Toronto FC: Toronto FC/Canada Soccer Discussion (2022 Edition) - Italy Edition

[fancy lad]

so much to dissect and ponder these last couple weeks.

I don't know why they are playing as shitty as they are. Westberg WAS a good goalie - especially when it came to reflex shot stopping. That was one thing i could never fault him for.... but looking at the highlites of that game, i don't even know what to say. Bono might have been a better option and that says a lot.

i still think Mavinga is a very good defender at the MLS level. I don't know why he didn't play, but he's still one of the keepers on this sqaud.

I have no issues with the attacking players. The italians are awesome and i still like Jimenez despite his huge lack of confidence.

Midfield is yikes. Although i still think Bradley jr. is far from the biggest problem on this team.

who in their right mind thought it would be such a good idea to play so many fresh faces by literally throwing them into the fire when they were nowhere near ready for this level. It's one thing to bring on a couple young players as late subs and ease them in.... that's how it should be done, but to start all these kids.. That's f***ing horrible man. Shame on Manning to think that roster was good enough at the start of the season. ESPECIALLY when he was working on bringing in superstars later. An idiot like myself saw that team on paper and i already knew it was a bad idea... and Manning is a professional soccer general manager. It's such a shitty look to have such a talent gap on the team. I don't know if Bradley had a hand in building the team (i can never be sure if they use more of a north american GM system or if the manager has a bigger say in player recruitment).... i just don't know anything when it comes to Bradley. Should he be given anopther chance? probably... He's had some good years as an MLS manager but he's old as f***, and it looks like the game is passing him by. God his tenure at Swansea was a complete fail... i can remember that.

 

[robertmac43]

If anyone wants a fun, free night of footie!

 

[hockeywiz542]

Jozy Altidore on his World Cup chances, Liga MX vs. MLS and more

After three years away from the USMNT, Altidore accepts his World Cup chances are slim, but he remains willing to return

theathletic.com

The end to his time in Toronto was controversial and laced with internal disagreements. Altidore was separated from first-team activities in May of 2021 by then head coach Chris Armas and general manager Ali Curtis. According to reports, the decision was made following an on-field dispute with Armas. But during an appearance on The Crack Podcast in January, which is hosted by Mabricio Wilson and former USMNT internationals DaMarcus Beasley and Oguchi Onyewu, Altidore revealed part of what led to him falling out with Armas.

“I said something to (Armas) maybe that I should’ve said in a different way,” Altidore said on the podcast. “But what I said was right. I’ll always look out for the team first and I said something to him that I thought was important to the team.”

Altidore now says that his remarks to Armas stemmed from “certain individuals who were treating young players in the wrong way.” Altidore understood that confronting said individuals would carry its own repercussions.

“I’m not going to watch those things, especially when these kids try and give their everything,” he adds. “They come with the right attitude. They may not always do the right thing. They may not always make the right pass or tackle, but the intention, the right intent is there. And so I just recognized that.”

“I had to say something. At the end of the day I don’t regret it,” he says. “We did so many special things together, but there comes a point in this game and in anything in life, when you’re young you kind of have to just eat it. But sometimes when you see something that’s not right for the young players and it’s not fair, you’re at that point when you have to do it. And if you don’t do it, what example do you set for them? I understand that you have to pay your dues, but wrong is wrong.”

Altidore doesn’t elaborate when asked whether said individuals were part of Armas’ staff or first-team players.

“I don’t want to mess with anyone like that,” he says. “I love Toronto. It’s my heart of a club. S— happens, that’s all you can say. And I’ll just leave it there.”

From the outside, Altidore appeared to have become a problem inside the locker room. He denies this, saying instead that throughout his career, he has never had any issues with his teammates. Altidore acknowledges, however, that perhaps he’s misunderstood. That there’s a version of himself that the public sees and forms an opinion about, and then there’s the friend, teammate and leader that he truly is.

“You can read about things, different types of things, but I’ve never done something where my teammates would say ‘that’s wrong,’” says Altidore. “Anything I’ve ever done I’ve had the backing of my teammates. That’s what helps me sleep at night.”

 

[CabanaBoy5]

To add some context to how horrific our defence has been, if the team allows 4 goals tonight, it will be the only team in MLS history to do that in four consecutive games. Historically bad defence. Major changes are in order. Keep the three Italians, ditch virtually everyone else.

 

[robertmac43]

Sucks he won't get the send off he deserves.

 

[hockeywiz542]

Toronto's Insigne sets MLS record with $14 million salary

BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — Toronto winger Lorenzo Insigne set a Major League Soccer record with $14 million salary when he joined the team from Napoli last summer, according to the league's players' association.

apnews.com

 

[fancy lad]

Yeah I saw the insigne salart earlier today compared to some other Toronto star players.

Apparently pascal siakim makes $35 million per year that fact alone might make me stop watching the NBA. (that’s insane and quite frankly I don’t want to support something so absurd).

also I was going to mention TFC have no intent to bring back either keeper. Very interested to see who they target. I think it would be foolish to go after a DP keeper, but we’ll see.

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[Mathew]

Well rip Montreal i doubt they tie this game or win it but well played by the boys 6 Canadians in line up 1 from cpl 2 you devlop your self. They made 2nd second place and had a great run this season. I hope we follow their example f*** bringing in top players let's focus on are own Canadian kids its about are future and developing and winning a world cup not a random soccer league

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Time to do to Soccer Canada what was done to Hockey Canada .. fire all da board lawyers .. and then elect some new lawyers who are not tainted .. looks like Eagleson days at Soccer Canada to me LOL

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[TMLeafer]

Really sucks that the ugly side of the association is coming to light when the on field teams are at their peak.

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[hockeywiz542]

MLS faces race against time to build broadcast operation ahead of Apple TV deal

An inside look at the logistics, hiring, and building that needs to happen ahead of MLS bringing all game production in-house

theathletic.com

It’s now been more than four months since MLS and Apple agreed to a groundbreaking new media rights deal that will see the tech giant broadcast every single one of the league’s matches for the next 10 seasons. However, little is publicly known about what games will actually look like once they begin airing on the Apple TV streaming service next February.

We know that many matches will live behind a paywall, with Apple set to charge a yet-to-be-announced amount for access to every contest. We know that almost all of the games will fall on select Wednesday and Saturday nights, with exceptions carved out as needed due to stadium availability and linear broadcast windows dictated by ESPN, Fox, Univision or other partners with whom the league is still attempting to hammer out simulcast agreements. We know that every match will be broadcast in English and Spanish, and that a number of games will be broadcast in French. We know that none of the games will be blacked out — except Leagues Cup games for fans located in Mexico — and that they’ll all be available in a huge number of countries around the world.

There are also a lot of unknowns. We don’t know who will actually be calling the matches. We don’t know which play-by-play announcers will be paired with which color commentators. We don’t know who will be anchoring studio coverage, which the league has said will include pregame, halftime and postgame shows and a Saturday night whiparound show. Nor has the league, which will handle production for all the games, announced anything about who will run the actual broadcasts.

The Athletic spoke over the last week to more than a dozen industry sources about those and many other questions in an attempt to piece together some of the details of what the $2.5 billion partnership between MLS and Apple will actually look like in 2023. The sources were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the still-developing plans.

According to their characterizations, there’s still a lot of work left to do, particularly from a technical standpoint. One well-placed industry source expressed confidence that the league will have everything sorted out by the time next season opens on Feb. 25, 2023, but that the process of getting there will be hugely difficult and taxing for those involved. MLS is already nine to 12 months behind where they would ideally be at this stage, another source said.

The short runway to kickoff in 2023 and the amount of work still left to do will, the sources said, be a headache for MLS. It could create hiccups and affect the quality of broadcasts at the start of the season.

At some point, though, any potential issues will be sorted out. If there are issues, they might not even be noticed by most fans. There’s also the unknown of how an Apple TV broadcast, even one that might be flawed in one way or another, might stack up against the league’s previous local broadcasts, many of which were lacking in production quality. It’s possible that MLS and Apple’s product might present as perfectly fine, even while the two companies are busy working the initial kinks out.

One source with knowledge of the league’s plans said those involved in building out the production do not feel overly concerned.

“Whenever challenges come up, they just keep throwing more resources at it,” the source said. “And those problems go away pretty darn quickly.”

MLS is essentially building a new network from scratch. They’ve only got four months left to get it straight.

 

[robertmac43]

 

[robertmac43]

 

[wingman75]

MLS faces race against time to build broadcast operation ahead of Apple TV deal

An inside look at the logistics, hiring, and building that needs to happen ahead of MLS bringing all game production in-house

theathletic.com

It’s now been more than four months since MLS and Apple agreed to a groundbreaking new media rights deal that will see the tech giant broadcast every single one of the league’s matches for the next 10 seasons. However, little is publicly known about what games will actually look like once they begin airing on the Apple TV streaming service next February.

We know that many matches will live behind a paywall, with Apple set to charge a yet-to-be-announced amount for access to every contest. We know that almost all of the games will fall on select Wednesday and Saturday nights, with exceptions carved out as needed due to stadium availability and linear broadcast windows dictated by ESPN, Fox, Univision or other partners with whom the league is still attempting to hammer out simulcast agreements. We know that every match will be broadcast in English and Spanish, and that a number of games will be broadcast in French. We know that none of the games will be blacked out — except Leagues Cup games for fans located in Mexico — and that they’ll all be available in a huge number of countries around the world.

There are also a lot of unknowns. We don’t know who will actually be calling the matches. We don’t know which play-by-play announcers will be paired with which color commentators. We don’t know who will be anchoring studio coverage, which the league has said will include pregame, halftime and postgame shows and a Saturday night whiparound show. Nor has the league, which will handle production for all the games, announced anything about who will run the actual broadcasts.

The Athletic spoke over the last week to more than a dozen industry sources about those and many other questions in an attempt to piece together some of the details of what the $2.5 billion partnership between MLS and Apple will actually look like in 2023. The sources were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the still-developing plans.

According to their characterizations, there’s still a lot of work left to do, particularly from a technical standpoint. One well-placed industry source expressed confidence that the league will have everything sorted out by the time next season opens on Feb. 25, 2023, but that the process of getting there will be hugely difficult and taxing for those involved. MLS is already nine to 12 months behind where they would ideally be at this stage, another source said.

The short runway to kickoff in 2023 and the amount of work still left to do will, the sources said, be a headache for MLS. It could create hiccups and affect the quality of broadcasts at the start of the season.

At some point, though, any potential issues will be sorted out. If there are issues, they might not even be noticed by most fans. There’s also the unknown of how an Apple TV broadcast, even one that might be flawed in one way or another, might stack up against the league’s previous local broadcasts, many of which were lacking in production quality. It’s possible that MLS and Apple’s product might present as perfectly fine, even while the two companies are busy working the initial kinks out.

One source with knowledge of the league’s plans said those involved in building out the production do not feel overly concerned.

“Whenever challenges come up, they just keep throwing more resources at it,” the source said. “And those problems go away pretty darn quickly.”

MLS is essentially building a new network from scratch. They’ve only got four months left to get it straight.

I've been reading about this, and wondering what this means for us here in Canada? Is this indicating that there is no linear broadcast deal in place with TSN (or other) for next season? I love what MLS has done and the positive impact it has had, especially here in Canada, but I am not subscribing to another service. I am hoping something is worked out with a linear broadcaster for the Canadian teams at least.

 

[robertmac43]

Makes the Petrasso trade look even stranger

 

[Clark4Ever]

Makes the Petrasso trade look even stranger

Too bad, he was great for us in a limited sample size.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Makes the Petrasso trade look even stranger

Is he da 1st of da 3 Italians to leave??????

 

[robertmac43]

Is he da 1st of da 3 Italians to leave??????

The others aren't leaving. Criscito was always going to be a short fix at 35 years old

 

[JT AM da real deal]

The others aren't leaving. Criscito was always going to be a short fix at 35 years old

I hope so .. likely either bradley sr or jn go i bet .. can't continue in pro ball with a father coach

 

[robertmac43]

In other news, Pantemis will not be rejoining Montreal. I doubt he comes to Toronto, but it would be a great add at GK.

 

[fancy lad]

wow. i'm pretty surprised and disappointed about Criscito. You would think he would have enjoyed his time here with the other Italian players.

I get that the other guys are on longer deals, but still it doesn't feel right that he's out of here a few months after joining. And yeah obviously i get that he's older and was never going to be a long term addition.

Man that team has SOOOOO much work to do this offseason. I wish i had more faith in Manning and Bradley to find good complementary players to compliment the stars, but based on their track record i can't get too excited. I got a bad feeling that this Italian era won't go as planned.

I called it too at the start of last season. Just saying!

 

[TMLeafer]

I hope they have a plan, but this management group seems to be completely directionless to me.