Jump to content

Canadians in MLS 2016 Season


Gian-Luca

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 449
  • Created
  • Last Reply
2 hours ago, One American said:

If I were Canadian, I would be furious about this trade. Especially watching Hamilton and Chapman flourish in Toronto. 

If I were an American I'd be laughing my ass off at how much Bradley and Altidore are getting paid to play.

I have great hope for Hammy & AJH. Hope more rise to the challenge. But who exactly in the Caps USL/academy do you see with those skills?

I was hoping for Clarke to have a breakout year in 2015 and push for first team but that never worked out. Forwards are rare and great ones like Larin are a dream I hope to see develop out of all our academies. So far 1 player from all our development systems (MLS, NASL, private aka SigmaFC) has shown he has what it takes to play forward at the MLS level.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To TRM and the whitecap faithful.  No one is saying the tired "whitecaps hate canada". but you really cant defend the team on this.  Everyone has injuries, Johnson, Morgan have been out for various times for TFC.  And TFC is still playing CDN 2.5 times the minutes that WC are.  Montreal is playing almost twice as many CDN minutes as you are (thanks to Steven Sandor for the totals!)  And its not like the rest of us dont whine about our teams.  I have complained mightily about TFC (and others) for picking up journeymen americans when a CDN might just service just as well.  And dont get me started on TFC clinging to american draft choices to the detriment of CDN academy players. 

But it comes down to facts, VW have plenty of good prospects in the pipeline, better than TFC and Montreal.  They might not have a striker ready to step up but lets see someone get some minutes.  In about 20min the WC game comes on TV.  If there are no CDN in the starting lineup, I will go do something else.  Maybe re-watch the Whitecaps 2 game (what a goal by Levis!!).  Or watch the Eddies, maybe see Fisk fresh from Spain.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tesho comes in for the last 18 minutes for Dallas and MDJ goes the full 90 for the Caps. Good to see the rust is off Marcel because we'll need him with Harvey's injury. A very solid outing. Hopefully he'll solidify his spot in the starting 11. Still waiting to see where they'll play Edgar. Seiler is like Parker at RB. Better defensively than Smith but not much going forward.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, TRM said:

Tesho comes in for the last 18 minutes for Dallas and MDJ goes the full 90 for the Caps. Good to see the rust is off Marcel because we'll need him with Harvey's injury. A very solid outing. Hopefully he'll solidify his spot in the starting 11. Still waiting to see where they'll play Edgar. Seiler is like Parker at RB. Better defensively than Smith but not much going forward.

I think one of Parker or Waston needs to sit for a while. Vancouver has been leaking goals and this partnership has looked shaky. Both are physically gifted but same to suffer for their inexperience. I suspect Edgar will be given a start in this week's Champions League fixture. Maybe if he shows well he'll get his chance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Bison44 said:

But it comes down to facts, VW have plenty of good prospects in the pipeline, better than TFC and Montreal.  They might not have a striker ready to step up but lets see someone get some minutes.  I

Really? Against MLS competition like DC they got beat badly 4-0 and against a D2 NASL side they got beat 2-0. I don't think we are watching the same group of players. Regrettably most of the Caps2 and 19-28 slots they've filled are just not ready yet. To say what you have is wishful thinking at best. Sorry but if you can point out me to these players I'd be delighted.

Fact is any time they've put a lot of the young guys out there they've not looked good either individually or as a unit. When they are out there one or two at a time with a solid surrounding cast they look good and that's a great start. Some like Alphonso I'm just taken aback by but most have glaring weaknesses.

The injuries have taken our 2 most MLS ready Canadians. Without Russ and Fraser our next options at RB were a Tico and an American and our options at second DM was Jacobsen.

I'm very glad we've finally got some Canadian MNT vets into our squad. With those 2 we'll improve our percentage plus they are still young enough to contribute to our MNT. Most returning players have chosen Toronto or Montreal. Maybe it's because they are from there or have family,

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, jonovision said:

I think one of Parker or Waston needs to sit for a while. Vancouver has been leaking goals and this partnership has looked shaky. Both are physically gifted but same to suffer for their inexperience. I suspect Edgar will be given a start in this week's Champions League fixture. Maybe if he shows well he'll get his chance.

I, like some others here, feel it is more the absence of Gersh in the middle that has caused our decline in goals against. I was a huge fan of his so I'm horribly biased but his departure has coincided with our defensive woes.

I can see Edgar replacing Jacobson as neither Froese nor Flores seems ready. Perhaps Edgar will be that elusive mix of 2cd DM+box to box mid that we have been looking for. I hope so.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Of the three TFC Canuck starters, Osorio goes the distance. Chapman played 76 and was involved in the first two goals, officially assisting on the 2nd while Hamilton played 57 minutes. Ricketts, Babouli & Roberts didn't leave the bench for this one, but I suspect we may see the former two get playing time on Wednesday with such a short turnaround between games.

Edit: Having re-watched, it was actually Hamilton, not Chapman, who was involved in the build-up to the first goal and I should mention Osorio was involved in the build up in the 2nd goal (which Chapman assisted on).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Half volley of sorts. Great strike and took it in stride. The talk was always that he depends on Kaka for service, but he's proving that's simply untrue. I think it's only a matter of time before he begins to score for us more regularly. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Obinna said:

Half volley of sorts. Great strike and took it in stride. The talk was always that he depends on Kaka for service, but he's proving that's simply untrue. I think it's only a matter of time before he begins to score for us more regularly. 

Even with bad service, he's poor for Canada when compared to the same situation with Orlando, ie a simple shot or pass.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said:

If you watch the highlights of the Orlando match, Larin's best play may have been the set up he did for Brek Shea (who didn't score on the play).

I was just going to post the same thing. Lovely touches and a great setup. Nice to see his playmaking skills at work.

With 13 games to go can he beat his 17 goals from last year?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Soccerpro said:

Even with bad service, he's poor for Canada when compared to the same situation with Orlando, ie a simple shot or pass.

It's true, but I wonder what is behind that? Could it just be the competition in front of him?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I chock it up to him still being 21.  There's a level of inconsistency that come with such a young player with enormous  pressure  on him.  Yes he's super talented and the best pure striker we've had in a long time, but 21 with 17 caps already is a lot to throw on a young player.

He's getting better all the time so I expect it's all going to come for him.   Hopefully it comes in about 4 weeks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, TRM said:

I have great hope for Hammy & AJH. Hope more rise to the challenge. But who exactly in the Caps USL/academy do you see with those skills?

I was hoping for Clarke to have a breakout year in 2015 and push for first team but that never worked out. Forwards are rare and great ones like Larin are a dream I hope to see develop out of all our academies. So far 1 player from all our development systems (MLS, NASL, private aka SigmaFC) has shown he has what it takes to play forward at the MLS level.

 

The problem with this argument is that you have no idea who is "MLS-ready" (not trying to be a dick because I don't either), unless you give players a chance.  Look at Jordan Hamilton.  Earlier this year, he had been stapled to the bench for TFC II in favour of a 16 year-old.  He looked like he was destined to flame out like so many before him until he was given a shot with the big team.  Now he looks like the number one striking option off the bench.  Not too bad for a 20 year old.

Same goes with Chapman.  He was no great shakes with TFC II earlier this year, but he's been a serviceable utility player for the big team.

You touting Larin as being able to show what it takes is a bit of a laugh as well, and speaks to exactly what I am saying.  Last year Larin had an abysmal U20 tournament (for his skill) and was fourth string for Orlando.  He would've stayed there had there not been a rash of injuries and he was given his shot, which he took.  He's been amazing there, but looking back he still needed a chance to show what he could do.  He definitely didn't win that spot in training, he won it on game days.  The fact that his great form stunted Honduran wonderkind Rochez's development is an added bonus.

The fact is, you don't know how good these kids are until you give them a shot.  That is the problem with Vancouver and it's not going to go away so long as they keep signing 28/29/30 year olds.

Also, it's hard to consider V-Cup games a shot when you are throwing 5 or 6 of them into the deep end all at the same time.  No one's going to look good in that situation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Players have been given those chances over the last several years (especially under Robbo) but none have done what Hamilton has at forward. When he got his chance this year he has shown he can finish. Same with Larin last year. Once on the field he became indispensable.

When you are better than the alternatives and you consistently show it when you get a chance you get more starts. If you're not you don't. It is ruthless but that is the nature of pro sports.

If those 5 or 6 had played good and even held their own it would have been a great indication that they were ready for bigger things. They didn't. It was classic men vs boys games in both DC and Ottawa. So they are not ready yet. Big deal. It's not like the team abandoned them and cut them. They just need to get better.

You can talk all you want about giving chances but it comes down to taking the position by being better than anyone else and being indispensable to the coach. Sadly it is not lack of opportunity that is holding back the players in the Caps system. They just keep getting beat out by better players.
 

PS. Players who don't excel at the "2" level seldom get chances at the first team. That is the nature of the pyramid. Second team -> 28 man roster, game day 18, starting 11. Be the best at every step or be passed over. Hamilton was a bit lucky to get the chance if he wasn't dominating at the "2" level. To his credit he has seized the opportunity and doesn't look like he'll let go. Maybe he knew this was it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm willing to give the Whitecaps another chance given their recent acquisitions. Guys like De Jong, Edgar, Aird, and probably Teibert too are MLS-caliber players. No reason why they shouldn't play if/when they're all fit (especially if their replacements/competition aren't exactly tearing up the league). 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...