Liam Fraser

[SthMelbRed]

1 hour ago, Corazon said:

I thought he was alright. Ayo didn't do much in my opinion.

 

He did make a couple of late shoves on Hasal in the first half, in the way that big strikers are wont to do when trying to intimidate a 'keeper into staying on his line. A better ref would have had a word after the first one, then potentially booked him after the second one. However, Petrescu did nothing, which certainly contributed to Deleon taking a bigger piece of Hasal later in the game, nearly resulting in a game-ending injury for the young goalie. We can only assume that this was on pre-match instruction from the TFC coaches.

It's to Hasal's credit that he just got on with it and kept claiming the crosses, even after picking up a knock.

[Free kick]

On 9/6/2020 at 10:07 PM, Gian-Luca said:

Well, his long range shooting attempts were poor in this game (maybe magnified by the wonder strike from his opposite Canadian number for the Whitecaps) but that's pretty much the only negative thing I think you can honestly say about the performance. And it's not like Bradley's been able to hit the side of a barn with his long range shooting in the last 3 years for TFC either. Just seems strange to go on a tirade against the player for a game like this where he was clearly not to blame for any of the goals against (there are several flagrant culprits in that regard) and kept his team in possession extremely well.

Pretty much.   I have seen nothing so far to suggest that that he cant do the job of a number six in this league.  His ball distribution seems good.  The key thing with players in that role is that you need larger sample size or body of work to get a fair assessment.   So i have to reserve further judgement.  For example,  i would like to see what he can do when playing 90 mins in an away game against a team that is strong on the ball and likes to control the ball.  Can he win those 50/50 balls?  Can he win those challenges without fouling.   Can he do it consistently?   Does the team look good when he is playing.?   Yesterday’s game was not one of those games because the whitecaps were just sitting back all night so the d-mid is seldom called upon.   

Regarding some of the other garbage a page or two back.   It its exactly what we use to see about Oso on this forum.     There is common denominator i noted: 1) both play for TFC 2) They orginate from posters who seem to reside west of Thunder bay.  Take that for what its worth.  

[Free kick]

On 9/5/2020 at 11:00 PM, Floortom said:

Fraser didn’t have a good showing IMO. Disappointing. Hopefully can do more next match.

Could you elaborate please.  I am curious.  Because stating it the way you did is pretty useless.  If you  cant describe an element of the game or plays as to why you arrived at that conclusion then its pointless.

Edited September 8, 2020 by Free kick

[SthMelbRed]

47 minutes ago, Free kick said:

Regarding some of the other garbage a page or two back.   It its exactly what we use to see about Oso on this forum.     There is common denominator i noted: 1) both play for TFC 2) They orginate from posters who seem to reside west of Thunder bay.  Take that for what its worth.  

There have only been a couple of people who've been particularly down on Liam Fraser's play from the other day and I'm not sure of any supposed geographical biases against him.

[Floortom]

8 hours ago, Free kick said:

Could you elaborate please.  I am curious.  Because stating it the way you did is pretty useless.  If you  cant describe an element of the game or plays as to why you arrived at that conclusion then its pointless.

I don’t think he was terrible by any means, I just said I had hoped for a better performance. In the end he was very quiet and didn’t have much influence on the match. 

[Free kick]

15 hours ago, Floortom said:

I don’t think he was terrible by any means, I just said I had hoped for a better performance. In the end he was very quiet and didn’t have much influence on the match. 

Maybe it was because the whitecaps conceded the midfield and just sat back.   Lets not forget,  he is a number six.  A defensive midfielder is expected to win balls in midfield, ensure that the team is winning and controlling the battles in midfield.  I really  dont see how he he disppointed in this respect.   A d-mid is also the first line of defense and none of the goals (from what i can tell) could be attributable to him (ie.:  certainly not directly and probably not indirectly either)..  

a dmid has to be strong on the ball, not easily dispossessed and more often than not,  not prone to lose the ball.  I saw nothing recently that suggests weaknessses here.  This one is a bit of a TBD IMHO. 

Among other things,  a d-mid launches the attacks (but is not necessarily counted on to deliver the decisive ball).  Here its about passing and ball distribution.   I really didnt see anything poor here.   More specifically,  the good ones dont hold on to the ball too long or release too soon.   Hence he has to be able to read the play and link up well with Pozuelo, Piatti, play the ball out quickly etc..   most of what i mentioned in this paragraph is somewhat subjective and can can only be evaluated over a longer term because it calls on some soft skills like intelligence and understanding the game.  So this mostly remains to be seen.  But i have seen some good linkup in previous game.

one high level way that i judge a number 6 is by how the team looked.   TFC looked in controll of the game. Held most of the possession.  There were issues in the final third, but that is not his primary responsibilities.  Thats a simple way I judge a defensive midfielder.  From what we have seen of him so far,  does TFC look poorer when he is out there?  So far, not to these eyes.  But it remains to be seen.  

Edited September 9, 2020 by Free kick

[Nate3322]

He's been benched by Vanney tonight. Why am I not surprised...

Edited September 9, 2020 by Nate3322

[Lansdude]

Yup, Fraser on the bench despite doing a perfect Bradley impression last match. He was not the reason TFC lost. If anything, Fraser should more useful against the Impact because there's going to be more opportunities for quick balls through the middle.

[Club Linesman]

Free Liam Fraser. Let the boy go somewhere he can play.  Wow let’s give him 2 partial matches  to show what he can do.

[Club Linesman]

Don’t agree with everything Caldwell says but his take on Fraser and his situation was bang on.  Needs to play, quality is there, Vanney  says the right things but obviously doesn’t trust him, so he needs to leave.

[RS]

Looks like TFC changed formation with Laryea coming in to give some speed at left mid. Fraser was sacrificed.

[Mikmacdo]

3 hours ago, RS said:

Looks like TFC changed formation with Laryea coming in to give some speed at left mid. Fraser was sacrificed.

Same formation just Osorio took Bradley's spot and Richie took Osos. 

[Gian-Luca]

Montreal had a lot more joy driving through the centre of the park because TFC didn't play a true ball winner without Bradly or Fraser in central midfield. On one occasion Jar Jar Binks just waltzed through the centre nearly into TFC's 18 yard box with the ball before anyone stopped him, nearly leading to a goal for Quito. I understand they played Laryea as a left winger to counter-act the ZBG threat, but that caused imbalances elsewhere without having a proper number 6 in the line-up.

[Stryker911]

Besides on this board is there any actual rumors or chance that Fraser will move somewhere? I know they are different positions, but even Zavaletta gets a start while Fraser isnt even on the bench. 

How much longer is his contract? Can't imagine he would resign.

[Nate3322]

18 minutes ago, Stryker911 said:

Besides on this board is there any actual rumors or chance that Fraser will move somewhere? I know they are different positions, but even Zavaletta gets a start while Fraser isnt even on the bench. 

How much longer is his contract? Can't imagine he would resign.

Well transfermarkt says his contract expires in December not sure how accurate it is tho. I'm hoping he's been sold and that's why he's not in the squad. He's clearly not in Vanney's plans so he should move on

Edited September 20, 2020 by Nate3322

[Lansdude]

7 minutes ago, Stryker911 said:

Besides on this board is there any actual rumors or chance that Fraser will move somewhere? I know they are different positions, but even Zavaletta gets a start while Fraser isnt even on the bench. 

How much longer is his contract? Can't imagine he would resign.

Fraser has a quad issue, but I doubt he would have started anyway. Haven't heard of any official talk about a move. He'd obviously be thinking about it.

This is year three on his first/homegrown contract. Can't find any facts on it, but I'd assume it's the last year going by how other leagues handle rookie contracts (NHL's are 3 years, MLB/NBA are 2 with a team option for 3/4). Is this info available? I don't look hard when it comes to MLS because I just assume the league is non-transparent.

[narduch]

24 minutes ago, Stryker911 said:

Besides on this board is there any actual rumors or chance that Fraser will move somewhere? I know they are different positions, but even Zavaletta gets a start while Fraser isnt even on the bench. 

How much longer is his contract? Can't imagine he would resign.

Supposedly injured tonight 

[TOcanadafan]

Fraser definitely needs to leave TFC ASAP, especially with news Vanney is getting a contract extension.

Delgado and Osorio were completely gassed for the last 30 minutes tonight. Delgado fails to defend the scorer of the tying goal. TFC uses only 3 of 5 subs. Tonight proved once again that Fraser won’t be given a chance.

[LeoH037]

5 minutes ago, TOcanadafan said:

Fraser definitely needs to leave TFC ASAP, especially with news Vanney is getting a contract extension.

Delgado and Osorio were completely gassed for the last 30 minutes tonight. Delgado fails to defend the scorer of the tying goal. TFC uses only 3 of 5 subs. Tonight proved once again that Fraser won’t be given a chance.

Meh, Vanney getting a contract extension in not exactly a bad thing. 3 MLS Cup appearances in the last 4 years, a CCL final, and has TFC firing on all cylinders right now... okay..

[CanadaFan123]

4 minutes ago, TOcanadafan said:

Fraser definitely needs to leave TFC ASAP, especially with news Vanney is getting a contract extension.

Delgado and Osorio were completely gassed for the last 30 minutes tonight. Delgado fails to defend the scorer of the tying goal. TFC uses only 3 of 5 subs. Tonight proved once again that Fraser won’t be given a chance.

Actually only 2 of 5 - bizarre in the circumstances of a congested schedule. 
 

I personally think the jury has been out on Vanney since 2015. He’s a manager who has always relied on his money players to deliver and has had the benefit of the most expensive squad since his hiring. When they don’t deliver, well.. we saw what happened in 2018.

[LeoH037]

4 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Actually only 2 of 5 - bizarre in the circumstances of a congested schedule. 
 

I personally think the jury has been out on Vanney since 2015. He’s a manager who has always relied on his money players to deliver and has had the benefit of the most expensive squad since his hiring. When they don’t deliver, well.. we saw what happened in 2018.

Yeah... he went for a CCL and almost won the same thing... SKC tried the same recently, except they didn't make it near as far as TFC and had their regular season suffer as a result too. I understand you don't like Vanney because he won't play your favorite Canadian player(s), but try to give credit where credit is due (last I checked none of the other big spending MLS teams have accomplished the same TFC has)

Edited October 15, 2020 by LeoH037

[Bison44]

6 minutes ago, LeoH037 said:

Yeah... he went for a CCL and almost won the same thing... SKC tried the same recently, except they didn't make it near as far as TFC and had their regular season suffer as a result too. I understand you don't like Vanney because he won't play your favorite Canadian player(s), but try to give credit where credit is due (last I checked none of the other big spending MLS teams have accomplished the same TFC has)

 

Ummm, Seattle...except for the deeper CCL run, but they have 2 MLS cups........okay

[SthMelbRed]

10 minutes ago, LeoH037 said:

Yeah... he went for a CCL and almost won the same thing... SKC tried the same recently, except they didn't make it near as far as TFC and had their regular season suffer as a result too. I understand you don't like Vanney because he won't play your favorite Canadian player(s), but try to give credit where credit is due (last I checked none of the other big spending MLS teams have accomplished the same TFC has)

Most of the other big spending MLS teams have tended to be in the Western Conference, so not a hindrance to TFC reaching MLS Cup finals. He's, at best, an average manager who's been lucky to be blessed with a payroll that dwarfs his competitors.

[TOcanadafan]

6 minutes ago, LeoH037 said:

, but try to give credit where credit is due (last I checked none of the other big spending MLS teams have accomplished the same TFC has)

I don’t think people realize how much more TFC spends than every other team. Check out this site that annualizes transfer signings and wages: https://www.statista.com/statistics/551693/player-expenses-of-mls-teams/  - they are in a league of their own.

Vanney is certainly not the reason for their success, and has shown when games come frequent and fast that he has no vision for managing the squad.

 

[LeoH037]

4 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

 

Ummm, Seattle...except for the deeper CCL run, but they have 2 MLS cups........okay

yeah, and they have a hell of a good coach too.