SeanKeay Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Toronto FC has added another player to its roster, beefing up its strike force with Togolese striker Abbe Ibrahim from New York Red Bull. Toronto FC traded a fourth round draft pick in 2008, in addition to swapping allocations with the New York club. Ibrahim has been out of Major League soccer since the end of the 2005 season, but Red Bull maintained his MLS rights. http://www.embargo.ca/ultras/frontpage.shtml Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettermirror Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 doesn't sound like an "impact" player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesW Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 quote:Originally posted by bettermirror doesn't sound like an "impact" player. But it does sound like he would be perfect for the Impact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanKeay Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share Posted January 25, 2007 The guy plays for the Togo national team.... he isnt a crazy lackluster random Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desigol Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Did he play in the World Cup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Keay Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Desigol Did he play in the World Cup? As he was out of contract/not playing professionally (he might have been playing in Togo or something, not too sure), he missed out on the chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sj Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 So much for developing much needed Canadian strikers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadiankick97 Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 Ahhh joker... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 I don't reallt think TFC is very interested in taking on undeveloped players at this stage. If there is a top quality Canadian striker ready, available and willing to sign with TFC I'm sure they'd take him. I don't think any professional soccer organisation is willing to stock its bench with players that still need development, bad business decision. Those 11,000+ seasons ticket holders are expecting a high level of performance and a winning team that provides opportunities for Canadians to which they can aspire. That's good enbough for me and probably most people. I don't expect TFC to be the Canadian MNT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettermirror Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 the kids watching tfc won't really care much who is in the first 11 - just that they are exciting and will want to develop themselves to a point above which is currently on tfc. i agree, they don't necessarily need to hire canadian talent in need of development at this stage - this is what there youth and reserves are for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 Some of the most popular Whitecaps FC players have been American imports. If they entertain the crowd and perform for the team, everybody loves them no matter what their passport says. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonovision Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 But aren't TFC currently well short on the required Canadian content in their roster? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 I don't think so. Check out the situation yourself at... http://www.thevoyageurs.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10889&whichpage=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free kick Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Richard I don't reallt think TFC is very interested in taking on undeveloped players at this stage. If there is a top quality Canadian striker ready, available and willing to sign with TFC I'm sure they'd take him. I don't think any professional soccer organisation is willing to stock its bench with players that still need development, bad business decision. Those 11,000+ seasons ticket holders are expecting a high level of performance and a winning team that provides opportunities for Canadians to which they can aspire. That's good enbough for me and probably most people. I don't expect TFC to be the Canadian MNT. Agreed. If there was young striker out there who is available ( eg. Hume), is already developed, or close to being a professional, then yes they have an obligation to give that player an opportunity. But like you said, they also have an obligation to 11000 seaon ticket holders who expect to be entertained and see good calibre soccer. The developement programs are for the young strikers to develop. Give it few years and you will see young attack minded canadian players coming through. Another big problem is the MLS budgets. They are small and need to grow over time in order to compete on the tranfer markets to repatriate talent from overseas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolando Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 Just googled him and found tons of information on Ibrahim. Sounds like a good young talent, and a bit of a wildcard. Could imagine him as top scorer, but also just as easily could see him gone mid-season, either to another MLS team, or for another adventure overseas. Seems like another guy with a bad agent, or maybe just a guy with a bit of bad luck who was overhyped a little too early. Should be an exciting guy to watch, anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sj Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 well it looks like N.A.S.L canadian clubs all over again where Canadians have mainly deffensive roles. at the beggining of the campaign TFC was being presented as being the team that will provide much needed professional environment for the development of Canadians players thus increasing the player pool for the national team. looks like poggy park will be the home of ex lynx players that was already playing in a professional and competitive environment in Europe and a few imports that whose main corcern will be to create and scoring goals leaving the defensive duties to the Canadians players while we all know that our creativity and scoring has been the main reason why our national team has bombed out in this region. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Free kick Agreed. If there was young striker out there who is available ( eg. Hume), is already developed, or close to being a professional, then yes they have an obligation to give that player an opportunity. But like you said, they also have an obligation to 11000 seaon ticket holders who expect to be entertained and see good calibre soccer. The developement programs are for the young strikers to develop. Give it few years and you will see young attack minded canadian players coming through. Another big problem is the MLS budgets. They are small and need to grow over time in order to compete on the tranfer markets to repatriate talent from overseas. And at 20.5 years old and with only 577 minutes of professional experience in MLS in 2005 followed by a disappearing act in 2006, with all comments I've seen alluding to raw abilities and potential, Abbe Ibrahim is a developed player? Doesn't seem like it to me. I think this move is simply a case of Johnston knowing Ibrahim from their short time at New York together. I doubt that developed vs. undeveloped, Canadian vs. non-Canadian (apart from Johnston knowing more non-Canadians than Canadians) or entertainment value are factors in this case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbailey62 Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 quote:Originally posted by sj well it looks like N.A.S.L canadian clubs all over again where Canadians have mainly deffensive roles. at the beggining of the campaign TFC was being presented as being the team that will provide much needed professional environment for the development of Canadians players thus increasing the player pool for the national team. looks like poggy park will be the home of ex lynx players that was already playing in a professional and competitive environment in Europe and a few imports that whose main corcern will be to create and scoring goals leaving the defensive duties to the Canadians players while we all know that our creativity and scoring has been the main reason why our national team has bombed out in this region. First up, just what is a poggy? Secondly, Dale Mitchell, Mike Stojanivic and Branko Segota might disagree with your comments re. Canadian strikers in the NASL. There weren't many but there were some success stories. In fairness, what you say is true. There weren't enough talented Canadian strikers in existence during the NASL years. The Blizzard tried Cossimo Camisso up front for a time but he couldn't get the job done. At that time, the talent pool was very limited and now, when the talent does exist, those players are making five to ten times the money playing in Europe. Give it a bit of time. Thirdly, yes, TFC is a great thing for Canadian soccer but be realistic. You need to win games to have a succesful franchise. Nobody was advocating an all-Canadian starting 11 .... or are you in fact doing so now? db Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthew Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 quote:Originally posted by dbailey62 First up, just what is a poggy? It's a game. It's hip with the kids: That or the next Maple Leaf goaltending bust. The true value of TFC won't be felt for a few years. Their ability to develop youth and the academy/youth program will pay more dividends than the senior players now. They can't afford to lure big names back, nor would I want our top players leaving their Euro teams to come home. Since it's easier for younger attackers to emerge than younger defenders (IMO at least) then I think we'll be seeing more young attacking players getting a crack from the youth team rather than more young defenders in the coming years. cheers, matthew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbailey62 Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 quote:Originally posted by matthew It's a game. It's hip with the kids: That or the next Maple Leaf goaltending bust. The true value of TFC won't be felt for a few years. Their ability to develop youth and the academy/youth program will pay more dividends than the senior players now. They can't afford to lure big names back, nor would I want our top players leaving their Euro teams to come home. Since it's easier for younger attackers to emerge than younger defenders (IMO at least) then I think we'll be seeing more young attacking players getting a crack from the youth team rather than more young defenders in the coming years. cheers, matthew I wonder if Alf wore those shades when he called the HNIC - TLN game the other week! db Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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