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    A bad move Orr just MLS roster building?

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Quick: Who is the best fullback in MLS?
    ...
    Exactly.
    Yesterday's announcement that Bradley Orr was cashing in his "played with Ryan Nelsen" card to cross the Atlantic to play in MLS is a bit baffling, but it must be viewed through the prism of the league.
    No one wants to say fullbacks aren't important, but when you are building a team on a $3.09-million salary cap, and an estimated $1.3-million is tied up on four players (if Laba stays and is a $200,000 cap hit) then, well, fullbacks aren't important.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    They certainly aren't $400,000 cap hit important, which is why the only red slightly-above-replacement-level Richard Eckersley will feature in 2014 is on the top of his head. It's also why Ashtone Morgan was given a lot of time to regain the form that saw him surprise in 2012--Morgan is free to the club as a homegrown signing.
    We don't know what Orr will be paid, but we do know that the man who decided how much used to be in charge of placing value on all players, league-wide. It's quite possible that no one in the world understands how much (or little, as the case may be) a fullback is worth in MLS than Tim Bezbatchenko. So, let's assume his cap hit is "not much."
    Not much could also be what he contributes in 2014. That's not actually meant as an insult. So long as Orr doesn't make the team worse, he's a replacement level MLS fullback.
    But, will he make the team worse?
    Well, the scouting reports aren't encouraging. Orr appears to be the type of player that does stuff on the pitch that make fans come up with derivative nicknames to call him (I.e. Darren O'Dear (O'Dea), Tassels (Terry Dunfield), or Try Harder (Ty Harden)).
    Advanced stats are (slightly) more promising. A quick look at his numbers in the Championship show a dead average player, while his 2012 numbers in the Premiership suggest he's a Championship level player.
    They also reveal a player that contributes next to nothing going forward. That's fine, as wingback is close to a dirty word for most MLS managers.
    The intangible factor in Orr's signing is his temper. He's considered a bit of a hothead and that might not go well with the style of refereeing found in this part of the world (often referred to as "arrogant incompetence"). Orr could be a red card waiting to happen.
    All this analysis could be overkill as well. Orr could be here as a back-up or rotation player. The club likes Mark Bloom. Not enough to hand the job to him without question, but the right fullback position appears to be one that can be won in preseason.
    A preseason in which TFC will actually start with a full roster of players! Here in Toronto we understand better than most that we shouldn't take the importance of that for granted.
    By the way, the best fullback in MLS is probably Todd Dunivant.
    Guest
    Yesterday a report was published on ESPN FC that suggested that Jermain Defoe's first words at his introductory press conference were "I'm happy to be in the U.S."
    Almost immediately Toronto fans shot back at the report and challenged its accuracy.
    It did seem a bit odd that about 300 Canadians sitting in a press conference and thousands more watching live somehow missed Defoe saying that Toronto was in the U.S. while one guy, in London, noticed. Canadians do tend to be a tad bit sensitive on the subject after all.
    Regardless, let's not rely on our memory here. Instead, let's actually look at what Defoe said. A transcript of his statement is below the jump:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    So, as every single person who was actually at the press conference, or who actually watched it, or who took five minutes to watch it on Torontofc.ca, knew the report was wrong.
    Yet, it remains up at ESPNFC. The right thing to do would be to publish a retraction, no?
    The author of the piece can be reached on a twitter at @waatpies. Do with that information what you will.
    Guest
    Last month we <a href="http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/content.php?5141-AFTN-launches-our-Vancouver-Whitecaps-All-Time-Greats" target="_blank"><u>announced</u></a> the launch of our search to find Vancouver Whitecaps' All-Time Greats in honour of the Caps' 40th anniversary and it's kicking off in all it's glory today.
    Our <b>Vancouver Whitecaps All-Time Greats</b> is an interactive series allowing everyone (fans, media, anyone!) to vote for the best Vancouver Whitecaps (and Vancouver 86ers), position by position, from the first forty years.
    The Caps' teams will be split into three eras, including those under both the Caps and 86ers names, with the ultimate aim to select the best XI from the <b>NASL days (1974 to 1984)</b>, the <b>CSL/D2 days (1987 to 2010)</b> and the <b>MLS days (2011 to present day)</b>. All teams will line up in a 4-4-2 formation.
    Once we've got the three era teams, we'll narrow those down, position by position, for the final team - the Vancouver Whitecaps All-Time Greats XI. We hope to expand this part of the selection process in association with one of the local newspapers.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Now we know it's going to be tricky. Three different sets of fanbases, in numbers and memories. You don't have to have experienced the early days to vote, just be aware of the Caps storied history and we'll help you with suggestions along the way.
    To try and avoid too much of a MLS bias (and frankly there are not many of the current era that you would expect to be in the final All-Time XI at this point in time but maybe when we do it again ten years from now), we're going to try and canvas the views of as many people as possible across a variety of means.
    Every Sunday we'll run an article on here to vote for a certain position for a certain team. Each team's position will be allocated an article and a week to itself and we'll chat about some of the possible contenders for the crown to job memories.
    Plan is to have three era individual team articles for: Goalkeeper, Right back, Left back, Central Defenders, Midfield, Forward line and then select a manager for each team. We'll then run another seven articles to narrow down the all-time team from the three era selections to just one all-time winner.
    We'll include votes in the article comments, on Twitter, on Facebook, on the Southsiders forum and possibly via a couple of other means. Voting will run from the Sunday till 11.59pm on the Friday.
    After that we'll tally up the votes and announce our winner on the Saturday, along with a career article on the winning players to come.
    Hopefully we'll generate some good discussions, memories and stories of players from the past and present. It's the latter I'm most looking forward to.
    So, summary over, we kick the series off today as we try and narrow down a NASL goalkeeper.
    <center>**********</center>
    The Whitecaps played eleven NASL seasons from 1974 to 1984. 18 goalkeepers were on the Caps' books during that era, with 15 of them seeing game time.
    Despite those many players, the number of genuine candidates for the keeper of our NASL XI is much lower.
    Many of those players were depth guys who never saw the pitch for much first team action. A third of them played three or less games for the club, but did dot around the league for various teams.
    So what makes an all time great or an era best player? Do you want to go with someone who has made the biggest impact for the Whitecaps alone or do you want to look at their overall career?
    For me, it should be about what they did for the club and their contribution and commitment to Vancouver Whitecaps folklore.
    So what such players have gone down in the Caps history books?
    If you go back to the very start, Bermudan <b>Sam Nusum</b> (17 appearances) and Canadian <b>Greg Weber</b> (3 appearances) shared the goalkeeping duties in the Whitecaps' debut NASL season in 1974. One of only two that they didn't make the playoffs.
    Weber (pictured) went on to play for Vancouver in each of their first three seasons. He made 21 appearances for the club in total, recording 6 clean sheets, conceding 29 goals and playing 1927 minutes for the club.
    Nusum made 67 appearances in a four year NASL career, where he also played for Montreal Olympique and New York Cosmos.
    <b>Arnie Mausser</b> played all 26 games for the Whitecaps in 1977 as the Caps finished second in the Pacific Conference and lost the divisional Championship game to Seattle. He played 2386 minutes, keeping 8 clean sheets and conceding 44 goals over the season.
    Mausser had a 19 year career in various American leagues, including 11 in NASL, much of which was spent in Florida with the Tampa Bay Rowdies, Fort Lauderdale Strikers and Jacksonville Tea Men. Mausser also made 35 appearances for the US national team between 1975 and 1985 and was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2003.
    <b>Phil Parkes</b> (pictured) played three seasons for the Whitecaps, and what a trio of seasons they were for the big stopper and the team.
    Parkes first came to Vancouver in 1976 after 12 seasons with Wolves. He made 20 appearances in his debut season, clocking up 1836 minutes, six clean sheets and conceding 25 goals. The Whitecaps finished third in the Pacific Conference, making the playoffs for the very first time in their history, losing to Seattle in the first round.
    The keeper returned back to Wolves and sat out the 1977 season before returning to Vancouver to play in 1978 and 1979. Parkes was an ever present in 1978, making 29 appearances and 2650 minutes. His ten clean sheets, conceding just 28 goals along the way, helped guide the Whitecaps to their first Western Division championship before bowing out to Portland in the Conference semi finals. His performances also won Parkes the NASL Goalkeeper of the Year award.
    It was an award he was to win again in 1979, but he also won something much bigger - a Soccer Bowl winners medal. Parkes played in 29 of Vancouver's 30 games, playing 2705 minutes, keeping seven clean sheets and conceding 29 goals along the way. Parkes and Vancouver's greatest NASL achievement came when the Caps beat Tampa Bay Rowdies 2-1 to lift the Soccer Bowl.
    Parkes moved on to Chicago in 1980 leaving behind a Whitecaps career of 78 appearances, 2705 minutes and 23 clean sheets (29.4%) - all team leading stats for the era. He played eight years in total in North America, six of them in NASL, including a late stint with Toronto Blizzard.
    Liverpool legend <b>Bruce Grobbelaar</b> (pictured) was Parkes' back up for the 1979 season, making one appearance that Soccer Bowl winning year before taking over as the starting keeper for the 1980 season, where he made a further 23 appearances for the Caps. The Zimbabwean kept eight clean sheets in his 24 appearances and let in 30 goals as the defending Soccer Bowl champs finished 3rd in the West and lost in the first round of the playoffs to Seattle. He also played nine times for the Caps during the 1980/81 NASL indoor season.
    Grobbelaar made the move to Liverpool in 1981 after being spotted in a loan spell at Crewe and the rest is history to the Kop faithful. He went on to make 440 appearances for the Reds over 13 seasons, winning six First Division titles, three FA Cups, three League Cups and the 1984 European Cup amongst an impressive career trophy haul. He also made 33 appearances for his country.
    The departure of Parkes and Grobbelaar in consecutive seasons paved the way for Englishman <b>Barry Siddall</b> to make the starting keeper spot his own in 1981. Siddall made 24 appearances that year, registering just one clean sheet and conceding 55 goals in his 1890 minutes as the Caps won the NorthWest Division but lost in the first round of the playoffs to Tampa Bay Rowdies.
    Siddall had come to Vancouver after long spells with Bolton and Sunderland. After his one season in Canada he became something of a journeyman, playing for 12 clubs and having a 22 year career before he retired.
    Scotsman <b>David Harvey</b> came to Vancouver in 1980 with a great career already to his name. He had lost his place as the first choice keeper at Leeds and struggled to make the number one jersey his own in Vancouver, not helped by injuries sustained in a car accident. In the end he only made 19 appearances for the Whitecaps over the three years, keeping three clean sheets and conceding 30 goals, and a return back to Elland Road followed.
    Harvey was a Leeds United legend and made 349 appearances for them from 1965 to 1985, winning a plethora of medals in the process. He also played 16 times for Scotland, including at the 1974 World Cup Finals in West Germany where he played in all three group matches, conceding only one goal in a win and two draws, but still went out of the tournament on goal difference.
    Born in Italy, but raised in Canada, <b>Tino Lettieri</b> (pictured) made the Whitecaps keeper's jersey his own in 1982 and 1983. Lettieri spent 11 years in the NASL and MISL, with all but these two of them spent in Minnesota (first with the Kicks and then with the Strikers). He is the second longest serving goalkeeper for Vancouver in the NASL era, playing 55 games and 5100 minutes over his two season, keeping 15 clean sheets and conceding 59 goals.
    Lettieri was a member of Canada's 1976 and 1984 Olympic teams and the 1986 World Cup team, making 23 appearances for his country overall and being inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame. He was also named North American Goalkeeper of the Year in 1983.
    The Whitecaps last starting keeper of the NASL days was former English under 21 international <b>Paul Bradshaw</b>. Bradshaw made 24 appearances during the Whitecaps final NASL season in 1984. He played 2161 minutes, keeping four clean sheets and letting in 46 goals as the Whitecaps finished second in the Western Conference and went out of the playoffs at the semi final stage to Chicago Sting.
    Bradshaw headed back to England and in total had a 20 year career there, playing for Blackburn, Wolves, West Brom and Peterborough amongst others.
    Other keepers to see gametime for the Whitecaps during the MLS era were:
    <b>Peter Greco</b> (8 appearances, 720 minutes, 2 clean sheets, former Canadian international - 1975)
    <b>Steve Humphries</b> (1 appearance, 90 minutes, 0 clean sheets, English, played with Leicester City amongst others - 1978)
    <b>David Henderson</b> (3 appearances, minutes unknown, had long League of Ireland career - 1981)
    <b>Randy Keen</b> (1 appearance, 90 minutes, kept clean sheet, BC guy - 1981)
    <b>PJ Johns</b> (3 appearances, 219 minutes, 0 clean sheets, American, had three seasons with Edmonton Drillers before Caps, then long career in MISL and NPSL - 1983)
    <b>Chris Turner</b> (1 appearance, 90 minutes, 0 clean sheets, BC guy, 7 year NASL career with San Jose, LA and Seattle - 1984)
    Let's also not forget to give a shout out to <b>Graham Barclay</b> (1976), <b>Graham Moseley</b> (1977) and <b>Vanni Fabbro</b> (also 1977), who were all on Whitecaps rosters but never played a NASL minute for the Caps or anyone else.
    So there you have them. The Whitecaps NASL keepers.
    We did the most thorough research we could (can't promise the rest of this series will be!), but if we missed anyone out or have some wrong info on any of them, then please let us know.
    Now it's up to you guys for the voting.
    Who is your pick to make the <b>Vancouver Whitecaps NASL XI</b> as starting keeper?
    Let us know below, on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/aftncanada" target="_blank"><u>Twitter</u></a>, on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/aftn.canada/" target="_blank"><u>Facebook</u></a> or on the <a href="http://vancouversouthsiders.ca/forum/discussion/4165/vancouver-whitecaps-all-time-greats#Item_1" target="_blank"><u>Southsiders</u></a> forum. You can leave your comment under your name or as anonymous, whatever is easier for you.
    But also for those of you of a certain age, share your memories and stories of any of these guys for us all to enjoy.
    <p>
    Guest

    Camilo: Hop Goes The Weasel

    By Guest, in AFTN,

    If listening to Prince in my formative years taught me anything, it was that all good things, they say, never last.
    I am also still searching hotel lobbies trying to find a girl called Nikki.
    The purple one was right though. All good things do come to an end, so enjoy them whilst you can. Today's newsmaker is tomorrow's fish and chip wrapper.
    Apt really, as Vancouver Whitecaps have taken something of a battering themselves this offseason.
    Which brings us nicely to Camilo Sanvezzo. The we(e)asel Brazilian has left Vancouver, Canada and his dignity and professionalism behind.
    It's time to move on. He certainly felt that way at any rate.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The saga, that seemed like it was never going to actually officially end at times, wrapped up Friday.
    Camilo got the move he so desired and forced the Whitecaps into. The Caps got shafted and were left with a Golden Boot winning sized shape (a hole) in their squad. And fans were left cursing MLS commissioner Don Garber after his following comments at the draft.
    <i>"Ultimately, there was a good result: a high transfer fee, they get allocation money and Vancouver will rebuild their team with a new coach."</i>
    In what football league, and on what planet, is receiving mythical allocation money and being basically forced to offload your top goalscorer against your will "a good result"?
    With so much on the line for MLS, you have to hope that they were pretty damn active behind the scenes because publically and visibly they came across as no help to the Whitecaps whatsoever in the matter.
    The final amount of the transfer is undisclosed of course. That transparency Garber promised hasn't quite filtered out and down just yet. All we're told is that it is a "multi-million dollar fee". So at least two and presumably in American or Canadian! Could be Cayman Island dollars and into a bank account there for all we know. This is MLS. Nothing would surprise me.
    It has to be said that if the Whitecaps were able to play some hardball and get at least a couple of million or more for their want away star that could never return to Vancouver, then putting all the other issues surrounding the saga aside, that's not a bad bit of business in the end and they should be congratulated.
    It's hard to see how they could have come out of this with a better outcome after all that had transpired.
    Of course, if they had chosen to tout him about to other interested clubs that figure could have been so much higher but Vancouver were never given that opportunity and that is why there is so much of a bad taste in the mouth about the whole thing.
    What the whole debacle screams to me though is that neither side were 100% confident what the outcome of this would be if the matter were to go through legal channels and FIFA. And neither side wanted to play hardball and put their stance to the ultimate test to find out.
    They can both say what they want, but both parties posturing at the start faded into a resolution that will probably please neither side but they both gave in from their intial stances and settled.
    Remember all the contract is <a href="http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/story.html?id=9345835" target="_blank"><u>bulletproof</u></a> and there is no contract he's a free agent stuff about two weeks ago?
    Whitecaps President Bobby Lenarduzzi did address the issue of why no legal challenge when speaking to media on Friday evening.
    <i>"When we sat down with Camilo, he said he was done. He had given Queretaro his word that he was going there. Why are we going to battle someone that doesn't want to be here? Someone who's actually reneged on his word when he's signed a contract with us and then turned around and said he's given a club that he's going to, that he doesn't have a contract with, his word. He doesn't want to be here obviously. So, on you go."</i>
    And on his way Camilo went.
    MLS may have dodged a bullet and their contractual house of cards is still standing.
    And that's one of my biggest disappointments in all of this. I wanted this to go all the way to see just how valid these option deals were. We'll never know who was in the right.
    Until the next time and the next player.
    And there will be one. It may have never happened in the previous 18 years of MLS, but you know others throughout the League have been watching how this played out with a keen eye to their own futures and looking for possible ways out of their own unsatisfactory contracts.
    When this all started I was on Camilo's side a little. He did deserve more money. He deserved the chance to get a better deal elsewhere. The options deals in MLS are a little farcical and deserve to be challenge. Massive salary differences in a squad are also sickening. Sure it happens elsewhere in the world of football, but to such extremes?
    But by going about it the wrong way, being shady and unprofessional and basically flicking the v's to the Caps time and again, he soon lost any respect and sympathy.
    That is where my, and many other people's, anger comes from. I was left wanting him to sweat it out and sit it out for many months to come.
    Camilo had spoken with Carl. Several times. He very clearly knew the lie of the land. This was a manager and a man that he not only respected but credited for turning him into the player he was and for the successful season he was having, as he told us all at the start of September.
    <i>"The coaching staff help me a lot, especially Robbo. After training I say, please Robbo, help me with some finish. Every single day he's there with me helping me a lot."</i>
    And this was how he repaid him for that help. Says it all about Camilo as a player and as a man.
    But it's over now. The line needs to be drawn in the sand and everyone needs to move on.
    There is no loyalty in football these days from either clubs or players. It goes both ways. Both are only out for themselves.
    I grew up in a time where players actually earned their testimonials for long service to their clubs.
    Now money is the king.
    Camilo's name may not go down in the history books like Bosman, but he may have started something groundbreaking, if very unpalatable.
    The Whitecaps are now left with a pile of money to spend. Let's hope they spend it wisely.
    Lenarduzzi has said that they may not spend it directly on another striker, but relying on who they currently have on the squad wouldn't be wise either. New additions are expected to be announced over the coming weeks, for several positions. They need experience and they need some gamechangers.
    I wrote in a <a href="http://soccerly.com/article/gof/whitecapsneed-to-be-lighting-not-fighting-fires" target="_blank"><u>Soccerly article</u></a> that the Caps need to start lighting fires and stop fighting them. They haven't quite got them under control just yet.
    They need to have some good news coming out soon. Training camp kicks off next weekend, so that will hopefully be a start, and a week is a long time in football.
    It's been a tough offseason for the club. Maybe this is what it sounds like when doves cry.
    <p>
    Michael Mccoll
    Third time's the charm, which means we'll be charming you rotten with our third episode of ”There’s Still Time” of the week.
    Episode 35 is a special Double D edition, as we look at draftees and dafties (look that up your Scottish dictionaries).
    The daftie comes in the form of Camilo Sanvezzo and we hope to be making our last(ish) comments on the we(e)asel Brazilian.
    At the time of writing and recording, the saga is officially still dragging on but from all the unofficial chatter, it's a done deal, with the final financial figure still to come out. Whatever happens, Vancouver Whitecaps will be the ones losing out and the search is on for his replacement.
    The Caps squad isn't quite threadbare, but there's not a lot left on the shelves. They do have three new additions however.
    Steve and myself look back on today's first two rounds of the 2014 MLS SuperDraft from a Vancouver Whitecaps perspective.
    The drafts are always still a bit of a lottery at this stage as we await to see how the newbs fare in the big league. At least the Caps have three more players in their ranks in Christian Dean, Andre Lewis and Mamadou Doudou Diouf
    and we also have audio from the two first round draftees.
    We also get the thoughts of some listeners on the draft and there's still time to finish on the rumoured friendly with Bayern Munich.
    Have a listen y'hear.
    You can listen to this week's podcast on iTunes HERE.
    Or download it for your later listening delight HERE
    We also have an iPhone app, so you can now add our podcast to your phone as an app. Visit the podcast's mobile site HERE and then at the bottom of the screen just click the "Quick Launch" icon and the podcast will be added to your home screen and appear as an app.
    And if that's not enough, we've joined Stitcher Radio Network. Download the app and listen to the AFTN podcast on your device, along with over 15,000 shows HERE.
    Or after all that, you could just listen on the player below!
    Guest

    TFC picks...

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Toronto FC went defensive with its first pick in the MLS SuperDraft.
    Trading up to the No 10 spot, TFC selected Nick Hagglund a big defender from Xavier. He was not expected to go that high.
    This could be a long-term project. Hagglund called himself an athlete that has learned to play soccer while in college. At 6'2", 190 lbs he certainly has the size to compete if Ryan Nelsen, or a year in USL-Pro, can further step up his technical game.
    Toronto gave Philadelphia magic beans for the pick.
    With TFC's second round pick they selected Daniel Lovitz, a midfielder from Elon.
    Neither player has signed a MLS contract yet. It's no sure thing that either will make the club.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Guest

    Ranking draft performance since 2007

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Yesterday we published an exhaustive study of the SuperDraft. It concluded that getting true impact payers from the draft was exceedingly difficult and that the best a team can realistically expect for is a decent starter.
    Nothing wrong with that, but future stars are exceptionally rare.
    Regardless, it is a way to get players and the draft does yield a regular starter in about 25 per cent of first round picks. So, you still want to do it well.
    Today, we looked at who has done it well. Looking at the selections since 2007, we determined what the expected number of appearances would be for each pick within a certain range. We then looked to see how many appearances teams actually got from their pick and referenced it as a +/- value.
    For teams that have come into the league after 2007 we pro-rated the value so we were comparing apples to apples.
    The results:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    1. Kansas City +250 (KC got 250 more appearances from their draft picks than should have been expected)
    2. Philly +238
    3. Galaxy +192
    4. Portland +105
    5. New England +95
    6. Columbus +76
    7. DC United +68
    8. Houston +32
    9. New York +2
    10. Montreal +0
    11. Toronto -1
    12. Dallas -4
    13. Chicago -20
    14. Seattle -28
    15. SLC -53
    16. Chivas -59
    17. San Jose -63
    18. Vancouver -91
    19. Colorado -124
    Guest

    Evaluating the MLS SuperDraft

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    On November 25, 2010 Nathan Sturgis became the latest in a long line of TFC players. His time in Toronto would be mostly forgettable if not for a piece of trivia. Sturgis was traded for by Earl Cochrane during the transition period between Mo Johnston and Aron Winter.
    As such, Sturgis became a lightning rod for fan discontent towards TFC management. It was suggested that the club was being run by amateurs with no idea how to build a winner in MLS. That very well might have been true -- what's happened since would certainly give credence to the position -- but the specific reasoning behind it was flawed.
    Fans argued that the value of what Toronto gave up for Sturgis was way too high. A first round draft pick for a journeyman player? That's crazy!
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    It wasn't that crazy. In fact the player yielded by the draft pick Toronto gave Vancouver for Sturgis (Michael Nanchoff) has played 29 fewer games. If it wasn't for the fact that Toronto (of course) turned around and traded Sturgis away for next to nothing (based on fact he didn't fit the system Winter wanted to play -- which speaks to the very real dysfunction in the TFC front office at that time) Toronto would have won the trade. Not by a lot, and not in a way that would be at all inspiring, but win it nonetheless.
    The trade and the debate that surrounded it at the time led to CSN doing a comprehensive analysis of the MLS SuperDraft (SD) in 2011. By looking at every selection in SD history we attempted to place a value on SD picks that could be used to evaluate trades involving picks moving forward. You can read that analysis here.
    After doing a minor update last year, we have attempted to revisit the analysis again today. Since the numbers have not changed dramatically in drafts held before 2007 we have focused our update on the SDs held between 2007-2013.
    The 2007 season is also generally considered to be the start of the so-called MLS 2.0 era as it had three important benchmarks: The DP rule and the arrival of David Beckham, the lesser talked about but equally important start of the homegrown rule and, of course, the start of Toronto FC and its supporter's group focused marketing strategy. As such, it is the perfect season to use as a starting point.
    Before we get into the numbers, a word on the process. The core stat we use to evaluate the success of a draft pick is appearances. The ultimate goal of a team when drafting is to find useful player, preferably a starter. Finding a superstar would be nice, but it's a bonus.
    Although it would be ideal to use something more than simply appearances, the variability of the game (along with the size of the task) makes any other stat difficult to use. What makes a good defensive midfielder is different than what makes a good striker so the stats aren't comparable. We also wanted to avoid any subjective measures to evaluate the draft. This project is about numbers, period, and there is no purer measure than whether the player played or not.
    As with any research there will be outlying data (i.e. based on the process Mo Edu is considered a failure pick because he only played a single season in MLS. We know his career isn't a failure and that Toronto gained something valuable from him, but the raw data says he didn't directly play for the team or in the league).
    However, the size of the project is such that those outlying numbers should't prevent us from drawing conclusions -- Edu is not a typical pick. Andrew Boyens (TFC's other first rounder in 2007) was though and there are a lot more Boyens than Edus.
    After determining the total appearances of each player we categorized them to either be exceptional, solid, poor or failures. That is based as follows:
    2008-2007 More than 134 (exceptional), 90-134 (solid), 45-89 (poor), less than 45 (failure)
    2009 – More than 112 (exceptional), 75-112 (solid), 38-74 (poor), less than 38 (failure)
    2010 – More than 89 (exceptional), 60-89 (solid), 30-59 (poor), less than 30 (failure)
    2011 – More than 67 (exceptional), 45-67 (solid), 23-66 (poor), less than 23 (failure)
    2012 – More than 44 (exceptional), 30-44 (solid), 15-43 (poor), less than 15 (failure)
    2013 – More than 22 (exceptional), 15-22 (solid), 8-14 (poor), less than 8 (failure)
    Those figures were based on the percentage of available games the player played in. Exceptional players appeared in more than 74 percent of available games. Solid in between 50-74 percent, poor from 25-49 percent and failures in less than 25 percent. We determined that six years was the typical length of a player's career so we capped the figures at that point.
    The numbers basically correspond to starter (exceptional), regular substitute (solid), squad player (poor) and players that either never made it or barely stuck (failure).
    We also broke down the draft in general terms to determine the average amount of appearances you can generally expect to yield from specific parts of the draft.
    And now for the results.
    2007
    1. Mo Edu - Toronto - 38 - Failure
    2. Bakary Soumare - Chicago - 89 - Poor
    3. Michael Harrington - 181 - Exceptional
    4. Chris Seitz - SLC -39 - Failure
    5. Wells Thompson - New Eng - 158 - Exceptional
    6. Nico Colauca - Colorado - 11 - Failure
    7. John Cunliffe - Chivas - 27 - Failure
    8. Jason Monteiro - Chicago - 5 - Failure
    9. Anthony Wallace - Dallas - 38 - Failure
    10. Andrew Boynes -Toronto -70 - Poor
    11. Bryan Arquez - DCU - 0 - Failure
    12. Amaechi Igwe - New Eng - 22 - Failure
    13. John Michael Hayden - Houston - 0 - Failure
    Totals:
    2 Exceptional
    0 Solid
    2 Poor
    8 Failure
    Average appearances: 49.8
    Median appearances: 32.5
    Average appearances per year: 7.1
    2008
    1. Chance Myers - KC - 115 - Solid
    2. Brek Shea - Dallas - 98 - Solid
    3. Tony Beltran - SLC - 135- Exceptional
    4. Sean Franklin - LAG - 160 - Exceptional
    5. Ciaran O'Brien - Colorado - 1 - Failure
    6. Andy Iro - Columbus - 71- Poor
    7. Patrick Nyarko - Chicago - 160 - Exceptional
    8. Josh Lambo - Dallas - 0 - Failure
    9. Julius James - Toronto - 95 - Solid
    10. Pat Phelan - Toronto - 80 - Poor
    11. Roger Espinoza - KC - 113 - Solid
    12. Dominic Cervi - Chicago - 0 - Failure
    13. Rob Valentine - New Eng - 0- Failure
    14. David Hoist - SLC - 42 - Failure
    Totals
    3 Exceptional
    4 Solid
    2 Poor
    4 Failures
    Average appearances: 76.4
    Median appearances: 87.5
    Average appearances per year: 12.7
    2009
    1. Steve Zakuani -Seattle - 80 - Solid
    2. Sam Cronin - Toronto - 139 - Exceptional
    3. Omar Gonzalez - LAG - 128 - Exceptional
    4. O'Brian White -Toronto - 40 - Poor
    5. Peri Marosevic - Dallas - 11 - Failure
    6. Rodney Wallace - DCU - 110 - Solid
    7. Chris Pontius - DCU - 123 - Exceptional
    8. Matt Besler - KC - 125 - Exceptional
    9. Michael Lahoud - Chivas - 94 - Solid
    10. Kevin Alston - New Eng - 121 - Exceptional
    11. Jeremy Hall - NYRB - 75 - Solid
    12. Jean Alexander - SLC - 40 - Poor
    13. Stefan Frei - Toronto - 82 - Solid
    14. George John - Dallas - 119 - Exceptional
    15. Ryan Maxwell - New Eng - 0 - Failure
    Totals
    6 Exceptional
    5 Solid
    2 Poor
    2 Failures
    Average appearances: 85.4
    Median appearances: 102
    Average appearances per year: 17.1
    2010
    1. Danny Mwanga - Philly - 92 - Exceptional
    2. Tony Tchani - NYRB - 82 - Solid
    3. Ike Opara - San Jose - 53 - Poor
    4. Teal Bunbury - KC - 88 - Solid
    5. Zach Loyd - Dallas - 111 - Exceptional
    6. Amobi Okugo - Philly - 76 - Solid
    7. Jack McInerney - Philly - 91 - Exceptional
    8. Dilly Duka - Columbus - 96 - Solid
    9. Zach Schilawski - New England - 50 - Poor
    10. Blair Gavin - Chivas - 45 - Poor
    11. David Estrada - Seattle - 40 - Poor
    12. Bright Dike - Columbus - 30 - Poor
    13. Corbin Bone - Chicago - 18 - Failure
    14. Austin da Lutz - NYRB - 21 - Failure
    15. Collen Warner - SLC - 76 - Solid
    16. Michael Stephens - LAG - 100 - Exceptional
    Totals
    4 Exceptional
    5 Solid
    5 Poor
    2 Failures
    Average appearances: 66.2
    Median appearances: 76
    Average appearances per year: 16.5
    2011
    1. Omar Salgado - Vancouver - 21 - Failure
    2. Darlington Nagby - PDX - 95 - Exceptional
    3. Perry Kitchen - DCU - 93 - Exceptional
    4. Zarek Valentin - Chivas - 40 - Poor
    5. Zach MacMath - Philly - 74 - Exceptional
    6. AJ Soares - New England - 76 - Exceptional
    7. Kofi Sarkodie - Houston - 50 - Solid
    8. Michael Nanchoff - Vancouver - 15 - Failure
    9. Jalil Anibaba - Chicago - 96 - Exceptional
    10. CJ Sapong - KC - 90 - Exceptional
    11. Will Bruin - Houston - 83 - Exceptional
    12. Rich Balchan - Columbus - 19 - Failure
    13. Corey Hertzog - NYRB - 13 - Failure
    14. Victor Mairongo - Chivas - 9 - Failure
    15. Justin Meram - Columbus - 58 - Solid
    16. Daolo Cardozo - LAG - 27 - Poor
    17. Bobby Warshaw - Dallas - 32 - Poor
    18. Eddie Ababio - Colorado - 25 - Poor
    Totals
    7 Exceptional
    2 Solid
    4 Poor
    4 Failure
    Total appearances: 50.8
    Median appearances: 45
    Total appearances per year: 16.8
    2012
    1. Andrew Wenger - Montreal - 47 - Exceptional
    2. Darren Mattocks - Vancouver - 41 - Solid
    3. Kelyn Rowe - New Eng - 63 - Exceptional
    4. Luis Silva - Toronto - 57 - Exceptional
    5. Casey Townsand - Chivas - 26 - Poor
    6. Sam Garza - San Jose - 10 - Failure
    7. Nick DeLeon - DCU - 47 - Exceptional
    8. Andrew Jean-Baptiste - PDX - 31 - Solid
    9. Austin Berry - Chicago - 62 - Exceptional
    10. Ethan Finlay - Columbus - 34 - Solid
    11. Matt Hedgers - Dallas - 61 - Exceptional
    12. Aaron Maund - Toronto - 18 - Poor
    13. Chandler Hoffman - Philly - 7 - Failure
    14. Tony Cascio - Colorado - 42 - Solid
    15. Andrew Duran - Seattle - 0 - Failure
    16. Dom Dwyer - KC - 23 - Poor
    17. Enzo Martinez - SLC -0 - Failure
    18. Colin Rolfe - Houston - 0 - Failure
    19. Tommy Meyer - LAG - 15 - Failure
    Totals
    5 Exceptional
    4 Solid
    3 Poor
    7 Failure
    Average appearances: 30.4
    Median appearances: 28.5
    Average appearances per year: 15.2
    2013
    1. Andrew Farrell - New England - 32 - Exceptional
    2. Carlos Alvarez - Chivas - 28 - Exceptional
    3. Kyle Bekker - Toronto - 9 - Poor
    4. Kekuta Manneh - Vancouver- 20 - Solid
    5. Erik Hurtado - Vancouver - 15 - Solid
    6. Deshorn Brown - Colorado - 31 - Exceptional
    7. Walker Zimmerman - Dallas - 7 - Poor
    8. Blake Smith - Montreal - 14 - Poor
    9. Ryan Finley - Columbus - 14 - Poor
    10. Eriq Zavaleta - Seattle - 4 - Poor
    11. Dillon Powers - Colorado - 30 - Exceptional
    12. John Stertzer - SLC - 2- Failure
    13. Jason Johnson - Houston - 13 - Poor
    14. Mikey Lopez - KC - 0 - Failure
    15. Tommy Muller - San Jose - 0 - Failure
    16. Emery Welshman - Toronto - 1 - Failure
    17. Taylor Kemp - DCU - 8 - Failure
    18. Fernando Monge - Montreal - 0 - Failure
    19. Charlie Rugg - LAG - 2 - Failure
    Totals
    4 Exceptional
    2 Solid
    6 Poor
    8 Failure
    Average appearances: 12.1
    Median appearances 11
    Average appearances per year: 12.1
    As far as the expected results at each drafting position we found the following:
    1. - Average of 18 appearances
    2. - 21.4
    3. - 22.6
    4. - 20.5
    5. - 15
    6. - 16.5
    7. - 14.8
    8. - 12
    9. - 18
    10. - 15.6
    11. - 14.3
    12. - 4.3
    13. - 7
    14. - 13
    15. - 9.9
    16. - 8.75
    17. - 6.2
    18. - 5.2
    19. - 3.5
    The sample size is likely too small to give a full indication at specific spots, but it's a clear, big drop after the first few picks.
    A better indicator might be to look at what you should expect from a range of spots.
    Picks 1-5 average 19.5 appearances
    Picks 6-10 average 15.3
    Picks 11-15 average 9.1
    Picks 16+ average 5.9
    Or to put it in other terms, typically a top 5 pick yields a regular sub and the next 5 picks yield a squad player. The rest, the odd outlier aside, yield NASL prospects.
    Overall first round draft picks average 12.97 appearances per year. Hardly exciting.
    That said, about 5 players a year become MLS standouts. Half of those are selected in the first 6 picks.
    So, if you can get a top 6 pick you have about a 35 percent chance of landing a starter. Picks beyond that have about 19 percent chance of landing a starting player.
    Is it any wonder teams are willing to trade lower picks?
    As part of our draft coverage tomorrow we will look at how individual teams have drafted over the years.
    Guest

    Lucas Cavallini to Spain?

    By Guest, in Some Canadian Guys,

    Updated on Jan. 15: It looks like Lucas Cavallini is in fact not going to Spain. Tenfield.com reports he has been sent on loan to the Uruguyan first division side Centro Atlético Fénix. So Canada keeps at least one member of its player pool in South American club soccer after all.
    Buried in an article on the Uruguayan sports portal Tenfield.com on Thursday was news that Canadian international Lucas Cavallini, currently with the iconic club Nacional, may be headed to Spain (presumably in January).
    The 21-year-old striker enjoyed a breakout year while on loan to Juventud over 2012/13, notching 10 goals in 25 appearances in the Uruguayan first division. The Mississauga native then returned to Nacional, one of the most famous club sides in South America, for the first half of this season. Unfortunately for him (and for Canadian soccer supporters) the youngster was unable to replicate that form in the first half of this season, when he was limited to zero goals in four substitute appearances.
    CSN is attempting to contact Cavallini and has reached out to the press office of Nacional to confirm the report.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The report (Spanish link) quotes Nacional's sporting director Alejandro Lembo as saying Cavallini has an offer from Spain, though he doesn't mention which club.
    Over the Christmas holiday reports from Uruguay said Nacional manager Gerardo Pelusso wanted to send Cavallini on loan for the Clasura portion of the South America football season but was having trouble finding takers. It seems the Uruguayan side Tanque Sisley was for a time interested in Cavallini, but nothing has been confirmed.
    Where this leaves Cavallini is uncertain. It’s fair to say 2013 won’t be remembered as a year Canadian internationals covered themselves in glory on the playing fields of Europe. So as we begin a new year it’s disappointing to learn that the lone member of the men’s player pool based in South America may also lie in something of a club limbo.
    Cavallini showed promise with Canada's U23 side at the Olympic qualifying tournament in March 2012, scoring the first goal in a surprise 2-0 victory over the U.S. in Nashville. He was cap-tied permanently with a substitute appearance in the supremely painful 8-1 loss to Honduras that eliminated Canada from the 2014 World Cup qualifying process a year and a half ago.
    Cavallini has not yet answered the call from current men's coach Benito Floro through several games in 2013, a fact that caused mild concern among Canadian national team followers. Former national team manager Stephen Hart called out his unique position in South American club soccer as possibly bringing a different dimension to the side.
    So... How are we feeling about Cavallini moving to Spain, with the caveat that it's not yet certain where he would go?
    Guest
    It’s the annual sweepstakes for MLS with the SuperDraft coming this Thursday. Except instead of a multi-million lottery this year’s draft is more like a weekday bingo jackpot. There is very little to be excited about, with one team’s personnel telling ESPN that the talent was very "vanilla".
    While the majority of mock drafts have the Whitecaps taking UConn keeper Andre Blake with the third pick it may be too high for a position that can be easily filled elsewhere. Of course it may become a reality considering how many experts have Blake rated as the best talent available in the draft and as it currently stands, the Whitecaps only have one keeper on their MLS squad.
    The Whitecaps hold two picks in the top seven this year thanks to the Eric Hassli trade with TFC from two seasons ago. Despite the high picks there should be very little doubt that there won’t be any starters for the Caps coming out of this draft. That will have to come from other avenues.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    What the Caps can get from these picks are a couple of decent backups who could develop into starters in 2-3 years time.
    <b>BEST CAPS PICK TO DATE</b>
    It was a limited sample size but in the opportunities he was provided with, <b>Kekuta Manneh</b> showed the potential he has to become one of the more dynamic picks from the 2013 draft. He really came on in the final games of the season where he scored four of his five goals and created opportunities as a striker. Manneh should be ready for the coming season where he will definitely see more than the 764 minutes he saw in his rookie year.
    <b>WORST CAPS PICK TO DATE</b>
    While there was nothing he could have done about it, <b>Omar Salgado</b> has been disappointing due to his constant injury woes. The top pick from the 2011 draft has seen just over 900 minutes over three seasons, which includes not seeing the pitch at all in 2013. There is talk that Salgado has improved strength and explosiveness but can he translate it in game action and stay away from more injuries? 2014 is definitely a make or break year for him.
    <b>WHITECAPS CURRENT NEEDS</b>
    RIGHT BACK - This is probably the biggest need for the Whitecaps but don’t expect a starter from this draft. Currently they have no right backs on the roster and have very little to look forward to in the near future from the Residency.
    WINGERS - With Manneh and Teibert possibly moving inside, there could be a depth spot for a pacey winger who can deliver a decent cross into the box. A pick for this position will not be needed if the Caps finally make the right call and sign one of their own, Ben Fisk, who is better than any midfielder in the draft.
    STRIKER - A depth striker with size would be an ideal fit for the Caps, especially if they get a player like Devon Sandoval who was drafted in the second round last year by RSL. Hopefully they can convince Caleb Clarke to return from Germany or sign Brody Huitema from Duke either this year or next.
    GOALKEEPER - With only one keeper signed the Caps could look to draft a backup keeper, but will they spend a high pick doing so? The third spot on the MLS roster is likely to be filled by two time U17 Canadian Player of the Year Marco Carducci but he is still a couple of years away from being a backup.
    <b>DRAFT STRATEGY</b>
    How will the Whitecaps and their decision makers approach this draft? Do they just take the best player or do they try to fill a need on their 30 man roster? It's the age old dilemma and there are different trains of thought as to the best way to go.
    They additionally have the option of trading up and giving up assets or acquiring more by trading down. It is also a possibility that they use one of their picks to acquire a veteran player who will be able to be a starter from day one.
    We asked Carl Robinson how he's going to go about approaching his first draft as Caps head coach and he feels that there are multiple options for the club to consider.
    "You do your homework and we've done our homework for the last few months on players. The big decisions you've got is do you identify positional needs or do you identify the best players available? And there's not a right answer or a wrong answer. It just depends on the club, it depends on the coach and it depends on which way they want to go.
    "Up until the last minute before you get to pick your guy, which you've done your homework on, suddenly a trade offer or a bit of allocation money suddenly sways you.
    "We've got contingency plans in place for everything. We've got our targets, we've got our positional targets, and we've got our best player targets and as we go through the week we'll obviously narrow it down and put it in order of preference of what we want and who we want and obviously as well is there anyone out that we would want to trade for or trade. So all the areas will be covered."
    <b>DRAFT SCENARIOS</b>
    The best scenario for the Caps in this draft is to trade one of the picks for a starting player and pick up a decent backup with a selection. A starter and a backup for the right back position would be perfect and it would allow the team to concentrate on the midfield and up front when the transfer window opens.
    This could change if Canadian Cyle Larin signs at the last minute and is still available at the number three spot. Then it becomes a no brainer to pick him and choose to either to trade or keep the seventh pick for a right back like Generation Adidas player Eric Miller.
    If the Caps keep their picks and Larin also enters the draft as a Generation Adidas player then I would take him three and select Miller at seven.
    Unfortunately the chances of the Canadian doing that seem to be dwindling with every day that passes.
    There could still be a lot of action to come before we see who and where the Whitecaps will end up picking.
    <p>
    Guest
    It is fun again.
    For a long time it wasn't. In fact it was miserable. Going to TFC games was a cynical, bitter experience and an experience fewer and fewer people were having. There was no hope left and without hope a sports team is nothing.
    As Tim Leiweke said yesterday at the press conference announcing Jermain Defoe and Michael Bradley, nothing has been won yet. As we saw in this city just last year with the Blue Jays, winning the off-season means absolutely nothing when the games start.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    And, as we also saw with the Jays, if the off-season promise doesn't get fulfilled the fans become even more alienated. So, to say that 2014 is of vital importance to TFC is an incredible understatement.
    Also of vital importance was this off-season though. Against all odds they pulled off the impossible. They made an incredibly bitter and impossibly cynical fan base be fans again.
    Fans that sing. Fans that are excited. Fans that hope.
    Yesterday, they were fans that were proud of their team again. After the last seven years that might be the biggest miracle Leiweke pulled off.
    Now the pressure falls on the players and Ryan Nelsen. On paper, TFC has enough talent now to be playing in November (add another defender and I'll argue they have enough to be playing in December).
    They still have to go out and do it though because things will get ugly, fast if they don't.
    Michael Mccoll
    Your eyes and ears are not deceiving you. We're back already with another new episode of ”There’s Still Time”.
    Nope, we've not become a new daily show (although if anyone wants to throw some money our way to make that happen then feel free!), but it's been a busy start to the year in Whitecapsland, apart from when it comes to new signings of course.
    Episode 34 is a special Triple A edition, as we look at assistants, assets and asses.
    Steve and myself are joined by Steven Lamothe and Zachary Meisenheimer and the debate gets quite heated as we chat about the Camilo Sanvezzo transfer saga. An infuriating and embarrassing start to the year, that looks to finally be getting settled very soon, just not in the most pleasing way for the Caps.
    That issue obviously takes up the bulk of this episode but we also look at happier news with the announcement of Carl Robinson's new technical staff, and what it means for the future of the Whitecaps and the young players at the club.
    We also look ahead to the upcoming MLS SuperDraft, cast our eyes over some of the players out there and look at that age old chestnut of do you draft the best player available or draft to fill your needs?
    And there's still time for our new section "Dreams", where we look at listener's dream jobs in football.
    And remember, everyone has options. Just choose yours wisely. Start by listening to this episode!
    You can listen to this week's podcast on iTunes HERE.
    Or download it for your later listening delight HERE
    We also have an iPhone app, so you can now add our podcast to your phone as an app. Visit the podcast's mobile site HERE and then at the bottom of the screen just click the "Quick Launch" icon and the podcast will be added to your home screen and appear as an app.
    And if that's not enough, we've joined Stitcher Radio Network. Download the app and listen to the AFTN podcast on your device, along with over 15,000 shows HERE.
    Or after all that, you could just listen on the player below!
    Guest
    Toronto FC have made a massive splash in the MLS and Toronto sports media this ofseason.
    This morning they hosted a press conference to introduce Jermain Defoe and Micheal Bradley to the squad.
    As I sit in Real Sports uploading these images, I can still hear the supporters upstairs enjoying the MLSE hospitality. I might just have to head up there shortly.
    Chris







    Michael Mccoll
    It's a New Year. Time to kick out the old, welcome the new. But before we can quite do that, we need a little closure.
    Horrible man flu prevented us from doing both our Christmas special and part two of our year in review. But podcasts are like disgruntled Whitecaps strikers, you wait for them, then two come along at the same time.
    Episode 33 of ”There’s Still Time” is finally part two of our end of year roundtable, featuring our regular roundtable guests Steven Lamothe and Zachary Meisenheimer.
    It's not just going to be a straight month by month and game by game review, as we try look at the big Vancouver Whitecaps and Canadian news stories of July to December 2013 and the issues arising out of them that will be important and talking points going forward into this coming year.
    There's the good - the Cascadia Cup win. The bad - missing the playoffs. And the ugly - the Camilo and Mattocks affairs. And so much more.
    Have a listen and start your New Year cleanse right here.
    Also watch out for Episode 34 of the podcast, with all the latest Whitecaps talk, coming tomorrow!
    You can listen to this week's podcast on iTunes HERE.
    Or download it for your later listening delight HERE
    We also have an iPhone app, so you can now add our podcast to your phone as an app. Visit the podcast's mobile site HERE and then at the bottom of the screen just click the "Quick Launch" icon and the podcast will be added to your home screen and appear as an app.
    And if that's not enough, we've joined Stitcher Radio Network. Download the app and listen to the AFTN podcast on your device, along with over 15,000 shows HERE.
    Or after all that, you could just listen on the player below!
    Guest

    The War of 2014

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Clearly, TFC is signing Michael Bradley as a ploy to derail the US national team.
    Just ask this guy:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    <a href="http://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/michael-bradley-to-tfc.1999029/page-5#post-29335865">Michael Bradley to TFC</a>
    Yes, American fans have reacted to the news that Bradley is coming with the type of reasoned thought you'd expect from those live and die with the sport.
    Or, not.
    Picking low hanging fruit is fun sometimes, but our quoted friend above is just an extreme version of a common reaction in American soccer circles. Outside of the rare neutral MLS loyalist, most Americans are reacting somewhere between appalled and disgusted.
    Bradley isn't giving them the chance to watch Serie A vicariously anymore and that's not acceptable. Especially a move to Canada! That the move will take care of his family for life is irrelevant.
    Here in Toronto the vast majority of fans are reacting to the news with a shrug and a smile. Outside of the odd fan who comes from the the US (there are probably a couple hundred TFC regulars that are either ex-pat Americans or who come up for the games) Reds fans quite understandably don't care what it means to the USMNT. At all.
    Like, AT ALL.
    The only thing TFC fans care about is whether TFC is made better by the move. This seems like it should work. No signing is foolproof, but this is damn close.
    However, that evaluation is for another day. Today, we focus on what it means in the big picture of MLS and Canadian soccer.
    Despite the howling of insanity from some south of the border, this move is nothing but good news for American soccer and MLS. Bradley isn't going to "develop" anymore as a 26-year-old and, if anything, a break now before a two month run in to the World Cup will be better for the US.
    Long-term, a stronger MLS will mean a stronger USMNT.
    Yes, I know: You (mostly) don't care. You shouldn't be expected to care.
    Although the league sometimes forgets, Toronto isn't an American market and the interests of the USMNT don't register here. And seven years into the MLS in Canada experiment it's becoming harder to see if Canadian interests register anywhere in the league -- including the three teams.
    Don't mistake this as a criticism of TFC getting Bradley. It's not. It's a great move that will likely bring joy to a lot of long suffering TFC fans. The club should be applauded for it. But, in light of a move that is so clearly helpful to US soccer, questions should also be asked about what the league's commitment to the Canadian game is.
    Questions that cant be answered by flippant answers about the academies. Having three academies is great, but it's limited and there is next to no bridge opportunities for the players not ready to turn pro.
    How is MLS promoting the game in Canada? What is being done to give more roster spots to Canadians league-wide (and the labor law excuse is just that--an excuse. There are examples IN US SOCCER that contradict that stance)? Why is the CIS still not getting invites to the player combine?
    And, If the opportunity to invest in a Canadian player to the same level as Bradley came around would MLS allow it? Are we sure?
    It's clear that TFC is willing to do its part to grow the game in the US and to improve MLS. In turn, is MLS willing to start viewing Canada as an actual partner? Is bringing the level of the game up in this country an actual priority, or will the lip service that has characterized the last seven years continue?
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