Fraser Aird

[shamrock]

6 hours ago, BrennanFan said:

http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/02/02/vancouver-whitecaps-commitment-youth-key-convincing-fraser-aird-join-club

And he does have a dark secret for Vancouver fans: his family have been Toronto FC season ticket holders since 2007.

Aird remembers watching Robinson playing for the Reds back in the day, bravely admitting, "I used to shout at him from the stand." 

So he comes from a family of masochists. 

[nolando]

On Saturday, January 30, 2016 at 9:25 AM, TRM said:

That would be up to Aird. Winning and holding the starting 11 spot is a constant battle to play consistently at a high level both offensively and defensively. Jordan is 24 and while a great athlete is kind of worrisome defending. I've also not been impressed with his ball handling. We'll see but Aird at 20 has definitely got a great chance to take the spot.

Smith is on loan to the Caps to the end of 2015 and I've not heard if he has been extended so maybe Saprissa wants too much or plans to take him back. We'll have to see how that works out.

Although I think his play fell off a bit in 2015, Beita is a decent MLS fullback, and pretty decent defender of the ball. I think he will more appreciated once we see these two lads try to fill his shoes. That said I will be hoping Aird does well and having Smith there will mean a sharing of the expectations of club and fans, which will be good for such a young unproven newcomer.

[BrennanFan]

" Similarly Fraser Aird seems to be more useful in an offensive rather than the defensive role he is still learning to adapt to. The noises coming out of Glasgow Rangers indicate that they see his deal as very much a one year stay rather than with the option to extend as is the case with Smith and that may well be the deciding factor in Robinson’s thinking."

http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2016/02/14/vancouver-whitecaps-the-hunger-games-edition/

[Boominbooty]

I don't buy this logic. By all accounts, Aird has had a good preseason so far. Robinson isn't going to choose his starter based on whether or not Rangers want Aird back at the end of the season. He will play the person who is best suited to the role and playing the best at this time. By this logic, Robinson also won't play anyone who might retire later on too. 

[Bison44]

I agree, why bring him in to sit on the bench?  Whatever loan deal they have with Rangers will have a buy out clause in it in case they want to keep Aird.  Rangers rumblings might just be posturing to get a bigger transfer fee out of VWC if he does become the starter and stay.   He wasn't getting the playing time he needed to develop with Rangers, they wouldn't loan him out if they thought he was going to further stagnate in vancouver.  

 

[Keegan]

1 hour ago, BrennanFan said:

" Similarly Fraser Aird seems to be more useful in an offensive rather than the defensive role he is still learning to adapt to. The noises coming out of Glasgow Rangers indicate that they see his deal as very much a one year stay rather than with the option to extend as is the case with Smith and that may well be the deciding factor in Robinson’s thinking."

http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2016/02/14/vancouver-whitecaps-the-hunger-games-edition/

"Deybi Flores v Russell Teibert v Kianz Froese- On the surface it probably seemed that the moving on of Gershon Koffie was good news for Russell Teibert when it came to earning meaningful minutes for the Whitecaps.

But the removal of his biggest challenger for the defensive midfield role also meant that Robinson was content to lose a player he clearly thought was better than Teibert so where that leaves the young Canadian is still up in the air."

Where is the logic here? A guy competing for minutes with Teibert has left and somehow that means Robinson clearly thought he was better and it isn't necessarily good for Teibert at the same time.  My head hurts... 

[El Hombre]

2 hours ago, Keegan said:

"Deybi Flores v Russell Teibert v Kianz Froese- On the surface it probably seemed that the moving on of Gershon Koffie was good news for Russell Teibert when it came to earning meaningful minutes for the Whitecaps.

But the removal of his biggest challenger for the defensive midfield role also meant that Robinson was content to lose a player he clearly thought was better than Teibert so where that leaves the young Canadian is still up in the air."

Where is the logic here? A guy competing for minutes with Teibert has left and somehow that means Robinson clearly thought he was better and it isn't necessarily good for Teibert at the same time.  My head hurts... 

I had the exact same problem when I read that too.  That paragraph makes no sense.  Seems like it was written by a guy that just loved Koffie.

[masster]

Weber did a similar article on the who is going to replace Koffie question. I think he is pretty accurate on each of the players strengths and weaknesses.

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/soccer/weber+whitecaps+need+answer+riddle+middle/11728827/story.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[Northvansteve]

Aird started and played all 90 minutes for Whitecaps in pre-season game vs. Chicago. Looked very strong offensively. He is always looking to attack and his crosses consistently end up in the right place. A cross in the first half directly led to a Chicago own goal. Wasn't too challenged defensively so we still have to see how he matches up against fast and skilled wingers. At this point he appears to be the favourite to win the RB job with the Caps.

[IceCreamMan]

Starting for the Whitecaps today at RB but is getting eaten up by Piatti early on. I think he's showing why it will be Ledgerwood or Ouimette in March. 

[Coramoor]

Piatti is a tough first test, one of the best dribblers in MLS

[Floortom]

He certainly had a rough go of it defensively. 

On the bright side he showed good ability pushing forward. He had a few excellent crosses, one of which should have been out in the back of the met by Kianz

[Obinna]

On 3/6/2016 at 4:04 PM, IceCreamMan said:

Starting for the Whitecaps today at RB but is getting eaten up by Piatti early on. I think he's showing why it will be Ledgerwood or Ouimette in March. 

Do you think Ledgerwood or Ouimette would have dealt with Piatti much better?

The other thing is, whoever we put in there will have just as tough of a test. Corona is the player who concerns me in particular

[jpg75]

2 hours ago, Obinna said:

Do you think Ledgerwood or Ouimette would have dealt with Piatti much better?

The other thing is, whoever we put in there will have just as tough of a test. Corona is the player who concerns me in particular

I can't imagine Ledgerwood getting pyloned like Aird did on the opening goal.

[Coramoor]

3 hours ago, Obinna said:

Do you think Ledgerwood or Ouimette would have dealt with Piatti much better?

The other thing is, whoever we put in there will have just as tough of a test. Corona is the player who concerns me in particular

they are both better defensive players than Aird, so I could see both of them handling Piatti better

[Obinna]

Did Aird dive in on several occasions when defending Piatti this weekend? Absolutely. 

Unlike IceCreamMan though, I have to see more than one MLS game before I decide he's not an option for Mexico. 

I also don't buy into this idea that Aird is a defensive liability; at least not until I see more of him. If he was such a poor defender, I don't think he'd find himself in Vancouver's squad. It's possible he has some defensive qualities that we haven't seen yet, otherwise I don't think he'd get the chance from Robinson to begin the season as a starter. We'll find out though as the season continues...

The other thing to consider is match fitness/sharpness. Ouimette may indeed be a better defensive player, but if Ouimette can't see the field with NYRB, and Aird continues to play 90 minutes for Vancouver, then there should be little debate about who will show up to camp more ready to play. 

Edited March 8, 2016 by Obinna

[Coramoor]

13 minutes ago, Obinna said:

Did Aird dive in on several occasions when defending Piatti this weekend? Absolutely. 

Unlike IceCreamMan though, I have to see more than one MLS game before I decide he's not an option for Mexico. 

I also don't buy into this idea that Aird is a defensive liability; at least not until I see more of him. If he was such a poor defender, I don't think he'd find himself in Vancouver's squad. It's possible he has some defensive qualities that we haven't seen yet, otherwise I don't think he'd get the chance from Robinson to begin the season as a starter. We'll find out though as the season continues...

The other thing to consider is match fitness/sharpness. Ouimette may indeed be a better defensive player, but if Ouimette can't see the field with NYRB, and Aird continues to play 90 minutes for Vancouver, then there should be little debate about who will show up to camp more ready to play. 

I don't think he's a liability at the MLS level, I think he's inexperienced with a ton of upside and obvious offensive talent from the fullback position. He was taught a serious lesson by one of the best dribblers in MLS this weekend and if he and the coaching staff sit down and analyze the game together, he'll be a way better player for it, but that doesn't mean he's a good option over Ledgerwood or Ouimette at this time.

[Obinna]

16 minutes ago, Coramoor said:

I don't think he's a liability at the MLS level, I think he's inexperienced with a ton of upside and obvious offensive talent from the fullback position. He was taught a serious lesson by one of the best dribblers in MLS this weekend and if he and the coaching staff sit down and analyze the game together, he'll be a way better player for it, but that doesn't mean he's a good option over Ledgerwood or Ouimette at this time.

I agree with a lot of what you say here. It's true that his upside alone doesn't put him ahead of Ledgerwood or Ouimette for Mexico. At the same time, I believe the RB spot is up for grabs and I think he has a realistic shot.

Quite frankly, between Aird, Ouimette and Ledgerwood, I don't think any of them is a good option versus Mexico. My money is on Ledgerwood to start, but his lack of pace is a real concern for me against a team like that. Good positioning can only get you so far.

Ouimette has better pace than Ledgerwood, and I thought he looked good against Honduras, but that was actually his last competitive game, was it not? That's a long time without some real game action, and i'd be surprised if he's awarded any minutes at New York before our WCQ. Not an ideal option if that (likely) scenario plays out.

Now yes, Aird has some question marks around his defending, but I think that he serves up a good delivery into the box, he's very quick and he'll be playing in a familiar environment. Plenty of reasons to argue for his inclusion. 

[Coramoor]

1 hour ago, Obinna said:

I agree with a lot of what you say here. It's true that his upside alone doesn't put him ahead of Ledgerwood or Ouimette for Mexico. At the same time, I believe the RB spot is up for grabs and I think he has a realistic shot.

Quite frankly, between Aird, Ouimette and Ledgerwood, I don't think any of them is a good option versus Mexico. My money is on Ledgerwood to start, but his lack of pace is a real concern for me against a team like that. Good positioning can only get you so far.

Ouimette has better pace than Ledgerwood, and I thought he looked good against Honduras, but that was actually his last competitive game, was it not? That's a long time without some real game action, and i'd be surprised if he's awarded any minutes at New York before our WCQ. Not an ideal option if that (likely) scenario plays out.

Now yes, Aird has some question marks around his defending, but I think that he serves up a good delivery into the box, he's very quick and he'll be playing in a familiar environment. Plenty of reasons to argue for his inclusion. 

I don't think his offensive upside matters to Floro, at least not for these two matches where we'll probably have 35% of the ball at most. I don't disagree with your points(although I don't think Ledgerwood is that slow) but I'd be very surprised if Aird is the starter.

[shamrock]

5 hours ago, Obinna said:

Did Aird dive in on several occasions when defending Piatti this weekend? Absolutely. 

Unlike IceCreamMan though, I have to see more than one MLS game before I decide he's not an option for Mexico. 

I also don't buy into this idea that Aird is a defensive liability; at least not until I see more of him.

True, he had a rough outing, but it's not say he can't improve his defense. However he really should improve, cause even if the opponent is really good like Piatti, there's more you can do about it than Aird did. But surely he knows that himself.

[Unnamed Trialist]

If Sam Adekugbe had been the author of that performance, we'd be crucifying him, methinks. He would be automatically ruled out of a call-up. But Aird, with very little experience in a shit league (sorry, it is true, Scotland 2nd tier is 80% garbage), is simply being overrated because he has Rangers beside his name.

I am happy for him to be in the Whitecaps mix, he'll improve and I think he has promise. For me he is like Sam maybe two years ago, he is behind him, no question. He is a huge step down from Beitashour, and worse than putting Smith or Dean out there. Or Sam, even though supposedly that would be his "wrong" side. 

He was on the wrong side of the ball a lot, like that Hamel run where he hit the post; he passed poorly, tried dumb dribbles, and overall showed the kind of play he was used to playing before 650 fans in some dump in the Highlands. 

I am not bothered about Aird, he is fine, I am bothered about this Anglo-centric distortion being carried over to Scottish 2nd div, which is probably below most of League Two England.

[Guest]

17 hours ago, jpg75 said:

I can't imagine Ledgerwood getting pyloned like Aird did on the opening goal.

Thats why ledgerwood is playing in the MLS right?

[BuzzAndSting]

37 minutes ago, canta15 said:

Thats why ledgerwood is playing in the MLS right?

You know Aird is on loan right? 

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, BuzzAndSting said:

You know Aird is on loan right? 

Your point is?

[BuzzAndSting]

Just now, canta15 said:

Your point is?

Comparing two players solely on the league they play in is short sighted.