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Toronto Sun: TFC plans soccer surge


Elias

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According to the ESPN article cited in the Mo Johnston thread, the restriction will be 12-16 Canadians on an 18-man roster.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=376689&cc=5901

Toronto FC should be allowed the same number of imports as the U.S. based teams, IMO. No more, no less. Canada has a smaller player-pool to draw on, but there's only one team. So the quality of domestic players available should work out even.

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quote:Originally posted by Chet

According to the ESPN article cited in the Mo Johnston thread, the restriction will be 12-16 Canadians on an 18-man roster.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=376689&cc=5901

Toronto FC should be allowed the same number of imports as the U.S. based teams, IMO. No more, no less. Canada has a smaller player-pool to draw on, but there's only one team. So the quality of domestic players available should work out even.

It will come down to how much they pay their domestic players. In DeRo's case, it would have to far more than what he earns in Houston. Basically, MLSEL will have to make DeRo one of the highest paid players in MLS to guarantee him comming to Toronto.

MLSEL can't be stingy on player salaries like Kraft has done with the New England Revolution (Dempsey feels he's being underpaid) or over spending on a crappy team like the LA Galaxy.

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DDR should be one of the highest paid players in the league. No question. If it's in TO then so be it. I really think that a DDR would go a long way to giving the TO promotions off to a flying start. I am a big fan of Bernier and Brennan, but they alone won't put much of a face on the club, IMHO.

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IMO, this team should be all about winning. If it wants to be credibly in TO, it should not compromize winning in order to pursue any other agenda.

That includes meeting a self-imposed need to play Canadians or the perceived need to sign broken-down-once-famous Euro stars. There are enough fans of good soccer in Toronto that the support would be there for a team that plays an attractive brand of soccer and wins. With good fan support, media support will follow, even if it does so reluctantly in some cases.

The Canadian player development agenda is better met by a development team. Besides, I think there are enough quality Canadian players out there to play on merit alone. The real question is where MLS salaries fit relative to Euro salaries.

I am more curious about the MLS development team structure. Has the MLS sorted out how it will give individual teams more benefit from investing time and money with developing players? Individual teams like TFC need to have the opportunity to hit the jackpot if and when they are successful in developing a world class player, Canadian or otherwise. That means the ability to sell to the highest bidder and not necessarily just to the MLS.

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Oranje, you are absoultely correct. TFC must be about winning. Not playing a predetermined number of Canadians or washed up Euro stars. Winning - and only that - will bring other success.

The job of developing Canadian players should not be part of the TFC mandate. If they confuse this, the product on the field will suffer and, in time, the franchise. TFC needs to develop TFC players. If they happen to be Canadian, all the better.

The responsibility for developing Canadian players falls to the CSA and their youth programs. That is what worries me. Most of what I hear coming from the CSA suggests that they beleive that MLS in Canada will be some kind of magic potion for Canadian soccer. It won't be. Player development needs to be a ground up and long term program. The top down approach simply will not work.

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quote:Originally posted by Calgary Boomer

I'm quite shocked at the progress of the stadium so far...still dissapointed that's is so "cookie cutter" but beggars can't be choosers.

I also didn't know that the Montreal Impact were actually considering joining MLS when it launched. I heard Mr Saputo say that MLS is something his club "will continue to assess" as time goes by.

The million dollar question is...how many fans will the new club average, and will it match MLSE's projections...(especially if the team doesn't do well on the field)

With a rent free stadium, a large chunk of profit from hot dog sales and non soccer events, and the new naming rights deal, they basically need to recoup the 10 million MLS expanision fee, but i'm sure somewhere in depts of a Billion dollar company like MLSE, they've found a way to write that off.

Can you say Corporate Welfare.

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Guest irishwhisper

What sort of attendances are people expecting for Toronto FCs home matches?? Will they have any chance of filling the new stadium??

I'm from Dublin and am a big Shamrock Rovers fan but am planning to move to Toronto for a year next summer and its real nice now to have a proper football team in the area so I can go to their matches. Will be keeping an eye on who they sign and their results now cos they're my new favourite MLS team and I hope they do well for Canada in the MLS.

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quote:Originally posted by irishwhisper

What sort of attendances are people expecting for Toronto FCs home matches?? Will they have any chance of filling the new stadium??

I'm from Dublin and am a big Shamrock Rovers fan but am planning to move to Toronto for a year next summer and its real nice now to have a proper football team in the area so I can go to their matches. Will be keeping an eye on who they sign and their results now cos they're my new favourite MLS team and I hope they do well for Canada in the MLS.

I look for weekend games to draw 12 to 15k but I worry about midweek fixtures. They were always the achiles heel of the Blizzard. They could draw 20 or 25k on a Sunday afternoon but 6k on a Wednesday night.

db

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