Re: Tony Taylor signs with GD Estoril-Praia (Portuguese second division) The great Portuguese striker Pauleta cut his teeth there, too, IIRC.
Re: Tony Taylor signs with GD Estoril-Praia (Portuguese second division) im probably beating a dead horse here but i wonder if mls had a reserve league would some of these younger guys give the league more of a thought.
Re: Tony Taylor signs with GD Estoril-Praia (Portuguese second division) These sorts of signings are always a bit strange. I understand when sub-MLS-caliber guys go to obscure leagues to keep the dream alive, so to speak, and I understand when players bypass MLS for similar quality but higher-paying leagues. Taylor was a member of the U-20 team and probably could have gotten an MLS deal, which would have allowed him to play in a higher-quality league and I can't imagine he's being paid more in the Liga de Honra. Some guys just want to play in Europe, I guess. Estoril-Praia's stadium:
Re: Tony Taylor signs with GD Estoril-Praia (Portuguese second division) I'll hold off making a judgement to whether this is or isn't a good for him. I simply don't know. I definitely understand the reservations you have because I share the same. Traffic is kinda quirky in their dealings and associations. That can be a good thing or a bad that. it has yet to be determined, honestly. The thing is Traffic may own his contract and may be loaning him out. Traffic may pay his salary which might be higher than what he could get with MLS. This club has some association with Traffic, so on their end it might be a low risk pickup. GD Estoril-Praia aren't out any money if he fails to impress. if he does impress they can buy Tony outright or Traffic could use the "loan" as a shop window for other clubs. I'm eager to hear how this deal is structured. BTW, the club is sitting within reach of promotion, FWIW.
Re: Tony Taylor signs with GD Estoril-Praia (Portuguese second division) I wasn't going to be the first to express my doubts about this move. These type of moves annoy the hell out of me. Nyarko, White, Shea, Pontius, etc all got plenty of playing time while Husidic, Marosevic, and others are poised for even more time heading into their second seasons. I know Taylor wants to be like his predecessors, but they all went to better teams in better leagues: Tracy - Aalborg Grella - Leeds United Arnoux - Everton Davies - Hammarby; not necessarily in a better league, but it is a first division Like someone else said "some guys just want to play in Europe." I hated to see Zimmerman toil away in a lesser league simply to play in Europe. I guarantee that MLS would have paid Taylor plenty more than a 2nd division team in Portugal would, so playing on a weak team in a weak league for not getting paid more just does not make sense to me. Not to mention, Taylor's style fits MLS so well. The guy is so fast and should have looked to Nyarko as a young player to emulate.
Re: Tony Taylor signs with GD Estoril-Praia Taylor's probably getting paid as much or more than he would in MLS and it is easier to be seen by European scouts when you are in Europe, which is probably the biggest reason why he wanted to start overseas.
Re: Tony Taylor signs with GD Estoril-Praia Hard to know, but Taylor would most likely have been Generation Adidas with MLS. Therefore, he would have gotten a better salary than your run-of-the-mill MLS draftee. I'd guess that a 1st year professional at a second division Portuguese side isn't getting a ton of money. I'd be confident in saying that it wouldn't be enough of a difference for it to be the deciding factor. Remember that (as the announcing article states).......Estoril is an affiliate of Miami FC. What their exact relationship is, I don't know. But it smacks of Traffic not being able to find a place for him, so they shipped him off to their sister club. Taylor went with Traffic, because he wanted to go to Europe. Great, I love the ambition. But consider me underwhelmed by Estoril. The only possible benefit would be that he feels like he'd get more playing time at Estoril than as a first year MLS player. That's "To Be Determined."
Re: Tony Taylor signs with GD Estoril-Praia Eh. He's playing pro soccer in a beautiful country. Enough money to live on well probably. It's at a level where he should be playing a decent amount in a year or two, and he can easily move on to bigger pastures if he is successful. Not a shabby situation at all.
Re: Tony Taylor signs with GD Estoril-Praia Traffic owns Miami FC and manages Estoril FC. I don't believe they own Estoril FC but I could be wrong. Anyway, maybe they couldn't find a place for him. But also, maybe they sent him to Estoril to get some playing time and get noticed. If Taylor helps them to promotion, it will be even better. With Tony at Estoril, he's still a Traffic asset. If he gets any type of interest, they will be very quick to sell him. That is the nature of their business, afterall. My take on Tony is that it is possible for him to become a decent player but he has some serious fundamental holes in his game. These holes are the type that needed to be corrected a long time ago but they never were and even at 20 years old, it will be tough. While Tony gets compared to Charlie Davies, he's much closer to Johan Smith than Charlie Davies. Speedy but flawed. I would love for him to prove me wrong.
Re: Tony Taylor signs with GD Estoril-Praia The quality is so bad there. Just ask Freddy Adu who's getting shafted again.
Re: Tony Taylor signs with GD Estoril-Praia Another thing is we aren't even sure there is going to be an NASL season next year. While Estoril are smack in the middle of their's.
Re: Tony Taylor signs with GD Estoril-Praia I only heard about this one yesterday, is he really promising? because with Lulinha and Henry Antchouet in the front is going to be really hard for him to get playing time.
Re: Tony Taylor signs with GD Estoril-Praia He looks like he has some real ability -- nice speed and can beat the first defender with ease. It'll probably take him a while to adjust to the pro game, but he has some qualities that remind me of Donovan (though not at the same level, and not at the same age).
Re: Tony Taylor signs with GD Estoril-Praia Right now he is more of an athlete than a soccer player. He had some decent touches in the U20 World Cup, but mainly he was just trying to use his speed anywhere and everywhere. He also missed more chances in that tournament than the rest of the US team combined. He's a project, but its hard to tell how high his ceiling is at this point.
Re: Tony Taylor signs with GD Estoril-Praia Should this mean the "quality is so good there"? Or is it so bad that Freddy wouldn't stoop so low as to kick the ball in anger in such a league?
Re: Tony Taylor signs with GD Estoril-Praia I was simply saying that Freddy has a first hand account of just how bad the quality is in Portugal. I was making no argument whatsoever about the quality of Freddy Adu nor his situations(s) in Portugal.
Re: Tony Taylor signs with GD Estoril-Praia You're confusing the quality of ball offered by a very poor (both financially and qualitatively) club like Belensenses and training that a youngster may get there. Basically, a poor club can't keep its talent but, if it develops it, it can capitalize on it. People for years have been extolling the youth system at Crewe Alexandra, with its graduates like Dean Ashton, David Platt, Danny Murphy, Neil Lennon, et al. But the club itself is in League Two now, which is way lower than Belensenses. But if your kid has an invite to train there, one should probably take an advantage of it.
Re: Tony Taylor signs with GD Estoril-Praia Is that in response to what I said? If so then its very weird and confusing.
Re: Tony Taylor signs with GD Estoril-Praia Then let others decipher it for you. Моя работа тут кончена.
Re: Tony Taylor signs with GD Estoril-Praia Lets see, you make a statement pertaining to something I didn't say, and then you want to make a smartass comment? I never said anything about Taylor's development or Portugal's ability to develop players. I made a comment about the quality in that league, which is horrible. After the top 5 or 6 teams, they're nothing more than MLS quality, and some are worse. Without Porto, Sporting, and Benfica, their reputation would be much much much worse. And then you bring up a club like Crewe, which actually made my point as much as yours. Since I made a comment about quality and not development, I don't really care about the developing of players. I really disagree with Taylor going to a second-division team below a league that is already extremely weak, and talking about a 4th division team developing players speaks even more to the miserable quality of Portugese teams.
Re: Tony Taylor signs with GD Estoril-Praia Tony Taylor has received his clearance to play for Estoril as of Friday of last week. Since the GD Estoril Praia website is still under construction you can visit this blog for current info: http://gdestorilpraia.blogspot.com/
Re: Tony Taylor signs with GD Estoril-Praia I love obscure YAs. "Toni" Taylor made the bench for Estoril's 0-2 loss vs Gil Vicente but did not get in the game. http://www.lpfp.pt/liga_vitalis/pages/jogo.aspx?epoca=20092010&jornada=24&jogo=6115
Re: Tony Taylor signs with GD Estoril-Praia http://www.lpfp.pt/liga_vitalis/pages/jogador.aspx?epoca=20092010&clube=estoril&jogador=3494 His total minutes are steady at zero.