It's simple: if he fails to bring in players then he should be let go. To be honest, both coaching staff and FO need to be let go if TFC fail to make it to the playoffs this year. We need people running this team that have high standards which I personally don't believe current FO has based on their history. I believe Giovinco and Van der Wiel when they said TFC isn't serious of winning anymore. This might explain why some players look disinterested (like Bradley) this year.
Amount of money and resources invested in this club should make TFC a powerhouse in this league so there's no excuses of being losing team. I think MLSE needs to get more involved here to keep TFC FO on check.
It’s a test of Manning, not Curtis. On his watch we have lost at least the following players without replacing them:
Beitashour
Giovinco
Edwards
Hasler
Ricketts
Cheyrou
And allowed the following players to age without replacing them:
Morrow
Moor
And brought in the following players who didn’t work or haven’t yet worked:
Spencer
Boyd
Bakero
VdW
Ciman
And I would add Auro to that as he is flawed defensively
And let Zavaleta regress and Delgado stagnate.
Against that:
Poz
DeLeon
Laryea
Westberg
Only Osorio and Chapman have really progressed in the past two years, perhaps Akinola
This idea that this admin doesn't care to win falls at one particular hurdle from this spring - the Pozuelo "we are going to get him now" saga.
I'd argue that Boyd was intended to be an upgrade to Ricketts. It's pretty obvious that has not turned out to be the case. Boyd is far worse a signing than VdW.
MLS is a tough, physical league, that emphasizes speed, and features plastic fields, grueling travel, extreme weather, and incompetent refs. - NK Toronto
Let’s play that out a bit and assume they were fairly certain about Boyd before letting Ricketts go. That betrays both a lack of judgment and a USMNT bias as some have suggested - I think they call it confirmation bias. That would be in Bez / Manning.
Our success with Morrow Beita Moor Seba Bradley and VV seems to have gone to managements head a bit. Too confident in their judgment. But they are like players; only as good as their last game.
VDW was a WAY worse signing then Boyd is:
Compare
Not good enough
Works hard
Works in practice
No distraction
vs.
Not good enough
Doesn't work hard in games
Doesn't work hard in practice
Distraction within the team
Paid a HECK of a lot more
***************
I get a lot of people really dig on the "he told off the manager I can't stand" thing but looking back on him - VDW was crap. Most of us came to that conclusion by September of last year.
Last edited by OgtheDim; 06-05-2019 at 10:17 AM. Reason: Took out "what does support mean" discussion
Considering VdW wasn’t abjectly awful here, I’d say that’s a bit inaccurate.
He had assists, played out of position numerous times due to injuries to other members of the squad, had some good games, and overall wasn’t awful. Did he have some bad games? Sure. Some good ones? Yep.
Was he worth his salary here? Nope. Was he lazy? Confrontational? Bad attitude? Yep, but everyone already knew that before he arrived.
So, the upside for Boyd is that he’s cheap and not a jerk. The downside is that he’s inept and useless.
The upside for VdW is that he knows what shape a football is (at the very least).
Totally. He could have been one of the best defenders in MLS but in actuality he was around Zavaleta level or worse because he was off in dream land for most of the matches. People on here complain a lot about Ciman getting caught up field out of position or Auro not defending the cross. Go re-watch last season and see what VDW did.
I don’t think he was “good,” he just wasn’t terrible or Boyd-tier.
He also wasn’t solely responsible for our defensive issues last season (not even close), and I would like to see the statistic on the bulk of goals caused by him specifically while placing his natural position and not playing on the left or as a CB in the back 2-3.
Curtis initially applied for the job in NY with a 300-page plan he insisted was required to reshape the club and was laughed out of the place. He then came back with more humble expectations and eventually won them over, so he worked his way into the gig over time, which can be telling. But there are some N Y fans who attribute their youth advancement to him forcing their use. But once they decided Jesse Marsch was their guy, he and Curtis couldn’t stand each other and it quickly became a “him or me” scenario.
So there was quite a bit of drama there over him, some who thought he was a Svengali genius. But Marschs contingent thought he was an idiot, apparently.
Personally I think it’s too early to tell. But as much as I worry about Vanney and motivation and tactical flexibility I still respect what I know and have seen of him more, so far.
The NYRB switch from shite to good was under Curtis' watch though. If he's getting blamed for us being shit while only being here 6 months then he has to get some credit for that.
Just Red Bulls fans chattering at the time, some claiming inside info. I believe SBI also reported On Msrsch and him bejng unable to work together. It’s based in NY.
EDIT https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/16/sports/soccer
the times reported on the split with Marsch and Curtis being shut out of decisions.
I did find a piece However about the big plan and it was apparently not Curtis’ but RB Salzburg’s, so that other part sounds untrue.
Last edited by jloome; 06-06-2019 at 03:34 PM.
The piece I found today was a followup that said the long-term plan was given to them by Red Bull Salzburg and was already being succesfully implemented there. They had Curtis do it in NY because he knew the ins and outs of the league. But once it was in place, his further decisions were at odds with what Marsch wanted.
MLS is a tough, physical league, that emphasizes speed, and features plastic fields, grueling travel, extreme weather, and incompetent refs. - NK Toronto
No comment till after Saturday.
No comment till I see the two new guys
I don't trust Curtis's ninja turtle face at all. Both he and manning rub me the wrong way
The Mullins for Hamilton was a good deal. The TAM guys are impossible to judge unless they actually get some time in MLS play. If the current trend of them sitting on the bench or pressbox continues then either Curtis can't judge talent in Vanney's eyes or Vanney is making a power play vs. Curtis.
Until we see either Gallardo or Benezet in a match then we can't say whether Curtis blew these two signings or if there's more going on here behind the scenes.