Hanson Boakai

[Grizzly]

I like a lot of Sandor's articles but I think this is mostly bunk. Talented young players get pressure no matter where they play and in most countries it is far far more intense than it is in Canada. If you want to make a career as a professional soccer player you have to be able to deal with the pressure. 

"But our very Canadian habit of pumping up the teens has got to stop, or at least be tempered. Let’s be real about our expectations. Because our hyperbole has already given Hanson Boakai way too much to live up to."

In any country there are players who can't deal with the pressure and don't realize their potential. That is unfortunate and it stings more in a country like Canada where we don't (yet) have a big talent pool with lots of other talented guys to take up the slack if one of our prospects doesn't make it. However, learning to deal with pressure and the various other travails of being a professional athlete are part and parcel of having a career in this field. If Boakai or others are not realizing their potential it is because they themselves are lacking one or more of the qualities required to be a professional soccer player not because they can't handle the "intense pressure" of 2 or 3 Canadian soccer forums calling them Canadian Soccer Jesus or the glare of the Edmonton soccer media.

[Keegan]

+1 

Every country in the world has a player that gets compared to Messi by one person at one time or another.  And hyperbole much by Sandor?  Someone released videos calling him Messi and suddenly he's acting as if that's an actual thing... clearly the videos were released by an agent or someone with a close relationship.

Has anyone of note, or even here, actually ever compared him to Messi?  I don't think so.  They both are small and favour their left, similarities end there.

Boakai has it extremely easy from a pressure standpoint... if anything maybe he could use a bit more because clearly the lack of focus/attention on him hasn't done him any good in the last 2 years.  

Edited January 24, 2016 by Keegan

[Lord Bob]

I can't find it online but the Edmonton Journal ran an article titled " “FC Edmonton phenom could become a 'Canadian Messi'."

[Keegan]

10 minutes ago, Benjamin Massey said:

I can't find it online but the Edmonton Journal ran an article titled " “FC Edmonton phenom could become a 'Canadian Messi'."

You're right, looks like it was May 5th after his impressive V cup showing.

Still, insulting and clearly written by an ill informed journalist.. it's an extreme long shot that he will play in a top 5 league IMO and he's being compared to the greatest player of all time.  

Imagine an article calling Kopitar the Slovenian Gretzky when he was 17?  And at that point he actually was a sure fire NHLer.  Heck, even to bring it back to Canada... how about Wiggins being called the Canadian Jordan?  A guy who actually WAS a 1st overall pick in the best league in the world.

Even comparing him to Raheem Sterling would have been a huge reach but not nearly as laughable.  My point is just that no one in this country who knows the game ever took that seriously or ever thought he could become our Messi and if Hanson did, well.... no comment.  

Edited January 24, 2016 by Keegan

[Lord Bob]

Just now, Keegan said:

Even comparing him to Raheem Sterling would have been a huge reach but not nearly as laughable.  My point is just that no one in this country who knows the game ever took that seriously or ever thought he could become our Messi and if Hanson did, well.... no comment.  

I agree, but Hanson is not a mature player and we all know it.

[lazlo_80]

At this point there's an argument to be made that the "next big thing" hype ship has sailed on to Zanatta. 

[Soccerpro]

Hanson could be the next Jamie Peters or the next Josh Simpson, or anywhere in between. 

It would be huge if he could get his career on track. On the bright side, there are other young players who are technically promising (Bustos, Tabla) I don't remember being able to say that before.

 

Edited January 24, 2016 by Soccerpro

[toontownman]

Totally agree with keegan and grizzly before him. They get paid extortionate amounts of money to placate and cope with pressure. If this pressure comes as a surprise they have been very badly advised or simply aren't cut out for the business of being a pro, which comes a hand in hand with being in the public eye.

Just to add.. potentially becoming the 'Canadian Messi' isn't saying he will be the next Messi. It's like calling bruce arena the american alex ferguson. A comparison of what is around him at skill level.

[Fussball_eh]

58 minutes ago, toontownman said:

Totally agree with keegan and grizzly before him. They get paid extortionate amounts of money to placate and cope with pressure. If this pressure comes as a surprise they have been very badly advised or simply aren't cut out for the business of being a pro, which comes a hand in hand with being in the public eye.

Just to add.. potentially becoming the 'Canadian Messi' isn't saying he will be the next Messi. It's like calling bruce arena the american alex ferguson. A comparison of what is around him at skill level.

Hanson Boakai gets paid an extortionate amount of money? Okay then.

[shamrock]

I also enjoy Steven Sandors blog and writing in general, but I never like it when he plays the victim card. If any pro is good enough, he'll get his chance. And it's also very true that pressure for young players can get a lot tougher in other countries. I don't think Fc Edmonton has ever had angry fans invading a training session to talk to the trainer or a couple of players... And as for "the Canadian Messi," if I had a penny for every time I heard a talent being named "the next Messi" I'd probably have a couple bucks in my pocket right now. Same goes btw for the "Next Ronaldo", the "Next Maradonna", the "Next Johan Cruyf", the "Next Ibrahimivic" etc etc.

I do agree with Sador that giving a young player such a label, is bad expectations-management. It's more lazy journalism, trying to attract an audience with a name they know (even if they aren't into soccer). 

[rob.notenboom]

19 hours ago, Grizzly said:

I like a lot of Sandor's articles but I think this is mostly bunk. Talented young players get pressure no matter where they play and in most countries it is far far more intense than it is in Canada. If you want to make a career as a professional soccer player you have to be able to deal with the pressure. 

"But our very Canadian habit of pumping up the teens has got to stop, or at least be tempered. Let’s be real about our expectations. Because our hyperbole has already given Hanson Boakai way too much to live up to."

In any country there are players who can't deal with the pressure and don't realize their potential. That is unfortunate and it stings more in a country like Canada where we don't (yet) have a big talent pool with lots of other talented guys to take up the slack if one of our prospects doesn't make it. However, learning to deal with pressure and the various other travails of being a professional athlete are part and parcel of having a career in this field. If Boakai or others are not realizing their potential it is because they themselves are lacking one or more of the qualities required to be a professional soccer player not because they can't handle the "intense pressure" of 2 or 3 Canadian soccer forums calling them Canadian Soccer Jesus or the glare of the Edmonton soccer media.

It's funny, I said something similar on the article when it was posted on Facebook (not exactly in the above words). Although I'd agree with Steve that we typically jump on the hype train much too quickly (and then often follow that up with disappointment when the player doesn't live up to those unrealistic expectations), it's up to Hanson to deal with these difficulties and mature as a person and a player. I can't imagine that the pressure of fighting for a place on FCE, in Germany or in Croatia will be easier to deal with than a few journalists and fans pumping his tires, and he needs to be able to deal with that or he's going nowhere.

Colin Miller gets slagged a lot around here, but I'm pretty sure you can count on the fact that he was trying to keep Hanson grounded based on what he's said to the press (whether he was doing a good job of that, or whether Hanson was capable of staying grounded is another matter).

[toontownman]

17 hours ago, Fussball_eh said:

Hanson Boakai gets paid an extortionate amount of money? Okay then.

Nokay. Not what I said at any point. 

He has chosen a career that will provide him with extortionate pay if he reaches his potential. I realize right now, other than likely getting a free flat and above average wages at best will be the norm for players of his age in the NASL and pretty much anywhere in the world. He should know this, just like being in the public eye will cause pressure with his every move.

I have sympathy with professional athletes and celebrities in the fact they are built up and destroyed on a regular basis by the press and public, at the end of the day they are people no different to anyone else. However I don't have sympathy for being ignorant to the inevitable pressures that will clearly come and increase with having talent. There are far more talented people that have not made it in soccer because they aren't cut out for the pressures of being in the public eye or taking criticism. Right or (absolutely) wrong its a part or the modern game. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

V good post by Grizzly, that was the thing that was most off about the article, though I cut him some slack, it was a decent journalistic piece apart from that. 

The obvious problem in Canada is that pressure is totally unrealistically low on players, and points of comparison too. Which is why going to Croatia will wake the kid up. Hanson has never had pressure because no one has ever asked him to help Canada get a result, or else. 

In European terms he is already old and should not be a project, a good 19-20 year old should be ready to play top flight in an average league. 

This is probably the best young Croatian, Halilovic, playing in La Liga for Gijon. Of course our boy is nowhere even close to this. No one calls Halilovic the Croatian Messi, that would be sheer embarrassing: though his left foot and change of pace could remind us of Messi. Some of this stuff is impressive, just watch 3-4 minutes of it:

 

 

 

[Keegan]

13 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

V good post by Grizzly, that was the thing that was most off about the article, though I cut him some slack, it was a decent journalistic piece apart from that. 

The obvious problem in Canada is that pressure is totally unrealistically low on players, and points of comparison too. Which is why going to Croatia will wake the kid up. Hanson has never had pressure because no one has ever asked him to help Canada get a result, or else. 

In European terms he is already old and should not be a project, a good 19-20 year old should be ready to play top flight in an average league. 

This is probably the best young Croatian, Halilovic, playing in La Liga for Gijon. Of course our boy is nowhere even close to this. No one calls Halilovic the Croatian Messi, that would be sheer embarrassing: though his left foot and change of pace could remind us of Messi. Some of this stuff is impressive, just watch 3-4 minutes of it:

 

Actually when I said other countries have their "Messi" he was exactly the player I was thinking of LOL

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/apr/01/barcelona-alen-halilovic-next-lionel-messi

He's definitely a wonderkid though so it's not as embarrassing as calling a NASL player in Edmonton a Canadian Messi

[Unnamed Trialist]

1 hour ago, Keegan said:

Actually when I said other countries have their "Messi" he was exactly the player I was thinking of LOL

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/apr/01/barcelona-alen-halilovic-next-lionel-messi

He's definitely a wonderkid though so it's not as embarrassing as calling a NASL player in Edmonton a Canadian Messi

Okay, I guess from where I sit calling anyone the next Messi is totally fucking ridiculous. 

I mean, I've seen a lot of hyped players as you can imagine. At Barça we hyped Haruna Babandiga more than Messi at age 15, he was like our Freddy Adu. We paid a guy a million euros so no one would ever take him from our B team, Nano, Fernando Macedo da Silva; he was called the Maradona of the Masia. That was over 15 years ago. You have never heard of him, obviously, though he happens to play with Piette at Racing Ferrol. Gica Hagi was the Maradona of the Carpathians. Modric, the Croatian at Madrid, was called the next Cruyff, maybe because he sort of looks like him and sure, he is a damn good player (Croatia has a great bunch right now). 

One of the few cases where it worked was with Xavi, who folks called the next Guardiola, and he turned out to be a much greater player than Pep, who was still pretty good. 

For Canada, as things now stand, I would like to have playing for our MNT the next Forrest, and then a bunch of guys who make us forget pretty well everyone else, who have mostly been short term flashes who in a good moment did something good for us. Even our Gold Cup winning team was just average and played way over their heads. 

[jpg75]

Everyone knows the Canadian Messi is Marco Bustos! 

[Protega]

His status at Hajduk right now in in a bit of limbo.  He was brought over and being considered for a spot in the first team, with the thought that it would be best to have him play the rest of this season on the second team in the third division to let him acclimatise to a new country, club and system of play.

The club has been working over the past couple of years at least to get their finances back in order and part of that has been an unofficial policy that the club will not pay transfer fees until they are more stable financially.  As it turns out, they were expecting a free transfer, but it now appears that they would have to pay 90,000 euros for his development until now.  So the club has decided to wait until the first team is back from their training camp in Turkey for the first team manager to assess whether he feels a fee is justified and whether there is potential there.  Damir Buric has done a great job working young players into the team, so I think his opinion will be very telling for everyone.  The money isn't all that significant, especially given that they just sold a player for 4 million euros (to be paid over three instalments) and another for 800,000 euros, but it is probably more a matter of not wanting to set a precedent for the time being (unless Buric feels it is warranted).

[TRM]

Most reporters in Canada only know 2 names current in soccer and that would be Messi & Ronaldo. Laziness is the reason you get these comparisons. When a Canadian subs in for a club like Barca at the age of 17 then they can start comparing them to Messi.

I hope Hajduk keeps Boakai because it would be a great environment for him to develop more in. $90k for FCE? That would be nice and encourage them to continue developing players.

[Protega]

6 minutes ago, TRM said:

I hope Hajduk keeps Boakai because it would be a great environment for him to develop more in. $90k for FCE? That would be nice and encourage them to continue developing players.

Hopefully they can work something out.  They'll often play around with the player's cut of a future transfer, so maybe if Boakai is willing to take a smaller cut than usual, he could get his foot into the door.

It's a good place to break into Europe through because the league isn't very strong, so a player without an EU passport could break in.  With Hajduk's financial situation, they have been relying on young players lately, so he could definitely get a chance if he shows well.  And they're one of the two clubs whose players are heavily scouted by clubs from the big 5 and Russia - so he could get good exposure if he got into the first team.  Great gateway to a European career if he can get in.

[yothat]

did he get signed???? Fced training camp starts right away

[Vince193]

18 hours ago, yothat said:

did he get signed???? Fced training camp starts right away

He's still on trial with Hadjuk Split.

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, Vince193 said:

He's still on trial with Hadjuk Split.

Good sign, that means they are taking a very close look (I hope).

[BrennanFan]

Miller wishes Boakai well, but promises FCE “won’t stop till we get” fees

FC Edmonton Coach Colin Miller wishes Hanson Boakai success as he looks to move across the ocean. But he hinted that FCE will make sure that the club looks after its own interests when it comes to collecting fees for developing the teenager.

http://the11.ca/2016/02/10/miller-wishes-boakai-well-but-promises-fce-wont-stop-till-we-get-fees/

[coach_86]

37 minutes ago, BrennanFan said:

Miller wishes Boakai well, but promises FCE “won’t stop till we get” fees

FC Edmonton Coach Colin Miller wishes Hanson Boakai success as he looks to move across the ocean. But he hinted that FCE will make sure that the club looks after its own interests when it comes to collecting fees for developing the teenager.

http://the11.ca/2016/02/10/miller-wishes-boakai-well-but-promises-fce-wont-stop-till-we-get-fees/

It's funny how they're viewed as developing him and want a fee, potentially hindering a guy who was barely given a chance at FCE from playing in Europe. I've found that FCE specifically hype up their academy for developing players when 90% of the guys they've signed to first team contracts have actually gained the bulk of their development through their amateur clubs. I wonder if FCE will be giving his youth clubs a % of that fee for developing him prior to joining FCE. 

[Grizzly]

44 minutes ago, coach_86 said:

It's funny how they're viewed as developing him and want a fee, potentially hindering a guy who was barely given a chance at FCE from playing in Europe. I've found that FCE specifically hype up their academy for developing players when 90% of the guys they've signed to first team contracts have actually gained the bulk of their development through their amateur clubs. I wonder if FCE will be giving his youth clubs a % of that fee for developing him prior to joining FCE. 

I am not the biggest fan of Miller and don't think he was a real good fit as far as being the guy to develop Boakai but any club in Europe or South America would do the same thing. If our clubs are going to develop players they can't let themselves get financially screwed by European clubs. And if Hadjuk is not willing to pay a transfer fee for him they are probably not that interested and he should find a club that is.