We started Delgado 19 times in 2015 when he was 20. Then 23 times when he was 21, then we won the Cup with him being a key piece of our midfield.
What I'm suggesting - starting 17 times, half the season - is perfectly in line with Fraser's talent level and development curve. This is the age when you start pushing young players into bigger roles, otherwise they never become good enough to occupy them.
That could very well happen - but it won't happen with him being a Bradley replacement. He'll play alongside Bradley for most of those games.
Delgado had very, very experienced guys around him and he played well. Last season and early into this season - without that experience around him, he played very very poorly. He also wasn't the leader of a midfield full of vets, which is what would be asked of from Fraser.
If he is the future, and I like what I have seen. He needs more playing time, soon.
If you have good vision and a good sense of good defensive positioning, you do not need to be fast, but fit, and on the move all the time, so that you are in the position were play is moving too, and not chasing after it.
That is what Bradley does, he may not be fast, but he is fit and is always moving to the right areas, where he intercept the ball make the tackle, and then using the same vision, move up into space and deliver the ball to the right space/player.
Bradley does this all very well, and this play is key too both the defensive and offensive play of the team.
Speed is not key, but vision, defensive awareness and passing ability , fitness as well as good physicality and tackling ability are. Some of it you cen develop in training of the gym, but most of these need to be developed on the pitch.
Last edited by trane; 10-25-2019 at 02:14 PM.
So bradley cant be kept on tam because hes not a new acquisition, it has to be gam. I wonder how much gam tfc has?
I think it would be so “fuckin” awesome if we end up winning MLS cup and TFC have to sign Michael to another year at 6.5 million, and somewhat ironical too given all the speculation about if he will stay next year. Yes it would prevent us from getting a new DP but could anyone say they would give up winning MLS cup for that?
Michael Bradley seems to be in that zone again, he seems to be the Michael Bradley of 2017 when he was the heart and soul of this team. If he continues playing like this there is no reason why TFC can’t win the MLS Cup again. He seems to be everywhere on the field breaking up plays and then starting plays just like in 2017, this team in these playoffs will go as far as Michael Bradley wants them to go, when he is on there is no one in this league like him not even close he is the heart and soul of this team and I’m glad he is playing on our team .
Totally agree - if Bradley gets his extension by powering this team to another MLS Cup... then all power to him. He is already a TFC legend..if he does that... how could anyone complain.
Or we set up a deal of DP TO TAM.
Bradley deal
Year 1: 5 million (DP)
Year 2: 1.5 million (TAM/GAM)
year 3: 1.5 million (TAM/GAM)
Avg = 2.66 million
Then we find a DP winger/ striker on loan, with the option to buy a year later. ie: Pavon. So the transfer fee doesn't kick in until year 2.
Year 1: 1.5 million (TAM)
Year 2: 6.0 million (DP) + Now we pick up the option to purchase the player ie: 10 million. Bradley is now a non DP at this point.
year 3: 5.0 million (DP)
Year 4: 4.0 million (DP)
This way we basically get 4 DP level players. Not sure the granular details but the league is definitely making something work with Galaxy and Zlatan, Pavon, Alessandrini and Dos Santos
I'm late with this but Bradley having lost a step in the last couple of years is something I've seen others write/talk about a lot in TFC and US circles (the latter you can probably take with a serving of salt in fairness). I should probably specify that the big issue with him is more his defensive range than anything. From having watched him transition to a DM over the past few years he tends to mostly stay positioned deep and central and every once in a while make an explosive run forward, usually after stealing the ball, sometimes even just to press. But overall his running is more offence-based and he doesn't run around the whole game like he used to or like Delgado or Tyler Adams or Kante do now
So I still think defensively a Bradley-Fraser midfield gets overrun without a Delgado-like presence in there, but that would mean no Osorio or Pozuelo in their natural position in a 4-3-3
Was driving home from work yesterday listening to the radio (can't remember which station but either Fan590 or TSN1050 around 2:30pm). They were interviewing Joshua Kloke from the Athletic who was saying that he said there was little chance that last night's game would be Bradley's last in a TFC jersey. He said he had personally talked with Michael Bradley who told him that he would be willing to take a TAM contract going forward to stay with TFC. He was pretty upfront with that comment so there wasn't much room for misinterpretation. If that's the case and he's willing to take less to free up a DP slot for next year that kind of excites me. Bradley at that level to mentor and transition our youth sounds like a good deal all round ...
Captain
Best leader this city has ever seen
What would make the General a god in this city and put every Maple Leaf to shame... is to win it, re-structure his guaranteed DP award for winning to a TAM and Coaching contract and allow the team to bring in another DP. He would become a Toronto sports legend. The endorsements even for a MLS player would be large and long term potentially worth more than the DP contract (well maybe not ... but still would be significant)
It has to be done, and we need to start working on developing or identifying a long term replacement.
I really believe he isn't going anywhere, and will take TAM money to stay.
He loves it here and even lives here year round.
Unless management present him with a totally insulting offer, he's staying.
I would too! It's a no brainer!
That's basically what the raptors did with Kahwi Leonard. I don't think anyone faults Masai Ujiri for making that trade now.
This is exactly what I told someone today - the goal is to win Championships when you can - no Raptors fan would say the title wasn't worth what we gave up; the whole point is to win; ask LAFC and Atlanta today how fickle a one game playoff can be; ask GS who will go from a 5 year NBA dynasty to one of the worst teams in basketball over the course of a few months - Astros and Lightning were great these past seasons and won squat, you simply never know when or if these chances will come along — if Bradley getting 6.5M for one more year gets us there, it’s a happy payment to make for time well served as a decent player (there has obviously been some deterioration in skills and I’m a Bradley fan), and an exceptional Captain and leader of this team (he sets the culture of this team and holds people accountable) —- if you don’t like his post-game interviews and the way he carries himself even after the heartbreaking losses we’ve experienced (“that was a big boy win” was a great quote yesterday!), then you are not a fan of this franchise, or simply forget what it was like here from 2007 until he arrived....
Last edited by tfcfans; 10-31-2019 at 09:37 PM.
Not sure if this was posted already,if it was sorry for posting again.
The $6.5 million game: What MLS Cup means to Bradley
A reminder that @samstejskal and I reported back in July that Michael Bradley's $6.5 million option is automatically triggered if TFC wins MLS Cup.
Bradley's contract extension trigger is totally different from the Masai trade for Kawhi.
When you pay after the fact, you can connect results to compensation in a straight line.
When you do what Masai did, there is no correlation - if we had gone out to the Sixers in the second round, think of how that might look now....
"There are some people who might have better technique than me, and some may be fitter than me, but the main thing is tactics. With most players, tactics are missing. You can divide tactics into insight, trust, and daring." - Johan Cruyff
MLS is a tough, physical league, that emphasizes speed, and features plastic fields, grueling travel, extreme weather, and incompetent refs. - NK Toronto
Whatever BRADLEY decides I wish him the best of luck he has been a class act on and off the field. looking forward to see what Fraser can do on the field