that was UdineseOriginally Posted by jloome
that was Udinese
Maybe nothing new here but if looking for more Matty Longstaff content, it’s the first 4’:45”:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsl5tqQ9hQ8
Last edited by los sonadores; 02-13-2024 at 01:46 PM.
Jloome what are you hearing brother? Anything regarding the Trialist or upcoming 2 weeks signings at all?
I figure Sharp was the first of the two mentioned signings and that Longstaff is #2.
We're not getting reinforcements. Sink or swim time. Best we'll get from here on out is possibly a loan up from TFC2 that turns out to be Coello level useful.
My understanding is they have several other targets. I don't know this for sure as most of my sources seem to be unwilling to chat right now (all but two at this point), but I got the sense there's some frustration teams are coming back with unreasonable last-moment demands.
I was told last week we've missed out on a couple of desired players because of last-second bullshit, and it sounds a little like clubs know we're desperate to improve and want to milk it.
Doyle on ‘a breakout player for every team in the east’:
JMR : “Why he’ll break out: Talent. Period.
Part of me is saying “Oh god, oh god why did I start with Toronto” and another part of me is saying “Hey, this really could be the year for Marshall-Rutty!”
Five years ago, I had smart folks in the academy system telling me Marshall-Rutty was hands-down the best Canadian prospect and he was damn near at Gio Reyna’s level. Fast forward to today and all he is as a pro is a toolsy kid who doesn’t really have a position.
Luckily, TFC are amid a massive teardown and rebuild, and have about a half-dozen positions that need filling. Let’s hope he gets – and grabs – a chance.
What’s his upside this year: Competent starter at one spot or another. I don’t think it’s fair to ask more than that.”
I’m thinking, as things stand so far, it’ll be JMR and Spicer at LWB. Petretta will play on the left of the back three.
Hopefully we are allowed to see something of the last two preseason matches….
You can have all the ball skills and agility in the world, but without a good football brain, a player is going to end up doing tricks in the park, not playing at a high level.
I see zero signs of any football intelligence from him. He can drop a ball on a dime from thirty yards, but he's not dynamic, he was coddled to much when younger, and he's not showing high football intelligence.
EDIT: Keep in mind, I also predicted Oso wouldn't kick it up a gear in about 2015 and would probably not make it. Be nice if JMR also proves me horribly wrong.
Last edited by jloome; 02-14-2024 at 03:27 PM.
They're promising game updates today and I believe Spicer is due to get some minutes after his foot injury.
Interesting that Diomande still hasn't gone down after so long injured. I still think he might be the buyout.
Mostly just posting news because we seem not to have any journalists doing anything much and no PR dept. They still haven’t said anything about Sharp!
As for JMR, other than speed and some very specialized chops I’ve seen nothing either. But Herdman was over the moon about him as a left wing back after that two weeks he worked with the players after the season. He said, among other things, ‘JMR can really put in a good cross, who would have believed that!’, hah. I’d be surprised if Herdman didn’t give him a shot there.
Oso, I always thought had another gear or two. JMR has done nothing to suggest such a thing but Herdman is the one training him… maybe he’s on to something. This club has wasted most of its young talent one way or another, that could part of it.
Posted this in the Messi thread, but I would gladly take Robert Taylor here.
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/tombogert/status/1757865357295890660?s=20
Agreed, but I also think its an indictment on the failure of our academy in evolving to align with what is at the forefront of academy best practices and techniques/tools... up to the herdman era that is. Tekkers only gets you so far like you said - and eventually cognitive ability needs to surpass or bare minimum align with the motor skills - and that's clearly a failure of academy philosophy here, and how the coaches based their daily work.
It should have been assessed which are his strong points in both sides of the scale and with extensive education and training on his weaker areas (non skill/motor, more cognitive) at a much younger age then his last years of academy... so that he had the know how on how to 'learn how to learn' and 'how to learn to see things abstractly', so his brain could grow and adapt/process more complex situations.
Maybe alot of that sounds the bullshit to a lot of ppl reading this - but that's literally the basis for some of the best academies. I visited Groningen's facility a few years ago as I have a second cousin who works in the organization and took me for a walk around while I was over on holidays - they aren't the biggest academy in EU let alone Netherlands but still. In the backrooms and on the whiteboards for the kids its broken down into fundementals - Motor skills and cognitive ability (which includes mental aspects in game as well as community/character type building). Both are equally analyzed and graded and consistantly evaluated while the youth is growing to ensure their brain and way of processing, detaching and being able to remain poised with strong decision making - stays strong as they move up in age groups - so the skills on the ball can just naturally be the way they execute on naturally made decisions (vs. just having amazing skills and just trying to force duel someone else).
Which is why so much of their academies aren't result based and more about individual evaluation. I remember him saying they would have youth teams who the entire game the only thing coaches would care to look for the entire 90 was decision making, positioning, head movement, situational awareness and simply mapping every single players movements and decisions around the pitch for the entire 90 - and then go back and continue to iterate on that players teachings from prior week during training. Didn't care if they lost 6-0, or whether the guy had 95% passing. It was completely about building tape and sessions around every situation in the game and the coaches basically aiming to break the kids paradigm of how they thought they should view the game and play in that situation. Entire sessions and games would be recorded separately for the entire purpose of evaluating hard motor skills like all the passing/trapping/first touch etc. etc. But they were separated and hyper focused on. Bit of a digression there - but that's really why most EU teams the players might not be technically brilliant - but they can all plug themselves into a team system and can play at a minimal standard of awareness and basic motor skills like trap/first touch/quick pass type processing. I'm fairly certain seeing the type of players we churn out that that hasn't historically been a philosophy this club took lol (fingers crossed herdmans crew change that)
I know sometimes the argument is always nature vs nuture - but as much as JMR got cocky or complacent or until present he hasn't panned out to what we all thought, I think much of that failure is on the system he is in and the mentors and staff building the programs to enable him to be at his very best. They'd have captured any flaws in his cognitive ability like mentioned above much earlier if they did, and at least plot him towards being a more well rounded footballer. When you watch him in game you can tell there's a lack of that, because there's a bit of a timidness on making the obvious progressive play, and if possible usually falls back the risk free backpass/sideways pass or one touch the ball away to a team mate - so that he doesn't have to dictate tempo/the play or really inflict any sort of play changing skill (like a mega whipped in cross or destroying people on one-twos or dribbles). Last year he was gettin more confident tho, so hopefully he can find his shine this year.
And yeah I vote for the Diomande buy-out too
Last edited by FiveThreeTwo; 02-14-2024 at 04:17 PM.
^^
IMO, any two of these… DeAndre Yedlin, Robert Taylor & Sergii Kryvtsov …could be a shortcut to middling or higher in the MLS Standings Table.
Kryvtsov would fill an immediate need and we should defintely be looking at him BUT aren't we spent on international roster spots?
Taylor would also be great but getting him would equal more Italian tears and possibly extra vaping.
Deals will eventually get done because ultimately whomever has somebody that wants to leave, or somebody that has to leave, or needs the roster space or the GAM...that still matters to that team.
Late to get things done? Yes.
Never attempted to get things done? False - of course, the lazy narrative is going to be this if nothing occurs.
That's really interesting dude, thanks for that. It sounds like they've got it utterly down to a science in terms of generating the highest prospect return rate.
I tend to see MLS as improving at piecemeal pace, so a guy like Herdman might be bringing in stuff like that, and certainly at least will have access to other pros he knows who are at clubs with that sort of high-level development function.
Mota and Gregore, their two key central midfielders?! Those are the guys supposed to protect Busquets from having to play defence, basically. They're deeply fucked if they're putting them on the board.
Edit: Apparently the new signings this year have Mota fourth or fifth now on the depth chart, so it sounds like he's gonzo.
I don't rate Kryvtsov particularly highly, seemed a serviceable defender but aging. But they don't have many veteran CBs other than him (any?).
one of the suggestions out there is no one will bite on their players, because the other owners want to leverage the older guys into opening up the salary structure a little.
Last edited by jloome; 02-14-2024 at 06:01 PM.
That's long since been a debate around youth development where I'm from, Ireland. Continental Europe and the best youth academies famously don't give a single solitary shit about results, or even playing on full size pitches, until very late on in development whereas we (And from what I can tell, Canada is similar and I suspect this is why the US struggles to produce technically gifted footballers) focus on results from a very young age. It completely stunts the development of our players, and forces managers to prioritize players with early physical gifts vs natural talent, which is very detrimental. Basically you can focus your youth development on winning or on producing footballers good enough to become pros
Think I remember Xavi saying the La Masia teams would routinely get easily beaten and embarrassed all the time at the really going levels, but it didn't matter - they were busy crafting Xavi, Iniesta, Messi etc etc
These would be great pickups for our team.
1-1 Draw with RSL today.
Who scored for TFC the Trialist Matty ?
Fede
Bernardeschi. Looks pretty early and like we gave one up mid second half.
Can't be sure but the lineup looks like we played a 433 with a fullback trialist and Spicer playing left wing. Insigne didn't start.
According to a CP article:
Bernardeschi, Ayo Akinola and Deandre Kerr started in attack for Toronto with captain Jonathan Osorio, Alsonso Coello and Deybi Flores in the midfield.
Herdman after
Check out this tweet at [URL]https://twitter.com/TorontoFC/status/1757961182374498543[/URL]
Sounds like the first team played 30 minutes, every one else 60. He said he's worried the second team hasn't scored a goal, which is openness about general futility, and we don't normally hear that.
Am I reading too much into things or over thinking it but his demeanor hasn't exactly been great in these post game interview clips?
I don't think he's ready for the constant pressure yet of the daily media. Hes only use to sporadic with the men's national team. This is a whole new beast that's he's having to learn to adapt to. It may take him literally a year to get acclimated to the daily media and twitter media.
Yeah, I suspect that's part of it, annoyance at having to do it.
He covered much of the same ground in this one as the last game, but did it much quicker.
Some news supposed to come down today involving Charlie Sharp. Not sure what. Wonder if they're trading him immediately?
Might just be the actual announcement but I got the sense there's something else going on there.
insigne didn't play, or was part of a 2nd group?
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