Question of the Month: Should Toronto Be Looking for a DP?
By: Sam | August 1st, 2007
Becks, Angel, Blanco… Everyone’s talking about ‘em. Toronto’s gonna join the dance sooner or later. Will it be sooner, or will it be later? That’s one of the many questions floating about. In TFC fashion, would it be a player from the UK? Sol Campbell? Robbie Fowler? Teddy Sherringham? Ha. It’s up to you now.
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Tags: David Beckham, Designated Player, Open Threads, Robbie Fowler, Sol Campbell, Teddy Sherringham, Toronto FCSubscribe
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thats not true figo. wynne is only out for like 3 weeks, and the rest of them for a month the season doesnt end until october i beliieve so we will be back to regular strength by september. i would say to pick up a strong midfield european player that will score goals and create plays. someone like i mentioned earlier like nedved. just my perspective though….i could be wrong
Posted from
Canada
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Figo: Only Sutton has been confirmed to be out for the rest of the season. Cunningham is out until September, supposedly, and the rest are on week-to-week. And I also have to disagree about the shitty midfield part. We’ve got O’Brien, all-star; Robinson, Welsh international; Edu, who granted is not tip-top right now but give him a few years and he’ll be an allstar as well.
Posted from
Canada -
O’brien may have season ending surgery next week. I hope not. I like him too, but he needs a creative, playmaking centre midfielder, who can distribute the ball to both the flanks, and to the forwards. I think Mo thought Colin Samuel would step into this role, but he has been a major failure. I doubt he will be here long.
Andy Welsh and Edu seem utterly confused, and do not work well together. I think the team will get better, eventually, but not with these players. The team has gone three games without a goal. How much longer will MO put up with this?Posted from
Canada -
I agree about Samuel. A monkey could tell he’s not in good shape. But right now our strikers are completely out of it. First of all Dichio and Cunningham are injured, then there’s Samuel, who can’t run and never reads plays right, and Lombardo, who has been terrible since the U-20 World Cup. Welsh is totally unpredictable. He does make the runs, but doesn’t have the technical abilities to get past the fullback when he gets near the byline. And if he can’t get his left foot, forget about it. Edu has been nagged by injuries as well, but I maintain he’s doing well. He’s a rookie on an expansion team. A bit timid when approaching the penalty area, but he needs more options when he does get there. As good as Cunningham is to beat the offside trap and Dichio is a target on crosses, they both lack the ability to receive short passes on the edge of the area to either turn or provoke fouls.
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Canada -
Lombardo is the worst striker in MLS. I realize there is a cap issue, but there must be an available striker somewhere on the planet who can, at the very least, look like he belongs on a pitch. Lombardo is not that man. He was the weakest striker in the under 20, unable to compete with 17 and 18 year old defenders. In fact, he rarely touched the ball. How can he be expected to last in the MLS? Lombardo must be related to somebody at Maple leaf Sports.
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Canada -
ok figo just so you know lombardo was the lone striker during most of canadas games which means its hard for him to run back and forth and try to get the ball when it 3 defender against 1 striker. trust me i play striker. hes not the weakest link, samuel is. maybe you should think about this: duing the u-20 he barely touched the ball because the defence and midfield didnt get the ball up to him too often. the kid is 20! hes not going to be a superstar yet especially not with dale mitchell as his coach. i think he can only get better having mo teaching him and with people to look up to like cunningham and dichio. you need to think about all the facts before you start saying crap about him being the worst striker.
Posted from
Canada -
I have been playing, and watching, soccer/football, for many years. I should point out to you, that many successful teams have used one striker. It works, when the striker knows how to play. In Lombardo’s case, he does not know how to play.
When he looked so horrible for the under 20 team, he did this against teenagers, who were, for the most part, younger than him.
I think Mo is wasting his time on this player, and, time will tell. I doubt he will be on this team for long. It is likely he will be dropped, and find a job somewhere on a Series c team, or in the USL. His problems are too many to list, but, since you want “facts” I will try:
-he cannot pass with either foot.
-he has to stop running to receive the ball.
-he complains about every offside, and he is always offside.
-he misses his target with every shot. I have yet to see a keeper make a save off a Lombardo shot.
-he cannot tackle.
-he is very, very slow. Having long hair does not make him fast, it only seems that way. He cannot beat any defender, they are all faster than him. Just watch any replay of his “work” against the U20 competition. He was slower than anybody on the field. Because of this, the midfielders cannot find him in any open position.
-he cannot place the ball anywhere near the box when taking a corner kick.
-he is utterly useless on any free kick (u20, again).So, what is it you see about this player?
Lombardo should be on the reserve list. He is only playing because of the injuries to the two strikers, and because Samuel cannot play alone (he is out of shape, and too slow).
I suggest you watch some international football. The Premiership starts in a couple of weeks, there you will occasionally see teams play with one striker.
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Canada -
ok im sorry did you just tell me that i need to watch international football??!?!?!? that is all i watch in the winter. i am a MAJOR juve fan and have been since forever. lombardo can pass i’ve seen it. he can receive passes again i’ve seen it. he can score, he can shoot, seen both happen. when that kid wants to run he will run his ass off. if he loses the ball he will chase it down the whole damn pitch. he tackles and often wins the ball. he will turn out to be a good player with a quality coach like mo. the kid is coachable and has potential.
Posted from
United States -
Okay, so you like Lombardo. I would still like to see TFC acquire the much needed midfielder before the season is done. Now is the best time for that as many good European teams are beginning to cut and transfer players before their seasons begin. I like the MLS, but with so many available international players, it is strange so few come to N. America.
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Canada -
i actually like the mls too but i hate the refs of the mls because they are terrible. is there no more colina’s left in the world????
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Canada -
The MLS should try something innovative, such as video replays before the refs issue a card, or point to the penalty box. FIFA has considered this for years, but are afraid to act. You think they would have implemented it across the Globe after the crap in Korea (world cup). The Italian team had three goals called back by a ref who was subsequently banned for life due to corruption etc.
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Canada -
If there’s one league that would be ready to do such a modern thing, for sure it’d be MLS. I’m not against it, but as for routine yellow cards, I don’t think the video should have an influence. At least at the start, only fouls in the box and dives should be touched.
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Canada -
figo - i remember that game all to well im italian and was planning an attack on that ref trust me. hahaha
sam - yeah it would be good for stuff in the penelty area and for goals that may look like they went in but they didnt.
the only thing i have against video replay is that soccer will be too much like hockey and then a 90 minute match will be a 3 hour match and thats stupid. then players would begin to tell the ref to check the video replay on a certain foul and then the ref may feel obligated and if everyone did it then the game would never end because there are always going to be questionable fouls, questionable cards and questionable goals but the video replay thing i think is a bit too far.
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Canada -
Yeah, that’s why it has to be limited. Then again if the ref felt like the players were asking him too much, bang, yellow.
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do you know how many cards there would be then?? hahaha
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Well logic would push the players to shut the fuck up a bit more I think. And Toronto isn’t the most bitchy team in the league. cough LA cough.
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Canada -
hahaha yeah thats true… but it may depend on the team and player aka LA and aka Becks
anyone know if the TFC practices are open to the fans and when they are b/c i really wanna go seeing as i am in the area….thanks soo much
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Canada -
Okay. Enough is enough. TFC have not scored in what, 5 games? My son’s high school team could do better. They are hopeless, and need an infusion of talent asap. There is not point waiting for the Canadian pretenders on the team to make their mark. That just will not happen. Particularly, Lombardo. He stinks.
MO may be fired before the season ends, so it makes sense to try and find some players who can play. Without his top three or four players on the team, all that is left is a rag tag bunch of crap. Not only can they not score, but they have had less than three shots on net in each of the last three games. Opposing keepers could be recruited from the Helen Keller school of the blind.This team is now worse than any European club, at any level. A team of 75 year old Italian widows could do it.
When will Maple Leaf Sports act? TFC is a terrible joke right now. The wonderful fan base in Toronto deserves a lot better.
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Canada -
okay i completely agree that TFc needs to score. however mo cannot be fired hes a great coach and this isnt his fault. honestly i blame the defence and the mids because the forwards cant score unless they get the ball up to the otehr teams end and that hasnt been happening. i really really really think that lombardo gets it too hard and i know i say this sooo often and you all probably think im a complete idiot for it but i really think he has potential and i feel bad for the kid because he has guys on the team like dichio and cunningham that hes gotta live up to and that is hard. so here i go again defending the kid. in the game against NYRB the ball barely ever passed our half. how in the hell do you people expect lombardo to score when he is the only striker and when the ball hardly gets anywhere within 10 feet of him?!?!?! im not saying hes the greatest player ever but still hes young and still learning and right now what he needs is encouragement to get his self confidence as a player up. if he doesnt believe in himself then he isnt going to perform. he played great in the LA game but thats because he actually had the ball in the other teams end. i dont get why everyone picks on lombardo when we have samuel here who can barely mission himself up the pitch in the first damn place! lombardo is having to play in the shadow of 2 great strikers and it isnt the easiest thing in the world trust me ive played striker since i was like 5. there is always someone better than you and when they get all the praise and you get is “well maybe you’ll do something next week” it sucks and it hurts so just get off the kids back and encourage his growth as a player. maybe i defend him so much because i can relate to him so seriously just leave him alone because there are worse players out there.
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Canada -
Lombardo has to go. He couldn’t do it against 16 and 17 year olds in the under 20 tournament. There, he was compared to others his age, and younger. He was the worst player on the team, and probably the worst player in the tournament (at his position). Just because he has an Italian name does not make him a soccer player.
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Canada -
Canoe.ca has a story from Brazil re: gays in soccer. It appears the professional leagues in that Country want to get rid of all gay players, some of whom are elite players. TFC should send a delegate down their asap. The way I look at it, any Brazilian gay player must be good enough for the TFC. They could even have a gay pride day game at BMO. The team could sport a pink and yellow kit, and sponsor a float. Getting Dichio and O’brien to attend might be a problem, though.
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Canada -
Ha. Well, I don’t care what they do in the bedroom, as long as they can help us out.
As for Lombardo, I’m trying to remain positive, but fuck. It’s true that he’s gotten no help at all, especially in the last match, but when he does, he’s sucking. We’re not getting to the playoffs now, almost surely. I just want to get the season over with so Mo and the staff can sit down and talk serious shit without having to worry about which 17-year old Canadian to start against the likes of Taylor Twellman and Luciano Emilio.Posted from
Canada -
YEAHHHH bring the gay brasilians down here!! im all for it! i have nothing against gays even though im catholic…and im sure dichio and o’brien wouldnt have a problem attending. real men wear pink just ask Palermo hahaha. ok well while all you guys go ahead and hate on lombardo im going to stay positive and i think that will help. and no matter how many times you guys bash him im always gonna defend him until he gives me no reason to but this week i gotta defend him b/c that punch in the stomach was super hilarious!
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Canada -
[...] We had mixed opinions regarding a designated player in Toronto last month, some saying that the squad needed some gelling before we went for the big move, some saying that a player of talent and stature was needed to get us out of our funk. You’re still welcome to put in your two cents about that issue here. [...]
Posted from
United States -
Lombardo is a weak player and i dont care what that guy says who is defending him cuz bud u must be his friend of his only fan in toronto.. cuz if hear the fans they say he sucks and much more.. tfc does need a striker and god dammit a play maker in mid who can score.. and the defence needs to be stronger not get scare.. yes this is out first year but damit we the people of toronto have been waiting way to long.. the coach man Mo sorry but you gotta go man.. I dont see the hunger to defend or the hunger to drive the ball pass the keeper to score like where is it man.. and regarding that team juve aye bud look at the english league and the spanish league ok.. juve lmao thats a joke.. any who… one more thing the jerseys have to be better man like they didnt even try.. So much has to change in this team and they are so lucky they HAVE FANS LIKE US TO SUPPORT THEM!!!!!!!
Posted from
Canada
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