Ballou Tabla

[Soccerpro]

5 hours ago, villus said:

Tabla and Davies on either side of Larin is a front 3 that potentially could rival any front 3 in CONCACAF over the next 8 years.  Davies and Tabla would cause havoc and Larin would get a ton of space/service, throw in Osorio behind them and we'll score a ton of goals.  Have to think a guy in Tabla's shoes with the World Cup in 2026 has every reason to stay with Canada.  

Have you ever seen Larin play for Canada? I don't care if he's playing with Messi and Ronaldo, he forgets what to do when he puts on a Canada jersey.

[Unnamed Trialist]

Just now, villus said:

Tabla and Davies on either side of Larin is a front 3 that potentially could rival any front 3 in CONCACAF over the next 8 years.  Davies and Tabla would cause havoc and Larin would get a ton of space/service, throw in Osorio behind them and we'll score a ton of goals.  Have to think a guy in Tabla's shoes with the World Cup in 2026 has every reason to stay with Canada.  

If you have two wings from Barça and Bayern flanking a striker at Besiktas you are on paper amongst the top 10 national team strike forces in the world, in terms of club prestige. Thing is, this has to play itself out a bit and we are way ahead of ourselves. But it is exciting, and if Tabla goes to CIV I'll be really dissappointed.

[mpg_29]

None of Larin, Tabla, Davies are reg starters at their Euro clubs yet...so uhhh lets not get ahead of ourselves.

Cavalinni has proven more than any of those imo.

[PopePouri]

12 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

If you have two wings from Barça and Bayern flanking a striker at Besiktas you are on paper amongst the top 10 national team strike forces in the world, in terms of club prestige. Thing is, this has to play itself out a bit and we are way ahead of ourselves. But it is exciting, and if Tabla goes to CIV I'll be really dissappointed.

We also have a now premier league winger.

[Guest Tg11]

21 minutes ago, PopePouri said:

We also have a now premier league winger.

Hoilett but dat neither here nor there. Hoilett, Davies, Larin and if Tabla decide he want in and he buy what Canada sellin by deciding to play for Canada and you add him to dat nucleus on paper Canada is right up there with USA and Mexico as far as depth assuming if any of dat happens

[Unnamed Trialist]

Just now, PopePouri said:

We also have a now premier league winger.

Of course, I was being totally incomplete.

I realise it is no guarantee, and there are plenty of cases where a modest national side with no pedigree can do well. But I think you are going to have an easier time if you have over half your starters on top flight teams in hard leagues, or at least seeing top level competition. And if we can field 11 where the lowest level might be an MLS or Championship, you are doing well.

As is, as I see it, we have Borjan, Arfield, Atiba, Junior, Cavallini, and now we could say Davies, plus Larin if he gets his act in gear this season, as top level players in terms of club play. That is definitely getting there. 

Then you have some quality MLS minutes lately, starting with Osorio, Piette, De Jong. 

Our weak spot, as we now stand, is at CB. 

Edited July 31, 2018 by Unnamed Trialist

[Obinna]

21 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Of course, I was being totally incomplete.

I realise it is no guarantee, and there are plenty of cases where a modest national side with no pedigree can do well. But I think you are going to have an easier time if you have over half your starters on top flight teams in hard leagues, or at least seeing top level competition. And if we can field 11 where the lowest level might be an MLS or Championship, you are doing well.

As is, as I see it, we have Borjan, Arfield, Atiba, Junior, Cavallini, and now we could say Davies, plus Larin if he gets his act in gear this season, as top level players in terms of club play. That is definitely getting there. 

Then you have some quality MLS minutes lately, starting with Osorio, Piette, De Jong. 

Our weak spot, as we now stand, is at CB. 

I like what Henry is doing so far this season. The way he is playing right now for Vancouver puts him at the top of the depth chart for me.

[Unnamed Trialist]

Just now, Obinna said:

I like what Henry is doing so far this season. The way he is playing right now for Vancouver puts him at the top of the depth chart for me.

We were talking at the game the other day how he is coming into his own, he is more relaxed, getting in a groove, makes less rash mistake, his ball handling is confident. So that is a very good sign. 

I personally think being beside such a leader like Waston is a help, Kendall is so proactive, strong in the air, he organises very well too, he talks on the pitch. So that is a bit of mentoring in his favour. 

I was hoping that Didic would get some MLS minutes as when I saw some match, maybe a u-20, I thought he was really talented. But has the world record for Unused Sub at SKC and has only seen first team Open Cup minutes.

[LeoH037]

1 hour ago, Obinna said:

I like what Henry is doing so far this season. The way he is playing right now for Vancouver puts him at the top of the depth chart for me.

He did go to West Ham for a reason. It was injuries that undid him

[The Beaver]

4 hours ago, Soccerpro said:

Have you ever seen Larin play for Canada? I don't care if he's playing with Messi and Ronaldo, he forgets what to do when he puts on a Canada jersey.

Not true. Larin is consistent at all levels in so much as he tends to squander a fair number of chances for club AND country. The difference: He tends to get a lot more chances at the club level! We all know that the number of chances that ANY striker will get at the international level, especially when playing decent competition, is much fewer than the number they'd normally get with their club sides.  No matter, Larin needs to convert more of his chances at BOTH levels, especially now that he is playing at a higher, more challenging level for his club football. It will be a short career abroad if he cannot start converting. (For some reason I suspect he'll rise to the challenge, but then again I am a total optometrist. True dat.)

Edited July 31, 2018 by The Beaver

[shamrock]

We're pretty thin in GK too. Of course, Borjan is a decent player, but then it's a League 1 reserve goaly and a USL 'keeper. After that it get's even more obscure. Basically we're just one broken finger away from having to play sub-par options in one of the most important positions on the field. 

[Addona]

3 hours ago, shamrock said:

We're pretty thin in GK too. Of course, Borjan is a decent player, but then it's a League 1 reserve goaly and a USL 'keeper. After that it get's even more obscure. Basically we're just one broken finger away from having to play sub-par options in one of the most important positions on the field. 

Well, I agreed with everything up until the part about being one of the most important positions on the field.  I'm not saying it isn't, I'm just not sure ... I haven't looked at what the analytics say, but I've often wondered how I would rank the importance of a top keeper vs. a top CB, vs. a top mid-fielder vs. a top forward, etc.

[Guest Tg11]

More or less Canada need depth at GK, at CB and more depth at dat striker position to compete at least within CONCACAF. The thang is is dat Canada need to look more at those homegrowns but also pay more attention to those dual nationals who either on dat come up or who be in other national team programs right now and lure them away from said programs and on over to Canada. If Canada can get all of dat then they gon' be good in dat regard as far as ranking right up there with USA and Mexico in terms of having dat offensive/defensive depth ya heard me?

[Shortdutchcanuck]

17 minutes ago, Addona said:

Well, I agreed with everything up until the part about being one of the most important positions on the field.  I'm not saying it isn't, I'm just not sure ... I haven't looked at what the analytics say, but I've often wondered how I would rank the importance of a top keeper vs. a top CB, vs. a top mid-fielder vs. a top forward, etc.

Keeper doesn't seem as important until you have a less dependable option let in a couple weak ones costing you the game.  

Against teams like Honduras, Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Honduras, where our margin for error is very slim (especially playing away) there is no one on this team I'd regret losing to injury more than Borjan.  Sure Hoilett or Arfield or Davies would hurt but for once we have other viable offensive options.  Defensively we are less deep but there are still viable covers I'd feel comfortable with.

Anyone but Borjan back there in a close game in Honduras and I would be feeling pretty nervous.

[Stryker911]

2 hours ago, Shortdutchcanuck said:

Keeper doesn't seem as important until you have a less dependable option let in a couple weak ones costing you the game.  

Against teams like Honduras, Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Honduras, where our margin for error is very slim (especially playing away) there is no one on this team I'd regret losing to injury more than Borjan.  Sure Hoilett or Arfield or Davies would hurt but for once we have other viable offensive options.  Defensively we are less deep but there are still viable covers I'd feel comfortable with.

Anyone but Borjan back there in a close game in Honduras and I would be feeling pretty nervous.

Any game in Honduras makes me nervous.

[villus]

Strikers and especially target 9's tend to age pretty well and you'd expect conversion rates to improve with more reps and experience.  Point is Larin, Davies and Tabla all have better ceilings then almost any front 3 we've produced, its their job to put it together but they're already at big clubs now and should get top notch competition and training.  Tabla is going to get to train with Messi, Coutinho, Busquets that in itself should be worth a ton.  Cavallini and Larin is two solid options to feast off of Davies and Hoilett and potentially Tabla.  Playing as a 9 with those 2 and potentially 3 is a strikers dream.  

CB and Goalie is for sure the soft spots as of now, its funny how cycles of development go because we used to produce almost solely goalies and CB's and now we are thin there.  

[saladroit]

Came on at halftime and just got an assist on Malcolm's goal, putting Barca in a 2-1 lead over Roma.

 

https://www.clippituser.tv/c/vxqpar

[Yoginess]

Glasscity needs to come here and reassure me it will all be okay.

(Great play, I want to get excited..)

Edited August 1, 2018 by Yoginess

[An Observer]

Would have been nice if the guy that scored for the other side had also committed for us....

https://www.clippituser.tv/c/wxwraa

oh, well....

 

[Unnamed Trialist]

Both games he has been one of 6-7 academy players getting minutes, this time the whole 2nd half. Both times Valverde has played him on the left side, not right where he was put by the former B coach. 

Of course all  players in the World Cup, 13 of them, except Ter Stegen, are either still on holiday or training back home.

[GlassCity]

9 hours ago, Yoginess said:

Glasscity needs to come here and reassure me it will all be okay.

(Great play, I want to get excited..)

It will all be okay. ?

[Obinna]

11 hours ago, saladroit said:

Came on at halftime and just got an assist on Malcolm's goal, putting Barca in a 2-1 lead over Roma.

 

https://www.clippituser.tv/c/vxqpar

And then Bryan Cristante came on and scored lol

[Obinna]

I saw a replay of his 20 minutes against spurs and missed yesterday's game but watched a pretty extensive hiighlight package. Saw a few good glimpses from Tabla. Had one excellent chance to score from about 12 yards out and skied it over the net. Overall though encouraging signs. Looks like he can break through at that level sooner or later. Hope he has a great season with the B team and maybe gets a few fist team cameos later on in the season. It looks possible.

[Dub Narcotic]

I was reading the FC Barca reddit and none of them seemed impressed with the subs. Realistically you have you think he's going to head somewhere else this year or next on loan.

[yothat]

On 7/30/2018 at 7:35 PM, Unnamed Trialist said:

We were talking at the game the other day how he is coming into his own, he is more relaxed, getting in a groove, makes less rash mistake, his ball handling is confident. So that is a very good sign. 

I personally think being beside such a leader like Waston is a help, Kendall is so proactive, strong in the air, he organises very well too, he talks on the pitch. So that is a bit of mentoring in his favour. 

I was hoping that Didic would get some MLS minutes as when I saw some match, maybe a u-20, I thought he was really talented. But has the world record for Unused Sub at SKC and has only seen first team Open Cup minutes.

Maybe time for Didic to try his hand in europe