Very very good old friend of mine. Lives in Darmstadt. Lifelong Lilien season ticket holder.
Me last night via email: Terrence Boyd! Is he any good?
Him: Not really.
fwiw
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.”
Preseason Power Rankings in the East going to be interesting. jumbled mess right now.
Guys, this site is a good one if you want to look up transfer fees etc.
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/jerm...l/spieler/3875
He was an up and coming German born US international on the rise until he blew out his knee and essentially missed three years of action. Since his return his has been playing in the German 2nd division. In my eyes nothing more than depth signing.
As one of many German born dual nationals that Jurgen Klinnsman recruited to the USMNT, here is an interesting story about when he decided to suit up for the US.
http://www.espn.com/soccer/story/115...the-us?src=com
Remember The Man, The Legend, The Goal 5-12-07 and All That #9 Left On The Pitch, Thanks For The Memories !!!
For me, a player in his prime would be 25 to 27 - a player the team could build a new core around. I would like to see TFC build a 2/3-year age gap between the three DPs, so that allows continuity to be kept as you cycle through a DP every 2 years. Bradley is 31 and Altidore is 29, so I would go for a 26/27-year-old player that I could sign to a 4-year contract.
As for the top 5 leagues, to me it's always been EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, and Ligue 1.
Just a side note as we process things today after a legend leaves us to go get paid elsewhere.....I am a huge lifelong Liverpool fan (you can yell at me accordingly now), and in 2015 Our Captain, our Leader, our everything and frankly in the long-storied history of the club is up there with anyone including Dalglish and Rush etc. as a fan favourite and legend of the club was in a similar contract situation as we have just gone through (not exactly the same I know but similar in terms of his stature in the club) --- there was some debate over when he was offered a contract and his playing time but at age 34 he still was a productive player (no not the equivalent of a Gio I would say in terms of his talent in comparison to the league itself), but more importantly a "leader" (a Bradley type as it were for those that don't know too much about Liverpool) - and there was much hand-wringing from the fans over whether they should offer him some type of "legacy" contract to retire as a Red as he literally was a lifelong member of the club and a club legend for all intents and purposes (way bigger in stature/importance to Liverpool than Gio was in Toronto in my opinion - statues will be built of Stevie G. (ha ha ha)).....well what happened, he went to LA for a lot more money than he would have gotten in England -- and at age 35 he was not the same player anymore and was out of soccer soon thereafter....
Many Liverpool fans were angry - how could you let a legend like Stevie G go and end his career that way? -- just pay him for all he has done with the club.....fast forward to 2018-2019 -- Liverpool is atop the Prem without Stevie G. (which is a bit sad as he never won the Prem.), and shockingly the Kop has new heroes to cheer for and I doubt that if they win the Prem this season (no jinx no jinx) that 2015 will be the focus anymore --- the point is, time moved on, changes happened, supporters support, the team got new heroes like Salah in 2017 and they hang his jersey in their closet beside their Stevie G. one ---- I have a Sundin shirt beside a Gilmour shirt, beside a Sittler shirt, beside a Matthews and Marner shirt now --- will we be dwelling on how Ballard screwed over Sittler if the Leafs win the Cup with this new young talented group? I don't think that parade will be any less sweet for the fans.....
This is sports, we cheer for laundry, it would be great if they cared about "us" as much as we did about "them", but at the end of the day its a business no matter what platitudes are stated otherwise by teams and their players ---- if Gio truly wanted to stay here, he could have - it would mean less money (still a multimillionaire leading a pretty darn good life I would suggest in Toronto for him and his family) - he chose money as is his prerogative, as it clearly was not about lifestyle or soccer when going to SA; it's a passion and entertainment for us....there is a difference....we lead with our hearts, most of the others in this equation lead with their heads when making decisions.......it's why we are hurt emotionally when this happens ---
Let's be honest here - both sides did make "logical choices" based on their respective positions -- Gio said it's my last shot to make as much as I can for me and my family -- eminently logical --- the team said we will pay you as a top 5 player (as he is in my opinion), but not as the highest one, and not for 5 years as you are 32 years old and likely a diminishing asset over time -- also eminently logical.....I don't think either side acted in a way that was ludicrous based on their respective positions.....we as fans are caught in the middle as for today we are a worse team than yesterday (like Liverpool felt in 2015) so we are sad/angry -- but we don't know the future for Seba and his talents, or for the franchise and their future signings (no one in Liverpool knew Salah was coming in 2017 back in 2015) so to say all is lost is also a little ridiculous too --- we will have a top 5 payroll this year I would say pretty much guaranteed; it's not like the team has decided to never spend again or to become a bottom dweller....last year we had almost all of our heroes return and by the end of April our season had peaked, as we kept waiting for magic to happen (wait until we get healthy!) and it never did -- there are no guarantees this year would have been different....I doubt getting older (signing all 3 DPs to "legacy" type of contracts into their mid 30s) will make us healthier as a team over time either.....
Last edited by tfcfans; 01-31-2019 at 12:03 PM.
Off topic posts commenting on other SGs have been deleted.
Please note that this is a transfer thread. Stay on topic.
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Last edited by Oldtimer; 01-31-2019 at 01:01 PM.
The quote from KJ was "very good player from a very good club". My gut say because he said very good club as opposed to Europe or top league it's a player from Mexico or South America.
Here here. There should not be any bitterness towards management. These things happen all the time in football, and the fact of the matter is that Seba is not worth anywhere close to what he was asking for at this stage of his career. He got his money elsewhere, and all the power to him. He served us well while he was in his prime.
Manning and Curtis should be judged on how they replace the likes of Seba and Vasquez in our starting eleven.
You could look at Curtis' record at RBNY
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...transfers_2016
This is it. Totally correct. We needed to get younger and faster at some point and I guess we're doing it now as opposed to 2020. Either way it was necessary.
Also, wondering since the MLS window opens on Feb 13th, can we officially announce signings now or do we have to wait until then? If we have to wait then expect another 2 weeks of silence.
Last edited by Ultra & Proud; 01-31-2019 at 12:37 PM.
They can announce whenever. The ITC cant br moved until the window opens.
Sad to see Seba go, especially like this. He is a legend in my eyes and gave us a taste of glory during the years he was here.
He isn't getting any younger, and I feel like he grew increasingly frustrated on the pitch in 2018. This frustration was reflected in the rest of the team, and we were clearly no longer the cohesive unit that won us the championship. Even though he had some decent performances last year, they were few and far in between compared to year 1.
It's time to refresh and renew with younger talent. We need players that have a hunger to win. I just hope that MLSE continues to see the value in building the brand, and re-establishing TFC as a powerhouse in this league.
It sucks that Giovinco got sold but unfortunately soccer is business. TFC did well enough to get 2-3M out of a 32 yr old player.
I'll rate Manning and Curtis after I see who they bring in as replacement DP, and also how they use the stack of GAM TFC just got from selling Giovinco (if I remember the rules correctly)
“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
Thanks for the compliment --- yes the "parting shot" by Seba was a little petulant (although not completely out of character with his personality on the field also - a mercurial talent, but also a bit of a whiner too if we are being fair - he's the guy you love on your team, but roll your eyes at (even I've done it sometimes and he was on my team), when he goes down constantly looking for calls if you're the opponent), and he could have left with a simple Thank You to the team and the fans and the city --- all I can say today is considering what has transpired over the last few months -- if anyone does not look at Bradley and think he is the epitome of a professional compared to a lot of the posturing and preening and whining going on than I don't know what else to say -- of course he does not have the same "talent" as some of the others on this team - but being a leader and a Captain and acting like a Professional goes a long way in my books (I wouldn't give him a 5 year DP contract either - again let's not be stupid here!) - but my bet is Bradley will not throw shade on the team whenever it is that he leaves the franchise.....I used to tell my students that I will give up some aptitude, if it means a way better attitude when writing a reference for them.....I'd much rather hire a kid getting 78% who is willing to bust his ass everyday and shows up early ready to go and learn and be a team-player, as opposed to a 90% kid who thinks they know it all and the rules don't apply to them (sounds a little VDW like doesn't it?!) -- I know sports is different and we indulge "talent", but its annoying.....anyone else thrilled that KLeonard sits every second game or so for the Raptors this year? I get that it's all about the playoffs for them, but if I had Season Tickets and the guy can't play in a game even after a day off (never mind back-to backs) when he is healthy, I'd be pissed to be paying that kind of money to see him sit on a bench waving a towel (and yes, he will be gone next summer with or without all of this catering to "load management/rest" - it's not even a debate he will be in LA or some such warm weather locale)......