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Ayo Akinola


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1 hour ago, Dominic94 said:

Herdman said once you graduate to the senior team you graduate to it, and I’d believe that he would want Davies and David for the GC.

The Olympics are not just your typical youth tournament, its a U23 team sure, but every athlete who has the chance to do so will want to compete for an olympic a medal (and there would also be 3 over 23 players). Being forced to play a Gold Cup while you are eligible for the Olympics would be a slap in the face tbh.

Edited by LeoH037
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There are too many matches to play in 2021. So, Davies & David aren't going to play in the Gold Cup or the Olympics. Both will be coming off from compressed league schedules and playing Champions League/Europa matches. They'll be needed for WC qualifiers and will need down time to recover in between national team duties and club season.

Lille and David will also not want him to miss another pre-season training period that will set him behind the starting line again. 

From a broader national team perspective, no FIFA points gained from playing in the Olympics while there are plenty of points on the line for the Gold Cup & qualifiers. Canada women get the Own the Podium funding because of being top ranked and winning medals - low probability of senior men being top 10 ranked or Olympic team winning a medal in 2021. 

Only thing in favour of Olympics is it gets much more mainstream attention in Canada than the Gold Cup or WC qualifiers. But if you don't get out of the group stage, the team will be quickly forgotten. Usually for another 4 years like any other Canada summer Olympic sports team but fortunately, football's WC transcends the Olympics. But we need to qualify. 

 

 

 

Edited by red card
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25 minutes ago, red card said:

There are too many matches to play in 2021. So, Davies & David aren't going to play in the Gold Cup or the Olympics. Both will be coming off from compressed league schedules and playing Champions League/Europa matches. They'll be needed for WC qualifiers and will need down time to recover in between national team duties and club season.

Lille and David will also not want him to miss another pre-season training period that will set him behind the starting line again. 

From a broader national team perspective, no FIFA points gained from playing in the Olympics while there are plenty of points on the line for the Gold Cup & qualifiers. Canada women get the Own the Podium funding because of being top ranked and winning medals - low probability of senior men being top 10 ranked or Olympic team winning a medal in 2021. 

Only thing in favour of Olympics is it gets much more mainstream attention in Canada than the Gold Cup or WC qualifiers. But if you don't get out of the group stage, the team will be quickly forgotten. Usually for another 4 years like any other Canada summer Olympic sports team but fortunately, football's WC transcends the Olympics. But we need to qualify. 

 

 

 

I agree with everything here.

But somehow I can easily imagine Davies participating in the Olympics, should we qualify. I can even see a scenario where Davies plays and David does not. The thing is, Phonzy has become synonymous with Canada soccer, in a way that David has not, and he is probably the only Canadian player the average person in this country could name.

Questions may be asked if we showed up to an Olympic Soccer tournament without him.  

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Questions WILL be asked if what is arguebly Canada's best known male soccer player is not at the Olympics (assuming we make it 😅). And as far as David, its well known that he is an investment for Lille, who hope to eventually move him to a bigger club and earn a profit on the transfer. The olympics could serve a purpose for them in order to further market their asset (specially if by then he continues to underperform). Silly to 100% rule anything out at this point.

Edited by LeoH037
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On 12/24/2020 at 6:35 PM, dyslexic nam said:

I am in the camp that sees the Olympics as a special tournament.  It really is an opportunity that I think athletes should try to  experience.  

Exactly well because the Olympics even though it comes around once every 4 years, the significance of what the Olympics is and what it is all about, what Canadian player would not want to be a part of that? Or at the very least compete for that gold medal

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On 12/26/2020 at 5:12 PM, red card said:

There are too many matches to play in 2021. So, Davies & David aren't going to play in the Gold Cup or the Olympics. Both will be coming off from compressed league schedules and playing Champions League/Europa matches. They'll be needed for WC qualifiers and will need down time to recover in between national team duties and club season.

Lille and David will also not want him to miss another pre-season training period that will set him behind the starting line again. 

From a broader national team perspective, no FIFA points gained from playing in the Olympics while there are plenty of points on the line for the Gold Cup & qualifiers. Canada women get the Own the Podium funding because of being top ranked and winning medals - low probability of senior men being top 10 ranked or Olympic team winning a medal in 2021. 

Only thing in favour of Olympics is it gets much more mainstream attention in Canada than the Gold Cup or WC qualifiers. But if you don't get out of the group stage, the team will be quickly forgotten. Usually for another 4 years like any other Canada summer Olympic sports team but fortunately, football's WC transcends the Olympics. But we need to qualify. 

 

 

 

Yes.  I have alluded to much of the same in the past.  Its not that i dont like the olympic tournament.  Plus, i agree that its good exposure.   Its just that its very risky for the professional carreers for some of our top players.  Clubs overseas will only tolerate so much absences due to international commitments and the players have enough international games already with WCQ, GC...etc.   So something has to give or be sacrificed.  And the only one i can think of is the olympic tournameent.  

I found the tournament (and the qualifying) fun to watch but there is another reason why i feel that the olympic tournment should be “di-prioritize” for us.  Its that it the toughest tournament to qualify for.  There are only two spots up for grabs in CONCACAF.  Mexico is a shoe-in, and since the US often hosts the qualifying tournament,  they have home side advantage.  
Due to distance and travel, this is a tournament best suited for domestic players.    And that means MLS players.  And the Americans have far more MLS depth in that age group of 21-23.   The last time,  we did beat the americans in the group game but then laid an egg in that semi final match that would have earned a spot in RIO 2016.   Dont think we ever got that close since playing at the 1984 LA games.  But this is the toughest one for canada,  i always liked our chance of qualifying for the WC more than i have for the olympics.  Finally,  the olympic tourmanent itself is only 16 teams so there are no cream puffs there.  We would have to seriously adjust our expectations;  like winning one game.  
 

PS:  we have had players lose their spots on club teams for leaving to play in the olmpic tourny.  Seem to recall one guy even getting released by his european club after returning from the Olympic qualifying tourny.

Edited by Free kick
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6 hours ago, Free kick said:

Is this the same list as the previous one? Seems like it. 

No Akinola on the Us or Canada list

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22 minutes ago, An Observer said:

Is this the same list as the previous one? Seems like it. 

No Akinola on the Us or Canada list

It is.   I only realised it ten minutes after posting the link. 
 

but i still thought that there was value in posting it because it supports some of the comments in this thread. 

Edited by Free kick
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15 hours ago, Free kick said:

One thing I am not clear on is what inclusion in this squad list means for the guys that are fringe CMNT players (or who are generally considered at that level).  Cornelius, Millar, and Miller are the 3 that I am thinking of specifically.  Would inclusion on this list mean that they are exclusively in this pool of players (as opposed to the CMNT pool) or is this just bet-hedging in case they aren’t called up to the big team?  I suspect that isn’t the case, but for Cornelius especially that would be a big development.  

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1 hour ago, dyslexic nam said:

One thing I am not clear on is what inclusion in this squad list means for the guys that are fringe CMNT players (or who are generally considered at that level).  Cornelius, Millar, and Miller are the 3 that I am thinking of specifically.  Would inclusion on this list mean that they are exclusively in this pool of players (as opposed to the CMNT pool) or is this just bet-hedging in case they aren’t called up to the big team?  I suspect that isn’t the case, but for Cornelius especially that would be a big development.  

I am almost 100% certain that being on this squad (provisional or final) does not exclude you from being on any other senior squad. The olympic tourny is a U23 tournament that allows a certain number of senior team players who are over 23.  Hence, players like Neymar can end up on olympic teams.     Neymar nor his federation would certainly not ever privillige the olympic tournament over the WC and WCQ.
 

Also, much like in FIBA,  provisional squads dont really mean that much in a sence that actual team doesnt often end up looking like the provisional.   At the last FIBA WC,  the provisional list for basketball canada had every single NBA player on it.   We saw what happened when the final squad was named.  I imagine its the same with FIFA.  

But. the signifcance here is that Davies and David are not on it.   So clearly, the CSA are not intending to call them.  Hence giving them a break.  Seems fair to me.  

 

Edited by Free kick
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1 hour ago, Free kick said:

I am almost 100% certain that being on this squad (provisional or final) does not exclude you from being on any other senior squad. The olympic tourny is a U23 tournament that allows a certain number of senior team players who are over 23.  Hence, players like Neymar can end up on olympic teams.     Neymar nor his federation would certainly not ever privillige the olympic tournament over the WC and WCQ.
 

Also, much like in FIBA,  provisional squads dont really mean that much in a sence that actual team doesnt often end up looking like the provisional.   At the last FIBA WC,  the provisional list for basketball canada had every single NBA player on it.   We saw what happened when the final squad was named.  I imagine its the same with FIFA.  

But. the signifcance here is that Davies and David are not on it.   So clearly, the CSA are not intending to call them.  Hence giving them a break.  Seems fair to me.  

 

Qualifiers aren’t on a fifa date and there’s zero chance they would be released so it would be a good waste of a spot. Every other player on the list could conceivably be released. 
 

Id like to see a few additions, subtractions. But even then it’s not guaranteed guys like Corbeanu or Kennedy will be released as each is in their first teams at very good levels. 
 

MLS teams seem likely to release guys as long as it’s not during knockout games as the regular season doesn’t mean much. 

Edited by CanadaFan123
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5 hours ago, LeoH037 said:

Ugh... Millar and Tabla could headline that Olympic qualifying squad if one finally starts getting pro playing time and the other gets his stuff together...

Liam Millar is a professional footballer. Playing football is his full-time job. Everybody else that he plays with and against in Premier League 2 are also full-time professionals, barring the occasional youth scholar who gets called on to play up. It's not first-team football, but it's most definitely not amateur.

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13 hours ago, Shway said:

Guys....this is the Ayo Akinola thread, not the U24 Concacaf  Olympic Qualifying thread.

A lot of what is being discussed is mentioned in that specific thread. Respectfully.

Fair enough.   But after you mentioned that, i went back to look for that thread.  Scrolled 6-10 pages.   Didnt find it.  Maybe its me. 

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