, let's face it. Great with his head, good finisher generally, good at finding space, good with his feet.

[Ultra & Proud]

Also, TFC may have a ace in their pocket regarding a summer DP… Michele? He has taken a salary cut before. He could take one again? It may depend at the time on how the club is progressing. IIRC, he’s at around 1.5 million? If he goes to the minimum or even just a quarter to half million, that gives TFC an additional million plus in against any other space they may have to sign a DP in this summer’s window.

Can't do anything with his contract unless he lowered his rate for a renewal next season. This year is done unless he retired and even then it might stick for the remaining half season. Also since it's a half season it would only be $750K remaining.

Same applies for a summer DP so it's half a max cap hit. The ace in the pocket is to use the buy out on Akinola and solve all the problems right there in one easy move.

[Ultra & Proud]

Buksa would be perfect, let's face it. Great with his head, good finisher generally, good at finding space, good with his feet.

I was thinking the same. This would be the perfect move if possible.

[Areathrasher]

Revs sold him for big $$$$, didn't they?

Maybe Lens might do a loan for 6-12months, rehab his value a bit?

[Ultra & Proud]

Revs sold him for big $$$$, didn't they?

Maybe Lens might do a loan for 6-12months, rehab his value a bit?

They dropped $10M for him last summer but he only got into 4 matches. He was injured as well though.

Not sure how this would go but if the player is unhappy, it is what it is.

[Mr. Inbetween]

I wonder what Lolo is doing right now?

[jloome]

I wonder what Lolo is doing right now?

Dude... Mamah, Lolo... you can't give your own nicknames to prominent people and expect the rest of us to know who you're talking about!

It has to be when we're already talking about them if you're going to do that (the sole reason i know who 'mamah' is), or it just leaves a bunch of us scratching our head and googling "Lolo."

No, I don't think we want to sign retired 38-year-old Spanish defensive midfielder Manuel Jesus "Lolo" Ortiz Toribo as a striker. Or the four other retired Lolos, the only footballers who come up when I google that name.

Context, dude. Context is very helpful.

[JoesphNdo]

I thought it was just me who didn't know 95% of the nicknames our players had and I was too afraid to ask

[jloome]

I thought it was just me who didn't know 95% of the nicknames our players had and I was too afraid to ask

I lack tact.

[jloome]

I thought it was just me who didn't know 95% of the nicknames our players had and I was too afraid to ask

He still hasn't told us who Lolo is. I'm trying to treat it like it isn't a trivia ear worm currently driving me mad.

[Stress]

It’s Insigne, no? I think he was hinting about watching the Napoli game this afternoon.

[JosephFC]

It’s Insigne, no? I think he was hinting about watching the Napoli game this afternoon.

Insigne not happy, 1-1 final Naples out

[jloome]

Insigne not happy, 1-1 final Naples out

See, totally out of context to a discussion in the player thread about getting a new striker. I thought I'd seen that nickname for him somewhere on the board before, but I didn't get the link.

Forgot the second legs were today.

[leedsandTFC]

so after 8 games, my main takeaway is that without insigne we are a midtable team.

fairly solid and well organized, tough to beat, but without much cutting edge up front.

i also don't think that's a bad place to be, especially as we saw the last 15 mins on saturday the team makes way more sense as an attacking threat when both insigne and bernardeschi are on the pitch.

i think if we have both of them fit we are a solid top 5 team in the east (columbus, new england, cinci, atlanta and us), but we still need a starting striker to be a contender at any level.

[JosephFC]

so after 8 games, my main takeaway is that without insigne we are a midtable team.

fairly solid and well organized, tough to beat, but without much cutting edge up front.

i also don't think that's a bad place to be, especially as we saw the last 15 mins on saturday the team makes way more sense as an attacking threat when both insigne and bernardeschi are on the pitch.

i think if we have both of them fit we are a solid top 5 team in the east (columbus, new england, cinci, atlanta and us), but we still need a starting striker to be a contender at any level.

Fully agree, do you see a DP striker coming in the summer or are we without salary cap space?

[FiveThreeTwo]

Hopefully with insigne back getting more minutes, and Oso gets into the middle of the park again - he can make additional runs into the box along with [insert striker] to give the team more options. Servania did that last game and got us the tying goal. But observing the team, that seems to be a weakness for us in the final third... I'm not seeing a lot of dummy runs and overloading into the 18 to confuse the defenders/mids to mark and track the right guy (and force them to make a decision) - there's alot of our guys sitting on the perimeter while the striker up top, easily focused by opposing CBs and number 6, or ball watching Berna as he takes on 2-3 guys and being late to the proper space. We're getting better tho, so it isn't all 'the worlds on fire' in that regard.

Example i'm gonna use is Bayern during the Flick era. Not only were there wingers out wide or overlap relationships there between wingers and FB's, there was Lewandowski drifting in the middle that kept the opponent CBs and #6 honest... and the #8 midfields/Müller would make making near/far post runs into the box to pull defenders out and give the Fullback or winger cutting to the byline a short post option as well as backpost and Lewa option. This is why they had so many secondary scorers and wasn't just Lewandowski/Muller banging them in. When it came to creating a scoring opportunity, they'd overload the box with numerous runs from various positions to make hard as hell for the opponent to pick up the right guy. This is obviously extreme -comes with hell of a lot of risk on being countered which is why they played a high line and high press, but I think we still need a lightweight version of that if were gonna be working a higher press anyways with BB ball... and hopefully Oso/servania can provide those run options. Can't just be Berna doing 1v1 duels or Richie making one-two runs from the back lol or our scoring opportunties aren't gonna improve even with a much better striker sitting uptop. But For sure - hopefully we have the cap space to make a move for someone uptop this window.

[leedsandTFC]

Fully agree, do you see a DP striker coming in the summer or are we without salary cap space?

i dunno what the budget is but i'd be shocked if they couldn't clear 325K cap space for the summer for a DP.

[Mr. Inbetween]

Cross him off any list.

Check out this tweet at [URL]https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1648697503808626692[/URL]

Gulp! C’mon! Oh please no!

Check out this tweet at [URL]https://twitter.com/AnfieldWatch/status/1648805097835511809[/URL]

[JosephFC]

i dunno what the budget is but i'd be shocked if they couldn't clear 325K cap space for the summer for a DP.

Yes I feel that a third DP should be an obvious decision, no disrespect to Osorio .

[Bobo]

We may have to ask ourselves with a potential transfer fee and our salary cap as it likely is, is Richie a DP level player? I know this won't be popular, but I don't think so, there's better uses of that slot on either a high impact striker/mid fielder or going down the u22 route

However, that would be a *very* on brand DP signing for Manning. Low scouting effort, short term provides big fan service and everyone will celebrate it, long term is not a discussion for today. So while I don't think we should use a DP slot on him, I think there's a chance we will if given the chance once Bob Bradley doesn't overrule it (And that'll be interesting to see). And there's worse DPs in the league for sure, so at least it'd be a known quantity even if I don't fully buy in

I love Richie, and it's been really cool to see a guy from my high school excel at TFC, but he's a luxury the club simply can't afford given how poorly the roster is constructed. They need to go the classic MLS route of cheaping out at right-back.

If Laryea is suspended, JMR will have a great opportunity to show what he can do. Even if Laryea escapes punishment, JMR should still get increased minutes. If he succeeds, let Laryea walk, give JMR the reins, and sign a budget journeyman as backup. And for heaven's sake, use the leftover cap space wisely.

Laryea's skill set would be sorely missed in attack, but he's also been the weak link defensively. Overall, not irreplaceable but does feel like a lazy Manning signing.

One guy I'd keep an eye on if I was Manning is American Henry Wingo, 27, a former Sounders right-back/mid and pending free agent playing for Ferencvaros, who topped their Europa League group this season.

[jloome]

i dunno what the budget is but i'd be shocked if they couldn't clear 325K cap space for the summer for a DP.

The budget charge for a DP now is $612,500, but I believe it's 50% if they come in the middle window, so just shy of the old total at $306,250.

But that goes up again to $612,000 when the next season starts.

[rydermike]

The budget charge decreases to half, but so would everything else. Assuming we're at the cap, we'd still need to clear out a 612,500+ salary (ie. Laryea) since half their salary would already have been on the cap.
I guess we could also just acquire 300ish GAM, since GAM is weird I guess and wouldn't halve?

[jloome]

One guy I'd keep an eye on if I was Manning is American Henry Wingo, 27, a former Sounders right-back/mid and pending free agent playing for Ferencvaros, who topped their Europa League group this season.

I talked to a scout last year after someone suggested Wingo was one of several "underrated" American players in Europe, and he was of the opinion that he's not good enough for MLS. He's decent in the Hungarian league but would be a roster player here. I don't know him at all myself, but it came up, so I thought I'd mention it. (EDIT: I notice he had 22 games with Seattle over three seasons, but it's entirely possible he improved with coaching Norway before Hungary).

As for his club, I recognize them as a traditional powerhouse in Hungary because I've seen their name so many times over the years, and they did manage a 1-1 draw with Monaco during Europa league, so they must be decent. But the league itself is rated fairly poorly, so maybe that influenced his opinion.

I must admit, I'm quite disappointed with Petretta so far. He seems decent on the ball and he works hard, but he's pretty slight and easily shouldered off the ball. He also gets caught high quite often, although that may be part the tactics, as Richie is caught up a lot and they seem to have a compensatory "slide" from Hedges already worked into their approach, with a DM dropping back into his spot.

[jloome]

I guess we could also just acquire 300ish GAM, since GAM is weird I guess and wouldn't halve?

I believe that's the case, yeah, because it carries over in full from year to year.

(Of course, might all be moot if they change the rules as expected next year.)

[leedsandTFC]

The budget charge for a DP now is $612,500, but I believe it's 50% if they come in the middle window, so just shy of the old total at $306,250.

But that goes up again to $612,000 when the next season starts.

sorry, yes, they should be able to clear 306K cap space for a DP this summer, especially with MB 1M+ contract expiring opening up cap space next season to have the new DP the whole year (if he doesn't retire, will likely sign at a league minimum or thereabouts imo).

[MikeForbes]

Seems like if anything happens before the transfer window closes, it will be an inter-league trade.

Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/JohnMolinaro/status/1649094358476505098?s=20

[Ultra & Proud]

Seems like if anything happens before the transfer window closes, it will be an inter-league trade.

Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/JohnMolinaro/status/1649094358476505098?s=20

I wouldn't be surprised if we give away Akinola to somebody for a very small amount of allocation money.

If I were them I would also see if Toure would be willing to sign for TFC2 now that the Rapids waived him.

[los sonadores]

I wouldn't be surprised if we give away Akinola to somebody for a very small amount of allocation money.

If I were them I would also see if Toure would be willing to sign for TFC2 now that the Rapids waived him.

This wouldn’t surprise me either on Ayo.

[Phil744]

People on twitter saying Kerr will be dealt before Mondays deadline I'm just not sure how accurate this account is.