VMP Final Countdown: Number 13 – Damien Perquis

fc2015c-13Highest Ranking: 6

Lowest Ranking: 26

Average Ranking: 12.79

Tony: 9. Human. Loyal. Wildly unpredictable in the back.

Brought in from Portugal via France by way of Poland, Damien Perquis was obviously purchased as the heir apparent for the “retiring” Steven Caldwell. The problem is, where Caldwell was poised leadership and veteran savvy at centreback, Perquis was often scattered, rash and surprisingly quick to temper. Instead of becoming the calming influence on a fairly young backline, Perquis was often the one that required assistance, especially early in the season.

In fairness, he did settle somewhat while starting 24 of the 25 matches he featured in. In true TFC-ness, the big French-Polisher seemed to finally find something of a groove as the club entered autumn only to be felled by pesky injury. You would expect that he has done enough to return next year and could improve with a steady partner at CB. However, on some chunky money and a pocket full o’ yellow cards, his inconsistency pretty much encapsulates The Reds’ current defensive reality.

Duncan: 13. Entertaining website, and I did enjoy the few times he brought the ball out of defence and then just decided to keep going. Never came to anything, but I enjoy a good barnstorming centre back run. Generally though he wasn’t good at the whole defending thing. On that salry he was clearly brought in to be Caldwell’s replacement and he wasn’t, there was no organisation or leadership he brought to the back, other than that one game where he got all pissed off at the negativity and Kurt Larson in particular. I guess he just needed the chip on his shoulder?  Aside from that though, he was also calamitously error prone way too often, at a rate that would have made Doneil Henry blush, to plagiarise myself from this article I wrote early in the season when I was sick of him.   He got a bit better, then had another long streak of crap, which led to general impressions of ‘he was good to start the season (no he wasn’t-ed), but he’s bad now’ then had a few ok games against poor teams then got injured. Those poor games seemed to tempt many people into thinking he was actually good and we’d have done better in the last few games if he was there. He wasn’t and we wouldn’t have. I’d love to see Bezbatchenko and co find some way to get rid of him before next season, that cap money could be put to much better use, but I’m getting more and more resigned to the idea that they still like him and he’ll be back.

Mark: 17. Maybe the best of the worst

Kristin: 13. Needs more polish. Tantalizing glimpses of a solid CB but not the leader the backline needs. Earns points for firey set-tos with local journalists, but we’re all sick of the ‘Perquis of death’.

Mark HSV: 9. I liked Perquis despite his defensive lapses and anger management issues. The European trio of Perquis, Cheyrou and Giovinco gave me positive vibes to start the season, but the Perquis part didn’t pan out so well. He had some good games, but also too much injured time. So maybe the jury is still out on him. Hopefully he can have a more complete season next year.

Yelling at soccer 15. Had his moments of good, and moments of WHY ARE YOU ON THE FIELD, and moments of well, thanks for being red carded

TC St Clair 10. I cursed him often, but I applauded him more. Some bonehead decisions, but a rough and tumble CB with a Polished edge.

Jordylike 14. Soft on the eyes, hard to justify on the payroll. Flashes of promise, long stretches of futility.

Zicogold 13. While he was frustrating at times he did provide passable defending when he wasn’t agitated; does possess speed

Jason Anderson 14. I actually kind of hate Perquis for his cheap shots against DCU this season, but he is an OK defender.

Ben Bromley 13. He certainly is a player in Major League Soccer.

Richard Wyatt 26. Played very much like a horse with a hand grenade

Alex Lach 20. One half of the French Foreign Legion that made up the CB crop for TFC, tough slow and reckless, was not ideal for fragile TFC defense that at times suffered from costly mistakes.

Mike Newell 6. 2nd best defender and was actually better than people would like to admit. When he was on he could be a rock at the back, the aerial and physical presence we have been looking for. When he was off he was bad, and made some poor choices. The concern going forward will be finding a partner that will be able to work in tandem with him, and his fitness.

Enrico S 7. Best of the worst defensive group ever.

Aaron Bennett: 7. Perquis was our best center back. Coming in new to any league has its challenges. Even for experienced players. As the season progressed Perquis gradually became a dependable option in the centre of our defense. Hopefully his progression continues next season. He just needs a dependable partner.

Number 14: Joe Bendik

Number 12: Ashtone Morgan

Author: Tony Walsh

Tony Walsh is a writer, former minor-league broadcaster and failed astronaut. Born into supporting an underachieving football club only to end up supporting a second underachieving football club - through what must be deemed as soft immigration policies - he continues to make terrible life choices. Walsh is a keen observer of the malarkey-rife sport of football and is considered one of the leading voices on the Collin Samuel Obesity Epidemic.

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