Did they have kids? Is his family still in Spain? If so that's heartbreaking.
General rant on the trade a player idea, on the sidelines we so consider its so easy to bring in and ship players like its a FIFA game. Reality is these players have homes and lives invested so not so easy to jump over to a far way city.
It wouldn't surprise me at all to see Poz back in Spain next year, and who could blame him. He's certainly the DP I (and I think most TFC fans) want back the most, but I just hope wherever he ends up he has a much happier 2022.
I feel happy about the Bob signing overall and can tell he'll immediately put his stamp on the team. I did find it worrying that as forthcoming as he was, he twice danced around the question of whether or not Michael would sit more (both in the press conference and the tsn radio interview). And I get not wanting to give a straight answer to that but at the same time...like it's obvious MB's minutes need to be managed and it would have been reassuring to hear him say he'll be rested more. I've got some hope he'll do what needs to be done but you can infer completely different things based on the ways he answered those questions - (paraphrasing) "I'm not his dad when I'm coaching him" and "everyone on my team will be as competitive as Michael" but also "he's a similar profile to Busquets/Alonso/Carrick" and "look how good Busquets still is"
For all the talk of DP's, Osorio may end up being the biggest story this off-season because holy hell his end of season press conference felt like an exit interview. He must know this is probably his last chance to play in Europe or Latin America, and if he has a good offer he'll want to take it. It also feels like Manning knows this and knows it'll be a huge short term blow, and he's not the only one at the club who's aware. MB specifically mentioned him (and Laryea, another with serious possible European options) as a standout leader in the squad who he expects even more of next year. BB in the TSN interview made it clear he admires and values Oso a lot and very much wants him back and to work with him. Which stood out as especially high praise after he had just flat out said he didn't think Jozy was committed enough to the team or to his own fitness.
Pretty much everyone who spoke today heavily implied the club is currently living too much in its past and if they want success again, they need to move forward from 2017. The old guard that's left from that team will either be gone in the next few months or they will need a bit of a re-set
I’m quite happy with where things are going. As bad as this season was it just finally shed light on the fact that this club needed to change. Our previous success was amazing but nothing lasts forever.
The Bradley hire as both manager and sporting director is great. This is the kind of person we need leading this club. What I’m most excited about is if he can help teach our youth how to elevate their games. If I’m any one of the young guys I’m absolutely stoked to get a chance to be coached by him and help my professional career evolve. I look at how he helped Diego Rossi, Kaye, Blessing and others on that LAFC team and just hope that Priso, Okello, Nelson, JMR come in with the right attitude. This is an incredible opportunity for them to work hard and become the kind of player any team needs and push for National team duty too. Based on Bradley’s comments talking about the World Cup in Canada you better believe he knows these kids have potential and he has the tools to help them grow.
On Oso and Laryea. I’m ok if they both leave and explore their chances in other leagues. They will be missed and are critical parts of the team in the past but we must move forward. I have to believe we’ll either find the right replacements or the young kids will grow into what we need them to be. On that note, the pressure is off for at least next year. Manning dubbed it a transition year so we do t have this major cloud of expectations that may help our younger players. Back to Oso and laryea, if they can get a shot in Europe that actually only helps our national team. No problem on my end. I wish them nothing but success.
I never felt hope with Armas, but I feel it again. I think that partially because Manning is back running the shop. He’s got one hell of a leader to help him and they’ve acknowledged changes are necessary. No more talk about minor tweaks. Should be a fun ride this off season and a super interesting year in 2022.
Yea that was me who connected a few dots about photos and follows.
Obviously its tough. I think if there is a DP who returns it’s Poz. He has said positive things about the city, the team said they’ll be sending a trainer to Spain to work with Poz. He also plays the type of game that can age well and before this year has minimal injury problems. I hope he returns.
Echoing others, BB and Manning said all the right things ... so based on that they supposedly know what all the problems are.
Now it's really only down to how they're going to fix them.
I personally would try to sell Solteldo back to Brazil if someone will take him. Seems too much like an overgrown man-child to succeed here.
Pozo is probably gone. He NEEDS to be near his kids in Spain. He's already lost his wife. If for his mental health's sake.
Jozy is probably a buyout. Well, let's see if there's a sucker in MLS who will pay Jozy his wages in a trade. (Is Charlotte's GM this stupid? It'd certainly get some hype going in Charlotte, maybe)
Oso is 29, 30 next June. He might get a shot at a lower tier Euro league, but it'd be a short stint. He made his decision to sign an extension for bigger money when he was 26 IIRC to stay in Toronto. His window to go to Europe is gone IMO.
Laryea needs to go to Europe now, if he's ever going to get his shot in Europe. He'll probably end up playing in lower tier Europe league for few years before coming back to MLS. His contribution to CMNT should have gotten some more scouts to look at him.
As for BB, love the hiring. He's the only American manager to get such a variety of experience internationally. And the thing I love about BB is that he's a pretty good judge of players, and he'll give every one of his player a shot to impress, including the kids.
If our crop of supposedly talented youth academy products can't impress BB and produce during game time, they are probably going to be a wash out.
BB will light a fire on the asses of guys like Jayden Nelson and JMR.
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
But Poz clearly said in the presser that he's happy in Toronto and looking forward to next season. So maybe they're working something out with the kids? Or maybe he's just saying that now. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.
I think both Ritchie and Oso handled the questions about going abroad pretty well. They both obviously love TFC, but also want to try abroad. Nobody would hold it against them. This is going to be one of the more interesting off-seasons in a while.
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
Poz in the last year of his contract means Poz & TFC are in essence negotiating now . BiB will want to have that settled quickly in order to build the identity discussed yesterday. Not sure if he will stay or go but I anticipate a late January decision either way.
A complete reset of the DP's wouldn't be a bad thing. If I were keeping one of them it'd probably be Soteldo. I know it's an unpopular opinion but he's the only young player in the bunch. He got away with a lot of stuff this year because he was playing for Perez. That shit ain't gonna fly with Bradley. I'm sure Bobby will have a conversation with him before they entertain getting rid of him to assess whether or not it's worth keeping him. In saying that, if he goes this year I won't shed a tear. Signing Pozuelo might be better short term but long term it just continues the never ending cycle of being stuck with players in their mid 30's making too much money. There's a lot of fish in the sea so there's no reason to extend a DP well into their 30's. As for Osorio and Laryea? If I were advising them I'd tell them to stay right where they are. If either of them move to a "bigger" league there's no guarantee they'll see the kind of playing time they get here and with next year being a World Cup year, it could be their only chance to play in one. If they move to Europe and they don't get enough playing time because they're playing at a higher level to "test" themselves they run the risk of being left at home when all their buddies are off to Qatar ...
My sentiments as well, though it might be an overstatement to call Soteldo "overgrown." But there could still be a place for him. Imagine Giovinco, arguably the club's greatest-ever player, playing for Armas and Perez; he'd have been a villain. Soteldo was probably sold a lie before joining, and COVID only made things worse. BB won't take shit, and that could be what Soteldo needs to show the quality he certainly has. Or it could just as easily make things worse, so I wouldn't be opposed to taking a mulligan on that DP spot.
I won't speculate on Pozuelo's situation because it feels kinda dirty to do so about a player's mental health. I'll just say it seems like a 50-50 he's back.
Last edited by Bobo; 11-25-2021 at 10:06 AM.
I have no idea how reliable this is, but a friend of a friend (who I believe has reason to know this) said that Insigne's people were in town to meet with the club yesterday. Take that with a grain of salt!
OG, I haven’t seen the presser. What did you mean by this comment?
“Just started listening to the Manning & BB presser & the first thing I noticed
Journos at the presser (not all)
Don't underestimate what that means for how this team takes in information & deals with the city. And the quality of the journalism.”
Oso just likes to show off his massively oversized winter jackets.
On the Insigne thing, which I continue to not believe…. I did just notice something interesting. I got curious whether BB ever previously interacted with Insigne. That I couldn’t find any evidence for but…
Insigne was a key part of Pescara's miracle season in Serie B in 2011-12. The manager there was Zdenek Zeman, a well known character in the trenches of Italian football. That Pescara team, which also had Ciro Immobile and Marco Vergati as teenagers, is quite famous in Italy, it came out of nowhere and was promoted in dramatic fashion, scoring 90 goals, a record which still stands..
Zeman's reward was his one and only big job, at Roma. Guess who his first signing was?
https://www.chiesaditotti.com/2012/7...ichael-bradley
Last edited by ensco; 11-25-2021 at 12:30 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
I'm not too emotionally invested in Soteldo but I really do think he can succeed here, especially with a coach like Bob. He is still very young and I do think the train wreck he walked into makes it hard to really assess. That being said I'm sure we'll listen to offers, as we should.