Settle down folks ... It's not like TFC didn't lose useful players that needed replacing. Beitashour, Edwards, Cheyrou, Cooper ... You could argue that Van Der Wiel is a solid replacement for Beitashour ... even an upgrade. But let's see it first before we jump to that conclusion. He's only played 16 games since he left PSG in May 2016. As for players like Auro and Aketxe, they're not exactly proven at this level. I'm not ready to assume that they're upgrades over the outgoing players I mentioned.
I think VDW has to be an upgrade on Beita. Has he played a lot lately? No, but Victor Vasquez didn't have a great time in Mexico before coming to TFC and look how that worked out. He also is offensively minded. Beita didn't help the attack. Cooper was absolute trash last year and was mostly glued to the bench. He was good the year before though. Cheyrou was another bench guy who was there for leadership. Edwards was a nice left sided option, but not a starter. Aketxe hasn't played much lately, but being on the books of Bilbao speaks to his quality. Likewise, Auro has proven quality. Bill Manning said in an interview that TFC dont rebuild, they reload, always looking 3 years down the road. Aketxe and Auro are both young players with a view to the future. I don't know how anyone can look at this years' roster and think it's not an improvement over last year. Additionally these moves made the team younger. Edwards is the only young player they lost.
FYI ... Cooper landed at U de Chile, and he's going to the WC. Not sure why Aketxe is supposed to be a slam dunk upgrade. Van Der Wiel played 16 games in the last 18 months. I'm not saying he can't be an upgrade over Beitashour, but you can't jump to that conclusion when the guy is coming here with so much rust. As for Auro being an upgrade over Raheem Edwards? Again, I'm not sure what this is based on. A guy that spent much of the last couple of seasons loaned out in Brazil's lower leagues is mostly an unknown. Edwards was a known quantity who made 27 appearances last season across all competitions. Not saying it's impossible, but I don't see enough evidence for slam dunk upgrade. Now, of course ... we're talking about peripheral players here. The title winning core is back. They're still favored to win the East. I just think the whole "do you fear us now" nonsense is a bit overboard. It's basically the same team from last year with a small reshuffling of depth players ... which is normal for a title winning team.
Cooper and Cheroyu both played deeper in the midfield than Aketxe has ever played. Best I can tell he has primarily been a CAM that can be deployed out left in a pinch. I believe he is basically a player that can let them rest Giovinco and Vazquez and not see as much of a drop-off as their current options at that spot would be. Cooper and Cheroyu's time is likely to be given to Chapman and Hasler (who played out right a lot for TFC last year but also played a lot centrally in Switzerland). Auro actually should allow them to use Hasler in the middle since he will fill in that slot at RWB when van der Wiel isn't starting. The question is whether or not Auro is an upgrade over Alseth, who got minutes last year at RB when things were tight. The biggest question mark right now is who fills Edwards role out left. Osorio isn't the same player out left in a 3-5-2 as Edwards was and I don't think anyone else could be a Morrow back-up in that 3-5-2. Course they could just flip to a 4-4-2 and use Morgan or Mavinga as a straight left back. One thing Vanney has shown is he can change things up tacticially to get results. But the more important thing in all of this isn't the "do you fear TFC" thing, but the fact that for the first time you can actually debate if the best team (by far) from the previous MLS season is even better and deeper the next year. We are typically looking at what sort of drop-off we are expecting. The fact that we are asking if 3 of the top 4 seeds in the East last year are better and deeper than they were last year is slightly ridiculous when you look at the history of MLS.
A common mistake people make in offseasons is only focusing on the incoming side of the table. In reality, it's a bit early to give a final offseason verdict. Virtually every team will add at least another body or two before first kick. And of course the addition of players is ongoing even after the season starts. But if I look at the offseason tally as it stands today, I see 8 clubs that have already upgraded their rosters from where they were at the end of last season. Colorado, Real Salt Lake, LA Galaxy, Portland, Atlanta, Orlando, Red Bull and Sporting Kansas City. Minnesota is just about breaking even. DC United, Columbus, NYCFC and Dallas are there or thereabouts. I expect Philadelphia, Toronto, Seattle and Montreal to get in the black by first kick. The two clubs that stand out to me as clearly regressing are Chicago and San Jose. Chicago lost a bunch of bodies, including 4 starters and they've only made one notable signing. San Jose has been a little more active with incoming players, but I'm really not feeling it at all. Houston, Vancouver and New England are disappointing too. Another thing to note is that improvement/regression is a small part of the overall story. The important thing to note is each team's starting point. For example for Colorado to improve their roster is a pretty low bar. And Toronto breaking even probably still keeps them as the best team in the league.
. @Wolves forward Joe Mason, 26, close to reaching deal to join @ColoradoRapids on loan. 42 goals in English Championship since 2009. Former teammate Jack Price signed at Colorado last month. #wwfc #mls— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) February 18, 2018
Well, they'll get a chance next Tuesday. Assuming they're not all icicles by the end of the match this Tuesday... <Edit: 2 degrees Fahrenheit at kickoff? What is Concacaf thinking!?>
Not strictly MLS, but he was an MLS player... We have a Jack McInerney sighting. He has signed with @IndyEleven.— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) February 19, 2018 Thx, Jay! And another... Veteran defender Chris Wingert has announced his retirement from @MLS. Spent most of his career with RSL, but got to know him a bit while at #NYCFC. Class act. #MLS— Matt Reed (@MattReedFutbol) February 19, 2018
Anthony Hudson just announced in his CCL press conference that the Rapids have signed Joe Mason (likely on loan based on rumors) and former Salt Lake midfielder Enzo Martinez, who's been with Charlotte, Colorado's USL affiliate, the last couple of years. Martinez has been in camp with the Rapids since it opened and by all reports has impressed.
Maybe, just maybe, Orlando has fixed their central defense. 965672787221340160 is not a valid tweet id Sane was a starter last year for Bremen and was still seeing time this year. He apparently missed training because of the flu without permission from the staff and was dropped as a response. Also, from this article it says that Auro (TFC's loan signing) turned down an offer from a mid-table LaLiga side to join TFC.
Well.. You definitely can't say that Orlando hasn't done some serious work on their roster.. If they do end up failing, Kreis definitely has no one to blame but himself..
I know I'll catch flak from Atlanta fans, but for me it is a toss-up between Orlando and Galaxy as to the team that has had the best off-season. Orlando has added a Bundesliga caliber centerback to play alongside Spector and brought in an Egyptian-American to serve as a back-up with Aja. They added depth with RJ Allen at right back (he ain't going to be a best XI RB but he has shown to be capable enough to be a good back-up). They are a little weaker at LB unless El-Munir shows well, but Donny Toia has been passable at LB and it is a normal weak spot in MLS. They add Rosell to pair with Yotun and added the back to back assist leader in MLS to the midfield as well. Then they added a left winger in Meram that has 18 goals and 16 assists in the past two years as well as a 19 year old Paraguayan that has been a starter and has upside. They have upgraded in at least 5 spots and most of the spots they didn't upgrade were already pretty damn good. The Galaxy on the other hand added a keeper in Bingham that is better than what they had last year and has probably upgraded two of the spots along the backline. They got Kitchen that, even if I'm a bit down on him in general, is an upgrade and they traded away Zardes, that didn't fit the system as a forward, for Kamara, who has 34 goals in 59 MLS games (Zardes has that many in 131). Their big question isn't so much will the pieces they brought in work out, but can the Dos Santos brothers be effective. Special acknowledgement goes to DC for being interesting as well. Don't think they have done enough on the defensive side but they are an interesting bunch on the offensive side.
Getting word Red Bulls and Whitecaps are in trade talks.Felipe Martins and Tim Parker involved? Just a rumor at moment ...#mls— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) February 19, 2018 Not that Steve's reporting needs my confirmation, but I'm being told the same. Multiple sources say New York have been looking to move Felipe, have shopped him around the league. Parker wants a new deal, unhappy with what Vancouver have offered. https://t.co/DR7d9lIx3o— Sam Stejskal (@samstejskal) February 20, 2018