Jump to content

Bryan Cristante


Sam

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 608
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Unless this kid suddenly becomes a starter for Benfica or another large Euro club, I don't think we should lose any sleep over him.

We shouldn't be losing sleep at all ss he is Italian not Canadian. If ends up picking Canada consider ourselves to be extremely lucky because he is going to want to try and make that Italy team his whole life

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

He's a CM/DM.

There's been talk that he's not thrilled with being buried down in the depth chart.  And he may be wanting to leave Benfica to get some playing time.

In particular, the emergence of 18 yr. old Renato Sanches this season is bad news for him as he's younger, more athletic  and just an overall better player.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As unlikely as it is that he would ever play for Canada, his move back to Serie A is bad news for us. The Italian National team does not often look at players playing outside of the country, except for a few, recent, high profile exceptions. As backwards as it may seem, if he performs well, his chances of a call up are much higher at Palermo than they were at Benfica.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting. It's a wait-and-see situation. I mean, we're talking about a guy who's still not in his twenties and who could still end up blowing an ACL or have a wicked leg break *looks at shrine of Josh Simpson* or just simply flame out. Will be curious to see if he ever does get an Italian call. Good to know folks on here will keep an eye on him to keep the rest of us informed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, masster said:

As unlikely as it is that he would ever play for Canada, his move back to Serie A is bad news for us. The Italian National team does not often look at players playing outside of the country, except for a few, recent, high profile exceptions. As backwards as it may seem, if he performs well, his chances of a call up are much higher at Palermo than they were at Benfica.

True, but I would say the overall trajectory of his career is looking good for Canada. Palermo is pretty far down the table.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, masster said:

if he performs well, his chances of a call up are much higher at Palermo than they were at Benfica.

This is true but this is only a loan to Palermo until June; if he does not play well he'll be back at Benfica again (and maybe loaned out again). The buyout clause looks pricey. It's €6 million. His original 5-year contract was for €4.84 million. The €6 million is for either 3½ years or 3 years (after ½year loan) - I'm not sure. Cristante is arguably worse now than he was at the time because he isn't in fine form and not really getting playing time but his price his higher.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/cristante-joins-palermo-loan-181404285--sow.html

 

6 hours ago, Tuscan said:

 I mean, we're talking about a guy who's still not in his twenties

Nitpick. He's 20. He'll be 21 in fewer than a couple months

I'm still convinced there is hope for us if he does not become a regular on the Italy U-21 again (which is really a U-23 tournament by the time we get to 2017). If we make the HEX and do well in our first 4 games it will make much more career sense to play for us in June 2017 than to risk waiting for an unlikely Italy call.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The fact that he is an Italy Youth international and came up through the Milan system (and has already logged some first team minutes there) is sorta like him being a "1st round pick", i.e. I think he will be given every opportunity to succeed in Italy.

That being said, he didn't rip it up in Portugal. Palermo is still a pretty big club though.

We can either hope for mediocrity or hope he chooses Canada. Has the CSA been in contact with him? Will be interesting to follow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Bertuzzi44 said:

We can either hope for mediocrity or hope he chooses Canada.

I think he's like Arfield in the sense that he hasn't really lived in Canada; I can see no emotional reason for him to pick Canada over Italy given an opportunity to be a starter for either.

 

6 hours ago, Bertuzzi44 said:

Has the CSA been in contact with him?

Yes. On or before May of 2014.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2014/05/22/canmnt-benito-floro-says-success-upcoming-friendlies-important-psychology-and

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think family opinion is underestimated (or at least forgotten) in the speculations of when or whether a dual will choose Canada over another option.  Junior's dad's role in pushing him toward Jamaica was well known and presumably that played a role in the length of time it took him to commit to his country of birth, but conversely I think I read recently that Arfield's father was leaning on him to consider Canada.  These guys are still young and it would not surprise me if parental opinions were strong factors in the decisions of duals, one way or another.  Not the only one, clearly, but of higher importance than most discussion would indicate, compared to other factors that get a lot of ink (international aspirations, club aspirations, player loyalty (ie do they feel Canadian, or Chilean/Italian/Jamaican/Bosnian...), what level are they at (ie are they too good for us), the role of teammates/friends/associates talking up the Canadian program (Bircham, Edgar, etc.))

All that is simply to say that if we knew what Bryan's father's disposition was toward Bryan playing for Canada, we might have a clue as to how likely it is that we might actually see Cristante in red as opposed to it being a pipe-dream.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Palermo were pretty dreadful today against Fiorentina. Their midfield especially. The Palermo president fired their coach after the match (Ballardini), and tried to bring back the previous coach that he had fired earlier this season (Iachini). They couldn't come to an agreement on reinforcements during the transfer window, so Ballardini will be back with the squad for training.

In other words, Cristante is entering a crazy situation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, masster said:

Palermo were pretty dreadful today against Fiorentina. Their midfield especially. The Palermo president fired their coach after the match (Ballardini), and tried to bring back the previous coach that he had fired earlier this season (Iachini). They couldn't come to an agreement on reinforcements during the transfer window, so Ballardini will be back with the squad for training.

Talking about a lack of vision... 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, masster said:

Palermo were pretty dreadful today against Fiorentina. Their midfield especially. The Palermo president fired their coach after the match (Ballardini), and tried to bring back the previous coach that he had fired earlier this season (Iachini). They couldn't come to an agreement on reinforcements during the transfer window, so Ballardini will be back with the squad for training.

In other words, Cristante is entering a crazy situation.

The Series A always seems like the Wild Wild West.  I love the backroom maneuverings there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/7/2016 at 1:14 PM, Coramoor said:

it's not backroom maneuvering, it's sheer incompetence

I am more commenting on the Series A's ruthless managerial changes.  We haven't had many this season, but even the top clubs there swing their axes quite often.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...