snake Posted December 15, 2007 Share Posted December 15, 2007 he is still relatively young 29 showed great leadership in the belize series great defensively good pace loves playing for canada(remember him being the only one singing our national anthem during the belize games)that has to be worth something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gator Posted December 15, 2007 Share Posted December 15, 2007 And he was the only one with a red and white Mohawk! Not sure if he could still do the business for us, Yallop sure screwed up last time round! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snake Posted December 15, 2007 Author Share Posted December 15, 2007 interesting fact: scored his first goal for canada in his first game vs northern ireland before he had EVER set foot on canadian soil i also recall his parents making the trek to watch some games in canada,and he never got off the bench. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gator Posted December 15, 2007 Share Posted December 15, 2007 His parents went all the way to Japan for the Continental (Confederation) Cup, and he never got off the bench! That's the managers' right to make that decision but given the midfielders who were playing ahead of him, I think it was WRONG! I guess as posted on another thread Hoger "blamed the English for winning the war" or maybe it had something to do with the 66 World Cup! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toronto MB Posted December 15, 2007 Share Posted December 15, 2007 I love Bircham as much as the next guy. But let's be realistic here. Yes he is a solid ball-winning mid. Yes he had a strong character. And yes I appreciated his passion for Canada. BUT If you look at his competition in central midfield you have DeGuzman who plays the ball-winning role for Deportivo at a much higher level than him. You have Daniel Imhof getting some regular minutes in the Bundesliga for VFL Bochum. You have Atiba who has already proven his worth with no questions asked. You also have Bernier who despie a lack of form lately, has shown he has some strong distribution qualities. At the very most, he deserves a look if we have another Euro-based friendly. Just to see if he could add some depth to the midfield. But don't bank on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soju Posted December 15, 2007 Share Posted December 15, 2007 Bernier hasn't blown anyone away with his performance in the holding role. Imhoff's always been so/so. Why not try Bircham? Maybe he'll click and play off our other mids perfectly who knows, can't always go on club levels or performances. Look at Nash he did alright there in the Gold Cup and he plays in USL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan Posted December 15, 2007 Share Posted December 15, 2007 Has Bircham actually played a game this season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toronto MB Posted December 15, 2007 Share Posted December 15, 2007 I can't attest to Bircham having not played a single match. But he is definitely not a regular fixture for Yeovil Town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Can. in UK Posted December 15, 2007 Share Posted December 15, 2007 He may have had good pace before his back surgery - but his career is finished. I don't think I need to point out the ridiculousness of picking the MNT based on who's the most fervant nationalist. Talent wins games, not passion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Beaver Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 appreciate the idea of Bircham, but we've moved beyond needing his services. We've got this dude name Julian who rather kicks ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearcatSA Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Can. in UK He may have had good pace before his back surgery - but his career is finished. I don't think I need to point out the ridiculousness of picking the MNT based on who's the most fervant nationalist. Talent wins games, not passion. From what I have read he's had a long term hamstring problem which has prevented him from playing this season, even threatening his career. The high energy, hard tackling nature of his game is premised on his having top fitness and because of that when you start getting hurt the injuries mount and take longer to recover from. I fear his professional career is heading into the sunset. That said, I very much appreciated his efforts with Canada and I felt he got a raw deal from Osieck at the 2001 Confederation Cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trueviking Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 i agree...bring him back if he is still in form....we are not that deep at any position. he was a great contributor in the past and got screwed for his efforts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhat Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 I've always liked Marc Bircham, but I'm not sure his style of play (direct ball, lots of midfield tackles) will suit our style of play based on the 2007 Gold Cup. There's a big difference between how he plays and that of say, Martin Nash, who's good in ball distribution. Bircham's grit didn't work well against Finland in a friendly, and now playing off the bench in Yeovil Town is not exactly the most convincing trait. Might as well bring up Mark Watson if you're bringing up Marc. Hopefully not. If you're having a camp in Europe, I wouldn't oppose an invite to him, however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarnCherry Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Can. in UK He may have had good pace before his back surgery - but his career is finished. I don't think I need to point out the ridiculousness of picking the MNT based on who's the most fervant nationalist. Talent wins games, not passion. Canada doesn't win many games, perhaps we should go with passion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearcatSA Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 quote:Originally posted by redhat I've always liked Marc Bircham, but I'm not sure his style of play (direct ball, lots of midfield tackles) will suit our style of play based on the 2007 Gold Cup. There's a big difference between how he plays and that of say, Martin Nash, who's good in ball distribution. Bircham's grit didn't work well against Finland in a friendly, and now playing off the bench in Yeovil Town is not exactly the most convincing trait. Might as well bring up Mark Watson if you're bringing up Marc. Hopefully not. I was going to add something like this to my previous post but you beat me to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 Bircham was never our most skilled player but he did bring a certain enthusiasm/passion/bite to the team which could be valuable. On the other hand with CONCACAF playing style and reffing he might be a WCQ red card waiting to happen. Nevertheless, if he recovers from his injuries and starts playing well again I would not be opposed to him getting a call up. On the other hand I think with WCQ coming soon Mitchell has to concentrate on getting the core players playing with each other and shouldn't be wasteing callups on long shots to make the team. Thus, if he were to get a callup I think it would have to be for a friendly after WCQ unless we have massive injury problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearcatSA Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Grizzly Bircham was never our most skilled player but he did bring a certain enthusiasm/passion/bite to the team which could be valuable. On the other hand with CONCACAF playing style and reffing he might be a WCQ red card waiting to happen. Nevertheless, if he recovers from his injuries and starts playing well again I would not be opposed to him getting a call up. On the other hand I think with WCQ coming soon Mitchell has to concentrate on getting the core players playing with each other and shouldn't be wasteing callups on long shots to make the team. Thus, if he were to get a callup I think it would have to be for a friendly after WCQ unless we have massive injury problems. Agreed. Though you can "never say never" about any player, I believe Bircham's chances of a recall are really slim, based on the arguments you and others have made here. Though off topic from this thread, if we do qualify (or I should say, WHEN we qualify ) I wonder how many guys will suddenly become available for the MNT pool, all of a sudden? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SthMelbRed Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 The only player I'd like to see welcomed back to the national team pool is Jason DeVos. I think he could bring some vital experience and leadership to what is a pretty young team without a lot of real qualifying experience, due to our early exit last time around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearcatSA Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 quote:Originally posted by SthMelbRed The only player I'd like to see welcomed back to the national team pool is Jason DeVos. I think he could bring some vital experience and leadership to what is a pretty young team without a lot of real qualifying experience, due to our early exit last time around. That was my argument from Brennan's inclusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SthMelbRed Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 quote:Originally posted by BearcatSA That was my argument from Brennan's inclusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SthMelbRed Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 quote:Originally posted by BearcatSA That was my argument from Brennan's inclusion. I'm not quite convinced that Brennan has quite the same natural leadership traits that JDV has, and JDV is playing at a higher level than Brennan, despite being older. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearcatSA Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 quote:Originally posted by SthMelbRed I'm not quite convinced that Brennan has quite the same natural leadership traits that JDV has, and JDV is playing at a higher level than Brennan, despite being older. I guess my point was that it's important to have quality leadership within the entire squad for this WCQ (in support of your original argument). If JDV still has enough "tread on his tires" for the international level, we'll see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 I would like to see both JDV and Brennan given a chance to fight for a starting spot on the team. Both bring some good leadership qualities, a high skill level and veteran experience. Until we see their current form at the international level I don't think either is a guaranteed starter but I would give both a pretty good chance of becoming starters. I am pretty confident that Brennan will be given a shot and hope JDV will both be given a callup and accept it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearcatSA Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 quote:Originally posted by Grizzly I would like to see both JDV and Brennan given a chance to fight for a starting spot on the team. Both bring some good leadership qualities, a high skill level and veteran experience. Until we see their current form at the international level I don't think either is a guaranteed starter but I would give both a pretty good chance of becoming starters. I am pretty confident that Brennan will be given a shot and hope JDV will both be given a callup and accept it. I know you and I have discussed this before on the TFC thread but a trump in Brennan's deck is his versatility (left mid, left back, centre back) and that's really important when you consider the make up of your squad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted December 16, 2007 Share Posted December 16, 2007 Yes, even if he doesn't win a starting role we have a limited number of subs we can call and Brennan's versatility would make him excellent as injury cover or a viable sub for a variety of players having a poor game/fatigued/etc. It is hard to see him not making the WCQ squad for this reason alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.