TFC’s director of team and player operations Earl Cochrane on venues, player movement, Hall/Avila being CCL ineligible and more. More to come on torontosun.com Wednesday.
ON CLARIFYING CONCACAF’S CURIOUS CCL RULES…
“Prior to the start of the tournament you submit a 30-man roster … If for whatever reason, through transfer or through trade, (another CCL) team acquires one of those players, those players are ineligible to play in the 2011-2012 tournament. There’s two phases of the tournament — the preliminary/group stage and then there’s the knockout stage…But once you submit the second (list), it can be a completely different (list) from the first, as long as you take into account the guys that have been on a previous list.”
ON TFC’S PLANS TO PETITION CONCACAF ABOUT ROSTER REGULATIONS…
“CONCACAF generally has meetings with all the teams that are involved … and that’s the time we want to bring up that we think the rules aren’t very fair. I completely get if a player has played in the preliminary or group stage, but the fact that they’ve appeared on a list and not played in a game and then are ineligible for the next phase seems a little harsh to me.”
ON THIS YEAR’S BREAKOUT PLAYER – WHO TO WATCH…
“Miguel Aceval provides a different element then we’ve had in a little while. He’s flexible where he can play — in the centre, wide left. He allows us to probably do a couple of more things tactically than we’ve been able to do previously … I think Reggie Lambe too. I’ve got high expectations for him. He’s the type of player that fits well in this league.”
ON ADDITIONAL SIGNINGS, DEALS WITHIN THE LEAGUE…
“For us to sign someone else coming in would be extraordinary. I do think we’ll probably add a couple of academy players depending on how they do in Orlando. But I would be surprised if anything earth-shattering happened between now and the start of March. We might do something internally within the league over the next couple of months, but for the most part what we have is probably what you’re going to see.”
ON ADDITIONAL TRANSFERS IN THE WORKS…
“While we’re happy with what we have, you’re never really satisfied … we’re always looking and always discussing. And sometimes when you have those discussions with people it’s about not only just this year, but setting up negotiations for next year or mid-July. We’re always talking to people and we’re always going to find ways to improve ourselves. But we’re pretty happy with what we have now. I can’t see any major changes coming into the beginning of this season. But having said that, people are calling all the time.”
NOTES: Should the Reds advance to the semifinals of the upcoming CONCACAF Champions League knockout phase, Cochrane said the Rogers Centre is not an option and that TFC’s leg will be hosted at BMO Field … Keeping up with a common trend, Cochrane noted that he believes Luis Silva is a player that should be able to step up in contribute while Aaron Maund will need more time to develop into an MLS-ready central defender … Along with Eric Avila, Jeremy Hall is Toronto’s only other player who will be ineligible for Toronto’s March 7 match after his name appeared on a roster submitted by FC Dallas before the start of the last Champions League phase.
Tags: Aceval, Champions, Cochrane, CONCACAF, Earl, FC, Lambe, League, Maund, Silva, TFC, Toronto