Lucas Cavallini

[A_Gagne]

23 hours ago, 1996 said:

Against these minnows would be nice to have him but you and I can play up front and we should bag a few, it’s when we go up against the big boys in Concacaf that we need are best roster possible and yes it even means players like the Cavallinis who may question their decisions to play for Canada at times. How have we done with players that don’t seem to question sometimes their desire to play for Canada in certain games? How many World Cups have we made with these very committed players who were always all in? How many Hexes have we made with these all in never question playing for Canada every game players? How about we now try to do whatever it bloody takes to make sure we have all of our best players on the pitch when we are playing the big boys of Concacaf and not leave out players because they may of picked club over country in a game versus Antigua or Bahamas! Like I said this is Canada we are talking about here where an abundance of talented players is a phrase hardly used when describing Canadian Soccer , we don’t have the luxury of leaving guys like the Cavallinis of the worlds off our team , I wish we did but we don’t at the moment, when we do then by all means but we have not had that luxury ever with regards to our men’s national soccer team.

Answer: 1. We made a world cup once with a guy playing for Victoria Athletic Association... Just saying.

Edited April 8, 2018 by A_Gagne

[Keegan]

I’m sorry but the amount of players who skip for us is most definitely higher than other nations.  Our best player hasn’t played in a Gold Cup since 2011.. Radzinski never played, even DeRo skipped a few, players booked weddings during our gold cup like wtf kind of show are we running here. You need to put your foot down and now that we have the depth it’s the time to make the program serious.. missing your best players for a continental championship should never happen.

[Marc]

It's not worse for us because the players are less committed

It's because our schedule conflicts with club events and we have a chip on our shoulder because we have so little depth

Radz got a bad rap from the time he ditched us for the Belgian Cup final. But he played a fair amount of Nats games in the end, with most of those being when he was in the EPL at the height of his career. De Rosario played 81 games for us!  When else are players supposed to get married?  I'd skip the gold cup for that in a heartbeat too.  Canada fans are soooooo funny.

 

Edited April 9, 2018 by Marc

[Keegan]

30 minutes ago, Marc said:

It's not worse for us because the players are less committed

It's because our schedule conflicts with club events and we have a chip on our shoulder because we have so little depth

Radz got a bad rap from the time he ditched us for the Belgian Cup final. But he played a fair amount of Nats games in the end, with most of those being when he was in the EPL at the height of his career. De Rosario played 81 games for us!  When else are players supposed to get married?  I'd skip the gold cup for that in a heartbeat too.  Canada fans are soooooo funny.

 

What are you talking about?  So our players are the only ones with conflicts? Look at concacaf stars and tell me how many have skipped crucial windows.. does anyone remember Pescadito, Baloy, Perez etc. bailing on their national teams?   Do Mexicans or Americans bail to stay with their clubs? Hell no. We have this victim mentality where because we’re a small nation we should let our players and their clubs bully us and it’s okay because they won’t lose their spot. 

Club seasons end in May and the Gold Cup is 3 weeks in July.. if we’re lucky. Arfield just got married and chose to do it in June for example. Don’t pull something bending over backwards to apologize here.. players apparently only have a 3 week window every 2 years to get married and it falls on a continental championship lol. 

Success takes sacrifices, I appreciate our players sacrifice a ton and call me greedy but I want players with the mentality of our rivals who would do anything for their national team.  You have to sacrifice to be on top. 

Edited April 9, 2018 by Keegan

[SpecialK]

2 hours ago, Keegan said:

What are you talking about?  So our players are the only ones with conflicts? Look at concacaf stars and tell me how many have skipped crucial windows.. does anyone remember Pescadito, Baloy, Perez etc. bailing on their national teams?   Do Mexicans or Americans bail to stay with their clubs? Hell no. We have this victim mentality where because we’re a small nation we should let our players and their clubs bully us and it’s okay because they won’t lose their spot. 

Club seasons end in May and the Gold Cup is 3 weeks in July.. if we’re lucky. Arfield just got married and chose to do it in June for example. Don’t pull something bending over backwards to apologize here.. players apparently only have a 3 week window every 2 years to get married and it falls on a continental championship lol. 

Success takes sacrifices, I appreciate our players sacrifice a ton and call me greedy but I want players with the mentality of our rivals who would do anything for their national team.  You have to sacrifice to be on top. 

I totally agree with you, the one thing though is that CSA doesnt care about winning, it’s simple has that. So why should a player put his  career on the line for an Association that doesn’t do everything possible to win. I know I’ll get the CSA ass kissers on me for this and they say there is no money bla bla bla but it’s true. We are not playing until  September how is our team going to get better and grow as a team if they don’t play and play against decent nations! Also as a player, you want to play against the best, show case your talent to the soccer world, how can they do that when we are not even playing and when we do play it’s against the powerhouse St.Kitts and US Virgin Island or the mighty New Zealand C team and yes it was the C team! in a small stadium in Spain.  If we played strong European and South American teams, our top players wouldn’t turn that down and there would be a huge buzz. If you really look at Canada player pool and Canadian soccer right now it’s a pretty exciting time. But the CSA is dropping the ball. Arfield playing for canada , Canada  and Scotland 1-1 draw , reaching the quarters in the Gold Cup, Davies playing for Canada , Millar in Liverpool and now playing for Canada, Davies linked to Man U, Cavallini killing it in Mexico, Larin finally in Europe and just had his first game, Borjan playing amazing in Serbia and against big teams from Germany and  Arsenal, Hutchinson in Champions league, TFC kicking ass in Mexico and could be winning everything soon! Wotherspoon now playing for Canada.  Potentially the World Cup in 2026

I’m sorry to say this but I really believe this but right now Canada becoming a real player in the football world Its really not a  priority for the CSA, so why should our top players give a priority to us? 

Edited April 9, 2018 by SpecialK

[Kent]

35 minutes ago, SpecialK said:

Arfield playing for canada , Canada  and Scotland 1-1 draw , reaching the Semis in the Gold Cup, Davies playing for Canada , Millar in Liverpool and now playing for Canada, Davies linked to Man U, Cavallini killing it in Mexico, Larin finally in Europe and just had his first game, Borjan playing amazing in Serbia and against big teams from Germany and  Arsenal, Hutchinson in Champions league, TFC kicking ass in Mexico and could be winning everything soon! Wotherspoon now playing for Canada.  Potentially the World Cup in 2026

A nice list, but one correction. We made it to the quarter finals, not the semi finals. Unless you are talking about 2007 rather than 2017.

[SpecialK]

10 minutes ago, Kent said:

A nice list, but one correction. We made it to the quarter finals, not the semi finals. Unless you are talking about 2007 rather than 2017.

Thanks ! Correction made 

[BCM]

21 hours ago, SpecialK said:

I totally agree with you, the one thing though is that CSA doesnt care about winning, it’s simple has that. So why should a player put his  career on the line for an Association that doesn’t do everything possible to win. I know I’ll get the CSA ass kissers on me for this and they say there is no money bla bla bla but it’s true. We are not playing until  September how is our team going to get better and grow as a team if they don’t play and play against decent nations! Also as a player, you want to play against the best, show case your talent to the soccer world, how can they do that when we are not even playing and when we do play it’s against the powerhouse St.Kitts and US Virgin Island or the mighty New Zealand C team and yes it was the C team! in a small stadium in Spain.  If we played strong European and South American teams, our top players wouldn’t turn that down and there would be a huge buzz. If you really look at Canada player pool and Canadian soccer right now it’s a pretty exciting time. But the CSA is dropping the ball. Arfield playing for canada , Canada  and Scotland 1-1 draw , reaching the quarters in the Gold Cup, Davies playing for Canada , Millar in Liverpool and now playing for Canada, Davies linked to Man U, Cavallini killing it in Mexico, Larin finally in Europe and just had his first game, Borjan playing amazing in Serbia and against big teams from Germany and  Arsenal, Hutchinson in Champions league, TFC kicking ass in Mexico and could be winning everything soon! Wotherspoon now playing for Canada.  Potentially the World Cup in 2026

I’m sorry to say this but I really believe this but right now Canada becoming a real player in the football world Its really not a  priority for the CSA, so why should our top players give a priority to us? 

You lost credibility there, mate. Some of their stars were missing, ours too. But the bulk of the team had caps and more than a few. So I stopped reading your post. Hyperbole can work against you, and it has here.

[BenFisk'sBiggestFan]

 New Zealand players who were called for both Canada the Confed Cup: 8 players

Mcglinchey, Rojas, Lewis, Boxall, Ingham, Doyle, Brotherson, Rufer

Canada players who were called for both the New Zealand game and the Gold Cup: 11/12 players* 

Larin, Piette, Borjan, Petrasso, Jako, James, Osorio, Adekugbe, Edwards, Ricketts, Kaye, Leutwiler 

*(in reality Edwards and Larin combined for one roster spot at the GC)

According to Canada’s lineup against Jamaica at the Gold cup Canada was missing 6 of their starters. Which is realatively equal to New Zealand’s missing 7 of their starters. That being said, Canada did call a slightly stronger squad than New Zealand did i beleive... It is really hard to tell from these stats though.

[Bison44]

Geesh, they were missing their 2 biggest stars Wood and Reid, we were missing our alot of our biggest stars.  You dont think that NZ coach was breathing a big sigh of relief when he saw there was no Cavallini, Hutchinson, Arfield or Davies?? Mr K is blowing alot of smoke here, if it was a NZ C, then it had to be a CAN C+ squad.  Whats the big deal, still a good win that showed us a lots about some of the younger players (Godinho/Millar) and got everyone on the same page with Herdman.  

[Vince193]

I think a number of you are failing to see his main point, about the CSA's priorities. He isn't wrong. This program won't get competitive playing 1 friendly a window, or not even trying to get games at all.

[deschamp86]

You can only beat the team they put in front of you

[Bison44]

Playing NZ was all on Herdman.  A team where he has ties, they'll say yes, and they are on a reasonable level (rankings etc) for us to play. Whats wrong with that?  Making it out like it out like we played a bunch of semi-pro beer league guys from aukland is disingenuous. 

And this pie in the sky idea that some exec at CSA can pick up the phone and we get friendlies with Spain, Argentina and Germany is just getting tired.  Half the V-board want us to play CONCACAF on the road to prep for WCQ.  Its not  European teams we need to beat for the WC, its wins on the road in Panama, COsta rica, Jamaica and Honduras that will get us to WC.  And not having full CMNT camps/games this summer sucks, but maybe Herdman has a plan to focus on the U-20's and the Toulon tournie in May since those guys are going to be a big part of the program in 2026. MR K,  I cant believe I am saying this, but lets Herdman run the show and calm down.  Unless you think he doesnt want to help canada win too??  

[Ansem]

5 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

Playing NZ was all on Herdman.  A team where he has ties, they'll say yes, and they are on a reasonable level (rankings etc) for us to play. Whats wrong with that?  Making it out like it out like we played a bunch of semi-pro beer league guys from aukland is disingenuous. 

And this pie in the sky idea that some exec at CSA can pick up the phone and we get friendlies with Spain, Argentina and Germany is just getting tired.  Half the V-board want us to play CONCACAF on the road to prep for WCQ.  Its not  European teams we need to beat for the WC, its wins on the road in Panama, COsta rica, Jamaica and Honduras that will get us to WC.  And not having full CMNT camps/games this summer sucks, but maybe Herdman has a plan to focus on the U-20's and the Toulon tournie in May since those guys are going to be a big part of the program in 2026. MR K,  I cant believe I am saying this, but lets Herdman run the show and calm down.  Unless you think he doesnt want to help canada win too??  

Also tired of all the people speculating on Cavallini status with the CanMNT. Are you guys sleeping in his house? Having beers with him? Does he even drink? Cause I don't so neither does this forum

[Shortdutchcanuck]

37 minutes ago, Ansem said:

Also tired of all the people speculating on Cavallini status with the CanMNT. Are you guys sleeping in his house? Having beers with him? Does he even drink? Cause I don't so neither does this forum

We definitely have no real reason to speculate on his loyalty from NZ absence, other than that he's flip-flopped in past.

But this board has always speculated on any key player who misses with no reason given.  It's what we do in the long months with no friendlies scheduled by the useless CSA who don't care about winning - we speculate on everything.

Let's face it, life as a Canadian soccer fan can be a traumatic, potentially scarring journey that requires the patience of Job.  It does not take much to worry us.

If there's a lot of concern about Cav's status I'd take it as a compliment as to how highly regarded a player he is on this board.

[dyslexic nam]

I get a little tired of people acting as if it is ridiculous to discuss Cav's possible motivation issues when it comes to the Nats or the reasons why he may have missed the NZ game.

Don't get me wrong - I am really glad that he is with our program, that he is lighting up Liga MX, and that he seems to be in a good place personally.  In my mind, he is our number 1 striker ATM.  But he basically left the program after 8-1, he has expressed regret about committing to us, he has openly criticized our program, and he had to be actively pursued by OZ to come back into the fold.  And I am not saying that he wasn't justified in some or all of those statements and actions.  But that doesn't change the fact that he has seemed less committed than many other players who have never done any of those things.  So when he is left out of our new coach's first game in charge, with no explanation offered by either party, the idea that any discussion of possible motivation issues is unwarranted seems a bit disingenuous.  Sure, it is clearly speculative since we don't know.  But it isn't like we have no reason to think there might be something other than new-baby-smell behind his absence.  

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Bison44 said:

Geesh, they were missing their 2 biggest stars Wood and Reid, we were missing our alot of our biggest stars.  You dont think that NZ coach was breathing a big sigh of relief when he saw there was no Cavallini, Hutchinson, Arfield or Davies?? Mr K is blowing alot of smoke here, if it was a NZ C, then it had to be a CAN C+ squad.  Whats the big deal, still a good win that showed us a lots about some of the younger players (Godinho/Millar) and got everyone on the same page with Herdman.  

Yes indeed!

FIFA called it an "A" international and gave it points accordingly. Good enough for me!

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Vince193 said:

I think a number of you are failing to see his main point, about the CSA's priorities. He isn't wrong. This program won't get competitive playing 1 friendly a window, or not even trying to get games at all.

That point could have been made without trying to demean a good performance and result by allocating a random letter of the alphabet to the relative quality of the opposition!

When you do something silly like that it is hardly surprising that people take issue and your supposed main point gets lost.

I have deliberately laid off @SpecialK up until now because I've seen too many young and enthusiastic new posters get beaten down before they find their feet on here but now the "L" plates are off so he had better up his game or we are going to take a leaf outta his book and downgrade his username to SpecialZ!

Edited April 11, 2018 by dsqpr

[Marc]

On 4/9/2018 at 12:47 PM, Keegan said:

What are you talking about?  So our players are the only ones with conflicts? Look at concacaf stars and tell me how many have skipped crucial windows.. does anyone remember Pescadito, Baloy, Perez etc. bailing on their national teams?   Do Mexicans or Americans bail to stay with their clubs? Hell no. We have this victim mentality where because we’re a small nation we should let our players and their clubs bully us and it’s okay because they won’t lose their spot. 

Club seasons end in May and the Gold Cup is 3 weeks in July.. if we’re lucky. Arfield just got married and chose to do it in June for example. Don’t pull something bending over backwards to apologize here.. players apparently only have a 3 week window every 2 years to get married and it falls on a continental championship lol. 

Success takes sacrifices, I appreciate our players sacrifice a ton and call me greedy but I want players with the mentality of our rivals who would do anything for their national team.  You have to sacrifice to be on top. 

Of course, our players that play in Europe have more conflicts than they would if they played for a European nation. 

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/43730893
http://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/index.ssf/2016/10/darlington_nagbe_reportedly_re.html
https://www.lagconfidential.com/2016/5/17/11696346/giovani-dos-santos-turns-down-mexico-call-up-for-copa-america
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/sydney-fc-star-milos-ninkovic-turned-down-callup-from-serbia-for-world-cup-qualifiers-20161202-gt35rx.html
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2015/03/26/report-jose-villarreal-turns-down-us-u-23-call-focus-growing-role-la-galaxy

You're not only greedy, but also not living in the real world.  This happens all the time, to everyone.  Only the insecure whine about it.

[Keegan]

42 minutes ago, Marc said:

Of course, our players that play in Europe have more conflicts than they would if they played for a European nation. 

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/43730893
http://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/index.ssf/2016/10/darlington_nagbe_reportedly_re.html
https://www.lagconfidential.com/2016/5/17/11696346/giovani-dos-santos-turns-down-mexico-call-up-for-copa-america
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/sydney-fc-star-milos-ninkovic-turned-down-callup-from-serbia-for-world-cup-qualifiers-20161202-gt35rx.html
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2015/03/26/report-jose-villarreal-turns-down-us-u-23-call-focus-growing-role-la-galaxy

You're not only greedy, but also not living in the real world.  This happens all the time, to everyone.  Only the insecure whine about it.

Do you not see that you just made my point for me?  Dos Santos was an exception, he chose to stay with LA as opposed to fighting for PT with Mexico in that instance.  Ninkovic was retired from international football so that's not really surprising that he would turn down a call.   

Nagbe and the Welsh guy missed friendlies for family reasons.. that's fine in any reasonable world.  Scott Arfield missed a friendly last year to get married, not a big deal to anyone.  If players consistently miss friendlies or tournaments for club reasons it's not good for anyone and with depth, as most nations have, they eventually wouldn't be called.  Do you think Ibrahimovic is going to be called by Sweden to the World Cup?  I'd love to be wrong but they're not going to call a guy who chooses to show up just for the stage, even if he's their best player of all time.  Look at Landon too.  No player is bigger than the team.

Edited April 12, 2018 by Keegan

[king1010]

2 goals today for puebla. Alone in second place for the ligamx scoring chart. The man needs to be a key part of our setup going forward. 

[mpg_29]

Second one was a nice header too. Unfortunately he then gave back an own goal...

[Kadenge]

Dude is on fire. Hope he keeps his form for our games starting in the fall

[maccaliam]

6 hours ago, mpg_29 said:

Second one was a nice header too. Unfortunately he then gave back an own goal...

 Hat-trick hero! 

[apbsmith]

Highlights? 

Thank you in advance.