Many years, so would we ... But I cringed tonight with the announcement that "Bradley is starting in centre defence - a position he's never played before"! He did okay though. But the truth is, the defence hasn't gelled - and then double-gutted by injuries.They literally signed extra defenders for the last league match.
Aketxe loaned out to a Spanish club. Good riddance, I say. https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018...ger-aketxe-spanish-2nd-division-side-cadiz-cf
There's have been reports in the Mexican press that Tigres have made an offer for Jozy. This could be an interesting move from @torontofc. Altidore for Enner Valencia & Sosa. #MLS https://t.co/EyQXnoUFXy— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) November 22, 2018 ...and with that, silly season has begun.
Source: https://www.torontofc.ca/post/2018/11/27/toronto-fc-announces-year-end-roster-moves/0 Toronto FC announced Tuesday the following roster moves. Toronto FC has exercised the contract options on goalkeeper Caleb Patterson-Sewell; defenders Ashtone Morgan, Drew Moor, Nick Hagglund, Julian Dunn and midfielders Jay Chapman, Ryan Telfer and Aidan Daniels. Toronto FC has not exercised options on goalkeeper Clint Irwin and forward Tosaint Ricketts. Defender Jason Hernandez and forward Jordan Hamilton will both be out of contract at the end of the year. Hernandez is eligible for free agency. The loan deals for defender Auro Jr. and forward Lucas Janson will both expire on December 31. In addition, Toronto FC has agreed to terminate the contract of midfielder Ager Aketxe by mutual consent.
I'm not surprised by these moves. I wonder if not exercising the option on Irwin means he will be gone or just that they'll bring him back with a more backup goalie level contract. Ricketts I suspect is actually gone. I'll miss seeing him as he did well but it should mean more playing time for Hamilton. Good to see the young Canadians confirmed.
A couple of move made over the past week, picked up DC United mid-fielder Nick DeLeon on re-entry draft and pick up option to buy Auro Jr. https://www.torontofc.ca/post/2018/12/14/toronto-fc-select-nick-deleon-mls-re-entry-draft/1 https://www.torontofc.ca/post/2018/12/17/toronto-fc-exercise-option-buy-auro-jr
Nicholas Martineau of TVA is reporting that Laurent Ciman is in the process of terminating his contract with Dijon in order to sign with TFC. Je peux vous confirmer que le processus de résiliation du contrat de Laurent Ciman à Dijon est en cours. Si tout se passe comme prévu, il se retrouvera à TORONTO. Les documents ne sont pas encore signés alors on doit se garder une petite gêne. #IMFC #TFC— Nicolas A Martineau (@nik_martineau) December 21, 2018
Ciman now confirmed. https://www.torontofc.ca/post/2018/12/27/toronto-fc-select-ciman-top-allocation-ranking/1
Vazquez gone? https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019/01/15/toronto-fc-set-sell-playmaker-victor-vazquez-qatari-club
Looks like it. If they use what they get back for him in transfer fees, and allocation money, this coud be good.. Vasquez is good, but getting older and not as healthy as he was. On the other hand, is this a sign of things to come? Is TFC no longer gonna be a high-spending team. The hiring of Curtis seems to lead that way. We shall see.
Vazquez made $1.5 million last year. Even if they spent that same amount on an equivalent 20 something year old who won't be injured half the season, it would be a good move. I really like Vazquez but it is a business. I don't see it as a sign that TFC is cutting spending.
Hamilton and Endoh are both back: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019/01/16/toronto-fc-re-sign-tsubasa-endoh-and-jordan-Hamilton I'm not sure how they do it but I really wish TFC could find a way to get Hamilton more minutes. He strikes me as the kind of player who could improve himself rapidly and go the Osorio route if he was given the chance.
Nick Hagglund to FC Cincinnati for $250 in allocation money + top spot in the allocation order https://www.torontofc.ca/post/2019/...ney-top-spot-allocation-order-fc-cincinnati/0 The fact that they wanted top spot in the allocation order implies to me that they are planning on bringing somebody in that would need to go through allocation
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/mls/toronto-fc-trade-mls-1.4990547 This addresses the Hagglund/allocation item but also notes that van der Wiel is on the way out after "an altercation with coach Greg Vanney."
Looking over their roster, TFC currently has nine Canadians signed to the firs team. I know that, aside from Osorio, most are not pencilled in as starters but it is encouraging to see many of the young guys coming up and getting a shot. TFC also has ten players (mostly Canadian) on their first team roster that were developed in house. That is also promising for the future. Now we just need to see these types of players jumping from depth players to starters.
shaping up to be a very different looking team this year. Hope the depth doesn't catch up to them with early Concacaf play as a lot of deletions but not many adds as of yet.
Rumours again that Giovinco is on his way out. Kloke in The Athletic reporting, he's back in Toronto. Club saying he's still in L.A. getting treatment for leg injury.
I thought we got off good in the Haggelund deal, Cinni paid over the top for pretty much 4th choice CB. Though Vazquez was great in 2017 at his age and all the injuries he had over last year to get money for him makes sense. Not too disappointed with VdW leaving the club, he wasn't bad player but in hindsight we should of gave Beitashour the raise to keep him. The more this off season drags on it seem this club is gearing more towards tearing this team down then retooling for another run. Disappointing I figure we could get a year or two more let this group take a shot but it seems new GM is stripping and starting all over again.
I also think that MLSE is thinking..."Wait, if we let Seba go next year, we get nothing back. We let him go this year, we can command a fee for him...hmmmm..."
I'd be sad to see Giovinco go. That said, we do need to start rotating our DPs and he's the most expendable of the three. We should be able to replace his production for less than his $7 million salary but replacing his intangible spark on offense (almost as many assists as goals) would be more difficult.
Rumor that TFC is picking up Terrence Boyd from a 2 Bundesliga club, Darmstadt. He is an oft-injured, big body forward that has some caps for the USMNT. Not a whole lot of playing time in past few years. Hopefully, his injuries are behind him as he has ability. With Jozy, Hamilton and Boyd, that is a lot of big bodied forwards.