Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/Beezersun/status/1231352959365242880?s=19
I actually laughed out loud
Altidore is also injured with a hip problem. His status for next week is unknown.
The general incompetence doesn’t even surprise. Two injury prone DPs. One of which was given a fucking raise. I’ve honestly come to believe that logic doesn’t exist in sports at the business level. How many of these guys would really be running businesses worth multiple hundreds of million of dollars if it weren’t soccer? Serious question.
It’s a joke. I won’t be taking this season seriously or buying in on the hype when we inevitably go on a run of some sort.
Going forward the club needs to focus on obtaining players who have a history of durability. We are wasting DP spots on players who are part time players.
Saw that on twitter and just laughed.
Medical science consultant, load management talk - blah blah blah.
Less talk, more do, please.
We can easily have a disastrous season Piatii, Altidore , No Bradley ...and if Gallarado is not 100% better .....we will be on a fantasy trip like no other ....poor Pozeulo . As good as our rookies may be . It’s a different game come season opener . The majority of teams have given it a great shot at bettering themselves . Have we ? Maybe I’m biased but nothing can convince me our mgmt is football savvy , maybe passed their accounting courses .
ALL HELL'S BROKEN LOOSEhttp://gfycat.com/SharpKindArrowana
Where are the "everything is fine" folks?
I always think the simplest and most plausible explanation is best.
Either, we have sports science people who are smarter than the rest of the league (and a lot of other teams around the world) **or** we actually don’t know anything more than anyone else and are roundly over confident in our ability to keep players heathy.
I know which one I believe
Last edited by ag futbol; 02-22-2020 at 09:07 PM.
I'll wait til the end of the season or even for it to begin before I claim anything to be a failure
Hopefully Pellistri is durable.
I feel your frustration. I’m not mad that Altidore + Piatti are injured, I am frustrated at the process of acquiring injury prone players. Very sad offseason, management has to be called out for what it is. They spoiled us for 5 years. Hopefully they quickly adapt and learn and see what made us great between 2015-2019 And if that model isn’t sustainable at least they go about it a different way Rather then praying on injury prone players to work out. Piatti is on a short term deal and can be converted to TAM, Altidore can be sold and we can bring in 2 new DPS, this can be fixed fast but the next 12 months are crucial for this team or else we will go into massive regression
I don't believe that Jozy is really injured. It is not possible for a guy to be injured this often.
I believe it is a made up story to keep him out of games for some reason.
I suspect the reason is to make the games more competitive. So that San Jose doesn't lose their home opener really badly.
it is kind of bullshit phoney league in my opinion
Ominous start.
Apparently TFC has scouts at the U20 Copa Libatadores in Paraguay this week. Getting ready for those 3 u22 spots next season.
If 3 finals in 4 years is "incompetent," I'll take it.
TFC doesn't have to be a top team in the world, it just has to be a top team in MLS. Most MLS teams aren't managed at a genius level.
Look at Montreal, 2 injuries in their first CCL match. That's what we're up against, not Juventus.
I guess people just get frustrated, I can't remember a season starting when TFC had all of our DP's and top player's available in the team selection
I think this is the last time I’m going to try and explain how I see this because I’ve done it a few times.
It is not about making finals, it’s about playing in a way and building a team that can reasonably be expected to perform in a way that gets us there. We are not doing that. We lucked our way into MLS Cup 2019. We shouldn’t be lucky to get to MLS Cup, we should think we’re unlucky if we don’t get there.
And we are so far removed from 2016/17 TFC. If you put weight on making those finals and winning 2017, then you need to consider that we were objectively shit in 2018. Furthermore, you must consider that we were objectively shit for much of 2019 as well. That’s all. I love making finals and winning things and everyone involved deserves kudos. But when I (armchair) evaluate the team I think about how we might do in the near future (1~3 years). What I don’t do is rest on the laurels of years past.
We all need to he season to begin
I would say this: the team performed well last year but you could argue there was still more potential and that cup could have been ours.
Part of fulfilling that potential is having healthy players. We know we have an injury prone top goal scorer. We add another key offensive player with injury concerns and the club waxes poetic about it. Ink is barely dry on his contract and he’s out 3 weeks.
How could that not make people frustrated?
Portu is obviously correct in his view of what the team was last year. We were a mid table team that lucked out.
I don’t agree with him, but he has a point. We could be in serious decline here, with last year's MLS Cup clouding our view.
"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
Tim x 2 (with the blessing of MLSE) brought in the core players leading to those championships and finals appearances from 2014-2019. The Giovinco + Defoe (Altidore) + Bradley signings that put us over the edge were implemented by Tim. Definitely Giovinco, Bradley and Defoe (becoming Altidore) were the main pieces. Bradley and Altidore were also apart of 2019.
Management invested 100 + million in Defoe (Altidore) Bradley and Giovinco. That 100 million dollar investment was an attempt to propel us to elite status in MLS, put us on the map and become a top tier team in MLS.
Bill Manning likely had his hands on Pozuelo and Gonzalez, which is encouraging, but I haven't seen that tandem bring in an audacious move like a Giovinco type player and we do not make 3/4 finals or CCL finals appearances without a player like that.
This team is not "all in" and over committing like 2014-2018, that's just factual at this point. Piatti on a free transfer and a salary of 1.6 million is not even close to what management has spent on DP's in the recent past, so it's at the very least a temporary step back or pause.
Right now, I don't think anybody know's how this the team is going to be run long term. It has more to do with MLSE then it does Ali Curtis or Bill Manning.
Let's not judge this team based on what they have done, let's focus on the now - and the future.
They seem to be in a hybrid model similar to 2015-2018 TFC (still ambitious) with a little bit of the tamement of a good New York Red Bulls team.
The 2014-2018 hyper spending of TFC, (spending like mad men) which brought us our glory has no indication it will continue. If was likely an experiment, not a financial or club model.
It's hard to say what the results of that experiment were or if they were satisfied with the results.
Because the club is not communicating with the fan base, we don't know what type of investment or commitment will be here over the next 5 years.
We will still be top 5 in payroll but not sure if we will continue to be #1 after the Altidore deal
I think we are better than our regular season record last year. We are in the top 5-6 teams in MLS. Just based on Pozo. Top 3 with Pozo and most of a full season of Altidore. Without both we drop like a stone.
"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
So much has been said about the team and management but not much about the coaching.
TFC have been very fortunate in having Vanney here since 2013 which is a lifetime in coaching terms.
How many American teams would snap him up the minute he was available which could be sooner than later.
Who knows what direction this club will go in the future let’s just enjoy watching professional soccer at N American standards this season hoping for more wins than loses
Gotcha.
If I'm understanding your view, in your opinion the team needs to consistently win throughout the season, and have a long term trajectory that looks like future winning (by which I think you mean great players who don't get injured).
I guess you would also see Seattle as an anomaly because they are shit every year then go on a run at the end of each season.
I don't see it the same way, and that's ok. Football is a game of opinions. I'm pretty optimistic because I think TFC will do well in the MLS context over the next few years.
OTOH, I don't believe any MLS side, including TFC, will win the CCL until salaries go up significantly.
Last edited by Oldtimer; 02-24-2020 at 01:57 AM.