Kadin Chung

[Obinna]

3 minutes ago, Sal333 said:

The 2026 WC is four years away. You should look to Buchanan, Johnston, Kennedy, Miller and Millar. They all came out of nowhere within the last year. I'm sure when 2026 rolls around we'll be cursing FIFA because they will only allow roster sizes of 23 men and we have 8-10 midfielders (not counting attacking midfielders) worthy of playing in the WC.

That's a very good point actually, albeit a little exaggerated.

Last year was the 3rd MLS season for Buchanan, Johnston and Miller, while Millar has been with the national team for 3 years already. I know each of them have made a giant leap in their own way, but to say they came out of nowhere is a bit of a stretch. Even Kennedy is someone we've been tracking for a while when he was getting pro minutes in Austria. 3 years ago he had more pro experience than all those MTL prospects combined (not including Choniere, because he's established).

But still point taken. A lot can happen in four years. For all we know each of those MTL prospects you mentioned could blow up in 2025 and force their way onto the national team in 2026, much like Johnston and Buchanan have recently done. Neither was capped until last year. 

The question for me though remains this: Can we bet on them with certainty?

Eustaquio I can say with certainty will be part of 2026, but he is the only player I can count on to be a core midfielder.

I have faith that Osorio will play a part in the lead up, as will Kaye and Piette to varying degrees, but I can't say the same for anyone else (including Baldisimo).

The point here was not that we don't have any prospects at all, it's that we don't have many certainties aside from Stephen. To that end I want to see if Baldisimo can step up. Same goes for Priso, Paton, etc.

Removing Baldisimo from the mix doesn't kill us, but I really don't want to see any potential national team players drop out, especially when they've shown promise at the pro level. The MTL prospects haven't even done that yet, so I just got to pump the breaks on them.

If any of them can pull a Priso I am definitely factoring them in. Rida is seemingly off to a good start. 

[Snowcrash]

1 hour ago, Obinna said:

 

• Priso has fantastic potential but we need to see how he rebounds from a significant injury.

Priso's injury was serious but not nearly as bad as Eustaquio's ACL tear so he should be 100% physically.  In terms of Priso's development, I see him maxing out as a better box-to-box version of Michael Bradley.  Not as strong a motor but better passer and better reading the game. 

Edited February 17, 2022 by Snowcrash
Forgot to edit original quote

[El Hombre]

14 hours ago, Watchmen said:

I don't disagree with any of this but:

1) Hasal is going to be the starter until he proves otherwise. 

2) Gutierrez will get plenty of opportunities. Bigger concern is him staying healthy. 

3) Teibert will get time, though from a CMNT perspective I don’t know if it matters - his time and era are over. 

4) If Cavallini isn't getting playing time, at this point that is on him and not the Whitecaps.

5) Baldisimo, Godinho, and Raposo will be given opportunities, and likely with good teammates. It's going to be up to them to take seize those opportunities. A phrase I hated from Robinson, mostly because he put young Canadian players in a terrible position to succeed and then blamed them. I don't see that happening this time.

Don't get me wrong, I agree that half of the responsibility lies with the players to show they deserve minutes.  Always been an advocate of that.

A lot depends on results.  If VWFC are getting wins, there isn't much of an argument to make.  However, if they struggle that's when questions need to be asked.  I've seen a lot of teams with poor results stick with the same scrubs over and over.

[One American]

Berhalter's son is going to start at VWFC? Ahead of Canadians?

 

This is going to get good. 

[toontownman]

6 hours ago, One American said:

Berhalter's son is going to start at VWFC? Ahead of Canadians?

 

This is going to get good. 

Ahead of Jay Herdman.

Oh its on.

[PiedPilko]

Finally confirmed

[VinceA]

I'm very interested to see where his international career goes.

Edited February 23, 2022 by VinceA

[Cicero]

Have to say I'm a bit surprised that McNaughton and Chung were the ones TFC gave the chance. Pacific has been fairly mediocre in the GA department. Is there some Kah-Bradley connection driving this?

Nothing against either of the players, I hope they do well. But after watching all of them for a few seasons now, I would rate both Awuah and Abzi higher at wb, and Krutzen and Zator at CB. I guess both those wb's are naturally left-side players. Maybe that's the logic. I'm not sure if Krutzen would have to take up an international spot, but Zator wouldn't. Awuah is three years older, but he's proven that he can play against high level Central American competition, and had a taste of MLS already. Is there really that much more upside for a 23 yr old over a 26 yr old? Just curious what Bob Bradley's reasoning was on selecting them over other players in the CPL. 

[CanadaFan123]

3 minutes ago, Cicero said:

Have to say I'm a bit surprised that McNaughton and Chung were the ones TFC gave the chance. Pacific has been fairly mediocre in the GA department. Is there some Kah-Bradley connection driving this?

Nothing against either of the players, I hope they do well. But after watching all of them for a few seasons now, I would rate both Awuah and Abzi higher at wb, and Krutzen and Zator at CB. I guess both those wb's are naturally left-side players. Maybe that's the logic. I'm not sure if Krutzen would have to take up an international spot, but Zator wouldn't. Awuah is three years older, but he's proven that he can play against high level Central American competition, and had a taste of MLS already. Is there really that much more upside for a 23 yr old over a 26 yr old? Just curious what Bob Bradley's reasoning was on selecting them over other players in the CPL. 

The only connection I can think of is that TFC was given the home match for the semi final of the V Cup. I think both players are worthy but that may give some "backroom insight" into why these two were selected over other CPL players.

Maybe it's nothing but I did find it interesting at the time that TFC was "drawn" as the home team behind closed doors and that was that. 

[Mikmacdo]

Chung is a right back why would you compare him to a left back in Abzi? Also Abzi isnt available for free so maybe that plays a factor. 

You could say Farsi was better than Chung but hes more one dimensional. I would have signed Farsi over Chung but I could see the case for Chung as he is more well rounded. 

Zator didnt have a great season for York. I expect him to rebound this year with Nash as his head coach. Krutzen would take up an international spot and is left footed so maybe they wanted a right sided CB? Macnaughton was the the best CB in the league last year. 

[Kent]

3 hours ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Maybe it's nothing but I did find it interesting at the time that TFC was "drawn" as the home team behind closed doors and that was that. 

Maybe I'm just not remembering, but weren't the hosts for every match drawn behind closed doors last year? If it was what was done across the whole competition, I don't know why one particular match up would be particularly interesting/fishy. If it was negotiated instead of drawn, then I imagine it would have been the same for the whole competition.

[Cicero]

Well, I'll admit I didn't watch Pacific as much as Forge or York, but I guess MacNaughton must have been making up for weaknesses elsewhere in Pacific's defence, because they've given up a lot of goals over the last few years. That's not all on the CB's necessarily, and he may have improved over the two years, but purely from my own eyeball test, I've never really seen him as a standout. But I'll happily concede that I was wrong about him if he does well. 

There is flexibility moving between the left and right side. We see it all the time with wb's, but maybe people feel Abzi can only be effective on the left. All I can say is that when I think of CPL players that were able to pressure Forge, he would be at or near the top of the list. He probably needs some work on D, so maybe that's why he's not getting more attention. His transfer fee would be inconsequential for a team like TFC.

[Aird25]

16 minutes ago, Cicero said:

Well, I'll admit I didn't watch Pacific as much as Forge or York, but I guess MacNaughton must have been making up for weaknesses elsewhere in Pacific's defence, because they've given up a lot of goals over the last few years. That's not all on the CB's necessarily, and he may have improved over the two years, but purely from my own eyeball test, I've never really seen him as a standout. But I'll happily concede that I was wrong about him if he does well. 

There is flexibility moving between the left and right side. We see it all the time with wb's, but maybe people feel Abzi can only be effective on the left. All I can say is that when I think of CPL players that were able to pressure Forge, he would be at or near the top of the list. He probably needs some work on D, so maybe that's why he's not getting more attention. His transfer fee would be inconsequential for a team like TFC.

Just look at our record over the years without Chung. We were like 0-7-1. In terms of goals against under Pa, it was very much a result of our tactics. We outscored every team by a substantial amount as well.

Edited February 24, 2022 by Aird25

[Cicero]

I'll presume you mean outscored in overall terms. Forge outscored them 7-3 head-to-head including the final.

[jordan]

Made his TFC/MLS debut

[Club Linesman]

Didn’t really stand out either way. Hopefully he will prove he can play at the MLS level. 

[BearcatSA]

Getting the start today.  I hope he has a good showing but if he doesn't I fear that he'll get thrown under the bus as TFC Nation urges for a return of Laryea on loan from NF.

[Corazon]

Very poor marking by Chung on that goal.  Completely fell asleep.  But that should never have even been a free kick.

[dyslexic nam]

He did make some good tackles today.  Lots to work on though. 

[Shortdutchcanuck]

Looked comfortable on the ball, made some solid tackles, had some excellent line-splitting passes showing off his excellent vision.  Man-marking in transition still needs some work.

[Big_M]

not marking on the second goal and his player gets to the ball easily for the assist

[Dominic94]

Starting today 

[BearcatSA]

I thought that he looked good in the first half.

[canuckgbp]

Had a really good game. Had to subbed off with an injury though... was limping off with help. 

[Macksam]

35 minutes ago, canuckgbp said:

Had a really good game. Had to subbed off with an injury though... was limping off with help. 

Yeah, he was composed, made no mistake and even when you thought he might get in trouble, he pulled out of it.