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Let's start with the obvious. Sebastian Giovinco will be missed. Mostly by Toronto fans, but also by MLS fans in general. The little Italian thrilled fans for four seasons, scoring 73 league goals, many of them of the jaw dropping variety. He also won. Three Voyageurs Cups and a Supporters Shield were the appetizer to the ultimate prize. The 2017 MLS Cup championship. Dream stuff for long-time TFC fans who lived through a lot of bad football to get to that day. He was a Bloody Big Deal. And, now he's gone. Not with a bang, but rather a pout. Walking out the door in the middle of the night with an Instagram post that thanked the fans and accused the ownership of cheaping out, no longer caring about the results on the pitch. It's a time honoured strategy of players. A Blame the suits move. They're the bad guys that don't care about you little guys in the stands. Make sure to come out for my autograph signing in 2023. Only $50 for a photo! Let's be clear. Giovinco has every right to chase the paycheque. I wouldn't turn down $30m and neither would you. But, that's what's happening. Had TFC offered Giovinco the same number he'd be perfectly OK with ownership's commitment to winning. It was their evaluation of his worth that informed his opinion. This was always going to happen. This was a player that left Juventus to join TFC, effectively ending his chance at playing internationally again. If he was driven by glory he signs a cheaper deal with a Sassuolo, Chievo or Genoa, rips it up, and has 20 more caps for Italy by now. No one dreams of leaving Juve for Toronto. You only leave Juve for two reasons: for money or opportunity to advance your career further. Unless Giovinco thought his agent had misspelled Torino when he sent the offer to him he was coming to Toronto for the money. And, he's leaving Toronto for the same reason. It was always going to end this way. In terms of the football, it's going to be difficult for Toronto fans to critically evaluate whether it was right for Toronto to let him walk. Should they have matched the Saudi offer and let Giovinco retire as a TFC player? Well, he's 32. It's pretty much universally understood that attacking player's peak years are between 23 and 31. The decline after that can be sharp. So, Giovinco is, statistically speaking, past his prime years. There are outliers though. Is Giovinco trending upwards? His stats over last four years: 2015 -- age 28, 34 app, 22 goals, 13 assists 2016 -- age 29, 34 app, 21 goals, 16 assists 2017 -- age 30, 29 app, 17 goals, 7 assists 2018 -- age 31, 28 app, 13 goals, 7 assists His appearances, goals and assists figure has dropped each of the last two seasons. Doesn't seem to be out of line with statistical norms. If his production drops the same percentage this year as it did between 2017 and 2018 he would end up with between 9 and 10 goals in 2019. That's a quality MLS forward, but not a DP and certainly not a $10m a year DP. Of course it's also 10 goals TFC is going to need to replace. That's the other side of this move and one that can't be evaluated until it happens. But, by making the move today they have the DP space and money to start that process in the summer, which is generally when MLS teams make their big moves. -
Let's start with the obvious. Sebastian Giovinco will be missed. Mostly by Toronto fans, but also by MLS fans in general. The little Italian thrilled fans for four seasons, scoring 73 league goals, many of them of the jaw dropping variety. He also won. Three Voyageurs Cups and a Supporters Shield were the appetizer to the ultimate prize. The 2017 MLS Cup championship. Dream stuff for long-time TFC fans who lived through a lot of bad football to get to that day. He was a Bloody Big Deal. And, now he's gone. Not with a bang, but rather a pout. Walking out the door in the middle of the night with an Instagram post that thanked the fans and accused the ownership of cheaping out, no longer caring about the results on the pitch. It's a time honoured strategy of players. A Blame the suits move. They're the bad guys that don't care about you little guys in the stands. Make sure to come out for my autograph signing in 2023. Only $50 for a photo! Let's be clear. Giovinco has every right to chase the paycheque. I wouldn't turn down $30m and neither would you. But, that's what's happening. Had TFC offered Giovinco the same number he'd be perfectly OK with ownership's commitment to winning. It was their evaluation of his worth that informed his opinion. This was always going to happen. This was a player that left Juventus to join TFC, effectively ending his chance at playing internationally again. If he was driven by glory he signs a cheaper deal with a Sassuolo, Chievo or Genoa, rips it up, and has 20 more caps for Italy by now. No one dreams of leaving Juve for Toronto. You only leave Juve for two reasons: for money or opportunity to advance your career further. Unless Giovinco thought his agent had misspelled Torino when he sent the offer to him he was coming to Toronto for the money. And, he's leaving Toronto for the same reason. It was always going to end this way. In terms of the football, it's going to be difficult for Toronto fans to critically evaluate whether it was right for Toronto to let him walk. Should they have matched the Saudi offer and let Giovinco retire as a TFC player? Well, he's 32. It's pretty much universally understood that attacking player's peak years are between 23 and 31. The decline after that can be sharp. So, Giovinco is, statistically speaking, past his prime years. There are outliers though. Is Giovinco trending upwards? His stats over last four years: 2015 -- age 28, 34 app, 22 goals, 13 assists 2016 -- age 29, 34 app, 21 goals, 16 assists 2017 -- age 30, 29 app, 17 goals, 7 assists 2018 -- age 31, 28 app, 13 goals, 7 assists His appearances, goals and assists figure has dropped each of the last two seasons. Doesn't seem to be out of line with statistical norms. If his production drops the same percentage this year as it did between 2017 and 2018 he would end up with between 9 and 10 goals in 2019. That's a quality MLS forward, but not a DP and certainly not a $10m a year DP. Of course it's also 10 goals TFC is going to need to replace. That's the other side of this move and one that can't be evaluated until it happens. But, by making the move today they have the DP space and money to start that process in the summer, which is generally when MLS teams make their big moves. View full record
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Sebastian Giovinco 2015 Landon Donovan MVP Award Winner Press Conference
Guest posted a article in 24th Minute
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The two big off season acquisitions of Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore connected to help Toronto FC rally to defeat the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 at BC Place on Saturday. The match highlighted what both squads’ new designated players were capable of. Whitecaps DP Octavio Rivero made his presence felt in his debut when he nearly scored in the ninth minute. But the Uruguayan missed the tap in from less than six yards from the net. Rivero bounced back ten minutes later by making the most of the space left by Toronto’s high back line. Defender Pa Modou Kah sent a long ball to the left flank for Rivero who needed just two touches before slotting it past keeper Joe Bendik. Vancouver controlled the pace for most of the first half and left Toronto looking slow in defense. TFC’s back line played high which gave the Whitecaps plenty of space in transition and a handful of solid scoring chances off the break. Offensively, the Reds had a difficult time of creating opportunities the final third and found themselves knocked off the ball. In the 32nd minute TFC were able to string together a sequence of clean touches in pursuit of an equalizer. Jonathan Osorio fended off fellow Canadian International Russel Teibert and slipped the ball to Giovinco. The Italian threaded a pass, which appeared to be intended for Robert Findlay, through three Whitecaps. However Findlay lost his footing which created space for Altidore to run in. The American stepped by keeper David Ousted, and knocked off a right footed shot to the bottom left of the goal. Despite the scoreline at the half, Toronto FC appeared badly out-paced. The pace of the match changed considerably in the second half in favour of the Reds as Vancouver wasn't able to break out in transition as easily as it had during the first 45. Toronto took advantage of the swing in momentum in the 59th minute. Bradley sent a ball from just inside the defending half to Benoit Cheyrou up the middle. Cheyrou found Brandon Morrow on the run on the left flank. He sent a low cross to Findlay who crept behind the Whitecaps defense to score from close range. The Whitecaps threatening presence from the first half seemed to have disappeared. In the 89th minute substitute Collen Warner fed a long range pass to the top of the box for Altidore who was hauled down in front of the net by Kah. The Gambian was shown yellow for his challenge and TFC were awarded a penalty shot. Altidore stepped up and converted a cheeky chip straight down the middle from the spot over Ousted for his second of the contest, matching his total during his time at Sunderland. This is Toronto FC’s first MLS regular season win at BC Place. Toronto continue its seven game road swing March 14th against the Columbus Crew.
