Ralph Priso

[dyslexic nam]

Damn - watching Olympics and forgot about this one.  Glad to hear Priso made an impact after being subbed in.  I used to think Nelson was the guy that was most exciting among the young MLS prospects, but Priso is definitely proving that he is a baller.   Once the Olympics are over I will get back to watching MLS.  

[Gian-Luca]

Picks up an assist on the game tying goal but also won the ball that a few passes later had Laryea finding the back of the net. Actually all three Canucks on the field at the time of the  Laryea goal had a hand in the build up.  I am crediting both Priso and Osorio with an AAKP stat - stands for “An Actual Key Pass”

[jordan]

Priso’s is heads and tails above what we saw at the beginning of the year, his passing has improved so much, and his anticipation and decision making looks great as well

[Dominic94]

10 minutes ago, jordan said:

Priso’s is heads and tails above what we saw at the beginning of the year, his passing has improved so much, and his anticipation and decision making looks great as well

I felt that with playing he’d improve those things. 

[Canuckistan2019]

Tfc manager should just move Bradley to Makeshift CB If he can’t drop him cause priso needs to start every game the kid is a stud will be a hutchinson’s replacement imo

[gator]

47 minutes ago, jordan said:

Priso’s is heads and tails above what we saw at the beginning of the year, his passing has improved so much, and his anticipation and decision making looks great as well

There has to be a bit of an adjustment for any young player beginning to get minutes with the first team in a good league, things are faster, players are smarter and mistakes are usually punished, he seems to be learning quickly, he doesn't get rattled by his odd error, confidence is building!

[Bison44]

Funny that investing in the kids sometimes pays dividends.  Maybe we should have mentioned this to the TFC brass before. 

[SoccMan]

It will be hard to keep him off the field if he keeps playing like that and that’s how it should be, it worked for Osorio and Laryea where their consistent performances made it hard for Vanney to keep them on the bench and now look at those two. 

[RS]

2 hours ago, Dominic94 said:

He become a TFC legend tonight by becoming the first player in TFC history to sub off a non injured underperforming and overrated Michael Bradley.

Overrated? Bradley’s clearly lost one or two steps this year, but he was arguably the best central midfielder in the league for his first five seasons with TFC. 

As for Priso, he’s quickly become starting quality. He’s got a JDG-esque quality to him off the ball and may already be a better passer when in possession. I can see him knocking on the door of the national team’s rotation within a year or two.

[BearcatSA]

4 minutes ago, RS said:

As for Priso, he’s quickly become starting quality. He’s got a JDG-esque quality to him off the ball and may already be a better passer when in possession. I can see him knocking on the door of the national team’s rotation within a year or two.

That's the kind of up-and-comer I was thinking of who could pose a threat to Fraser's place in the squad.  Needs a much bigger body of work, of course, but if he continues to impress, who knows?  You need to have room for that kind of in-form player.

[The Beaver 2.0]

I've not seen a lot of Priso, but I was very impressed with his play tonight. Only 19 and growing very quickly, making smart decisions, great engine and good pace, excellent passing.  He indeed has a similar stature to JDG, maybe a bit taller, and likely a bit quicker, but if he can keep the ball as effectively as JDG did in his prime, then we've got an impressive young talent on our hands for the national team.  He seems only a few games away from becoming truly fearless, which is incredible to see in such a young player.  Nice to know that our midfield--and attack--is developing some fine young ballers. Now we just need some killer young CBs. (Talking about the nats, of course, not TFC.)

[Dominic94]

9 hours ago, RS said:

Overrated? Bradley’s clearly lost one or two steps this year, but he was arguably the best central midfielder in the league for his first five seasons with TFC. 

As for Priso, he’s quickly become starting quality. He’s got a JDG-esque quality to him off the ball and may already be a better passer when in possession. I can see him knocking on the door of the national team’s rotation within a year or two.

yes overrated. He hasn’t been that start every game and play every minute guy since the start of last year, yet boy was he untouchable.

[baulderdash77]

I just finished watching the game.  What a massive difference in pace and style when Bradley and Altidore came off.

Priso was really solid again and he’s clearly banging on the door for more minutes.  

To me he played that pure 6 role really well and his defensive work rate and distribution basically saved the game for TFC.  

This was always going to be a year of change for TFC as Bradley and Altidore sunset out of the picture and Priso looks like he’s going to be the beneficiary of it.

I would move Bradley to CB for the rest of the season and run a midfield trio of Priso, Osorio and Delgado going forward.  That’s probably how TFC gets back into it.

[dyslexic nam]

10 hours ago, RS said:

Overrated? Bradley’s clearly lost one or two steps this year, but he was arguably the best central midfielder in the league for his first five seasons with TFC. 

I think there is a clear distinction between Bradley 5 years ago and Bradley today.   I suspect that when people are thinking he is over-rated, it is about his current level of play - not what he did when TFC was the best of MLS.  The fact that he was an absolute force in the league a few years ago doesn’t change the fact that he is getting slower, seems a fair bit more error prone, and generally can’t handle the pace of a game for 90 minutes.   That is the situation now - and it is that version of the player that people are frustrated with for blocking a guy like Priso.  

[RS]

4 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

I think there is a clear distinction between Bradley 5 years ago and Bradley today.   I suspect that when people are thinking he is over-rated, it is about his current level of play - not what he did when TFC was the best of MLS.  The fact that he was an absolute force in the league a few years ago doesn’t change the fact that he is getting slower, seems a fair bit more error prone, and generally can’t handle the pace of a game for 90 minutes.   That is the situation now - and it is that version of the player that people are frustrated with for blocking a guy like Priso.

Sure, but that's not what I wrote, and no one is over-rating Bradley's current level of play. He was arguably the best CM in MLS for the first five years of his TFC tenure, meaning it was still true as of a couple of years ago.

He's shown his class sporadically last year and even this season (IMO), but unfortunately for him Father Time gets us all and his waning athleticism is starting to hinder his ability to consistently play at the level he (and TFC) want him to. To connect it even more to Priso, I've felt that Bradley's best games this year (which haven't been many) were the ones where he was paired with the youngster. 

Hell, even Delgado's play has gotten a boost whenever Priso's on the field as Delgado doesn't have to do the dirty work that Priso seems to thrive at.

[dyslexic nam]

1 minute ago, RS said:

Sure, but that's not what I wrote, and no one is over-rating Bradley's current level of play. He was arguably the best CM in MLS for the first five years of his TFC tenure, meaning it was still true as of a couple of years ago.

He's shown his class sporadically last year and even this season (IMO), but unfortunately for him Father Time gets us all and his waning athleticism is starting to hinder his ability to consistently play at the level he (and TFC) want him to. To connect it even more to Priso, I've felt that Bradley's best games this year (which haven't been many) were the ones where he was paired with the youngster. 

Hell, even Delgado's play has gotten a boost whenever Priso's on the field as Delgado doesn't have to do the dirty work that Priso seems to thrive at.

I guess I interpreted it differently.  When I am critical of Bradley and saying he shouldn’t be getting in the way of playing time for a clearly capable guy like Priso, I am talking about the current iteration of MB.  What he did 5 years ago really doesn’t matter in the context of who should be getting minutes this season.   

[Floortom]

TBH Bradley has been decent this year -much better than last year. Very low on the list of TFC's problems this year.

Clearly Priso needs to play more though and that needs to come at Delgado and Bradley's expense.

[baulderdash77]

Bradley can still play- but he’s not as influential as he used to be.

Objectively it’s clear that Priso is a better midfielder than Bradley as of today.  I’m not taking away what Bradley has done because he was one of the main driving forces behind TFC’s success over the years.

Thats why I think Bradley should be playing as a CB, or coming off the bench for one of the other midfielders. 
 

At this moment our best midfield triangle is Priso, Osorio and Delgado.  The team has to play its best players and Priso has knocked down the door for a starting role.

[BearcatSA]

37 minutes ago, baulderdash77 said:

To me he played that pure 6 role really well and his defensive work rate and distribution basically saved the game for TFC.  

Down the road, maybe even sooner then later, that's the kind of skillset that adds depth and competition even to our already crowded NT midfield.  I hope he continues to feature and impress for the remainder of the season.

[TOcanadafan]

8 minutes ago, Floortom said:

TBH Bradley has been decent this year -much better than last year. Very low on the list of TFC's problems this year.

Clearly Priso needs to play more though and that needs to come at Delgado and Bradley's expense.

I’m not as against playing Bradley as I am with Delgado (back pass, back pass, forward pass giveaway) but I’m in agreement that Bradley should be switched to CB to replace the useless Slomar who again was at fault for the first goal.  TFC also needs to get Okello in the centre midfield (in place of Delgado) to develop a partnership with Priso. 

[Dominic94]

12 minutes ago, TOcanadafan said:

I’m not as against playing Bradley as I am with Delgado (back pass, back pass, forward pass giveaway) but I’m in agreement that Bradley should be switched to CB to replace the useless Slomar who again was at fault for the first goal.  TFC also needs to get Okello in the centre midfield (in place of Delgado) to develop a partnership with Priso. 

Yea that CB pairing is brutal and says a lot that Romeo and Dunn can’t get a shot but those 2 are untouchable… Clearly TFC don’t rate them nor Singh.

 

Also, sky is the limit for Priso, if he finishes the season playing every week and in this form it’s a top 5 league for him.

[TOcanadafan]

48 minutes ago, Dominic94 said:

Yea that CB pairing is brutal and says a lot that Romeo and Dunn can’t get a shot but those 2 are untouchable… Clearly TFC don’t rate them nor Singh.

I think it says more about the TFC management/coaching culture than Romeo, Dunn or Singh.  They have had no ability (and due to their ability to throw money around, no reason) to develop their younger players.

[ag futbol]

2 minutes ago, TOcanadafan said:

I think it says more about the TFC management/coaching culture than Romeo, Dunn or Singh.  They have had no ability (and due to their ability to throw money around, no reason) to develop their younger players.

To be fair, it’s a challenging environment to provide a young CB minutes. You have no leadership in either CB position or at keeper (when Bono is starting) they are very much on their own out there.

Very fair to question the development pathway TFC is laying out but also unlikely that trotting then out on a given weekend is going to be beneficial to the team or player.

[Bison44]

Even now Bradley is twice the player Delgado is.  He lost a few steps last year, and more this year but his game never was speed and he brings a lot to the table offensively.  He cant do the chasing, he cant play twice a week..maybe he shouldnt even play a full 90 most games anymore.  But its Delgado that really needs to make way.  You start to manage Bradleys games/mins, I dont care if hes the captain, but I dont see anything that Delgado does that Priso cant.  They couldnt be in any more different spots, Bradley is fading, Priso is coming on strong.  We have no midweek game coming up, let Bradley take a long look in the mirror and decide how best to help the team win. Priso start next weekend and let Delgado come off the bench.  Everyone suck holes about gifting minutes to young CDN, well I'm sick of gifting minutes to guys that were good 3-4 years ago.  The team can use some spirit, new energy, young legs, nobody should be irreplaceable.

  

[costarg]

13 hours ago, RS said:

Overrated? Bradley’s clearly lost one or two steps this year, but he was arguably the best central midfielder in the league for his first five seasons with TFC.

If one thinks Bradley is still an automatic starter, then yes, he’s overrated. He is no where near the player he was a couple of years ago.  I also question his leadership credentials when the whole team seems better without him out there. It’s like they all bond together to make a statement.