Liam Millar

[Floortom]

I think Millar is in that player 21-27 range. Could easily make Qatar but could also be left out.

Nice accomplishment to make the League of the year. Hopefully he can move up from that league soon though - that Best XI is pretty indicative of the Swiss League depth right now. Total transfermrkt value of that XI is $37M with a lot of that coming from Siebatcheu (who doesn't even get called by a US squad struggling for strikers) and Omeragic.  Cabral was clearly by far the best player in that league last year and got a nice transfer to Fiorentina. 

[dyslexic nam]

4 hours ago, Mitchryan11 said:

Yeah too bad he can’t hit open cages though 

The amount of flak he catches for one failure to convert (that was blocked - he didn’t miss an yawning open net) seems disproportionate.  Yes, it was an important game/moment and at the time seemed like it was significant insofar as it could have changed the outcome - but there have been other moments like that during the campaign.   Not sure why he exclusively seems to get tagged (by some) with this idea that he is unable to score. 

[Floortom]

5 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

The amount of flak he catches for one failure to convert (that was blocked - he didn’t miss an yawning open net) seems disproportionate.  Yes, it was an important game/moment and at the time seemed like it was significant insofar as it could have changed the outcome - but there have been other moments like that during the campaign.   Not sure why he exclusively seems to get tagged (by some) with this idea that he is unable to score. 

I remember looking this up and the xG was something like 0.4. Sure, it was a good chance but people are acting like he flubbed a tap-in.

[frmr]

It was actually a great recovery save by the keeper. If anything you can fault Millar for playing it safe on the shot and not picking a corner.

[Unnamed Trialist]

2 hours ago, Floortom said:

I think Millar is in that player 21-27 range. Could easily make Qatar but could also be left out.

Nice accomplishment to make the League of the year. Hopefully he can move up from that league soon though - that Best XI is pretty indicative of the Swiss League depth right now. Total transfermrkt value of that XI is $37M with a lot of that coming from Siebatcheu (who doesn't even get called by a US squad struggling for strikers) and Omeragic.  Cabral was clearly by far the best player in that league last year and got a nice transfer to Fiorentina. 

The guy has played a full season in Switzerland scoring with a top team in the league, with better production than Tajon even comparing since January, for example, who is on a comparable team. And you put him there?

He can play left side, right side, he can drop back into the middle, his defensive discipline is probably better than any of the attackers. It's nuts.

Then there is @Floortom with an "untenable" argument about league quality, when Belgium and Switzerland are sitting right beside each other and both the teams placed 2nd in regular season.

Russia is a higher ranked league. So is Scotland. We ignore players from both.

Frankly this whole business is ridiculous, folks are just following player fads, using incoherent arguments and making judgments based on pre-Money Ball mentalities (nice swing, pretty girlfriend, sweet slider). 

We have serious deficits all over the pitch and then keep insisting on players who perform poorly (Kaye) while snubbing others who will deliver if we'd stop being so tightfisted with their minutes.

Edited June 15, 2022 by Unnamed Trialist

[Floortom]

7 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

The guy has played a full season in Switzerland scoring with a top team in the league, with better production than Tajon even comparing since January, for example, who is on a comparable team. And you put him there?

He can play left side, right side, he can drop back into the middle, his defensive discipline is probably better than any of the attackers. It's nuts.

Then there is @Floortom with an "untenable" argument about league quality, when Belgium and Switzerland are sitting right beside each other and both the teams placed 2nd in regular season.

Russia is a higher ranked league. So is Scotland. We ignore players from both.

Frankly this whole business is ridiculous, folks are just following player fads, using incoherent arguments and making judgments based on pre-Money Ball mentalities (nice swing, pretty girlfriend, sweet slider). 

We have serious deficits all over the pitch and then keep insisting on players who perform poorly (Kaye) while snubbing others who will deliver if we'd stop being so tightfisted with their minutes.

My comment about the Swiss league had nothing to do with whether he should be called or not - it was simply a statement that I hope he moves to a better league. And yes I would say the same thing about Tajon although at least Brugge will be a consistent Champions League participant. Not sure how you interpreted that to be an "untenable" (why the quotation marks btw?) argument. 

What does Kaye doing poorly have to do with Millar? I agree Kaye has been a disapointment in the last few years but we have very little depth in his position so he gets called. Millar has the opposite problem - we have good talent that has played well at his position and thats why he's more borderline. We also have guys like Corbeanu, Koleosho that could get called over him with a few good months. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

31 minutes ago, Floortom said:

My comment about the Swiss league had nothing to do with whether he should be called or not - it was simply a statement that I hope he moves to a better league. And yes I would say the same thing about Tajon although at least Brugge will be a consistent Champions League participant. Not sure how you interpreted that to be an "untenable" (why the quotation marks btw?) argument. 

What does Kaye doing poorly have to do with Millar? I agree Kaye has been a disapointment in the last few years but we have very little depth in his position so he gets called. Millar has the opposite problem - we have good talent that has played well at his position and thats why he's more borderline. We also have guys like Corbeanu, Koleosho that could get called over him with a few good months. 

The only reason Bruges goes to Champions League and Basel to Conference is because Bruges, coming second, got to play a championship round and beat out the deserving team over the entire year, Saint-Gilloise.

Anyways, what team is more regularly in Champions League in the 21st century, Bruges or Basel? (Bruges has been in CL group stage 8 times in this century, never getting out of the group; Basel has been in the group stage 8 times, getting out of the group 3 times).

Tajon did not have good numbers at Bruges at all.

Anyways, compare them, as the positions are similar and Tajon seems to be the reason people doubt about Millar. Tajon lost his man first minute vs the States in the GC and they beat us with that goal. In WCQ, the penalty to Honduras was his doing, we needed an iffy one in return to get the draw. He also deserved one vs. El Salvador. He is constantly on the wrong side of the ball and over the course of a dozen games was making the same errors over and over again. 

Then he has sharp stepovers, is flashy, and has been productive for Canada in attack on occasion. 

Edited June 15, 2022 by Unnamed Trialist

[El Diego]

14 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

The only reason Bruges goes to Champions League and Basel to Conference is because Bruges, coming second, got to play a championship round and beat out the deserving team over the entire year, Saint-Gilloise.

Anyways, what team is more regularly in Champions League in the 21st century, Bruges or Basel? (Bruges has been in CL group stage 8 times in this century, never getting out of the group; Basel has been in the group stage 8 times, getting out of the group 3 times).

Tajon did not have good numbers at Bruges at all.

Anyways, compare them, as the positions are similar and Tajon seems to be the reason people doubt about Millar. Tajon lost his man first minute vs the States in the GC and they beat us with that goal. In WCQ, the penalty to Honduras was his doing, we needed an iffy one in return to get the draw. He also deserved one vs. El Salvador. He is constantly on the wrong side of the ball and over the course of a dozen games was making the same errors over and over again. 

Then he has sharp stepovers, is flashy, and has been productive for Canada in attack on occasion. 

I find myself agreeing with you a lot lately. Millar's peer is Buchanan, not Corbeanu, Koleosho, etc.

[Floortom]

45 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

The only reason Bruges goes to Champions League and Basel to Conference is because Bruges, coming second, got to play a championship round and beat out the deserving team over the entire year, Saint-Gilloise.

Anyways, what team is more regularly in Champions League in the 21st century, Bruges or Basel? (Bruges has been in CL group stage 8 times in this century, never getting out of the group; Basel has been in the group stage 8 times, getting out of the group 3 times).

Tajon did not have good numbers at Bruges at all.

Anyways, compare them, as the positions are similar and Tajon seems to be the reason people doubt about Millar. Tajon lost his man first minute vs the States in the GC and they beat us with that goal. In WCQ, the penalty to Honduras was his doing, we needed an iffy one in return to get the draw. He also deserved one vs. El Salvador. He is constantly on the wrong side of the ball and over the course of a dozen games was making the same errors over and over again. 

Then he has sharp stepovers, is flashy, and has been productive for Canada in attack on occasion. 

Who do you think will be playing Champions league more in the next 3 years (which is the only relevant measure when we're talking about Millar and Buchanan - not the 21st century lol. What a ridiculous statement.)

And Tajon's numbers at Bruges were poor because he was playing as a LWB. He numbers were much worse when he played the same side and position in MLS too so it shouldnt be any surprise and it makes no sense to compare to Millar. 

Anyways none of this matters - my statement was that he was in the fringe range and that will be objectively true until Herdman shows otherwise.

[Unnamed Trialist]

49 minutes ago, Floortom said:

Who do you think will be playing Champions league more in the next 3 years (which is the only relevant measure when we're talking about Millar and Buchanan - not the 21st century lol. What a ridiculous statement.)

And Tajon's numbers at Bruges were poor because he was playing as a LWB. He numbers were much worse when he played the same side and position in MLS too so it shouldnt be any surprise and it makes no sense to compare to Millar. 

Anyways none of this matters - my statement was that he was in the fringe range and that will be objectively true until Herdman shows otherwise.

You said "at least Brugge will be a consistent Champions League participant."

 And then, that the next three years "is the only relevant measure". But how do you know what will happen in the future if you can't base it on the recent past?

About Herdman: you think he didn't call him in to this window for reasons other than recovering from a broken wrist? 

Let's try to make half-decent arguments. Basel is as much a CL team as Bruges and in the 21st century, a better one. In a comparable league. And Liam has better numbers. 

He was also voted by fans in the best XI of the season. 

And he's younger.

You're the one who posted that he's 21-27, which is basically a shitty thing to say  any way you look at it, and suggests you really have no clue.

Edited June 16, 2022 by Unnamed Trialist

[phresh]

2 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Tajon did not have good numbers at Bruges at all.

 

For the most part, I agree with you, but this statement is a little disingenuous. Millar and Tajon might play on the wing for country, but Tajon doesn't for club. As mentionned already, he plays as wing-back for Bruges and he's been pretty good there. However, he does have the tendency to make some rash/boneheaded plays kinda like a Jayden Nelson

[Unnamed Trialist]

5 hours ago, phresh said:

For the most part, I agree with you, but this statement is a little disingenuous. Millar and Tajon might play on the wing for country, but Tajon doesn't for club. As mentionned already, he plays as wing-back for Bruges and he's been pretty good there. However, he does have the tendency to make some rash/boneheaded plays kinda like a Jayden Nelson

Or this: he was signed as an attacker by Bruges, but the coach, who was Koeman's assistant at Barça and is now at Ajax, moved him back. Because he had better attacking options. 

So we'd have to rephrase the narratives. Liam hasn't been moved back because he's effective going forward, simple as that. 

Anyways, I watched a few Bruges games and he wasn't always at "wing back" or whatever, he was often a wing or false wing out of the midfield. 

[Greatest Cockney Rip Off]

Hoping West Ham end up drawing FCB at some stage in this years conference league as I’ve never seen Millar play live. 

[Floortom]

11 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

You said "at least Brugge will be a consistent Champions League participant."

 And then, that the next three years "is the only relevant measure". But how do you know what will happen in the future if you can't base it on the recent past?

About Herdman: you think he didn't call him in to this window for reasons other than recovering from a broken wrist? 

Let's try to make half-decent arguments. Basel is as much a CL team as Bruges and in the 21st century, a better one. In a comparable league. And Liam has better numbers. 

He was also voted by fans in the best XI of the season. 

And he's younger.

You're the one who posted that he's 21-27, which is basically a shitty thing to say  any way you look at it, and suggests you really have no clue.

God you’re insufferable 

[TGAA_Star]

17 hours ago, Floortom said:

I think Millar is in that player 21-27 range. Could easily make Qatar but could also be left out.

Nice accomplishment to make the League of the year. Hopefully he can move up from that league soon though - that Best XI is pretty indicative of the Swiss League depth right now. Total transfermrkt value of that XI is $37M with a lot of that coming from Siebatcheu (who doesn't even get called by a US squad struggling for strikers) and Omeragic.  Cabral was clearly by far the best player in that league last year and got a nice transfer to Fiorentina. 

I think Millar makes the Qatar squad

[costarg]

16 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

The guy has played a full season in Switzerland scoring with a top team in the league, with better production than Tajon even comparing since January, for example, who is on a comparable team. And you put him there?

He can play left side, right side, he can drop back into the middle, his defensive discipline is probably better than any of the attackers. It's nuts.

Then there is @Floortom with an "untenable" argument about league quality, when Belgium and Switzerland are sitting right beside each other and both the teams placed 2nd in regular season.

Russia is a higher ranked league. So is Scotland. We ignore players from both.

Frankly this whole business is ridiculous, folks are just following player fads, using incoherent arguments and making judgments based on pre-Money Ball mentalities (nice swing, pretty girlfriend, sweet slider). 

We have serious deficits all over the pitch and then keep insisting on players who perform poorly (Kaye) while snubbing others who will deliver if we'd stop being so tightfisted with their minutes.

I'm just quoting you so that maybe some of will re-read your post twice, you make a lot of excellent points here. Millar has to be there, he's versatile enough.  

[Obinna]

15 hours ago, El Diego said:

I find myself agreeing with you a lot lately. Millar's peer is Buchanan, not Corbeanu, Koleosho, etc.

For a while it felt like Corbeanu was in that group. He may be eventually, but at the moment he is not. If Buchanan and Millar are 1 and 2, then Corbeanu is a distant 3 by virtue of being passed on time and again. He is young though, so no rush. Ditto for Koleosho, who is not yet even a Canadian international, so hard to factor him in here.

[InglewoodJack]

17 hours ago, Floortom said:

 We also have guys like Corbeanu, Koleosho that could get called over him with a few good months. 

C'mon, this is silly. Corbeanu and Koleosho are highly rated because they're young players whose rights are owned by top 5 teams. At the same age, Millar was at Liverpool, which isn't even in the same conversation as clubs like wolverhampton and espanyol. Neither of those guys have much of a resume to compare to Millar's, a guy who is scoring at a high level on a Champions league side. I think UT's assessment of Tajon is harsh, but the reality is that Liam Millar is closer to being one of Canada's best players than he is being a fringe addition.

I think this is indicative of how we overvalue our "prospects" and underrate our current players. We've done this with Flores, Jebbison, Mitrovic, JMR, etc.- all these guys with the potential to potentially play for big european clubs, and who could potentially play well enough to make the CANMNT. Here we have Millar who came through a world class system, ended up getting loaned out to a bunch of clubs and finally found his home at an excellent team who could serve as a springboard to even bigger things. If we want to keep discussing the potential for all these players, look no further than Millar, because any of those guys would be lucky to be in Millar's position by his age. We're already looking for the next big thing when we're already ready to turn the page on a guy who was just named to the best XI in his league, as the only member from his club in his very first season.

[frmr]

24 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

C'mon, this is silly. Corbeanu and Koleosho are highly rated because they're young players whose rights are owned by top 5 teams. At the same age, Millar was at Liverpool, which isn't even in the same conversation as clubs like wolverhampton and espanyol. Neither of those guys have much of a resume to compare to Millar's, a guy who is scoring at a high level on a Champions league side. I think UT's assessment of Tajon is harsh, but the reality is that Liam Millar is closer to being one of Canada's best players than he is being a fringe addition.

I think this is indicative of how we overvalue our "prospects" and underrate our current players. We've done this with Flores, Jebbison, Mitrovic, JMR, etc.- all these guys with the potential to potentially play for big european clubs, and who could potentially play well enough to make the CANMNT. Here we have Millar who came through a world class system, ended up getting loaned out to a bunch of clubs and finally found his home at an excellent team who could serve as a springboard to even bigger things. If we want to keep discussing the potential for all these players, look no further than Millar, because any of those guys would be lucky to be in Millar's position by his age. We're already looking for the next big thing when we're already ready to turn the page on a guy who was just named to the best XI in his league, as the only member from his club in his very first season.

Except that we've seen Corbeanu with the national team; six games, two goals and has always looked dangerous. Millar, by comparison has had fifteen games with Canada and no goals. I'm not saying I don't think Millar isn't above Corbeanu in the depth chart, because he is, but saying Corbeanu is only in the discussion because of who owns his contract is selling him short.

[Craig11rm]

12 minutes ago, frmr said:

Except that we've seen Corbeanu with the national team; six games, two goals and has always looked dangerous. Millar, by comparison has had fifteen games with Canada and no goals. I'm not saying I don't think Millar isn't above Corbeanu in the depth chart, because he is, but saying Corbeanu is only in the discussion because of who owns his contract is selling him short.

Corbeanu scored against weak teams and I’m pretty sure Millar set him up for a tap in. (Not saying Corbeanu isn’t a good prospect)

[Soro17]

6 hours ago, Floortom said:

God you’re insufferable 

He is correct on this. 

[Floortom]

31 minutes ago, Soro17 said:

He is correct on this. 

Correct on what? if you think Millar is a lock for Qatar then so be it. I think he certainly has a chance to make the roster but dont see him as a lock. He played 190 minutes in the entire octagonal which doesn't sceam "lock" to me. Only Herdman knows if he's a lock or not but we'll see how this season and the September friendlies go. 

[Kadenge]

While I think Millar should be on the squad to Qatar ahead of Theo and Koleosho at this point, what concerns me is why he did not start or play in the Panama away game. Liam was well rested and presumably in better shape than a lot of the starters who had played both prior games and then went out to town in Toronto to celebrate after the Jamaica win. His speed, energy and 1v1 skill could have been used in that game.

[Unnamed Trialist]

4 hours ago, Floortom said:

Correct on what? if you think Millar is a lock for Qatar then so be it. I think he certainly has a chance to make the roster but dont see him as a lock. He played 190 minutes in the entire octagonal which doesn't sceam "lock" to me. Only Herdman knows if he's a lock or not but we'll see how this season and the September friendlies go. 

The only thing that screams "lock" is you need a litterbox.

[Floortom]

16 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

The only thing that screams "lock" is you need a litterbox.

Imagine actually typing this out and pressing “submit reply “ 😂