spitfire Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 (edited) Crazy to say that this way 8 years ago today . Not a lot of people know but Liam was soon CUT from The TFC academy for being to small.(some here do) ... to his credit he didn’t sulk or loose faith he put his head down and went to prove them wrong... sorry for sharing this but all players Are on a different pathway a different road and sometimes it’s good to share that things were never easy. People loose sight of that sometimes. He has a long way to go but has come so far !! my message to all players is to never give up ... Edited February 12, 2020 by spitfire WheatsheafSK, Oranje, Acid-Tone and 30 others 27 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFC2017 Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 3 hours ago, spitfire said: Crazy to say that this way 8 years ago today . Not a lot of people know but Liam was soon CUT from The TFC academy for being to small.(some here do) ... to his credit he didn’t sulk or loose faith he put his head down and went to prove them wrong... sorry for sharing this but all players Are on a different pathway a different road and sometimes it’s good to share that things were never easy. People loose sight of that sometimes. He has a long way to go but has come so far !! my message to all players is to never give up ... Thank you for sharing, I think I speak for all of his when I say we are all rooting for him. He has so much potential and he can achieve great things dyslexic nam, toontownman and CANMNT_SUPERFAN 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shway Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 @spitfire how tall are you? I'm still trying to fathom how you cut a guy loose because he's too small. Did they not expect that he would grow lol? This is crazy Toronto comeup story. Junkie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 8 minutes ago, Shway said: @spitfire how tall are you? I'm still trying to fathom how you cut a guy loose because he's too small. Did they not expect that he would grow lol? This is crazy Toronto comeup story. I’m 6 foot. Liam is now 6’1. he was 12. It was a shit show. Thomas Rongen was the academy manager at the time and was looking for a certain type of player even at 12 Cut Ryan Raposo and a player named Ryan Khedoo( they called him mosquito) Liam and Ryan played for Burlington SC khedoo played for Brampton and where all very tidy technical players. Replaced them with big tall early developers... Made no sense at the time and Liam signed a 3 year contract 9 months later with Fulham FC and then TFC tried to get comp from Fulham. yes really!! I kept the release letter have it framed as a reminded to never give up... i hold no Grudges to TFC probably the best thing to happen to him. On a side note when we got to England and before we signed Fulham did a profile on us (parents) height, weight, history of injuries(knees and stuff) athletic profile( I guess to give an indication of potential size)(just a one Page survey nothing to serious) JuicyHam, Obinna, RandomGuy and 13 others 13 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Hombre Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 (edited) 47 minutes ago, spitfire said: i hold no Grudges to TFC I'm more than happy to hold one for you. Edited February 12, 2020 by El Hombre Blackdude, CANMNT_SUPERFAN, Junkie and 15 others 8 1 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colliedor Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 The second you mentioned Rongen the story made a whole lot more sense. So glad he's gone. deschamp86 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kadenge Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 2 hours ago, Shway said: @spitfire how tall are you? I'm still trying to fathom how you cut a guy loose because he's too small. Did they not expect that he would grow lol? This is crazy Toronto comeup story. Unfortunately this was a very common practice especially in rep soccer 10+ years ago in the GTA. Fast strong kids got selected over more technically skilled players. There are other factors but this was certainly one reason why we were not turning out the type of player that we now see being developed. Sad but true. red card 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrennanFan Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Just now, Kadenge said: Unfortunately this was a very common practice especially in rep soccer 10+ years ago in the GTA. Fast strong kids got selected over more technically skilled players. There are other factors but this was certainly one reason why we were not turning out the type of player that we now see being developed. Sad but true. I always tell myself this is the only reason why I did become professional player. Makes me feel better at night. Kadenge, Stouffvillain, Olympique_de_Marseille and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnyb Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 28 minutes ago, Kadenge said: Unfortunately this was a very common practice especially in rep soccer 10+ years ago in the GTA. Fast strong kids got selected over more technically skilled players. There are other factors but this was certainly one reason why we were not turning out the type of player that we now see being developed. Sad but true. "Can't teach height" was a line a TD at one of our local clubs used to say. apbsmith, Shway, hamiltonfan and 1 other 2 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 26 minutes ago, johnyb said: "Can't teach height" was a line a TD at one of our local clubs used to say. Wow. That is sad. I can understand speed, but height? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kacbru Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 1 hour ago, Obinna said: Wow. That is sad. I can understand speed, but height? It's not wrong. You also can't teach eye colour. deschamp86 and Obinna 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 3 hours ago, Colliedor said: The second you mentioned Rongen the story made a whole lot more sense. So glad he's gone. Same. Rongen's got a deservedly terrible reputation in both Canada and the U.S. for being a terrible developer of youth. It's crazy how far he got as a coach based on having a Dutch accent and playing in the old NASL. I will say that Rongen is great as a soccer media personality, though. El Hombre and Obinna 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyslexic nam Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 2 hours ago, johnyb said: "Can't teach height" was a line a TD at one of our local clubs used to say. I hear that quite a bit, but then again my kid is in basketball so it seems a bit more appropriate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 42 minutes ago, kacbru said: It's not wrong. You also can't teach eye colour. Haha this is true! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bdog Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 2 hours ago, Kadenge said: Unfortunately this was a very common practice especially in rep soccer 10+ years ago in the GTA. Fast strong kids got selected over more technically skilled players. There are other factors but this was certainly one reason why we were not turning out the type of player that we now see being developed. Sad but true. Yeah around 10 years ago I tried out for rep and while I was a bit raw from only playing house league, I felt like I should have made one of the teams for sure. I was short which probably screwed me over but I'm sure I was one of the fastest players there. Meanwhile I'm pretty sure one kid who wasn't able to attend the tryout made the team because they knew him, it's probably all politics but I'm still pissy about it. Even though I was already like 13 at that point I still think I could have developed into a pretty good player, ah well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norrin Radd Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 1 hour ago, kacbru said: It's not wrong. You also can't teach eye colour. Can you teach length in other appendages? Asking for a friend. The Beaver 2.0, Olympique_de_Marseille, gator and 7 others 3 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Beaver 2.0 Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 58 minutes ago, Norrin Radd said: Can you teach length in other appendages? Asking for a friend. No, sadly, only speed. (I am the Alphonso Davies of that particular appendage, to my wife’s chagrin.)😉 apbsmith, Norrin Radd, Olympique_de_Marseille and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shamrock Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 3 hours ago, RS said: Same. Rongen's got a deservedly terrible reputation in both Canada and the U.S. for being a terrible developer of youth. It's crazy how far he got as a coach based on having a Dutch accent and playing in the old NASL. I will say that Rongen is great as a soccer media personality, though. It is crazy. Also, it's a very American way of thinking (we used to see it in Germany as well). Looking at Ajax (the proponent of Dutch youth development) it's exactly the other way around. Lot's of small, technical players and not a lot of giants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unnamed Trialist Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 So Liam Millar was being rejected for his size when the Golden Ball podium was being occupied by Messi, Xavi and Iniesta? By the way, these are the same geniuses who are going to teach our kids skills. Junkie, apbsmith and johnyb 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Diego Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 When I was around 11 I went to a rep team tryout and one of the drills to assess us was, I shit you not, everyone lining up to see how far they could kick a ball. Stouffvillain, Obinna, Chad_Impact and 1 other 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gator Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 Wow, this thread has really brought out into the open some real deficiencies in our youth coaching systems, hopefully things have improved with more coaches being properly trained, there are also more than a few bitter posters on here who think they could have made it if they were taller, faster or could kick a ball a little further!😁 CANMNT_SUPERFAN, johnyb, Shortdutchcanuck and 3 others 2 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazlo_80 Posted February 13, 2020 Share Posted February 13, 2020 going back to my youth, as a left footed kid with some wheels more than one rep team i played for didn't want me to do anything other than run past defenders and swing crosses in. by my early teens i realized i was hilariously bad at dribbling the ball. still am! johnyb 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shortdutchcanuck Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 7 hours ago, gator said: Wow, this thread has really brought out into the open some real deficiencies in our youth coaching systems, hopefully things have improved with more coaches being properly trained, there are also more than a few bitter posters on here who think they could have made it if they were taller, faster or could kick a ball a little further!😁 Most of us on this board would be playing professionally, and probably in Champion's League, if it weren't for our stupid youth coaches! Kadenge, BearcatSA, Ruffian and 12 others 8 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertuzzi44 Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 Before we clump all Canadian youth coaches together as crap, let's remember that there are good ones out there. I believe Jonathan David was saying in an interview that he gives credit to his youth club! Ruffian, apbsmith, gator and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 There are amazing coaches out there especially in Canada’s youth system(Liam has a few great ones Rob S, Joey L Charles I and a few others) these kids(Davies David etc..) didn’t get to where they are at n there own. Just more of an inspirational story of pushing through it not giving up Not meant bashing Canadian coaches. There are of course issues of bias and Politics and we need to continue to grow but atm I think we are heading in the right direction Rome wasn’t built in a day and I think the future looks bright... JamboAl, yomurphy1, BuzzAndSting and 10 others 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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