Gian-Luca Posted February 10, 2019 Author Share Posted February 10, 2019 Shaffelburg as a striker or a 4-5-1? No Osorio in the starting line-up again, he was coming off that sports hernia surgery but starting to think that he won't be ready in 10 days to start the CCL either (same with Altidore, but the club has admitted that at least, haven't heard the same about Osorio). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikmacdo Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 1 hour ago, Gian-Luca said: Shaffelburg as a striker or a 4-5-1? No Osorio in the starting line-up again, he was coming off that sports hernia surgery but starting to think that he won't be ready in 10 days to start the CCL either (same with Altidore, but the club has admitted that at least, haven't heard the same about Osorio). Osorio will be ready, sports hernias aren't that serious. I had one myself. 4-3-3 with shaffelburg and DeLeon on the wing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted February 10, 2019 Author Share Posted February 10, 2019 Finishes 1-1. TFC tie it up late with an OG caused by Laryea who, along with Hamilton, came on midway through the 2nd half. Mohammed replaced Ciman at half time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted February 10, 2019 Author Share Posted February 10, 2019 https://torontosun.com/sports/soccer/mls/toronto-fc/tfc-nearing-deal-for-midfielder-pozuelo-source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted February 10, 2019 Author Share Posted February 10, 2019 Not sure if this is another cost-cutting exercise but the coverage from TFC's pre-season has been woeful so far. I can understand why the team might not want to provide a lot of post-game coverage or even admit that they lost 5-1 to the Las Vegas Boogie Nights (or whatever they are called) but nothing at all so far on the game they played last night other than twitter feed updates. A 1-1 road draw in a pre-season is hardly some disgrace that needs to be covered up. Some kind soul on their twitter feed posted some video highlights he took from recording off the tv screen from his phone. From what I can tell it looks like both goals scored were actually own-goals, the first coming off a corner kick for LA which Mohammed put into his own net inadvertantly on a header. A minute later Terrence Boyd would miss an empty net on a header. Laryea then had a dangerous chance in the 70th minute where he made a run into the box on to a through ball and just shot it wide. Then his run down the left flank resulted in him crossing the ball to #7 on TFC (not sure who that is now, since it used to be Vazquez - maybe De Leon?) but the LA player cutting off the cross put it into his own net. Edit: Based on these Galaxy-biased highlights, I'm going to make an educated guess that Hamilton has taken the #7 jersey for this season: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019/02/10/la-galaxy-1-toronto-fc-1-2019-preseason-match-recap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikmacdo Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Tsn showed highlights of the game last night on SportsCenter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 Rumors are that Menendez is a done deal and will he joining the team Wednesday. 1 yr loan with option to buy for $3.5M from Independente of Argentina. Cap hit expected to be $150k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikmacdo Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 1 hour ago, Obinna said: Rumors are that Menendez is a done deal and will he joining the team Wednesday. 1 yr loan with option to buy for $3.5M from Independente of Argentina. Cap hit expected to be $150k. This is guy another Jansen, he's good enough to help the team but his buyout is too high to be on tam money and won't be good enough to be a DP imo but time will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 15 minutes ago, Mikmacdo said: This is guy another Jansen, he's good enough to help the team but his buyout is too high to be on tam money and won't be good enough to be a DP imo but time will tell. Does paying a transfer fee in excess of the TAM limit ($1.5M) make that player a DP? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bison44 Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 43 minutes ago, Obinna said: Does paying a transfer fee in excess of the TAM limit ($1.5M) make that player a DP? I think TAM is only a salary thing not transfer fee thing. If Menendez wants 1.5mil in wages TFC can buy that down to 500.000 and they wont have to use a DP slot on him so he'll fit in the salary structure. Or use a dp slot on him and pay him whatever they want in wages and still only take the 500,000 hit on salary cap. If his wages are over 500,000 (but less than 1.5mil) they can buy it down with TAM to the 150 you mention or anything under 500,000 and he'll be just a regular INT slot guy and his salary will have to fit with everyone elses into the cap. I think it was originally to help clubs bring in more mid level guys (not superstar dp's). Why they didnt just raise the overall cap 500g escapes me. I think GAM can be used to a limited extent to help with transfer fees, but I dont think MLS cares to much. If TFC,NYC or Atlanta etc want to spend 10-20mil on transfer fees they can, as long as those players fit into the salary cap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 I've been watching a lot of highlights of Menendez. He resembles Giovinco when on the break. Obviously not as good, but I am excited about him joining. I think he can be better than Janson, who I also liked, but was more of a pace guy with a good engine. Menendez looks to have less strength, but seems to be a much better dribbler, with better close control and more invention in his game. I can see him playing in a two-man partnership with Jozy, but probably we'll see him on the left wing, as we know how Vanney plans on playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted February 11, 2019 Author Share Posted February 11, 2019 https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019/02/11/genk-release-alejandro-pozuelo-statement-amid-toronto-fc-interest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badname22 Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 If we're not gonna use VDW why bot try trading him to Atalanta for Villalba? We could even throw in Delgado and sign Laryea as a cheaper replacement and have the squad look like this... --------------------Bono--------------------- Auro------Ciman---Mavinga---Morrow --------------------Bradley-------------------- ------------Pozuelo----Osorio------------- Villalba---------Altidore---------Menendez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 1 hour ago, badname22 said: If we're not gonna use VDW why bot try trading him to Atalanta for Villalba? We could even throw in Delgado and sign Laryea as a cheaper replacement and have the squad look like this... --------------------Bono--------------------- Auro------Ciman---Mavinga---Morrow --------------------Bradley-------------------- ------------Pozuelo----Osorio------------- Villalba---------Altidore----------Vargas Good idea but Villalba is a DP player. Yes, Atlanta need to offload a DP, but Toronto are not in a position to take one on, unless Pozuelo doesn't get signed. I like Viillalba, but I would prefer Pozuelo if I had to choose. The team needs a creator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badname22 Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 58 minutes ago, Obinna said: Good idea but Villalba is a DP player. Yes, Atlanta need to offload a DP, but Toronto are not in a position to take one on, unless Pozuelo doesn't get signed. I like Viillalba, but I would prefer Pozuelo if I had to choose. The team needs a creator. Villalba got bought down IIRC because Atlanta's DP's last year was Barco, Almiron and Martinez. I don't completely understand MLS rules but he's a TAM player for them so mayyybe that means we could sign him as a TAM player too (again I'm not the best with MLS rules). But your right Pozuelo is more important. However getting both would give us the strongest squad in a looong time, possibly ever, in terms of quality Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bison44 Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 If Villalba was on 770g salary, could we use the TAM to buy it down to 500 or less and turn him into a regular player?? Isnt this why TFC was stickpiling all this TAM for?? Thank goodness MLS roster rules are easy to interpret. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikmacdo Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 4 hours ago, Obinna said: I've been watching a lot of highlights of Menendez. He resembles Giovinco when on the break. Obviously not as good, but I am excited about him joining. I think he can be better than Janson, who I also liked, but was more of a pace guy with a good engine. Menendez looks to have less strength, but seems to be a much better dribbler, with better close control and more invention in his game. I can see him playing in a two-man partnership with Jozy, but probably we'll see him on the left wing, as we know how Vanney plans on playing. I saw the same he looks like a more skilled but smaller Jansen and actually scored more goals in Argentina. I wonder how Osorio fits in with pozuelo and Menendez. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 25 minutes ago, Mikmacdo said: I saw the same he looks like a more skilled but smaller Jansen and actually scored more goals in Argentina. I wonder how Osorio fits in with pozuelo and Menendez. -----------------Bono--------------- Auro--Ciman--Mavinga--Morrow ----------------Bradley------------- ----------Osorio--Pozuelo------- DeLeon---Altidore--Menendez This is what I expect. First of all, I think Bradley, Osorio and Pozuelo would be one of the best midfield 3 in the league. Bradley still amongst the leagues best at CDM. Osorio is one of the better shuttlers in MLS, and can chip in with goals, especially with late runs in the box. Pozuelo will be one of the top attacking midfielders when/if he comes. For all the hype about Pity Martinez, I wouldn't be surprised to see Pozuelo have the same impact, honestly. He's very two-footed, so I have him as a left CAM here. I have watched a lot of clips now and I still don't know what his dominant foot is. Menendez will likely play on the left. That's where he's played most of his career according to his profile on transfermarkt. He's quite right footed, so expect him to play as an inverted winger, cutting inside and doing some playmaking. Like I said earlier, I like his dribbling and ability to take people on. He can also strike the ball well on the volley, so he's that sort of player. I got a feeling Vanney will go with DeLeon on the right. I like this. DeLeon is similar to Jansen going forward, but is more of a pure winger. I expect he'll be very two-way, which will be needed with Auro at right back. I really like Auro going forward, but I don't trust him defensively so much. Having an experienced DeLeon out there on the right will be good for Auro, I suspect. Out on the left, it's kind of the opposite. Morrow is excellent and getting forward but is defensively responsible. I get the feeling Menendez is not very defensive, plus if he's cutting into the middle of the field on his right, Morrow can overlap. Should work in theory. As for subs: RB - ? LB - Morgan CB - Moor CB - Zav CAM - Chapman (sub for Pozuelo) CM - Delgado (sub for Osorio) CDM - Fraser F - Boyd (sub for Altidore) F - Hamilton (competing with Boyd or could perhaps fill in out wide) F - Endo (sub for DeLeon or Menendez) F/LB - Telfer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikmacdo Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 29 minutes ago, Obinna said: -----------------Bono--------------- Auro--Ciman--Mavinga--Morrow ----------------Bradley------------- ----------Osorio--Pozuelo------- DeLeon---Altidore--Menendez This is what I expect. First of all, I think Bradley, Osorio and Pozuelo would be one of the best midfield 3 in the league. Bradley still amongst the leagues best at CDM. Osorio is one of the better shuttlers in MLS, and can chip in with goals, especially with late runs in the box. Pozuelo will be one of the top attacking midfielders when/if he comes. For all the hype about Pity Martinez, I wouldn't be surprised to see Pozuelo have the same impact, honestly. He's very two-footed, so I have him as a left CAM here. I have watched a lot of clips now and I still don't know what his dominant foot is. Menendez will likely play on the left. That's where he's played most of his career according to his profile on transfermarkt. He's quite right footed, so expect him to play as an inverted winger, cutting inside and doing some playmaking. Like I said earlier, I like his dribbling and ability to take people on. He can also strike the ball well on the volley, so he's that sort of player. I got a feeling Vanney will go with DeLeon on the right. I like this. DeLeon is similar to Jansen going forward, but is more of a pure winger. I expect he'll be very two-way, which will be needed with Auro at right back. I really like Auro going forward, but I don't trust him defensively so much. Having an experienced DeLeon out there on the right will be good for Auro, I suspect. Out on the left, it's kind of the opposite. Morrow is excellent and getting forward but is defensively responsible. I get the feeling Menendez is not very defensive, plus if he's cutting into the middle of the field on his right, Morrow can overlap. Should work in theory. As for subs: RB - ? LB - Morgan CB - Moor CB - Zav CAM - Chapman (sub for Pozuelo) CM - Delgado (sub for Osorio) CDM - Fraser F - Boyd (sub for Altidore) F - Hamilton (competing with Boyd or could perhaps fill in out wide) F - Endo (sub for DeLeon or Menendez) F/LB - Telfer I thought in a 4-3-3 you need two defensive mid fielder's ? Osorio should play up front more after last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikmacdo Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 Auro ciman mavinga morrow DeLeon Bradley pozuelo Osorio -_--------Jozy Menendez Or Auro ciman mavinga morrow ---------Delgado Bradley Osorio pozuelo Menendez -------------jozy----------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 1 hour ago, Mikmacdo said: I thought in a 4-3-3 you need two defensive mid fielder's ? Osorio should play up front more after last year. Nope, you can play with one if you'd like. There's no rule against it I think Osorio gets close enough to goal to do damage in my proposed formation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikmacdo Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 20 minutes ago, Obinna said: Nope, you can play with one if you'd like. There's no rule against it I think Osorio gets close enough to goal to do damage in my proposed formation. With auro in the back maybe it's a good idea to have two defensive mids? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One American Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 TFC are not really going to go from EPL star to Azzurri pool player to some guy from Belgium, are they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvroArrow Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 I don't see how Alejandro Pozuelo has the name recognition that TFC was talking about earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 18 minutes ago, AvroArrow said: I don't see how Alejandro Pozuelo has the name recognition that TFC was talking about earlier. He doesn't. Manning was saying their dp acquisition would, but there were also other targets. This was known. Clearly whoever Manning had in mind was not Pozuelo (I would like to think). 35 minutes ago, One American said: TFC are not really going to go from EPL star to Azzurri pool player to some guy from Belgium, are they? Regardless, I think Pozuelo do will well. A DP doesn't have to be Ozil to be effective. There are many lesser known DP's that have a big impact in MLS. Ignacio Piatti and Diego Valeri come to mind. If Pozuelo can come even close to those two, I think TFC will be alright. Admittedly, I would prefer many other players over Pozuelo, but the reality is the team needs a playmaker. It looks like he got goals in his locker too, and for me he kinda like a more direct version of Vazquez. Certainly he's more mobile than Vazquez, while bringing a similar level of composure and creativity. He looks like he can take guys on a bit. I do hope he comes in and soon, Champions league is just over a week away. I'm not optimistic he joins the team for the first leg of the round of 16. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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