A certain amount of truth in this
Check out this tweet at
https://twitter.com/findingtoronto/status/1232600702616248320?s=19
The MLS Extratime guys said that no team in MLS has a higher ceiling or a lower floor than TFC, which seems right to me.
They were also pretty perplexed by the Piatti signing.
"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
"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
Yeah, I heard that (one guy on that group with that opinion - Doyle has us to win the East) & wondered what he is smoking. A lot of people look at our defence from March to August as the norm that will be returned to with Bradley gone. They also seem to think Pozuelo is out on an island by himself as the AM. I know there are question marks but second worst?!?!?! Q alone is good enough to stop that from happening.
Our issue with all them out would be scoring goals moreso. Bradley is a solid shield to the backline and I don't see Fraser filling his shoes 100% but no matter what, we would still be better than the Fire, Impact, Miami, and possibly DC if they keep Olsen. Not too sure about NYRB either.
Would have made more sense to say the biggest disparity between their ceiling and floor. We could be near or at the top or, well, somewhere pretty far from the top. Hard to know.
The people who say right now we are objectively worse than the Fire, Impact & Miami - find their supplier.
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My take on all this:
can 2018 happen again? Cause that's what is in people's minds.
2018 can be put down to 3 main things:
a) Injuries to Altidore, Vasquez, Seba and the whole of the back line
b) CCL affecting start of season performance & hangover
c) How BAD that pitch was well into June
a might happen
b & C - no way
So, what happened in 2018 is not going to happen again.
BUT...what might happen is a + other things we have not even thought of yet.
e.g Coronavirus and the stupidity of people- we are seeing it in Italy & Japan already. Without getting into details, as a guy with a history background in the study of these sort of events, I know well that most times epidemics, or whatever you want to call them, are uncontrollable as far as setting boundaries and quarantines, cause hysteria until the conditions change, & kill more then they should but less then people think - I fully expect the MLS season to be interrupted by at least 3 weeks through all this - how that affects the season is a big unknown.
Last edited by OgtheDim; 02-26-2020 at 05:32 PM.
Why do you think this regarding Coronavirus? We really haven’t had the same level of outbreak in North America as elsewhere. And when do you think we’d see the season interrupted? (Asking as someone running the Boston Marathon April 20 and is very worried about it being cancelled as the Tokyo Marathon this weekend was).
Oh, God, I do hope I'm wrong and I'm not trying to be tinfoil hat here but.....10 days ago, nobody was thinking Italy had a coronovirus cluster.
Italian & Japanese league games already postponed.
All the talk is of containment - this has not worked in China & will not work but will be tried because people want to see something being done.
In general, the US response to this is already inept & I fully expect there to be a big spike in the next few weeks. A whole lot of disruption in March & April & into May.
Yeah, apparently if there is a successful vaccine it won't be provided in the US for free, in fact no guarantee that it will be affordable to the average American. Most under insured or uninsured people who get sick won't want to pay $175 to see a doctor unless they are in a really bad condition. Expect a complete pandemic.
Last edited by Oldtimer; 02-27-2020 at 10:07 AM.
No flu vaccine will ever be worth investing or seriously developing. It's all a scam to prop up drug manufacturers. I work in the field and we get the results of the effectiveness of the regular flu shots and the highest rate of effectiveness I have seen over the past half decade is 7%. Viruses mutate too fast for them to be truly effective.
We'll see about this virus and it's spread. So far not spreading too fast in first world countries and secondary rates of infection are fairly low over here. I'm sure the media will overblow it though and cause panic so a lot of unnecessary measures will happen. WIll be interesting to see if the big money of entertainment takes a legit hit or is that money and TV just too high to shut a league down. By that I don't mean MLS either. I am thinking more NBA playoffs or March Madness.
Not that this has to do with Off Season TFC player transactions, but I think the Coronavirus is a little bit over hyped and according to my doctor she feels that the majority of people whom have died are the very vulnerable, not that it shouldn't be dealt with, but I think Influenza is killing more people than the Coronavirus, The World Health Organization is already comparing to the great flu epidemic of 1918 which is sheer hyper-boil in my opinion. Now back on topic, when does this Off-season thread become in season, on Saturday?
First of all - gosh the wealth of backgrounds in here is always interesting to read.
Secondly, my initial point about all this was the season is going to have a lot of unknowns, as always - coronovirus was just the obvious example. A 4 week break with a loss of games, or games behind doors, which is what they are doing in Italy, changes the dynamic of the league. The ONE good aspect about our team is it is adaptable & pragmatic to weird situations.
OK - Who is the surprise breakout player this year?
I'll bite
Noble Okello or Achara
There was an increase in AIDS cases in Indiana when Pence was Governor, so there's some reassurance! Of course, Trump makes this more about himself, which is funny that a germaphobe isn't overly concerned with a potential outbreak.
Having said all that, it's hard to tell what's going to happen and if there will be an outbreak in North America. Will this have any effect on MLS games? Who knows.
Just remember to wash your hands and try not touching your face.
Liam Fraser. He is in the perfect setup, with all stars above and below him. He is in a position where he can take gambles and be a destroyer.
Dont forget how great he looked when he came in for Kaye in that huge game vs the USA last October. He was better than MB in that game.
Last edited by ensco; 02-27-2020 at 06:07 PM.
"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
Will Piatti be a good signing? Beats me. Hard to predict.
What's easy to predict is that Jozy will get injured often again this season and that Patrick Mullins is not a good enough 2nd option up top.