TFC Update

[masster]

With all my attention on the U20 World Cup, I haven't been able to see the last couple of TFC games. I've read the newspaper articles on line but they don't give you the fans perspective. Could somebody who has seen the games give me a quick update? How have Marshall and Dunivant looked? Has Samuel fit in well? Is Brennan still playing at CB with the new additions on the back line?

[Macksam]

Samuel is fast and powerful. He's kind of like a poor man's Drogba. Good none the less. As for Marshall, there's not too much I can say about him. He did concede a penelty to Chicago. However, beyound that, he hasn't played badly.

[bingham]

Samuel looks useful, Marshall has definately shored up the back line.

On this road trip midfield, with the exception of Edu, has been poor. O'Brien and Robinson continually give the ball away. Still need a left sider to replace the weak Andy Welsh. Team is still a work in progress, but Mo's additions have been astute and there is an overall improvement.

Still think a foot on the ball midfielder is needed if a play off spot is to be earned, and I think it can. Does anyone know when transfer deadline day is???

Oh and the travelling Toronto fans on this road trip have been superb.

Best support in the MLS by a long chaulk!!

[BearcatSA]

Is Reda going to see the field again anytime soon? Are his TFC days numbered?

[Massive Attack]

quote:Originally posted by BearcatSA

Is Reda going to see the field again anytime soon? Are his TFC days numbered?

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Reda will not be on TFC next season. I'm sure he could easily get a job in Scandinavia again.

He did make an appearance a few weeks back after Boyens was red-carded.

[BearcatSA]

quote:Originally posted by Massive Attack

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Reda will not be on TFC next season. I'm sure he could easily get a job in Scandinavia again.

Thanks for the info.

If he can't crack the starting 11 for TFC, I can't see Reda making it into a top Scandinavian side.

[jonovision]

quote:Originally posted by BearcatSA

Thanks for the info.

If he can't crack the starting 11 for TFC, I can't see Reda making it into a top Scandinavian side.

I'll try the bolding trick. Reda never played for a top Scandinavian side. Instead, he played mostly with clubs on either side of the relegation zone in Norway.

[Massive Attack]

The leagues in Norway and Sweden are over-rated. Reda could probably still walk into most 1st or 2nd tier teams in those two countries and get a decent paying job.

Sogndal took Reda back once, I wouldn't be surprised if he could go back there.

Mind you, he is 30 years old now. Maybe he's content to being an occasional sub with TFC as his career winds down.

[BearcatSA]

Thanks again for the info. I found it interesting that a number of folks had him penciled in as a starter at centre back for the MNT for the recent GC and yet he was left on the bench in favour of a player who spent much of his season as a left back in Scotland. It seemed like Reda's stock dropped faster than Nortel's.

[Massive Attack]

Reda and Samuel play totally different positions. TFC has been using Samuel on the wing and as a striker. It's Marshall and Boyens that are keeping Reda out of the first team.

[BearcatSA]

I was referring to Hastings with the MNT, not Samuel with TFC. I apologize for not communicating more clearly.

He looks fourth on the depth chart behind Brennan, Marshall, and Boyens.

[Massive Attack]

quote:Originally posted by BearcatSA

I was referring to Hastings with the MNT, not Samuel with TFC. I apologize for not communicating more clearly.

He looks fourth on the depth chart behind Brennan, Marshall, and Boyens.

Lol, that makes more sense. Apparently Reda was battling injuries during the Gold Cup, and was sent home early.

I wonder if he's being hampered by something that is having too much of an effect on his game.

The last time Reda played was during the 1-1 tie against KC as a sub with 10 minutes left to help defend being 1 man down. He played well in that short spell with tons of pressure from KC.

But Mo isn't big on making subs, I'd be surprised if Reda gets many more appearances the rest of the way other than as an injury/call-up/suspension replacement.

[BearcatSA]

quote:Originally posted by Massive Attack

Apparently Reda was battling injuries during the Gold Cup, and was sent home early.

I wonder if he's being hampered by something that is having too much of an effect on his game.

I thought it was Gervais who was sent home early? Either way, it's hard to tell about the injury issue: for instance, I wasn't aware of Serioux's knee condition prior to his surgery in early spring, a problem he seemed to have for awhile.

Massive Attack, what do you think Braz's future look like with TFC?

[Grizzly]

quote:Originally posted by jonovision

I'll try the bolding trick. Reda never played for a top Scandinavian side. Instead, he played mostly with clubs on either side of the relegation zone in Norway.

This is not true. Reda played one year (21 matches) for Aalborg which is one of the top Danish sides. His career in Denmark was mostly hampered by injury problems which is I think what is happening in Toronto as well. He hasn't been healthy all year in Toronto. If he was healthy I think he would be showing a better quality of play. The problem for him and TFC is he has had a lot of injury problems in the last few years and at 30 years old that may be unlikely to change.

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by BearcatSA

I thought it was Gervais who was sent home early?

They both were.

I think things look bleak for Reda at TFC as a first-choice starter. He might hang around as a sub for years to come, but if he wants first team action I don't know that Mo is going to give him another chance unless injuries/suspensions come into play.

[Massive Attack]

Its sort of unfair to Reda, as he was exposed mostly during the 3-5-2 debacle, which is mostly the coaches fault.

As for Braz, his situation is probably much worse than Reda's. Braz has made even less appearances than Reda. To me, he looks a little fat as well. I wouldn't be surprised if he was also back in USL next season.

I think TFC will be working their hardest to pick up some more Canadians on free transfers next season.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

Andy Boyens was actually the fall guy for the 3-5-2 debacle in Boston and was dropped for the 0-3 Kansas City away game when the team switched to 4-4-2 once Kevin Goldthwaite and Marvell Wynne had been acquired (the 3-5-2 for the first two games was probably dictated by how badly Adam Braz and Chris Pozniak had played at fullback in a back four in the Charleston preseason tournament). Reda started that game but got pulled off immediately after the third goal of the game as it turned out that he couldn't cope with the pace of not just Eddie Johnson, which would be reasonably understandable, but also with players like Yura Movsisyan. Since then he has only seen limited playing time when Andy Boyens has been injured and/or sent off. Now with Tyrone Marshall aboard he may wind up with even fewer opportunities to leave the bench over the rest of the seasons. Just goes to show that a Canadian national team player who can play regularly at the top tier level in Scandanavia is not necessarily going to be good enough for MLS. Those leagues are way overrated by people on this messageboard and have been for many years now.

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by BringBackTheBlizzard

the 3-5-2 for the first two games was probably dictated by how badly Adam Braz and Chris Pozniak had played at fullback in a back four in the Charleston preseason tournament.

I think it is more due to the fact that Pozniak was injured for the first part of the season & unable to play. Mo has shown no hesitancy whatsoever since Chris has been healthy to play him at right or left back as required, I suspect had he been healthy for the first two games he would have seen the field.

[Free kick]

Other TFC update:

Ronnie O'brien has been named to the MLS all star team that will play Celtic. This is a bit of a surprise to me since I thought that such an honor would have gone to Maurice Edu before anybody else on TFC. Edu is my MVP on TFC so far this year.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

It took an eternity for Mo Johnston to sub off an obviously struggling Andy Welsh on Saturday after he picked up a knock midway through the first half and to put Pozniak on in his place at left mid. Pozniak like Reda is only used sparingly in response to international callups, injuries, suspensions and when there is a need for a fresh pair of legs at the end of a game. If it wasn't for the restrictions imposed by having an 18 man senior roster and the requirements for domestic players to make up a significant portion of it he wouldn't be getting playing time. He has done better than Adam Braz but he is still a long way from establishing himself as an MLS calibre player.

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by BringBackTheBlizzard

Pozniak like Reda is only used sparingly in response to international callups, injuries, suspensions and when there is a need for a fresh pair of legs at the end of a game. If it wasn't for the restrictions imposed by having an 18 man senior roster and the requirements for domestic players to make up a significant portion of it he wouldn't be getting playing time.

Interesting use of the term "sparingly" - take away his international call-up for Canada at the Gold Cup & his time spent injured, Pozniak has thus far played in every game for TFC that he was eligible. Not always as a starter, but playing every game is hardly "sparingly". Injuries, international call-ups, suspensions & a fresh pair of legs are always going to happen, that's why have good versatile squad players who can come in and do a job like Poz are valuable to any team. Against Benfica he played in four different positions on the night & didn't look out of place at all. Will he be a first choice star? Never likely to be. Does he hold his own on TFC? Absolutely. I'm not sure what's to be gained by saying that he wouldn't be playing much in the MLS if it wasn't for the domestic roster rules, that's the same case with a lot of US players on the US MLS teams and for that matter a lot of other domestic players in a lot of domestic leagues. In fact, that's precisely the reason why we have the MLS in Canada!

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

I can remember arguing with you on Bigsoccer about whether Rich Asante looked good enough during the Carolina preseason tournament. Things turned out pretty much as I and others predicted at that point. When it comes to Canadian players I don't think you are fully objective so I'm not going to get into a prolonged argument over stuff like the semantics of the word "sparingly" with you. What we need is for TFC to start a top notch player development system so that the next generation of young Canadian players (probably mainly southern Ontario obviously) fulfill their potential a bit better rather than stagnating in Scandanavia or USL-D1. The Americans have passed us by in that regard in contrast with the NASL era when Canadians provided a lot of the North American content even south of the border. We need to catch up and overtake them again.

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by BringBackTheBlizzard

I can remember arguing with you on Bigsoccer about whether Rich Asante looked good enough during the Carolina preseason tournament. Things turned out pretty much as I and others predicted at that point.

If you and a whole bunch of "others" predicted that Rich Asante would be praised consistently by Mo Johnston in pre-season, used as a poster boy for TFC (I think his poster is still up on the wall near Gate 3), signed to the senior roster (!) & suddenly and mysteriously released from the roster altogether before the season even began, I think that would be news to me and a whole bunch of "others". I never predicted that he would be a star or a starter for TFC, just that he had done ok for a rookie in pre-season, whether he ever would have developed by sticking with the team is something we'll never know.

And it has nowt to do with this conversation other than you bring it up in an attempt to avoid the discussion & instead undermine my credibility by claiming that I am not being objective, which is a load of rubbish & the second time I can recall that you have tried this tactic. Earlier in this very thread I already stated that I think Reda's future on the team looks bleak and on numerous other occasions I have mentioned that Reda has been disappointing to me, Braz has done as much as I expected & Pozniak has done better than I thought he would. I'm curious as to how that is not being objective. Am I supposedley being objective about Reda because I agree with you about him & not being objective with Pozniak because I don't? Or could it be that we simply disagree on how we view certain players? I think the latter makes far more sense than the suggestion that one of us has a skewed perception of reality.

[Grizzly]

I don't think the level of the Scandanavian leagues should be judged on the performance of one player who has not been match fit and has had nagging injuries all season. I think Reda in his form of three years ago when he was doing well in Norway and Denmark would have been a sure starter for TFC. He is just not playing at that level at the moment and may never attain it again for physical reasons. If we are going to compare MLS/Scandanavia then what does Pozniak's decent play at the MLS level mean? No he hasn't been a star but he is certainly capable as an MLS player and even when he starts does not look out of place. Yet he has mostly played in 2nd tier Scandanavian clubs so does that mean MLS is only as good as 2nd tier Scandanavian clubs?

I think countless transfers have shown that MLS and the better Scandanavian leagues like Norway and Denmark have a similar level. Those two leagues each have a couple of teams better than any MLS team and some lower table teams who are worse than any MLS team. The MLS is a bit more balanced and plays a bit more attractive soccer with poorer defence than in Norway or Denmark. Neither of the three leagues should be over or underrated based on a couple of players. Should we judge the level of EPL based on Welsh's performance or what about the Championship which has seen a real mixed bag of performances from various transferred players?

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

I wouldn't base any comparison on the performance of one player. Stuff like the relatively low UEFA coefficients of the Scandanavian leagues is also important as well.

http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/data/method3/crank2008.html

1 Spain 14.312 12.437 15.642 19.000 0.857 62.248 7/ 7

2 England 11.250 15.571 14.428 16.625 0.857 58.731 7/ 7

3 Italy 8.875 14.000 15.357 11.928 1.285 51.445 7/ 7

4 France 13.500 11.428 10.812 10.000 1.000 46.740 6/ 6

5 Romania 4.333 5.500 16.833 11.333 0.000 37.999 4/ 4

6 Germany 4.714 10.571 10.437 9.500 1.000 36.222 6/ 6

7 Netherlands 5.416 12.000 7.583 8.214 0.500 33.713 6/ 6

8 Russia 5.875 10.000 10.000 6.625 0.750 33.250 4/ 4

9 Portugal 10.250 8.166 5.500 8.083 1.000 32.999 6/ 6

10 Ukraine 4.875 8.100 5.750 6.500 0.000 25.225 4/ 4

11 Scotland 7.375 4.750 4.250 6.750 0.000 23.125 4/ 4

12 Belgium 5.875 6.125 5.500 4.700 0.000 22.200 4/ 4

13 Turkey 6.500 5.375 4.000 6.100 0.000 21.975 4/ 4

14 Czech Republic 7.375 2.875 4.625 5.750 0.000 20.625 4/ 4

15 Bulgaria 4.166 2.375 8.750 5.125 0.000 20.416 4/ 4

16 Greece 4.166 6.166 3.333 4.666 0.500 18.831 6/ 6

17 Switzerland 1.875 2.625 9.375 4.100 0.000 17.975 4/ 4

18 Norway 6.125 3.500 5.400 2.000 0.000 17.025 5/ 5

19 Denmark 4.200 1.500 3.500 6.125 0.000 15.325 3/ 3

20 Austria 2.125 7.625 3.250 1.500 0.000 14.500 4/ 4

21 Serbia 4.500 4.250 3.250 2.125 0.000 14.125 4/ 4

22 Israel 2.250 3.625 1.500 6.000 0.000 13.375 4/ 4

23 Hungary 4.833 4.166 1.000 1.000 0.000 10.999 3/ 3

24 Poland 4.125 2.500 1.125 2.625 0.000 10.375 3/ 3

25 Slovakia 2.500 1.333 4.333 2.000 0.000 10.166 3/ 3

26 Slovenia 2.166 3.500 2.333 1.250 0.000 9.249 3/ 3

27 Sweden 1.500 3.000 2.666 1.125 0.000 8.291 4/ 4

28 Croatia 3.625 3.000 0.333 1.000 0.000 7.958 3/ 3

29 Latvia 0.833 3.166 1.333 2.166 0.000 7.498 3/ 3

30 Cyprus 1.333 1.333 3.000 1.750 0.000 7.416 3/ 3

31 Finland 1.666 1.666 2.333 1.333 0.000 6.998 4/ 4

Something to bear in mind is that MLS has a much greater level of parity than leagues over in Europe. There is a huge difference between playing for the likes of Rosenborg Trondheim and FC Kobenhaven on the one hand and playing for the likes of Haugesund, Vejle and Orebro on the other.