Ayo Akinola

[Nate3322]

2 minutes ago, Free kick said:

I am going to ask the question that i fear to see the answer.   But who do you have ahead of Akinola on the pecking order?

Well I would definitely put both Larin and Cavallini ahead of Akinola.

[Shway]

7 minutes ago, Free kick said:

What? I see him as a starter.  Alongside David in the role of the false nine.  
I am going to ask the question that i fear to see the answer.   But who do you have ahead of Akinola on the pecking order?

Starter overnight, that’s crazy talk.

As a number 9. It’s currently:

David, Larin/Cavallini...then maybe Akinola, as Tesho should still be in the conversation, but I’ll put him at 5.

As much as I’ve put David as a number 10 (sitting behind a number 9), we haven’t and I don’t think we will see it, especially with the plethora of middle options we have.

Your fear is our reality.

Edited November 27, 2020 by Shway

[Free kick]

51 minutes ago, Nate3322 said:

Well I would definitely put both Larin and Cavallini ahead of Akinola.

49 minutes ago, Shway said:

Starter overnight, that’s crazy talk.

As a number 9. It’s currently:

David, Larin/Cavallini...then maybe Akinola, as Tesho should still be in the conversation, but I’ll put him at 5.

As much as I’ve put David as a number 10 (sitting behind a number 9), we haven’t and I don’t think we will see it, especially with the plethora of middle options we have.

Your fear is our reality.

My fears (of the answer i would get) have been realised.  What has Larin done recently ?   Cavalini had 6 goals and a scoring percentage 0.37.  Akinola has nine goals and a 0.76 scoring percentage (one of the best in the league).  Who in their right mind would say that the Caps centre forward had a better year than Akinola.

Edited November 27, 2020 by Free kick

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

1 hour ago, VinceA said:

Makes you wonder if Akinola will be one of those called. The US would be dumb not to.

It would be a little sad for us but it would be easy for him to be there as there is no "one time switch" involved. He can play with Canada after.

[Dominic94]

4 hours ago, VinceA said:

 

Makes you wonder if Akinola will be one of those called. The US would be dumb not to.

That’s a shocker, what the hell happened ? I thought he was gone for sure. If he switches that huge for the US.

[El Hombre]

6 hours ago, Free kick said:

What has Larin done recently ?

Scored 5 in 8.  Good to be tied for third in Turkish league scorers, one behind the leaders.  Not too shabby.

6 hours ago, Free kick said:

Akinola has nine goals and a 0.76 scoring percentage (one of the best in the league).

More than half of those goals came in the first two games of a dodgy return-to-play tournament after a long layoff.

[Snowcrash]

8 hours ago, Nate3322 said:

Well I would definitely put both Larin and Cavallini ahead of Akinola.

I don't think that Akinola would make the game day 18 at Besiktas, never mind a start.

[MtlMario]

I'm afraid if he accepts a next US call up he'll be gone for us.☹️

[toontownman]

Unbelievably frustrating seeing what seems like everyone else getting on with it while we sit safe at home twiddling thumbs and wondering why we are potentially losing out on another contributor to our program. 

Let's hope Herdmans emails have conditioned him to ignore the US phone call. 

[gator]

I maintain he was never in play for us and fully expect him to commit to the US, that's a shame because he would add some nice depth for us, he is not a starter in my 11 atm! He had a good run in the tournament and shows much promise but this isn't a devastating loss for our program if he doesn't sign up!

[Nate3322]

9 hours ago, Free kick said:

My fears (of the answer i would get) have been realised.  What has Larin done recently ?   Cavalini had 6 goals and a scoring percentage 0.37.  Akinola has nine goals and a 0.76 scoring percentage (one of the best in the league).  Who in their right mind would say that the Caps centre forward had a better year than Akinola.

Larin as 5 goals in 8 for Besiktas and has been one of their best players lately. Cavallini is play for the Whitecaps they suck I'm not surprised he's only scored 6 goals considering the poor service he's getting. He's scored against the US and Mexico internationally and he has scored fairly consistently in other leagues so I wouldn't write Cavallini off. 

Edited November 27, 2020 by Nate3322

[Shway]

27 minutes ago, toontownman said:

Unbelievably frustrating seeing what seems like everyone else getting on with it while we sit safe at home twiddling thumbs and wondering why we are potentially losing out on another contributor to our program. 

Let's hope Herdmans emails have conditioned him to ignore the US phone call. 

Ssshh please don’t start, I’ve already sought help for this reality. 

We’ll be okay, we’ll be okay, we’ll be okay. 

[CanadaFan123]

Playing for the USA is a risky play for him tbh. He's in a mix with roughly 10 other strikers and it is conceivable that, like us, the USA will play with one striker given their breadth of attacking midfield options, notably with Pulisic and Reyna.

Food for thought: Ayo was the same age this season as Larin was in his breakout 2015 campaign and has never been at the level Larin showed in MLS, where arguably he was a top 5 striker in the league and comparable to greats like Giovinco and Villa at that time.

He will be hard-pressed to earn the #1 striker spot with Canada (vs. David) or the USA (vs. Sergeant/Weah). That is for sure. But with Canada he seems to have a better/guaranteed shot at being in every squad. Whereas with the USA he could conceivably fall and be Teal Bunbury 2.0. 

It really is funny because Canada seems to have the best striker of both nations with David, but the USA has the most depth.

 

 

[Obinna]

28 minutes ago, Nate3322 said:

Larin as 5 goals in 8 for Besiktas and has been one of their best players lately. Cavallini is play for the Whitecaps they suck I'm not surprised he's only scored 6 goals considering the poor service he's getting. He's scored against the US and Mexico internationally and he has scored fairly consistently in other leagues so I wouldn't write Cavallini off. 

How many goals Akinola and Cavallini would have had this season if they switched teams?

[toontownman]

24 minutes ago, Shway said:

Ssshh please don’t start, I’ve already sought help for this reality. 

We’ll be okay, we’ll be okay, we’ll be okay. 

[Obinna]

Dike from Orlando is in direct competition with Akinola and is also a dual international (both eligible for Nigeria). I wouldn't be surprised if Akinola is not called, wouldn't be surprised if he is called, and quite frankly he loses nothing by accepting a call to check out their set up, in fact he may go there like Tesho (who also had Nigeria eligibility lol) and decide to make a Canadian switch. I think it is unlikely Akinola plays for us, but I wouldn't rule it out entirely, even if he does play against El Salvador.

Edited November 27, 2020 by Obinna

[N1ckbr0wn]

If Akinola accepts the call for the US in December he’s gone for good, one time switch filed or not. It stings a little extra due to the circumstances, but I’m thinking if he easily accepts the call he never really had us in his plans anyways. As for where he sits in our depth chart, it’s 1. Larin, 2. Cavallini then 3. Akinola for me. 4th if we include David in that. If we’re talking potential though, skys the limit. could definitely be a starter in the program if he continues his trajectory 

Edited November 27, 2020 by N1ckbr0wn

[dyslexic nam]

9 hours ago, Free kick said:

My fears (of the answer i would get) have been realised.  What has Larin done recently ?   Cavalini had 6 goals and a scoring percentage 0.37.  Akinola has nine goals and a 0.76 scoring percentage (one of the best in the league).  Who in their right mind would say that the Caps centre forward had a better year than Akinola.

Others have pointed it out already, but this grossly underestimated the level Larin is currently performing at.   He may have underwhelmed for Canada at some points in the past, but he has a lot of years ahead of him and has really started to play well at club level.  There is no way Akinola is ahead of him right now.  

Edited November 27, 2020 by dyslexic nam

[Bison44]

15 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

Others have pointed it out already, but this grossly underestimated the level Larin is currently performing at.   He may have underwhelmed for Canada at some points in the past, but he has a lot of years ahead of him and has really started to play well at club level.  There is no way Akinola is ahead of him right now.  

This ^^^.  I'm not sure why we have to point this out, but Larin tore MLS up as a 20 year old as well, and had 3 solid years in Orlando.  And since then he game has matured and gone on to win a job in Belgium and turkey.  Cavallini has been a starter in Uruguay and Liga MX.  Akinola has had very good half season.  Even then he wasnt head and shoulders above Cav.  He is part of the mix...sure, earned a start..probably, but if it was a must win..I'd still take or Larin/Cavallini.  But at least its nice to have a options.  

[Kadenge]

for what its worth,  Ayo switched agents to ATG sports, the same agent as Davies. Not sure when the switch happened. He may go with the US, but he's basically lived his whole life in Canada and plays for TFC with many young Canadian top prospects (not to mention Oso and Laryea). Got to think  he has built up relationships with those players. I am cautiously optimistic.

[CanadaFan123]

5 minutes ago, Kadenge said:

for what its worth,  Ayo switched agents to ATG sports, the same agent as Davies. Not sure when the switch happened. He may go with the US, but he's basically lived his whole life in Canada and plays for TFC with many young Canadian top prospects (not to mention Oso and Laryea). Got to think  he has built up relationships with those players. I am cautiously optimistic.

The issue is that he's also with Vanney, Altidore, Gonzalez and Bradley at TFC. The power influence there is easily more American than Canadian.. but that could easily change in the next month or so. 

The counterpoint is that Ayo can also look at teammates like Bono, Morrow and Delgado as examples of the revolving door at the USMNT.

[red card]

8 hours ago, Dominic94 said:

That’s a shocker, what the hell happened ? I thought he was gone for sure. If he switches that huge for the US.

He won't be able to play in the friendly as he hasn't filed any switch paperwork yet - maybe window shopping.

 

[Corazon]

Ayo committing to USA would be a loss to me.  I would rate him as 3rd in terms of current #9's.  You could move him to 4th if David played that role.  Larin is 1st and Cavallini is 2nd but I worry more about his potential at this point and what he could become more than anything.

The smart move would be to choose Canada but that's not always worked in our favour before.  If he is not on that December roster than I would feel confident that he would be switching to Canada because I don't see how/why USA would not be calling him for December as I suspect it will be a largely domestic based squad of MLS players.

COVID aside, USA has really expanded their player pool this year.  I also anticipate many new faces called in December which would expand their player pool between 55-60 callups in the year 2020.  Again, not bringing COVID into the discussion but Canada has called up 26 players in 2020 which was at camp poutine.  Mind you we are fairly confident that there were a group of players called up for March and November friendlies that were never released.

[MtlMario]

2 hours ago, Kadenge said:

for what its worth,  Ayo switched agents to ATG sports, the same agent as Davies. Not sure when the switch happened. He may go with the US, but he's basically lived his whole life in Canada and plays for TFC with many young Canadian top prospects (not to mention Oso and Laryea). Got to think  he has built up relationships with those players. I am cautiously optimistic.

That's what I don't understand "basically lived his whole life in Canada" and then going to play for USA? It's like working 

in a restaurant and then have your parties at the competitor across the street.☹️

[Bison44]

9 minutes ago, MtlMario said:

That's what I don't understand "basically lived his whole life in Canada" and then going to play for USA? It's like working in a restaurant and then have your parties at the competitor across the street.☹️

Well he has been convinced to do exactly that (play for the USA) for the last 5 years eh??  Why would we expect him to do much different now??  He probably has never worn a CDN jersey, so switching to us would be the strange thing for him.