So what would the starting 11 be with the new guys coming in and everyone healthy?
Jozy
winger (or oso) poz winger (gallardo, if he exists)
Bradley Delgado or Bradley Oso
Morrow Mavinga OG Laryea
Q
Questions for me: where do Osorio Deleon and Delgado fit in? All have earned starting minutes through application effort and play on the pitch. I am assuming only one winger starts at a time. And these guys have to surpass Endoh and Shaff.
Vanneys preferred starting 11, no way he benches his favourites Deleon and Delgado. Even though Moor is washed up Vanney will still send him out there til he gets hurt again.
Westburg
Laryea-Omar-Moor-Morrow
——-Delgado-Bradley——
Deleon-Pozuelo-Benezet
—————-Jozy——————
I would start:
Westburg
Auro-Omar-Mavinga-Morrow
————-Bradley—————
———Pozuelo-Osorio———
Gallardo—Jozy-Benezet
4-1-4-1 and 4-2-3-1 have been preferred lately. In the former Oso will be beside Poz in the latter it could be Poz and two wingers. The most interesting bit is that there are options. Also, we are assuming that both will work out. Thats not an assumption based on history....
Here are his career stats by position from Transfermarkt. Games - goals - assists
Played as Left Winger 44 5 4 Right Winger 26 2 3 Attacking Midfield 21 5 3 Left Midfield 7 3 - Right Midfield 3 2 1 Centre-Forward 1 - -
Haha, I was just basing it on Vanney’s desire to play a 4-3-3.
But yes, lots of other options. The real glaring flaw is that there’s still no striker to replace Jozy as Mullins is too one dimensional and lacks the creativity, playmaking and size of Jozy (amongst other things) and Akinola hasn’t developed to the point where he can replace him.
Other than that, there’s a bit more versatility though I’m still worried about the defense in terms of injury.
Looking at his highlight reel, he can definitely convert crosses in the box.
One thing I like about Benezet is he can cover for Pozuelo if he needs to rest. With the Can Champ coming up they will have to rotate the squad.
I think Laryea is first choice (marginally) but I like the battle between him and Auro for the spot. Will ultimately make both of them better.
I am marginally comfortable with this setup. Sure, it would be great to have a better first choice guy but depth matters too and i’d rather spend our money on a few other areas.
Another thing to temper expectations is that after his injury he lost quite a bit of speed and explosiveness, especially with age catching up to him.
That’s one of the reasons he prefers his natural 10 role; it’s the place he feels he can contribute the most in terms of goals and assists, as well as his overall performance.
While this means a lot in Ligue 1, where there are tons of big, fast, athletic, and defensively oriented teams, it could have little effect on his ability as a winger in MLS, where defenses are usually pretty bad.
This guy won't last long here.
“To be frank, I did not have an enormous amount of opportunities aside from it in recent days. The idea from the beginning was not too move far away, but when my agent spoke to me about the MLS, not long ago at all, I told myself that it was a good opportunity. I am going to discover another culture, another way of living football. And also, I speak a fair amount of English already so I hope to integrate quickly.”
He'll be fine, he's just being frank which might be weird to our North American sensibilities. I'd rather he come with muted expectations and be pleasantly surprised rather than be given the Raptors courtside treatment.
So it looks like we are done for this off season. Looking at the winter transfer window now, what would like TFC to do?
I’d like to see:
1) Sign Bradley to TAM, bring back Seba as a DP
2) I think Zavaleta’s contract is up, but if it isn’t, I’d buy him out. I still think this team needs one more good CB.
3) I’d look for Morrow’s replacement. If I can find it, I’d look to trade him within the league for TAM and or GAM, plus a good backup for Altidore. Mullins comes off the books at the end of the year.
Got no issue with this, actually really like it. Why do we insist on living in this fantasy world where people tell us they always wanted to play for TFC and even though we know it's a lie we lap it up?
I'd much rather athletes be honest, and not be vilified for being honest, rather than hear the monotonous pre coached nonsense in each interview. He is here because he hasn't got equivalent, preferred options in Europe, that is obvious, why not say it? There's no disrespect there and it sounds like he's focusing on the positives, but if Monaco wanted to sign him he wouldn't have returned our call - we don't need to delude ourselves otherwise. That goes for every other player we've ever signed from Europe, including the DPs, no matter what they may tell us.
While honest, it’s a pretty bad career strategy as it’s certain to tank his already tanked value. If he doesn’t show up here his options will be even more limited in the future. Kind of sad for a player who was once a reasonable prospect.
It’s the opposite of fabricating interest from other teams to boost a player’s value.
Although, to be fair, if even Ligue 2 teams don’t want you (for several reasons) then you don’t have much of a choice for staying at home.
Nico's flying to the states as per his IG story. Possible he's meeting the team in New York. Would be something special to finally see a TAM winger pull on the shirt lol
If he's a professional in training & professional on the pitch and does the job (given that nobody at this level is mistake less), the honest opinions off of it are OK with me.