Ayo Akinola

[Obinna]

2 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

4 games for the team though, remember Ayo couldnt make the field in the first 2 games before the reset.  Remember Vanney went with Mullins in the first 2 games of the year when Altidore was healthy and starting.  He has taken his chance and ran with it big time, kudos to him.   But he's lucky that Vanney ever gave him the chance, if Mullins has scored a tap in from a Poz set up pre covid, Vanney would have had Ayo glued to the bench for another season.    This is what drives me crazy about Vanney, his first instinct was to play mullins, but now he looks like a genius who "plays his kids" etc.  

I think we have to give credit to Ayo here though. Goals aside this was the best performance I have ever seen from him. His movement off the ball was excellent and his hold up play was brilliant. I think this is more about Ayo growing into his potential than Vanney being a genius. 

I think the best young players have a moment where things click and they never look back. That was the story Jonathan David and Cyle Larin. This is what we are now seeing with Ayo Akinola.

[Bison44]

3 minutes ago, Obinna said:

I think we have to give credit to Ayo here though. Goals aside this was the best performance I have ever seen from him. His movement off the ball was excellent and his hold up play was brilliant. I think this is more about Ayo growing into his potential than Vanney being a genius. 

I think the best young players have a moment where things click and they never look back. That was the story Jonathan David and Cyle Larin. This is what we are now seeing with Ayo Akinola.

Oh i dont think he is a genius, and I give Ayo the credit for jumping all over his chance this year.  I didnt watch the post game talk, but i can hear Vanney waxing poetic about his policy of bringing along prospects and blah blah blah blah.  And the MLS commentators fawning over Vanney and his play the kids attitude, when anyone watching TFC closely knows its a load of baloney.  It could have easily gone the other way and Mullins starts that game against DC and AYo never gets a chance to have a "moment".  And yet TFC is successful either way and no one is supposed to question how the academy prospects are handled here.  

[El Diego]

I know as Canadian soccer fans we want to see young Canadian players get a shot, but Vanney has been extremely successful as the manager of TFC. I don't think anyone is trying to push the narrative that he is some sort of guru with young kids.

[LeoH037]

1 hour ago, TGAA_Star said:

We still have to consider Naija...the Super Eagles could decide to cap him🇳🇬 because even though he is American and Canadian, he is also Nigerian too. Nigeria at this point are one of the strongest teams in Africa and if they decide to throw their name into the race to cap him, then Nigeria could have an edge over the USA and Canada in this regard. Nigeria have more world class players and also they are a perennial World Cup nation especially in CAF. I mean especially if his family is Nigerian and his parents/grandparents come from there, he would have strong ties to Naija as well.

lol. no.

[Corazon]

5 minutes ago, El Diego said:

I know as Canadian soccer fans we want to see young Canadian players get a shot, but Vanney has been extremely successful as the manager of TFC. I don't think anyone is trying to push the narrative that he is some sort of guru with young kids.

Spot on.  Hard to argue with 3 finals in 4 years.  Vanney is probably the only coach to reach 3 finals in 4 years and be constantly criticized.  I love seeing coaches like MDS develop young Canadian talent but winning is important.  Toronto has had some of the more influential domestic Canadian internationals in recent years.

And this is all coming from someone who does not particularly like Vanney as a coach.

[LeoH037]

1 hour ago, TGAA_Star said:

Nigeria have depth, certainly much better depth than USA or even Canada. Their attack is more dynamic. Like I said their attack is not only more world class but look at the talent he would be surrounded with if he were to choose Nigeria and they cap him. Plus their manager is way better than Berhalter or even Herdman for that matter.

Plus you put Ayo on a Naija side that already has attack depth...even more dangerous

As a fellow African...I surely do not want him going to USA but if it comes down to Canada and Nigeria, then I am obviously going Nigeria.

You do realize this is a Canadian soccer supporters forum do you not? Why are you here again? 🤔

Quit before you bury yourself any deeper.. you've now literally given everyone here a concrete reason to ignore your "insight" (which we could all do without) and call your motives into question. You lost the plot mate, and are not to be taken seriously whatsoever.

Edited July 17, 2020 by LeoH037

[Trois Reds]

26 minutes ago, El Diego said:

I know as Canadian soccer fans we want to see young Canadian players get a shot, but Vanney has been extremely successful as the manager of TFC. I don't think anyone is trying to push the narrative that he is some sort of guru with young kids.

Vanney has been successful, yes, but he is known for using the same players to close out games even when up or down by 3 with ten minutes left. There were a couple of times last year he could have put in a younger player for the last 15 minutes instead of Mullins, DeLeon or Ciman.

The times I saw Akinola play last year, he looked like he was just growing into his body and needed some time to play, but Vanney's leash is strangely short on younger players, and he went backto Mullins. This year Ayo got has chance and took it. He looks way more comfortable out there.

Edited July 17, 2020 by Trois Reds
Grammar

[Colliedor]

Looks like the training he received from Altidore during this break could be the big boost he needed.

Been hard on him but can't deny he has looked much better compared to previous seasons. His hold up on the ball was vastly different from last year. He was shrugged off the ball way too easily. The story of how Jozy helped him with things like that showed evidence that he did adjust his game.

 

Now it's just a waiting game to see if this is just a very short good spell or he truly has reformed his game.

[LeoH037]

Akinola looks like a player, given his age it's not out of the question his game could improve so much in such a short time. Every good striker has a year where they finally "click", and this could well be Ayo's. The last 2 goals were not easy, yet he kept a cool head through them both and calmly finished his chances, for a 20 year old that is a big deal, because the earlier in their career a striker develops that confidence in 1v1s, the better.

[LeoH037]

I'll just leave this here hehe

[Ansem]

TFC management made this team the USMNT of the north

see below on Akinola

if true, that makes Vanney a two-face liar

 

 

[dyslexic nam]

Regardless of the “he said she said” the reality is that our youth core is pretty exciting.  In years past there wouldn’t be a huge decision for someone involved in the US youth program.   It is at least good to know that it may not be an easy decision - especially when you have guys like Phonzie giving you a friendly shout out.  

[dyslexic nam]

And just re Vanney...

He is an American, who played with US college teams, spent the bulk of his pro career on US teams, is a US international, and has shown an undeniable preference for US domestic players and national team players when shaping TFC.  To me, there is nothing at all surprising about the fact that he isn’t advancing the interests of the CMNT during his tenure at TFC.  

[Bison44]

All the stuff about TFC encourging him to play for the US is on the first page of this thread, with links etc.  This was 2 years before Vanney then complained in 2018 that CSA wasnt contacting AYO.   

[Ansem]

1 hour ago, Bison44 said:

All the stuff about TFC encourging him to play for the US is on the first page of this thread, with links etc.  This was 2 years before Vanney then complained in 2018 that CSA wasnt contacting AYO.   

TFC can do whatever they like in the end and if they want to push a talent towards the US, who can stop them right?*

*Kind of rich to act this way towards the governing body that gave you the sanction to play in MLS, but ok!

Omitting to put his name down on the CSA list is just weird to me. My problem is how is it ok for them to encourage an eligible talent to play for another nation?

Edited July 17, 2020 by Ansem

[VinceA]

[Bison44]

Hey Vince, translate for us old non tweeters...ayo liked that..or retweeted etc?  Or did he add the comment on the bottom??

[VinceA]

Just now, Bison44 said:

Hey Vince, translate for us old non tweeters...ayo liked that..or retweeted etc?  Or did he add the comment on the bottom??

I suppose its the instagram equivalent of a retweet? at the very least he's acknowledged the possibilities with Canada.

[Kadenge]

I doubt he feels American..there is no American cultural (hmmm..oxymoron) attachment  as there may have been for Tabla re IC. He lives in the GTA soccer hotbed  of Brampton, plays for his hometown MLS team, his friends are probably all Canadian including Davies. Playing for Canada has not hurt Davies or David in their development or rise to the top ..In fact being a Canadian soccer player is now in Vogue... wow that felt good! I'm also not overly concerned about Altidore who seems to have a genuine fondness of Tor/Can...perhaps it has something to do with how the US fans treated him during WCQ? .#BLM DeAndre Yedlin apparently has reservations of putting  on the US jersey. There are many factors in our favour.  Ayo has been in the US youth program for 5 years but if TFC mgt were  advising him to go in that direction it's hard to fault a 15 yr old kid. He's now old enough to make the right decision...over to you Ayo.

 

[dyslexic nam]

1 hour ago, Kadenge said:

..In fact being a Canadian soccer player is now in Vogue... wow that felt good!

Seriously tho - WTF eh?  

[BrennanFan]

2 hours ago, Bison44 said:

All the stuff about TFC encourging him to play for the US is on the first page of this thread, with links etc.  This was 2 years before Vanney then complained in 2018 that CSA wasnt contacting AYO.   

Let's be clear. Vanney did not complain that the CSA wasn't contacting Ayo. He was bitching about Ayo not being deemed a Canadian for the Voyageurs Cup, because that hurt Vanneys intended lineup. He said that the CSA was not doing themselves any favours in convincing Ayo to switch by not deeming Ayo a Canadian for the tournament. That's it. It was just a self serving comment in relation to that specific tournament and nothing more. 

[RS]

9 hours ago, jonovision said:

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.

It was just in context of Berhalter being there. I'm assuming the U.S. coach could also watch on TV, but he finds it beneficial to be there in person.

[RS]

4 hours ago, Bison44 said:

Oh i dont think he is a genius, and I give Ayo the credit for jumping all over his chance this year.  I didnt watch the post game talk, but i can hear Vanney waxing poetic about his policy of bringing along prospects and blah blah blah blah.  And the MLS commentators fawning over Vanney and his play the kids attitude, when anyone watching TFC closely knows its a load of baloney.  It could have easily gone the other way and Mullins starts that game against DC and AYo never gets a chance to have a "moment".  And yet TFC is successful either way and no one is supposed to question how the academy prospects are handled here.  

What was the point of this post if you didn't actually watch the post-game? 

[CanadianSoccerFan]

 

[dyslexic nam]

Insert Dumb and Dumber “so you’re saying there’s a chance” meme.