Ballou Tabla

[jpg75]

Didier Drogba was a net negative for Canadian soccer.

[A_Gagne]

3 hours ago, SCF08 said:

It's all Canada's fault that these players aren't playing for Canada. Never had faith in them when they were younger. Guys like Tabla and Tomori should've been called up to the World Cup Qualifiers when they were 16. Outstanding talents that were overlooked and Canada instead selected absolute wastemans like Tosaint Ricketts and Dejan Jakovic and many others. Could they have rejected at that age?? Sure...do we know that they didn't reject but they didn't get asked...also a yes. What a shambles.

I don't blame the CSA/CMNT. They did extend the offer to him for the gold cup, and during WCQ he hadn't even signed or debuted for the Impact. Sure he was on everyone's radar as talented, but for a coach looking to win and name their strongest team, would he really have displaced any of those veteran players? Or seen the pitch for that matter? Is an "everything on the line" WCQ match really the time to start or throw on a 16yr old with zero first team professional minutes?

I'm thinking that's a little unrealistic.

And for the record one of those "absolute wastemen" (men = plural of man, FYI) has a ridiculous goals per 90 for the top team in MLS, as well as 15 goals for the nats... a little respect... just saying.

[jpg75]

OK, I know we're all bummed out that he's probably going to play for IC, but instead of resigning ourselves to it and reinforcing him leaving maybe we should as an organization send him congratulations and wish him luck and that we look forward to seeing him play for Canada? You catch more Tablas' with honey than vinegar.

[Moldy9]

[deschamp86]

45 minutes ago, jpg75 said:

You catch more Tablas' with honey than vinegar.

If this works, I want a shirt with that on it haha

[Obinna]

58 minutes ago, Moldy9 said:

Gotta admit that even if he doesn't play for our senior team, having a Canadian in the Barca system is pretty awesome.

I agree with jpg75. We should congratulate him and show him some love. At least then he knows there are fans out there that care. I'm sure DD has already called to congratulate him. We should do our part.

[yothat]

Agreed ^^^^

[Oranje]

2 hours ago, jpg75 said:

OK, I know we're all bummed out that he's probably going to play for IC, but instead of resigning ourselves to it and reinforcing him leaving maybe we should as an organization send him congratulations and wish him luck and that we look forward to seeing him play for Canada? You catch more Tablas' with honey than vinegar.

Also,  @Unnamed Trialist being in Spain gives a cost effective avenue for this. @jpg75 going to spearhead this?

[SCF08]

3 hours ago, A_Gagne said:

I don't blame the CSA/CMNT. They did extend the offer to him for the gold cup, and during WCQ he hadn't even signed or debuted for the Impact. Sure he was on everyone's radar as talented, but for a coach looking to win and name their strongest team, would he really have displaced any of those veteran players? Or seen the pitch for that matter? Is an "everything on the line" WCQ match really the time to start or throw on a 16yr old with zero first team professional minutes?

I'm thinking that's a little unrealistic.

And for the record one of those "absolute wastemen" (men = plural of man, FYI) has a ridiculous goals per 90 for the top team in MLS, as well as 15 goals for the nats... a little respect... just saying.

Exactly the lack of faith and trust I was talking about. Tabla was already superior to many of the players called up. Having 0 professional minutes or 10.000 is irrelevant. It's all about quality. On the other hand it's also the CSA's job to secure talent. Just look what the US did with Jonathan Gonzalez. Showed him no love and trust and he's going to play for Mexico. 

If I was Tabla or Tomori I would also opt for another country if players like Ricketts and Jakovic are called ahead of them. 

Edited January 25, 2018 by SCF08

[dyslexic nam]

6 minutes ago, SCF08 said:

Exactly the lack of faith and trust I was talking about. Tabla was already superior to many of the players called up. Having 0 professional minutes or 10.000 is irrelevant. It's all about quality. On the other hand it's also the CSA's job to secure talent. Just look what the US did with Jonathan Gonzalez. Showed him no love and trust and he's going to play for Mexico. 

If I was Tabla or Tomori I would also opt for another country if players like Ricketts and Jakovic are called ahead of them. 

Seriously?  So if the guy's club coach - who sees him day in and day out, every practice - doesn't think his play warrants a single minute on the field, you think that is irrelevant?  Come on.  

[DannyFromToronto23]

13 minutes ago, SCF08 said:

Exactly the lack of faith and trust I was talking about. Tabla was already superior to many of the players called up. Having 0 professional minutes or 10.000 is irrelevant. It's all about quality. On the other hand it's also the CSA's job to secure talent. Just look what the US did with Jonathan Gonzalez. Showed him no love and trust and he's going to play for Mexico. 

If I was Tabla or Tomori I would also opt for another country if players like Ricketts and Jakovic are called ahead of them. 

Ballou Tabla should of got called up for the WCQ vs Honduras & El Salvador so many useless people were called up like jamar Dixon 

Edited January 25, 2018 by DannyFromToronto23

[Unnamed Trialist]

34 minutes ago, Oranje said:

Also,  @Unnamed Trialist being in Spain gives a cost effective avenue for this. @jpg75 going to spearhead this?

You wanna know the going rate for WHAT in Spain? 

@Oranje I'm a happily married man. 

[BuzzAndSting]

28 minutes ago, SCF08 said:

Exactly the lack of faith and trust I was talking about. Tabla was already superior to many of the players called up. Having 0 professional minutes or 10.000 is irrelevant. It's all about quality. On the other hand it's also the CSA's job to secure talent. Just look what the US did with Jonathan Gonzalez. Showed him no love and trust and he's going to play for Mexico. 

If I was Tabla or Tomori I would also opt for another country if players like Ricketts and Jakovic are called ahead of them. 

If Tabla chooses IC what does that say about their faith and trust in him? He's been a carded athlete in Canada since he was 15 and they have shown 0 faith or trust and haven't called him once. He was in our program and was called at the appropriate time, when he turned pro, and he refused! This isn't the fucking patty cake world cup, this is our national team and minutes have to earned.

Out of curiosity, how many minutes of Tabla's play did you watch before his debut for the Impact?

[BuzzAndSting]

23 minutes ago, DannyFromToronto23 said:

Ballou Tabla should of got called up for the WCQ vs Honduras & El Salvador so many useless people were called up like jamar Dixon 

Are you a fan of the CanMNT?

[matty]

2 hours ago, DannyFromToronto23 said:

Ballou Tabla should of got called up for the WCQ vs Honduras & El Salvador so many useless people were called up like jamar Dixon 

shut the fuck up. you wanna call guys who proudly wear the canadian jersey useless just because you're upset about someone else would rather play for their country of birth? fuck off and go cheer for someone else.

[Kent]

Why wait until those WCQ matches? He should have been playing in the 2010 qualifiers. We had games that didn’t matter since we did so badly and he probably would have been good enough when he was 9 years old amirite?

[Unnamed Trialist]

Thanks to those who cleared up the case against Tabla, I guess I had forgotten or never paid enough attention.

My personal opinion, having watched a bit, is that he does not have Barça quality, sorry to say. I am a bit bewildered by why they signed him, and am trying to ask how it came about. I suppose an agent had this Chelsea line through Didier, and he used it to leverage more interest from other top clubs. And we bit. But still, it is odd.

I mean, take the top 15 players at the last world u-17 and wait until they turn 18 so you could sign them. There were some amazing Iranians, there were Africans not in big clubs already. Sure, he wasn't there, they would not be able to compare him. All I am saying: the skill set Barça youth looks for is exceptional, not just good, and I don't think he is there. Mind you, for me Davies isn't either. Neither is anywhere near Liam Millar, for example, who I mention because he plays for us and alongside  the leading scorer at the last u-17 Brewster, and is at his level.

[Stryker911]

I really wish Montreal had held onto him for another year. Being around so many other young Canadians could have had such a big influence on him. Zambrano mentioned that there was people in his ear talking to him about IC. Having friends/teammates being in this ear for another year could have changed his mind.

[Free kick]

A couple of years ago radio-canada (CBC french) ran a feature on their sports segment of the news about this kid.  They spoke about him in such high praise and promise that it was pretty difficult to believe for someone who has seen a lot of false alarms in canadian soccer and as someone who has been following these forums for eons.  It was pretty difficult to believe because 1) i had never heard of him and 2) when i checked these forums and searched for his name,  there was no mention or pages with his name other than the odd page or two where someone posted a list of callups to some NT camps. Besides, what would a mainstream media source know about soccer in canada, that we dont. 

A couple of people made good points in earlier pages and are getting slammed for it.  The NT must have known about the kid for some time now.   So why not do like Switzerland does and cap players, who have multiple citizenship,  as soon possible even if they are not ready. And use the meaningless games in the gold cup and WCQ (the ones where Canada is already eliminated) or as a late sub in a meaninful game, to cap them.  They did this for Alphonso Davies or even Jamie Peters.  But why do it for only for Alphoso Davies?   Davies has great promise and yes, was great at the gold cup.  But we have only seen littles bits and pieces of both of these kids so its really hard to tell.  But my initial impression from what i saw live and on TV is that this kids game is more refined. More technical.   I could be wrong and we shall see. In five years we will have a better idea who was right (who should have been cap tied).

But i agree with the comments wondering why we are giving a mAture USL’er heavy minutes in the gold cup and not using those games or minutes to cap tie plyers like this. Switzerland does this regularly.

Edited January 26, 2018 by Free kick

[dyslexic nam]

People are acting like we should have just extended the offer and settled it.  As far as I can recall, we wanted him at the GC, but he didn't want to commit.  OZ was actively courting him and it was him that was resisting.  So before that, it was WCQ, and we don't really have the luxury of a lot of throwaway matches that are FIFA sanctioned.  And if he really is keen in IC, do you think he would accept a call up for us knowing that he would maybe have been a late sub in a lost cause just so that we can forever deny him other options?  Come on.  He isn't dumb and he has people who advise him on that sort of thing.  

He played for our youth teams and was actively being pursued for a senior call up at the age of 18.  The fact that he isn't cap tied to us is a silt of his choices, not ours or the CSA's.

[BuzzAndSting]

19 minutes ago, Free kick said:

A couple of years ago radio-canada (CBC french) ran a feature on their sports segment of the news about this kid.  They spoke about him in such high praise and promise that it was pretty difficult to believe for someone who has seen a lot of false alarms in canadian soccer and as someone who has been following these forums for eons.  It was pretty difficult to believe because 1) i had never heard of him and 2) when i checked these forums and searched for his name,  there was no mention or pages with his name other than the odd page or two where someone posted a list of callups to some NT camps. Besides, what would a mainstream media source know about soccer in canada, that we dont. 

A couple of people made good points in earlier pages and are getting slammed for it.  The NT must have known about the kid for some time now.   So why not do like Switzerland does and cap players, who have multiple citizenship,  as soon possible even if they are not ready. And use the meaningless games in the gold cup and WCQ (the ones where Canada is already eliminated) or as a late sub in a meaninful game, to cap them.  They did this for Alphonso Davies or even Jamie Peters.  But why do it for only for Alphoso Davies?   Davies has great promise and yes, was great at the gold cup.  But we have only seen littles bits and pieces of both of these kids so its really hard to tell.  But my initial impression from what i saw live and on TV is that this kids game is a little more refined. More technical.   I could be wrong and we shall see. In five years we will have a better idea who was right (who should have been cap tied).

But i agree with the comments wondering why we are giving a mAture USL’er heavy minutes in the gold cup and not using those games or minutes to cap tie plyers like this. Switzerland does this regularly.

Because Davies is a proud Canadian who accepted a call up and Tabla refused.

[SCF08]

4 hours ago, BuzzAndSting said:

If Tabla chooses IC what does that say about their faith and trust in him? He's been a carded athlete in Canada since he was 15 and they have shown 0 faith or trust and haven't called him once. He was in our program and was called at the appropriate time, when he turned pro, and he refused! This isn't the fucking patty cake world cup, this is our national team and minutes have to earned.

Out of curiosity, how many minutes of Tabla's play did you watch before his debut for the Impact?

There is a big difference being picked for Ivory Coast or Canada. Look at the attacking talent Ivory Coast has and compare that with what Canada selected. Tabla deserved it purely on quality.

And I watched a lot of him. You can read the first page of this topic and see for yourself. I was making the same argument back then.

Edited January 26, 2018 by SCF08

[SCF08]

5 hours ago, dyslexic nam said:

Seriously?  So if the guy's club coach - who sees him day in and day out, every practice - doesn't think his play warrants a single minute on the field, you think that is irrelevant?  Come on.  

Yes. Many players debuted in the National Team before making their debut at club level. Mascherano never played for River Plate first team before his first cap I believe. And there are many more examples as well. I also think the MLS has one of the worst records in giving playing time to youngsters. It's just a cultural thing in North America. Why do you think all top American prospects escape to Germany? Many 17 year olds are already playing for top Bundesliga clubs. They recognize quality and have faith in their players and give them opportunities to develop which will benefit the club later on. 

Also, who just signed for Barcelona? Tabla or Ricketts? The difference in quality was always clear as day. If Tabla chooses Ivory Coast the CSA has themselves to blame.

Edited January 26, 2018 by SCF08

[Shakmur]

Tabla never wanted to play for Canada and has always wanted to play for Cote d'Ivoire. he has made that clear many times in many interviews over the last year.

I've seen him play a lot, and imo he's been overhyped. He wows people with his skills, but his head is shit. He constantly takes very poor decisions on and off the pitch. Maybe they'll coach some brains into him.

Imagine, he was pissed last summer because IMFC didnt want to sell him some Ligue 2 team. He tried to force them, sat out and everything, and look where he is now? Him and his dumb ass agent should thank IMFC.

Edited January 26, 2018 by Shakmur

[Free kick]

 

31 minutes ago, BuzzAndSting said:

Because Davies is a proud Canadian who accepted a call up and Tabla refused.

I am way past this line of thinking. I used to think it was about pride in the jersey and the country you represent and all that stuff.  But the reality is that it is not.  Its about career and fame. Why else did they call up Davies for the gold cup?  It couldnt have been on his performance with the whitecaps because they never play him.  And when he does, he never scores.  

It was because he has options, just like Tabla.  And he could do the same thing. 

Edited January 26, 2018 by Free kick