Kyle McCarthy via a league source says former Dallas midfielder and MLS All-Star Juan Toja is returning to the league. He will go through the allocation order where the Revs have first dibs. McCarthy says Revs will undoubtedly select him with roster deadline looming. https://twitter.com/kylejmccarthy/status/238740627947409408
If this is true, then well done Burns & Co. I'll gladly eat my words about the Robles situation. Although with these scenarios you never really know whether or not they had inside information, were just being patient, or just lucked out. Regardless, I'm pumped about this. Also, what does this mean for Benny? I'd like to see out the rest of the season with our current roster (not making any trades) but if Toja can perform I'd gladly move Benny for a quality winger, center back, or outside back.
This will be interesting to see if they keep him or trade him. IF they keep him, somebody is going on the trade block
Just saw this on Twitter & excited me. I loved watching him play back when he was at Dallas... A midfield with Nguyen, Feilhaber, & Toja would flat out be fun to watch. Hopefully it happens. We'll have to see though..
Toja played primarily as a left winger with Dallas. I could see ---------------Bengtson------------- Toja----------Feilhaber--------Nguyen ----------Simms-------Guy ---------------Bengtson------------- Toja----Cardenas---Feilhaber--Nguyen ----------------Simms---------------- ---------Bengtson------Sene------------- Toja-------Simms-----Feilhaber---Nguyen ------------Bengtson---------------------- ----------------------Nguyen-------------- Toja-----------------------------------Sene -------------Feilhaber--------------------- ----------------------Simms---------------- All this leads me to believe we should trade one of our CAMs(Benny,Cardenas,Rowe) for a ST,CDM,LB,CB sign two more of those positions internationally and fill another one of those with our high draft pick.
I'm not sure how much credit Burns et al deserve. It helps in making these decisions to have inside information. I suspect there is a lot of chatter from MLS HQ about who might or might not he heading home. They were sitting in the #1 slot and had a reasonable expectation something of value would drop in their lap.
I agree. This was basically their last chance to use their allocation spot. Another free player. I always liked Toja though. I remember Feldman raving about him back in the day when the Revs were contenders. I can't believe he is only 27. I hope the Revs hold onto him. It worked for Spain! Benny, IMO, makes the most sense in a trade situation. I don't think anyone would want Cardenas, and Rowe has too much potential. Only thing holding back a Benny deal would be his salary... of course a more committed ownership would probably just make him a DP. I wonder what we could get in return for him?
Potential trade targets for Feilhaber with certain teams probably having to eat salary (Revs or otherwise): DC - Hamdi Salihi DC - Lionard Pajoy DC - Maicon Santos SEA - David Estrada KC - CJ Sapong LA - Edson Buddle Not to hijack, but what if a Rowe for Wenger opportunity presented itself?
I think it is highly unlikely. Rowe has kind of been the least impressive of the top 3 picks (if that even makes any sense) That being said, I think a young, domestic, striker with lots of potential is a fundamental building block for any rebuilding team - or any MLS team that wants to be successful.
From what I can tell he has 4 goals and 6 assists in the 87 or so appearances he's made since leaving FC Dallas. Last season he had just 1 goal in 14 appearances for Aris. He had a good season in MLS and he's the right age, but he doesn't fill any of our main needs and he hasn't seemed to have improved much since leaving MLS. I think he played exclusively in the middle for Aris, either as a box to box CM or an ACM. I'm going to hold off on evaluating this signing until he suits up for the Revs or we trade him away, seems pretty 50/50% to me.
He's a winger as much of a winger as Nguyen or Benny is. They're all attacking midfielders, not really wingers. I see Benny being the odd man out.
No way. We should play a 4-3-3. We need 3 starting attacking midfielders/wingers to play it. -------------Bengtson------------ Toja-------------------------Sene -------------------Nguyen------- ---------Feilhaber---------------- ---------------Simms------------- Can't go wrong. All we need in the off season is another striker (to push Bengtson) and a back four.
I like it, particularly if this is [Bradvoice] last chance saloon[/Bradvoice] for the Revs WRT the allocations for this season. We know that JH likes the total football approach - the midfield position switching has been one of the bright spots this year. We also know that if there is one thing the team absolutely needs, it's something which Toja has (as well as Nguyen and Feilhaber), and Rowe, Cardenas, and Simms do not have, and that is a tactical clue. I even think that Feilhaber might be rejuvenated by having a partner who had already passed midfield 101. I think the midfield of Nguyen, Feilhaber, Toja, and Rowe/Cardenas would be dynamite. As far as the multiple other roster deficiencies go, that's a problem for another day. If any team in the league should welcome the bird in hand, it's this one.
Of those formations I quoted the one that's most likely to happen under Heaps. It's clear that Heaps envisions Nguyen at CAM with Benny and Simms paired at d-mid, which is a recipe for failure considering Benny is anything but an effective holding mid. This season has show Benny needs to play at attacking mid or he's not very effective. What I think will happen: Heaps will trade Benny, Toja will play left mid, Nguyen will play at CAM and we will see Blair Gavin (if he can get healthy) partner Simms in the midfield next season.
I completely disagree. The reason this team is failing when it comes to attack is poor movement. Having a player as talented as Benny at holding mid only works when the team moves well. Everyone's always so quick to blame the man with the ball. What about the other 10 guys wearing blue? Are they making runs? Are they making themselves options? Benny's passing can only be as good as his teammates' runs.
You have to take him. I want to assume the reason we passed on Robles is because we knew Toja was coming, but that's too neat. Take Toja, see what he'd fetch in the trade market, and if it's not a stunning return, keep him. Period.
Yes, off the ball runs are HUGELY important. HUGE. But Benny Feilhaber is the dependent variable. Benny is the constant pulling the strings of the offense the past 2 years yet was more effective under Nicol while the 2011 team around him was worse talent-wise than 2012. Would you agree with this? In terms of movement: are you suggesting the 2011 forward corps of Lekic and Schilawski made better off the ball runs than Sene/Bengtson/Brettschneider/Moreno? Would love to see your evidence of this because that was my biggest criticism of those 2 guys, they hardly moved without the ball. I strongly doubt a lack of movement is what's holding this offense back; it's the tactics. It's a function of playing Benny deeper, where he's far less effective passing the ball and doesn't play much defense.
Signing with MLS is official: Ex-All-Star Toja signs MLS deal, to be assigned via allocation August 23, 2012 Simon Borg MLSsoccer.com The fact that he hasn't already been assigned to the Revs leads me to believe he will be traded.
Trade him to Colorado for Larentowicz. Trade him to Dallas for Brek Shea, Danny Hernandez and Danny's wheelchair.
Juan Toja is a good player. The Revs are in 2nd to last place. We need more good players. Therefore we pick Juan Toja and don't trade him unless we can rob someone blind (All Star center back or All Star left back). It's as simple as that to me. How will Toja fit? I could see Toja-Bengston-Sene ----Benny-Nguyen-- ------Simms------- being a great front six. Rowe, Guy and Cardenas off the bench/used for depth, that's pretty solid.
Supposedly he didn't leave Dallas on the best terms. Not sure why, but it's something I recently read when there were talks of him returning. There's no doubt that the Revs will pick him, the only question that remains is whether or not they'll trade him.