Liam Millar

[Obinna]

Remember, this guy is only 20 and already he is in his second season as a regular in the SPL for an above average club. He is also on loan from Liverpool. 

In past cycles, that resume would have made him THE number one prospect for our program. He just gets overlooked because we have Davies and David. We are kinda spoiled with the youth coming through right now.

What Millar is doing is impressive, no doubt about it. I feel we were more excited about Aird than Millar and he still hasn’t had a run in the SPL. It was just because our program was in much worse shape when Aird was Liam’s age.

Once Millar starts putting the ball in the net people will start changing their tune, I think.

[An Observer]

Tbh, I am more excited about the upside of Ballou Tabla than Millar from what I have seen of them; that being said, the former seemingly needs to get his head out of his ass to reach that potential and the clock is ticking so Millar maybe the safer bet  

[dyslexic nam]

8 hours ago, Obinna said:

Remember, this guy is only 20 and already he is in his second season as a regular in the SPL for an above average club. He is also on loan from Liverpool. 

In past cycles, that resume would have made him THE number one prospect for our program. He just gets overlooked because we have Davies and David. We are kinda spoiled with the youth coming through right now.

What Millar is doing is impressive, no doubt about it. I feel we were more excited about Aird than Millar and he still hasn’t had a run in the SPL. It was just because our program was in much worse shape when Aird was Liam’s age.

Once Millar starts putting the ball in the net people will start changing their tune, I think.

This.  
 

We are now spoiled thinking that every kid with promise should be a top Euro prospect by the time they are 20.  The reality is that David and Davies are on exceptional pathways.   We can’t lose sight of the fact that guys like Liam, Tabla and ZBG are all on extremely positive paths, and that major clubs saw something in them worth getting and developing.  

[El Diego]

I've found it difficult to analyze Millar as a prospect. I first watched him for Liverpool's youth team in the youth CL, and he overpowered teams with his raw pace. I then watched him for Kilmarnock last season (haven't seen Killie this season) and when he's played for Canada.

At first I thought maybe his pace and power were good for youth level but not translatable as so often happens, but the more I watched him the more I thought that he is also a clever player that can combine in and around the box. I also didn't see him put his head down, cut in, and shoot every time he had the ball on the left. Also, he seems like both a willing and intelligent presser. No doubt training at Liverpool has helped all this.

I would be lying if I said that the lack of production this season hasn't worried me, but I haven't seen a single match so it's tough to say what is going on. I think he is a really interesting type of player; he actually reminded me of Davies that first time I watched him -- raw, powerful, direct, but with some nuance to his game.

[Bertuzzi44]

Just wait for a team to give him a shot at LB and he'll explode! 

[Obinna]

54 minutes ago, Bertuzzi44 said:

Just wait for a team to give him a shot at RB and he'll explode! 

Fyp.

Yea yea...just imagine if herdman put him as a fullback ...just like Davies!

Oh wait...

 

[VinceA]

7 hours ago, El Diego said:

I've found it difficult to analyze Millar as a prospect. I first watched him for Liverpool's youth team in the youth CL, and he overpowered teams with his raw pace. I then watched him for Kilmarnock last season (haven't seen Killie this season) and when he's played for Canada.

At first I thought maybe his pace and power were good for youth level but not translatable as so often happens, but the more I watched him the more I thought that he is also a clever player that can combine in and around the box. I also didn't see him put his head down, cut in, and shoot every time he had the ball on the left. Also, he seems like both a willing and intelligent presser. No doubt training at Liverpool has helped all this.

I would be lying if I said that the lack of production this season hasn't worried me, but I haven't seen a single match so it's tough to say what is going on. I think he is a really interesting type of player; he actually reminded me of Davies that first time I watched him -- raw, powerful, direct, but with some nuance to his game.

It does seem that it's not the easiest to put up big numbers as a winger if you're not with Rangers or Celtic in the SPL, but yeah I do wonder if Liam is much of a goalscorer at the professional level when he has only 1 goal and assist this season vs him lighting it up for Liverpool academy. I would have liked to see him in Holland or somewhere else where the league isn't as physical and frankly low quality outside the Old Firm. It's also still a little up in the air if he's a winger at pro level or a striker but it seems everyone only uses him in the former.

[Floortom]

1 goal and 1 assist in a combined 800 minutes isn’t going to get the job done. I know he’s young and talented but the production needs to start soon. I notice that he appears to have lost his starting spot lately ?

[Shway]

It's funny how a lot are saying a different tune, when the same ones called me cynical ahh well... 

The reality is, he's still a kid with alottttt of upside to his game - ive watched him a few times this season to hate the SPL even more. Reason why I hoped he would get a loan somewhere else. The football is ping pong shite. So I wont mention any club stuff..............................

.............. But.... As far as the national team goes, I don't think spots should be reserved on promise and prospect, but form and current results...those of which he doesn't have at the moment, especially when you haven't shown yourself to be an exceptional talent. I just believe we're in an era where diamonds will be unearthed through given opportunities. 

[Obinna]

4 minutes ago, Shway said:

It's funny how a lot are saying a different tune, when the same ones called me cynical ahh well... 

The reality is, he's still a kid with alottttt of upside to his game - ive watched him a few times this season to hate the SPL even more. Reason why I hoped he would get a loan somewhere else. The football is ping pong shite. So I wont mention any club stuff..............................

.............. But.... As far as the national team goes, I don't think spots should be reserved on promise and prospect, but form and current results...those of which he doesn't have at the moment, especially when you haven't shown yourself to be an exceptional talent. I just believe we're in an era where diamonds will be unearthed through given opportunities. 

To be fair, he hasn't gotten off the bench for Canada lately, so he hasn't really been given a spot in the team, unless you are referring to his inclusion to the squad. In that case I personally don't have an issue with him being in camp, being part of the squad, because he has promise. I think you can get away with putting promise on the bench. It doesn't really hurt you unless they are on the field and in Liam's case, he's always done well when Canada calls his number, at least in my opinion.

I wouldn't have an issue with Borges or Akindele rotating into his spot on the bench for a change, but I haven't had much of a problem with it up until now. 

If the games get important though and Akindele starts the new season well, I want him in.

[Mikmacdo]

Shaffleburg was shown as much at the pro level without even half of the hype. 

I hope Liam starts scoring goals soon. 

[TFC2017]

8 hours ago, Obinna said:

To be fair, he hasn't gotten off the bench for Canada lately, so he hasn't really been given a spot in the team, unless you are referring to his inclusion to the squad. In that case I personally don't have an issue with him being in camp, being part of the squad, because he has promise. I think you can get away with putting promise on the bench. It doesn't really hurt you unless they are on the field and in Liam's case, he's always done well when Canada calls his number, at least in my opinion.

I wouldn't have an issue with Borges or Akindele rotating into his spot on the bench for a change, but I haven't had much of a problem with it up until now. 

If the games get important though and Akindele starts the new season well, I want him in.

I guess agree to disagree on only this comment, I like Borges but Liam is playing a few levels higher. Before calling him into the first team I feel Borges should move to a different team so we can properly see how he plays against better competition. I think he has a bright future I just don't think he's deserved a spot over a player like Millar or Akindele on merit. 

[Obinna]

40 minutes ago, Mikmacdo said:

Shaffleburg was shown as much at the pro level without even half of the hype. 

I hope Liam starts scoring goals soon. 

Liam Millar is definitely a more polished player. I like Schaffleburg a lot, but Jacob needs much more work before we can seriously compare the two. 

[Ansem]

 

 

[Mikmacdo]

3 hours ago, Obinna said:

Liam Millar is definitely a more polished player. I like Schaffleburg a lot, but Jacob needs much more work before we can seriously compare the two. 

Shaff is the fastest white guy I've seen on the wing ever lol. 

[Obinna]

3 minutes ago, Mikmacdo said:

Shaff is the fastest white guy I've seen on the wing ever lol. 

As fast as he is I think Liam might even been faster. I would like to see them both in a 50m dash. I honestly think Liam's pace can almost rival Alphonso's.

3 super fast players though, no doubt.

[CanadaFan123]

1 minute ago, Obinna said:

As fast as he is I think Liam might even been faster. I would like to see them both in a 50m dash. I honestly think Liam's pace can almost rival Alphonso's.

3 super fast players though, no doubt.

Yeah from everything we've heard from the players it seems that it's down to Liam or Phonzie for fastest Canadian.  FWIW Millar also has the highest rated pace/acceleration I've ever seen for a Canadian on FM in the latest version.  

[Obinna]

A little off topic, but when a player like Schaffleburg makes 10 mls appearances in his rookie season and still is only on the bubble for our U-23 team, you know things are headed in the right direction.

Matt Stinson played a similar number of minutes for a worse tfc team and that earned him full international caps for Canada. 

[Mikmacdo]

12 minutes ago, Obinna said:

As fast as he is I think Liam might even been faster. I would like to see them both in a 50m dash. I honestly think Liam's pace can almost rival Alphonso's.

3 super fast players though, no doubt.

There's a video of the shaff running away from everyone in track and field. 

 

https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/Athlete.aspx?AID=13763493

 

He ran the 200 in 22 seconds. 

[Obinna]

8 minutes ago, Mikmacdo said:

There's a video of the shaff running away from everyone in track and field. 

 

https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/Athlete.aspx?AID=13763493

 

He ran the 200 in 22 seconds. 

3.3 seconds faster than my personal best. Damn, that is humbling. 

Ricketts did some track if I recall correctly. I bet he has some pretty impressive numbers out there on the interwebs, if you wanted to do some digging (now that we are completely off topic).

[Colliedor]

On 12/2/2019 at 6:33 PM, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

Fair enough.

I rate players who show us that they can dribble and really take on defenders 1vs1.

Liam can dribble.

Many of our guys can't.

Meh, I say this is the case years ago, but not really today. We have much more technical players these days. The dribbling isn't useful if you don't have end product or know when or how too use it. I think this is where Millar is lacking.

6 hours ago, TFC2017 said:

I guess agree to disagree on only this comment, I like Borges but Liam is playing a few levels higher. Before calling him into the first team I feel Borges should move to a different team so we can properly see how he plays against better competition. I think he has a bright future I just don't think he's deserved a spot over a player like Millar or Akindele on merit. 

Not a fan of these analogies where players magically become better the second they sign for a different team/league. Just remember which leagues players like Kaye, Piette, and Cornelius were all playing in. If players show the right attributes, they're good enough.  Millar hasn't earned anything over players like Borges. He's a Liverpool reserve player who isn't a regular starter in Scotland. Not sure where he earned it based on "league" alone here. We should be looking at their talents and knowledge of the game.

Borges has show much more clean touches, production, awareness and control in his games compared to Millar and Akindele imo. Especially Akindele, I have no idea why he's still being discussed among  Canada fans here. Akindele wasn't good enough back than, he isn't good enough now. We need to move on from him.

6 hours ago, Mikmacdo said:

Shaffleburg was shown as much at the pro level without even half of the hype. 

I hope Liam starts scoring goals soon. 

Shaffleburg still shows a lot of rawness in his game and still lacking a bit tactically defensively. Another player that I personally don't think will be a TFC starter in the future. Useful in certain situations, like counter attacking games. But up against a team sitting back? He get's shut down easily.

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, Colliedor said:

Meh, I say this is the case years ago, but not really today. We have much more technical players these days. The dribbling isn't useful if you don't have end product or know when or how too use it. I think this is where Millar is lacking.

Not a fan of these analogies where players magically become better the second they sign for a different team/league. Just remember which leagues players like Kaye, Piette, and Cornelius were all playing in. If players show the right attributes, they're good enough.  Millar hasn't earned anything over players like Borges. He's a Liverpool reserve player who isn't a regular starter in Scotland. Not sure where he earned it based on "league" alone here. We should be looking at their talents and knowledge of the game.

Borges has show much more clean touches, production, awareness and control in his games compared to Millar and Akindele imo. Especially Akindele, I have no idea why he's still being discussed among  Canada fans here. Akindele wasn't good enough back than, he isn't good enough now. We need to move on from him.

Shaffleburg still shows a lot of rawness in his game and still lacking a bit tactically defensively. Another player that I personally don't think will be a TFC starter in the future. Useful in certain situations, like counter attacking games. But up against a team sitting back? He get's shut down easily.

This is really stretching in my opinion.

When comparing Borges with Millar, the only thing that isn't debatable is production, but even then you need to give it proper context and factor in the level.

To turn your argument on its head, I could point to all the goals Liam scored in the reserves with Liverpool. Are you going to point to league strength and tell me Borges' production means more? You were pretty quick to forget all those goals Liam scored when you said he is relatively unproductive compared to Borges. I guess Millar woke up one day and lost his ability to finish, right?

League level is relevant, like it or not. It provides context. 

I also find it ironic that we should move on from 27 year old geezer Akindele, when he only scored 2 less goals than Borges for a better club in a better league. That's kinda funny actually lol

Edited December 4, 2019 by Obinna

[Colliedor]

30 minutes ago, Obinna said:

When comparing Borges with Millar, the only thing that isn't debatable is production, but even then you need to give it proper context and factor in the level.

 

Not sure why this isn't debatable. I just go by what my eyes see.

 

39 minutes ago, Obinna said:

To turn your argument on its head, I could point to all the goals Liam scored in the reserves with Liverpool. Are you going to point to league strength and tell me Borges' production means more?

Why would I point to league strength? I just made a whole argument on why I don't like to take "league strength" as the deciding factor.

 

48 minutes ago, Obinna said:

You were pretty quick to forget all those goals Liam scored when you said he is relatively unproductive compared to Borges. I guess Millar woke up one day and lost his ability to finish, right?

I wasn't quick to forget anything.  I didn't say he had 0 production, I just said I think Borges has better production. Is that really so out there that people can't comprehend this? lol. When I'm talking about production, I mean that based on everything with the ball, not just scoring. Passing, crossing etc. And ya, I do see Borges doing a better job with it right now. Is that all subject to change as both players progress? Of course it is. but as of today, I still lean towards someone like Borges.

 

53 minutes ago, Obinna said:

League level is relevant, like it or not. It provides context.

Again, than what were we doing playing players like Kaye, Piette, and Cornelius? I know Canada is/was poor, but even than we still had more experienced players playing in bigger leagues than these guys at the time.

Rob Friend and Simeon Jackson should've been all stars with us if that was the case. League quality shouldn't always be the absolute deciding factor is what I'm saying. Especially in cases like Millar and Borges, where I wouldn't say the quality of the leagues are significantly different.

1 hour ago, Obinna said:

I also find it ironic that we should move on from 27 year old geezer Akindele, when he only scored 2 less goals than Borges for a better club in a better league. That's kinda funny actually lol

I mean, he has a different role though, no? He plays as a striker a lot of the times for Orlando.

Be honest, is this just yet another case of looking up the stats and not actually watching the player to see his overall performance or something? The guy was seeing the bench more and more for good reason. When I saw  him, I saw the same Akindele that I've been seeing for years. Really underwhelming. He hasn't performed for Canada. So ya, I don't get eager to call up players who haven't changed much. Guy bagged a handful more goals than we're used too seeing, still hasn't changed his overall game though.

[JamboAl]

54 minutes ago, Colliedor said:

Not sure why this isn't debatable. I just go by what my eyes see.

 

Why would I point to league strength? I just made a whole argument on why I don't like to take "league strength" as the deciding factor.

 

I wasn't quick to forget anything.  I didn't say he had 0 production, I just said I think Borges has better production. Is that really so out there that people can't comprehend this? lol. When I'm talking about production, I mean that based on everything with the ball, not just scoring. Passing, crossing etc. And ya, I do see Borges doing a better job with it right now. Is that all subject to change as both players progress? Of course it is. but as of today, I still lean towards someone like Borges.

 

Again, than what were we doing playing players like Kaye, Piette, and Cornelius? I know Canada is/was poor, but even than we still had more experienced players playing in bigger leagues than these guys at the time.

Rob Friend and Simeon Jackson should've been all stars with us if that was the case. League quality shouldn't always be the absolute deciding factor is what I'm saying. Especially in cases like Millar and Borges, where I wouldn't say the quality of the leagues are significantly different.

I read to here...then I stopped reading.  The CPL is not significantly different from the SPFL or the Premier Reserve League????  

If you’re total argument is valid, then there’s a guy who has scored 30 goals in the Ottawa-Carleton Soccer League Fourth Division, why isn’t he called up to the CNMT then?

[Colliedor]

3 hours ago, JamboAl said:

I read to here...then I stopped reading.  The CPL is not significantly different from the SPFL or the Premier Reserve League???? 

Yes, its not SIGNIFICANTLY different. I still consider CPL lower tier. I'm saying its not like we're judging a CPL player to a regular starter in the Bundesliga.

Either way, are we really gonna overrate SPFL and the Premier reserve league that much now?

3 hours ago, JamboAl said:

 

If you’re total argument is valid, then there’s a guy who has scored 30 goals in the Ottawa-Carleton Soccer League Fourth Division, why isn’t he called up to the CNMT then?

 

Because every league is gonna have some kind of top goal scorer regardless....

How is his shooting technique? How's his heading? How's his dribbling? How's is passing? Does he display good tactical knowledge? etc etc
If all these are clearly subpar, who cares how many goals he scores.

Almost sounds like David's situation lol.

 

It's such a reach is starting to get ridiculous though. Everyone continues to turn a blind eye on the situations that players like Piette and Kaye were in when they got the Canada calls. You guys act like this never happened with our national team before.

So why, why is it so farfetched that I think the CPL's MVP is a little better than the Liverpool reserve?  He isn't going to play for Liverpool, I'm sorry to break it too you. He's already showing signs of struggle in the SPL. So maybe, JUST maybe, it isn't crazy that there's a chance that a CPL player could be better. Heck, there's a chance neither one can be good enough to start or get a call up in the future, who knows.

Why is Millar being put on a pedestal so high to begin with? What has he done to deserve it? People are hard on Tabla, and rightfully so, but Millar seems to get a pass for whatever reason.

 

Edited December 5, 2019 by Colliedor