Morning Ticker: Donovan talks Europe move, Buddle a transfer target and the forward Toronto missed out on

                                                             By ISIphotos.com

Good morning folks. It was a very interesting day here at the All-Star festivities. While several players had yet to arrive, there was still enough interviews to do and enough information to uncover.

With that in mind, here is an MLS-heavy Morning Ticker, complete with some transfer rumors and one unhappy coach.

Donovan addresses rumors of Europe move

With growing rumors swirling that Landon Donovan is set for a move to Europe, Los Angeles Galaxy star and U.S. national team captain confirmed that he is more interested in a move than ever, but was careful to quell suggestions that a move was imminent.

"Competitively I have that itch to go test it," Donovan said of moving to Europe. "And now, as opposed to when I was younger, I feel like I'm ready. Physically I'm ready, mentally, psychologically I'm ready. I know I could handle it, so now I'm having that itch to go try it again.

"When i was younger, I admittedly wasn't ready."

Donovan, whose experiences with European soccer consist of two failed stints with German club Bayer Leverkusen, stated that a move isn't imminent and that he's been stating his new philosophy on a move to Europe since late last season.

"That could still be a long way away," said Donovan. "That's a hope, that at some point it happens.

"That doesn't mean it's going to happen," Donovan said. "If it doesn't happen the I'll be fine. It's not like I have some pressing need, but it would fun at some point."

Carver blasts Cunningham, Wynne

Toronto FC head coach John Carver had to believe his club had found a miracle when a loose ball sat near the goal-line just waiting to be kicked in. Forward Jeff Cunningham was right near the ball but couldn't put it in, which forced TFC to settle for a 1-1 tie against Montreal on Tuesday night. The tie cost Toronto a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

"I'm thinking How has he scored 99 goals?'," Carver said of Cunningham's failure to find the game-winning goal in that late scramble. "That's what I thought. How has he scored 99 goals in this league, because, if you're a poacher and you've got desire, no matter how you put the ball over the line you put the ball over the line."

Carver repeatedly stated TFC's desperate need for help at forward, saying the team needs two new forwards to get out of its current funk.

"When we're having to depend on a 16-year-old boy to be our lead striker I think that tells you everything," said Carver, referring to Abdus Ibrahim, who started as the lone striker in Toronto's 4-5-1.

Carver didn't just bash Cunningham. He saved some venom for U.S. Olympic team defender Marvell Wynne, who played his last game before joining U.S. Olympic training camp in California.

"I had to try and get my fullbacks involved in the game to try and create something," Carver said. "Unfortunately,  when the fullbacks did get into the final third the lack of quality, certainly down the right-hand side, was disappointing.

"This is a guy who's going away to play in the Olympics."

A Costly miss on the transfer market

Toronto FC's lengthy search for a striker has been well-documented but one of the lesser-known strikers the club targeted, and nearly signed, was Honduran national team striker Carlos Costly.

Toronto midfielder and Honduran national team player Amado Guevara confirmed on Tuesday that Costly was ready to sign with Toronto FC before his current club, Polish side GKS Belchatow, signed him to an improved contract.

"If we could have signed him, it would have been amazing," Guevara lamented. "We need forwards, that's clear for everyone to see."

Norwegian club makes bid for Buddle?

One of the more interesting developments I heard about on Tuesday was that an unidentified Norwegian club made a $1 million offer for Los Angeles striker Edson Buddle. The Galaxy doesn't look like it will be parting with Buddle, although forward Carlos Ruiz could still be on his way out, especially if growing rumors about Peruvian midfielder Carlos Ruiz Nolberto Solano signing with Los Angeles are true.

That's all for now. What do you about

Comments

[Maple Leaf Red]

You have a typo. Peruvian midfielder Nolberto Solano might sign in LA.

[AJ]

The Gals are going to replace Carlos Ruiz with Carlos Ruiz? Isn't one enough?

[Andrew]

Wait, there's two Carlos Ruizes?

[Mike]

Any word on where Landycakes is looking or who may be keeping tabs on him?

[mig22]

One is definitely more than enough. :)

Solano, yes. That would be awesome for the Galaxy.

[Eric]

LA would have to be completely stupid to seell Buddle for 1 million. If Donovan leaves next season, Buddle will be their only consistant scoring threat. Besides, he's worth more than that to LA right now.

[Eric]

I'll say it...

Wow, Carver's a dick.

[kpugs]

Carver is a fool. Never publicly throw your players under the bus. You do it constructively, in private. All this type of thing results in his players hating him, and they won't put out anything near their best effort for this guy if he is treating them like dirt.

I love how there are still people out there in the world that think Buddle is good. Sure he has 11 goals THIS season. But he scores all of his goals in one or two hat trick games per year. He is lazy, slow, can't pass, and one of the biggest busts this league has ever seen. I hope that Norwegian club is planning to sign Beckham too, so he can ricochet balls of Buddle into the net and let Buddle continue taking all the credit.

Which makes me wonder, Eric, have you ever seen Buddle play before this season? "Consistant scoring threat?" HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Everyone gets lucky sometimes.

[Sean]

Maybe the Galaxy are signing this one, though I don't think he's Peruvian:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=7757

Might be an improvement over Cronin at least. :)

[nate]

Nice work Carver! Maybe try starting TWO strikers in a MUST WIN game next time and you won't have to worry about bashing your players.

Wynne has looked excellent this year, IMO. His crossing still can use improvement, but he's clearly one of the top right backs in the league.

[Ossington Mental Youth]

Carver is far from a fool.
Cunny has been on the outs for months at this point and finally deserves a kick in the ass. I have no doubt Cunny is on his way out and that his club hates him at this point.

[Ossington Mental Youth]

Hard to start 2 strikers when youve really only got one of any quality. Our midfield was dominant last night and it was due to the fact that the strikers got sacreficed. We would have lost significantly if we hda played with 2 strikers. This I assure you.

[Ossington Mental Youth]

The only thing that i think should have been done was start smith and sub him off if he looks poor or at the half for Ibrahim.
Outside of that Carver did nothing wrong.

[William the Terror]

Was Toronto's failure to sign the Honduran striker due to the fact that it was Carlos "too Costly?"

[Fumar]

Carver desperately needs a striker and the Fire won't give him Barrett? This would be a win-win. The Fire get rid of the shank machine, and the Fire get a finisher in his place. I guess that's just two wins for the Fire. Come on. Make the deal!!!

[J]

Not a TFC fan, but I like how Carver pulls no punches. I could care less about Landycakes, but it would be a loss for MLS in that they need players in the league they can market or push. It can't be the Beckham show all day, all night.

[Ossington Mental Youth]

I do agree with Kpugs on Buddle tho.
Its all luck at this point for that fatbastard. Should rid of him while they can...

[Ossington Mental Youth]

also think carver was a bit harsh on Wynne, who was ok, needs to step up his defending a bit, offense is good, defending, not so much. Had way too much room on the right.

[Aljarov]

Cunningham needs to go...for whatever reason it's not worke dout in Toronto. If he doesn't get a new gig soon he'll never hit the ton mark. His confidence must be rock bottom, are tongue lashings like that will do nothing to help the situation.

This is all on Mo...he needs to get some deals for strikers DONE, like yesterday already.

Not going to stop us missing out on the CL, but if he can act now, it might save our once promising season...

[Dave Martinez]

Carvers words about both players are dead on.

As far as Marvell Wynne - was I the only one shocked to find out he beat out Hunter Freeman for the right side of that Olympics D?! Give me Hunters cross over Wynnes speed anyday.

[anotherbodymurdered]

Are we witnessing the public implosion of TFC?

[Sandro]

I heard the rumor that Solano may sign with LA Galaxy. I wonder if he would have been a better fit with the Red Bulls.

[Dave Martinez]

I am so with Carver on both players. But Wynne - how did he win the rb spot from Hunter Freeman? I am still scratching my head over that one.

[joe k]

totally agree with kpugs --
those of us who were here in the ny/nj area can remember buddle's terrible time with the red bulls.
if you can get *anything* for a player that was traded for tim regan, you should go for it.

LA would be stupid *not* to dump him while his stock is high.

and i forget -- was lalas in new york when we got buddle? what about when he was traded?

he's going to do well when he has two teammates who are constantly double-teamed. even alan gordon looks okay sometimes out there.

[joe k]

heck -- put oscar etcheverry in buddle's spot on the galaxy for a few months, and you might be able to squeeze out a quarter-million transfer fee...

[brett]

kpugs- watch out... i said the same thing about JCO publicly calling out the redbulls and i get labeled public enemy #1... :-/

[Betinho]

Buddle has averaged a goal about every 180 minutes played throughout his career. That adds up to 64 goals. Come on guys...he doesn't suck.

[Ives]

No folks, there aren't two Carlos Ruiz's. Well, there are, but I wouldn't write about the Philadelphia Phillie's catcher. I blame it on the hazards of writing in a car.

[Betinho]

Where would Landon play in the EPL? He's got too big of an ego for the Fulhams and isn't going to get picked up by the big four, so which team would he fit with?

[seven]

Ossington, you are being very generous to Carver if you think his only mistake was not starting Smith. His decisions over the past few games have been mind-boggling.

Chicago: claims that he is going with a more attacking starting line-up. To achieve this he tries to turn 2 full-backs into wingbacks & adds a 3 centre-back. Despite the added defender they still give up their customary early road goal. Trying desperately to hang on to a 1-1 tie Carver doesn't use his 3rd sub even though it is obvious the defense is exhaused. Result: an injury-time winner on a defensive blunder.

San Jose: Toronto dominates possession, but barely creates any scoring chances. Carver's only move is to remove Ibrahim for Cunningham. San Jose's defenders are exhausted & a fresh Smith could have caused problems. Carver does not even change the formation to push more players into the attack.

Montreal: Despite needing a win Carver again replaces Ibrahim with Cunningham. The only other move is to put on a defender as a striker so they have a target for long balls. Granted this almost works, but surely a fresh Smith would have caused tired Montreal defenders problems especially since alost all of them had been booked.

Good coaches use all of the resources they have even if the options aren't great.

[Dave Martinez]

kpugs - I put up a post not too long ago with a t-shirt that says "Hat Trick Buddle" - old metro fans would have been slapping their heads in shock.

BUT

I did get to see him first hand at the Galaxy game, and the kid is night and day what he was with the Bulls. He has a much improved first touch, he is actually helping set up other forwards with light touch passes, or controlling the ball into open areas, which he NEVER did with us.

i was skeptical about his performance this year, and am still rather with you - sell while the iron is hot. But Buddle is enjoying more than just a hot streak - his game has matured greatly (as much as it hurts me to say).

[Dave Martinez]

kpugs - I put up a post not too long ago with a t-shirt that says "Hat Trick Buddle" - old metro fans would have been slapping their heads in shock.

BUT

I did get to see him first hand at the Galaxy game, and the kid is night and day what he was with the Bulls. He has a much improved first touch, he is actually helping set up other forwards with light touch passes, or controlling the ball into open areas, which he NEVER did with us.

i was skeptical about his performance this year, and am still rather with you - sell while the iron is hot. But Buddle is enjoying more than just a hot streak - his game has matured greatly (as much as it hurts me to say).

[Betinho]

Oss - thought you were going to stay away from forums today?

[Kaiser]

The Galaxy can't put Alan "first touch of a chainsaw" Gordon out there! (thanks NHJ)

Buddle is riding a wave of good form, I say ride it out. A lot of his goals are hustle goals where he simply outworks other guys. The Galaxy need more hustle, not less.

I think Donovan should leave at the end of the year. He needs the challange of Europe.

[Tony in Quakeland]

On Carver: He's right. And if Cunningham can't respond by raising his game, it's time to move on.

On Buddle: Yes...but...I have followed his career since the beginning and he showed flashes, especially early, of being a terrific player. Later, he became more and more lazy. But this year he is doing stuff i have not seen him did before and is much more consistent and positive. In the Quakes game, he worked hard the whole game and buried the three chances he got. In another recent game (Red Bulls) he took on a defender and set up a nice assist. This isn't stuff he did before. He may have finally matured. That said, he'd be a fool to leave LA.

[DL]

Betinho - I think the most likely scenario is Donovan joining a mid-table team (think, Spurs/Newcastle/Portsmouth). If he doesn't have too big of an ego for Galaxy, he certainly wouldn't for those teams.

[Reid]

On the Donovan topic - him going to Spurs wouldnt surprise me especially if Keane goes. I've always found them to be similar players.
As for Carver, harsh words but true, i see the extreme potential in wynne and it disappoints to no end his last few touches when he gets upfield.

[2mas]

Rosenborg and Vålerenga have been watching forwards in the MLS this summer.

Any chance you can find out whether any of these two are the unknown Norwegian club bidding on Bubble?

[Victor]

Selling Buddle wouldn't make sense. Does AEG really need the money? I can't hardly think so with the Beckham cash machine around. If LA's committed to being the biggest team in North America then selling one of your top scorers for a bit of cash doesn't make sense, unless Ruud has someone on the bench that can do better.

[Cosmos Forever]

Selling Buddle wouldn't make sense. Does AEG really need the money? I can't hardly think so with the Beckham cash machine around. If LA's committed to being the biggest team in North America then selling one of your top scorers for a bit of cash doesn't make sense, unless Ruud has someone on the bench that can do better.

[Joe B.]

With the TFC coach spouting off the way he did I would love to see Wynne come back to New York. Seriously...

[Eugene]

If Toronto is looking to offload Marvell Wynne, I think NY would love to have him back!

Look, its easy for Carver to blame the loss and the current problems on his forwards or perceived lack of forwards, but the reality is that his tactics have also been generally poor this season. Playing a 2 forward system would have allowed both guys to get more opportunities rather than relying on his fullbacks and wingers to create opportunities in a 4-5-1. Honestly, Carver has no one to blame more than himself for the recent failures to score. At least he's not blaming Ibrahim... yet...

This team has an unused DP slot and have Chicago over a barrel with the McBride negotiations. If they need a quality forward, they really have no excuse for why they haven't gotten a DP. Has anyone called Crespo's agent? They also need to work the Chicago negotiations out to their benefit quickly, whether the trade involves 2 teams or more.

[Dannyc58]

West Ham boards have said Hammers are going to look at Donovan as a potential signing, they said this 2 weeks ago, before any signings came out...

[Ossington Mental Youth]

Betinho-
This is a blog isnt it;)

Seven-
I agree its been a mistake to put Cunny in in all fo those games and obviously Carver is to blame but on the same hand Cunny does have a record (in the past, long before TFC) in which he scored goals (one of which was a game winner this year). As a result i dont think its entirely ridiculous that he subs/starts him in a game. Granted we all lost faith in Cunny a long time ago and know that hes useless. If Cunny isnt sent away, i highly doubt we will see him play at all for the rest of the season. I do hold Carver responsible for putting him in but then again it is up to Cunny to do his job (one he did relatively well previously).
The rest of the team is measuring up to expectations, its not fargone to expect him to do the same (by that manner of thought).

[jpc]

All the Buddle hate is ridiculous...Before this season, I think it was very fair to rip Buddles career up to this point considering the hype, but you cannot call 11 goals to this point Luck (especially seeing as how he didn't see the field till the ____ game of the season)... The Kids been outstanding even when not scoring goals. his hold up play and passing have been very good, and he has very nice skills for such a big kid... his goals have been clinical and skillful, not simply poachers goals, and most of his goal scoring came when Donovan wasn't even playing, so any thoughts that he scored b/c nobody was paying attention are simply uninformed... Finally, nobody has been higher on Buddle's advancement as a player then Gullit and Beckham, not really two guys who need to blow smoke for a relatively unknown player like Buddle.

As far as Donovan goes, I want him to stay, but I think he would be more successful in Europe then any of us could imagine. See how much better he is now that he has a player of his caliber to play with in Beckham, him playing on a team where everyone is at his level I believe would push him to heights never reached by a US player, and more importantly give more credibility to other US players heading overseas (and more transfer dollars)

[Rob C]

Great stuff on the ticker this morning!

I would love to see Donovan go to Europe. Admittedly, after watching Donovan live at the USA/Argentina game and then last weekend at the LA/NY match, I'm a convert. I think he's a fantastic player and is in the early part of his prime, and he's HUGE for the USMNT going forward. He would benefit from a move to Europe, and I think Spain or England would suit him best because of his speed and direct style of play.

As for TFC, Carver is being honest about his players, but doing it in the media isn't the best move. But maybe the players will respond. We'll see.

[DeLarge]

Buddle is RELIABLE. I have seen him put in an honest effort EVERY night the Gals play. More than you could say about Carlos The-Ball-Wasn't-Played-To-Me-Perfectly-So-Screw-This-Chance Ruiz.

Buddle is a better striker than 75% of those in MLS right now, and has always rocked on grass. He doesn't shank the ball, he just sometimes hangs on to it for too long.

[Juke Box Hero]

That 3 way trade (some form of McBride to Chicago, Conde to LA and Ruiz to Toronto) should have happened several weeks ago. All 3 clubs are paying for not doing it, imo.

I always seem to disagree with what kpugs posts (as well as the needless insults that ususally accompany such posts), and here is no different. If you can't see that Buddle has finally put all of his considerable talents together this year, and that he is not the same player he was in NY, then I think you haven't been watching close enough. He always had skill, strength and finishing, but this year he's added hustle, heart, and consistency.

I'd 'power rank' him at #4 right now in the USMNT's available strikers, behind Donovan, Dempsey & Cooper.

[BJR]

Kpugs: "I love how there are still people out there in the world that think Buddle is good. Sure he has 11 goals THIS season. But he scores all of his goals in one or two hat trick games per year. He is lazy, slow, can't pass, and one of the biggest busts this league has ever seen. I hope that Norwegian club is planning to sign Beckham too, so he can ricochet balls of Buddle into the net and let Buddle continue taking all the credit."

Maybe you should try watching him *this season* before you stick your foot further down your bitter throat.

[DL]

Juke Box - You would put Buddle over Altidore?