Mikmacdo Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Didn't he grow up in Brampton? I bet he makes the switch to Canada. We don't really have any u23 / 20 camps so it makes sense to play for USA. Corazon and LeoH037 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corazon Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 15 minutes ago, Mikmacdo said: Didn't he grow up in Brampton? I bet he makes the switch to Canada. We don't really have any u23 / 20 camps so it makes sense to play for USA. I know that he personally has a strong connection with Toronto & Canada so I do think there is a possibility of the switch. He is also quite close with many of the Canadians on the Toronto team as well. I stated this a few weeks ago. On Canada Day, Osorio posted on his IG celebrating Canada Day and included all the fellow Canadian TFC players. INCLUDING Ayo Akinola. I'm not saying that he is going to choose Canada over USA but there is obviously a connection with Canada. toontownman, Addona and Ivan 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CANMNT_SUPERFAN Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Got a little more insight into the whole Akinola situation from a pretty reliable source in all things Canadian fútbol!!!!!... Will be posting 2 images here and make what you want about it, but yeah, certainly having the coach of the bloody USMNT there does not bode well for us, at the same time as Caldwell said, he is expected to get multiple voicemails from Herdman... One of my posts may catch some of you by surprise, for those who didn't know already! 😉 Only allows me to post one image at a time. 1st tweet goes (will translate): Btw, what knowledge do you have about Akinola making his one time switch to CANMNT?... I know he is eligible for men's olympic u-23 squad, would be perfect timing to call him! This person replies, would be a great moment I think his chances are great for the one-time switch! johnyb, sebdeserio and Trois Reds 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CANMNT_SUPERFAN Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 2nd post, tweeted moments ago translates as: I think the chances are great, he has lived his entire life in Canada & has the same agent as Davies!!!!😉 johnyb, Corazon, Trois Reds and 1 other 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeoH037 Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 59 minutes ago, Floortom said: I’ve said all along people were underrating Akinola for our program. He’s a talented kid and can easily be Larin or Larin + quality. he was a consistent and key contributor to an U20 program far superior than ours. there is no reason we should be discarding this guy as not good enough or not committed enough at this stage Yeah, and unfortunately a lot of it is due to a grudge against him for representing the USA at youth level (which has been a good decision for him personally, same as with Eustaquio, as it has no doubt contributed to their development in playing more competitive games in international tournaments) and not objective. He has been a stand out for the USA youth program, and if Herdman gets him to commit to Canada then it would be quite a coup for our program (and it would get under the skin of our southern neighbors, which is a plus). Akinola being a genuine TFC product would make having him onboard even sweeter. Corazon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeoH037 Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 (edited) 1 minute ago, CANMNT_SUPERFAN said: 2nd post, tweeted moments ago translates as: I think the chances are great, he has lived his entire life in Canada & has the same agent as Davies!!!!😉 Just get Phonzie on the phone already , I know Ayo follows him on social media. Edited July 17, 2020 by LeoH037 baulderdash77, Corazon and CANMNT_SUPERFAN 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shway Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 I don’t take anything back from what I said. I still rate Bair higher (even as a TFC fan). I think what people also need to consider is that TFC is a favourite to win this tournament - meaning they are a top class team. That being said, I’m really impressed with his movement, his hold up play, short passing, and the obvious ability to score. Let’s hope he can join the program. toontownman, sebdeserio, Corazon and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bdog Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 30 minutes ago, Shway said: I don’t take anything back from what I said. I still rate Bair higher (even as a TFC fan). I think what people also need to consider is that TFC is a favourite to win this tournament - meaning they are a top class team. That being said, I’m really impressed with his movement, his hold up play, short passing, and the obvious ability to score. Let’s hope he can join the program. I made a post a few pages down saying I have a mixed opinion on him, I mentioned that he has to earn it but I think he has done that the last two games lol. Last year he scored in the first TFC game I think but didn't do anything after that, though he didn't even play the last half of the season. With TFC II he only scored one goal. I think it's fair to say that it's unexpected for him to start scoring like this. While he has Pozuelo feeding him, he still looks really dangerous and makes good runs. I'm on the hype train now. Shway 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toontownman Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 FFS. More goals.. just when you thought it was safe... Now the hope really begins and no international football for best part of 6 months at least to exacerbate our optimism and eventual disownership of him when the US cap him lol. Let's send him some maple leaf chocolates anyway! Shway and dyslexic nam 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trois Reds Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 (edited) I would love to see Akinola wear the Maple Leaf. He's been looking amazing this tournament. If he continues to progress, I could envision a forward line of Akinola and David with Cavallini as a hold up third. With a potential threesome like that, it would free Davies to maraud from LWB while Laryea or ZBG come in from the right. What an attack! One can dream...🙂 Edited July 17, 2020 by Trois Reds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeoH037 Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 19 minutes ago, toontownman said: FFS. More goals.. just when you thought it was safe... Now the hope really begins and no international football for best part of 6 months at least to exacerbate our optimism and eventual disownership of him when the US cap him lol. Let's send him some maple leaf chocolates anyway! I'm fully committed by now and I'm willing to risk the disappointment if he chooses the USA, which would be specially heart breaking as it would hit closer to home this time, him being from Toronto and all. toontownman, Corazon and CANMNT_SUPERFAN 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aird25 Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 He’s already scored 36 times for their youth teams. I think it would be quite the coup if he chooses Canada Corazon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 4 hours ago, Gian-Luca said: Herdman of course doesn’t have the same opportunity to be in Orlando Why not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toontownman Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Geordies have to quarantine 6 months longer than everyone else. It's just science. Addona, Bison44 and dyslexic nam 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeoH037 Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 (edited) Seriously tho.. given whom Ayo's agent is.. its gotta count for something no? Representing the US Youth team could all have been part of the plan so far in order to get more exposure/experience. Edited July 17, 2020 by LeoH037 Ruffian and toontownman 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gigi riva Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 IM hoping he chooses us but Lets just see what happens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 6 hours ago, RS said: Why not? Maybe I haven't been following the Covid news closely enough, but I'm assuming that crossing the border to watch players play that he can watch on television wouldn't constitute "essential travel". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruffian Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 It seems people on this board had more confidence in Bryan Cristante and Fikayo Tomori making the switch than Akinola. These two had very little attachment to Canada and were eligible for even better teams that the USA. Akinola is essentially Canadian with a bit of attachment to the USA. I'm sure growing up he talked about being born in the USA a lot and that became a part of his identity but living his life in Canada will mean that culturally he is more Canadian and will identify with more things Canadian. johnyb 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyslexic nam Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 4 minutes ago, Ruffian said: It seems people on this board had more confidence in Bryan Cristante and Fikayo Tomori making the switch than Akinola. These two had very little attachment to Canada and were eligible for even better teams that the USA. Akinola is essentially Canadian with a bit of attachment to the USA. I'm sure growing up he talked about being born in the USA a lot and that became a part of his identity but living his life in Canada will mean that culturally he is more Canadian and will identify with more things Canadian. I think the main thing is that he has been part of their youth system for quite a while now. That sort of thing matters. Coaches whispering in his ear, familiarity with the players and system, etc. Whether he feels Canadian or not in the rest of his identity, we all know that most of these guys view their international prospects a lot more pragmatically than we do. That means, assuming he has both options, he will choose the one that will be most advantageous. And at this point, the Teal Bunbury’s aside, I don’t know if he would see us as the preferred option from a utilitarian perspective. I would love to see him brought into the fold and would support whatever tactics we could leverage to bring him on board, but I really think he is a US player and the chances for us are slim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corazon Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 10 minutes ago, Ruffian said: It seems people on this board had more confidence in Bryan Cristante and Fikayo Tomori making the switch than Akinola. These two had very little attachment to Canada and were eligible for even better teams that the USA. Akinola is essentially Canadian with a bit of attachment to the USA. I'm sure growing up he talked about being born in the USA a lot and that became a part of his identity but living his life in Canada will mean that culturally he is more Canadian and will identify with more things Canadian. Exactly. He is to Canada what Tomori was to England. Canada was a birthplace for Tomori but left as an infant to England so he had very little connection to Canada. Akinola is opposite and similar to Jonathan David in that they were born in USA but grew up in Canada and having much more connection in that way. johnyb 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 56 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said: Maybe I haven't been following the Covid news closely enough, but I'm assuming that crossing the border to watch players play that he can watch on television wouldn't constitute "essential travel". That’s a good point. If we can assume that Herdman was allowed to travel, he absolutely should be there. However, you’re probably correct in that the CSA probably doesn’t have that kind of pull with either federal government on this matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonovision Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 (edited) 40 minutes ago, RS said: That’s a good point. If we can assume that Herdman was allowed to travel, he absolutely should be there. However, you’re probably correct in that the CSA probably doesn’t have that kind of pull with either federal government on this matter. What's the point of Herdman being there? He wouldn't be allowed to meaningfully interact with players, one would assume, and the view from behind the goal is much worse than TV. Not to mention how ethically problematic it would be, restricted travel or not, for the CSA to ask its employee to fly into the COVID epicenter for a few weeks. Edited July 17, 2020 by jonovision dyslexic nam 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOcanadafan Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Positive news that he has solid ties with Davies and other CNMT players. if only we had a Pozuelo to feed our #9 that kind of service. How does everyone rate David as a playmaker? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macksam Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 59 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said: I think the main thing is that he has been part of their youth system for quite a while now. That sort of thing matters. Coaches whispering in his ear, familiarity with the players and system, etc. Whether he feels Canadian or not in the rest of his identity, we all know that most of these guys view their international prospects a lot more pragmatically than we do. That means, assuming he has both options, he will choose the one that will be most advantageous. And at this point, the Teal Bunbury’s aside, I don’t know if he would see us as the preferred option from a utilitarian perspective. I would love to see him brought into the fold and would support whatever tactics we could leverage to bring him on board, but I really think he is a US player and the chances for us are slim. Depends whether he is thinking short or long term. Short term, the USA is the better option, marginally at best. Long-term we are the better option. 5-10 years and we are going to blow their program out of the water and he should know this and get on board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aird25 Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 9 minutes ago, TOcanadafan said: Positive news that he has solid ties with Davies and other CNMT players. if only we had a Pozuelo to feed our #9 that kind of service. How does everyone rate David as a playmaker? David usually seems to make the right choice at the right time, but I don’t think his passing is nearly as creative as someone like Pozuelo. Hopefully that develops though Corazon and TOcanadafan 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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