Juninho and Leonardo back with LA Galaxy
by Duncan Fletcher on Feb 7, 2012 9:23 PM EST
in MLS News
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Remember last week when it was announced that Edson Buddle was coming back from Germany, and returning to L.A? Remember how you thought, well that kind of sucks, but still, they were always going to be good up front, it was defensively they needed help, this doesn't really change anything, we can still take them. Remember how yesterday they released Chris Birchall, and you thought 'hmmm, creating cap space? Nothing good can come of this' Well the L.A related news got depressing today as it was announced that Brazilians Juninho and Leonardo have been re-signed for 2012.
Leonardo is a defender who if fit, could very nicely fill the hole left by the injured Omar Gonzalez. Hopefully as far as Toronto FC's CCL qualification hopes go, Leonardo himself may still be injured. In April of 2011 he tore his ACL and LCL, and he might not be back in time for March 7th, at least according to this article which has Bruce Arena saying he'll be fully able to play in April.
Juninho though is all set to go in March, and that's really going to make a difference. Despite being a Brazilian midfielder, he's not nearly as glamorous a player as Buddle, Donovan, Keane, or Chad Barrett. But much like Claude Makelele with Real Madrid's Galacticos, Juninho was hugely important for the Galaxy's midfield last season. His signing with Sao Paolo was very much a good thing for those hoping to beat L.A, his return to L.A on loan is a much bigger deal than the return of Buddle, and will make L.A a much tougher proposition. If you want to alarm yourself, check out LAG Confidential trying to figure out who their best lineup would be from their 'bevy of riches', smug bastards.
Remember this over excited article from torontofc.ca suggesting TFC was having a much better off season than L.A? Yeah, not so much any more. With exactly a month to go until the big game, they're now once again looking very much like the 2011 Supporters Shield and MLS Cup champions.
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Even with both players coming back and the other moves they have made I think all the talk of them as favourites is a bit much. From top to bottom they are still behind the top Mexican teams even if the high end talent is good or better.
Will probably be the best MLS squad so far though so if they can get past TFC, which is not a given, they have a chance to win it all. Still like the two big Mexican clubs more though
Writer for Toronto FC blog Waking The Red
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by Dave Rowaan on Feb 7, 2012 9:40 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Agreed…just because they have sims flashy parts, it doesn’t mean they’re guaranteed to win. Them getting these guys back so late has to have some sort of effect…
by John Leung on Feb 8, 2012 12:05 AM EST via iPhone app up reply actions
As I posted elsewhere on this issue: it stinks!
A little revenue sharing deal w Sao Paolo and then LAG are past the inconvenient issues of the salary cap. Numnuts Garber isn’t going to say boo, because his wet dream is to have an MLS team make it to the Club World Cup finals.
Frustrating. But hey, at least we aren’t Columbus.
C.
PS. There is nothing that happens in footy, no matter the League, that isn’t made better by following it with the words “but hey, at least we aren’t Columbus”. You doubt? Try it for yourself. Repeat after me: “Ahh Fck, the fcking Gooners got 7 (!) by us in that loss. But hey at least we aren’t Columbus”. Trust me: it’s a thing. Tell your friends.
It’s true, i do feel better.
what’s that Darlington are going out of business :( but hey, at least we aren’t Columbus :)
genius
Managing editor of SBNation's Toronto FC blog,Waking the Red .
by Duncan Fletcher on Feb 8, 2012 9:01 AM EST up reply actions
that’s the spirit.
This is a much bigger factor against them than buddle signing was, but still, we can do this.
Managing editor of SBNation's Toronto FC blog,Waking the Red .
by Duncan Fletcher on Feb 8, 2012 9:08 AM EST up reply actions
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