Jump to content

Cyle Larin


shermanator

Recommended Posts

I am far more fickle than most I guess. I don’t have any natural allegiance to a team based on history, geography or religion so I cheer for the teams that field Canadians.  That means I cheered for Fulham when Radz was there, I cheered for Werder when Stalteri was there, and I now cheer for Rangers, Besiktas, Lille and Bayern.  I have no reason not to - and I want the Canadian boys at each of those clubs to succeed as much as possible.  Things might be different if I had a strong affiliation with a team in one of those leagues - but it would have to be damn strong to override the Canuck factor.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really only support 2 football teams, not including the local, amateur club where I play and serve on the committee. I was born in Vancouver at a time when soccer was actually the biggest sport locally. It's natural, then, that the Whitecaps are my first club. After the demise of the original NASL, I became a fan of Liverpool, largely because they were always featured on Soccer Saturday and Grobbelaar and Beardsley were there, having previously been amongst my Whitecaps favourites. Over 35 years later, my passions for those two clubs remain very strong. Beyond them, I have mild affinity for the 2 Osaka J League teams from when I lived there, and will follow any club with a Canadian player. That being said, Istanbul is probably my favourite world city, excluding Vancouver and Melbourne, and Besiktas is the most-likeable of the 4-5 teams based there. They have a beautiful, new stadium just a short walk from Taksim Square, play in sharp, simple kits, and their supporters love Atiba as much as any of us do. I'm likely to continue seeing them as my favoured Turkish team even after Hutch and Larin move on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Definitely. Now I don't know the ins and outs of Turkish football, but Besiktas also seems to be a team that is not overly tied to the country's political structure, they seem to have a bit more progressive fan base. With some socially radical components. Maybe I am wrong, but I understand they are more working and middle class Istanbul, and less tied to Islamic identities as well, more in line with Turkey's traditional laicity. 

I spent over a week in the Besiktas area of Istanbul a little over a year ago and got the chance to speak to some Besiktas supporters during and after a match.  You are correct in that the supporters tend to be more progressive and generally middle class; just like most of the neighbourhood (although it borders on the posh part of the city).  It is the only side that is allowed to use the Turkish flag in their crest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, SthMelbRed said:

I really only support 2 football teams, not including the local, amateur club where I play and serve on the committee. I was born in Vancouver at a time when soccer was actually the biggest sport locally. It's natural, then, that the Whitecaps are my first club. After the demise of the original NASL, I became a fan of Liverpool, largely because they were always featured on Soccer Saturday and Grobbelaar and Beardsley were there, having previously been amongst my Whitecaps favourites. Over 35 years later, my passions for those two clubs remain very strong. Beyond them, I have mild affinity for the 2 Osaka J League teams from when I lived there, and will follow any club with a Canadian player. That being said, Istanbul is probably my favourite world city, excluding Vancouver and Melbourne, and Besiktas is the most-likeable of the 4-5 teams based there. They have a beautiful, new stadium just a short walk from Taksim Square, play in sharp, simple kits, and their supporters love Atiba as much as any of us do. I'm likely to continue seeing them as my favoured Turkish team even after Hutch and Larin move on.

That's pretty cool to hear. My wife is from Osaka (the Miyakojima district, specifically). Her parents once took me to see Gamba Osaka in a cup game, and the opponent so happened to be Shimizu S-pulse, ironically. Jakovic was not in the line up though, sadly. I think he was away on National team duty because Canada was playing Korea. Just my luck...

I have yet to watch Cerezo Osaka play, but maybe one day. My wife actually went to elementary school with Kakitani, who is a former Japanese international that still plays for the club. He must be somewhat of a club legend by now because he's played like 300 games for them. 

Anyway, cool to hear I am not the only fairweather Osaka fan here. I find myself checking the table in Japan from time-to-time to see how they are doing.

Edited by Obinna
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, dyslexic nam said:

I am far more fickle than most I guess. I don’t have any natural allegiance to a team based on history, geography or religion so I cheer for the teams that field Canadians.  That means I cheered for Fulham when Radz was there, I cheered for Werder when Stalteri was there, and I now cheer for Rangers, Besiktas, Lille and Bayern.  I have no reason not to - and I want the Canadian boys at each of those clubs to succeed as much as possible.  Things might be different if I had a strong affiliation with a team in one of those leagues - but it would have to be damn strong to override the Canuck factor.  

Interesting discussion/experiences generally. I myself am squarely in both camps.

I am a bit envious sometimes of being able pick the team I support, I would probably have picked one that won something, anything, in the lifetime of my memory. But it is also great having a team that is in your families/ancestors' blood and I will always have ties/memories connected to them.  As kid, I did my best to follow West Ham when it was almost impossible to do so in rural Alberta. I later picked up some Italian sympathies (Juve even) because of the Edmonton soccer scene and more Serie A games shown over a weekend than the, relatively new, Premier League.  But the internet helped change all that and then I moved to the country of West Ham if not the locale for school.   In short, there will always be one team.

But I have loved (now I have a bit more time) watching Gent, Besiktas, Bayern, Rangers (being of English decent makes you slightly disposed to go that way, for all the wrong reasons), lower league stuff for some of the younger, fringe players and MLS if it ever comes on at a decent hour.  Lille has been a struggle, I must confess (it is the French league after all.)  Never really had a second team but Canadian loyalties have given me a bunch. 

Those loyalties have come in conflict rarely thankfully.  Stalteri at Spurs was the worst. But the biggest dagger in the heart (his injury time winner in the 3-4 in '07) actually spurred us on to the Great Escape (Tevezgate notwithstanding).  So I will always think he knew what he was doing. Currently there is a slight conflict with Wolves because if West Ham can compete like they should, Wolves would be a rival for a European spot, but I want them to do really well so Corbeanu gets a run out.

West Ham and Canada together with Forrest was great when I was young.   Though I am almost worried it would happen again because of how hard West Ham supporters are on their players sometimes. 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/22/2021 at 7:50 PM, SthMelbRed said:

I really only support 2 football teams, not including the local, amateur club where I play and serve on the committee. I was born in Vancouver at a time when soccer was actually the biggest sport locally. It's natural, then, that the Whitecaps are my first club. After the demise of the original NASL, I became a fan of Liverpool, largely because they were always featured on Soccer Saturday and Grobbelaar and Beardsley were there, having previously been amongst my Whitecaps favourites. Over 35 years later, my passions for those two clubs remain very strong. Beyond them, I have mild affinity for the 2 Osaka J League teams from when I lived there, and will follow any club with a Canadian player. That being said, Istanbul is probably my favourite world city, excluding Vancouver and Melbourne, and Besiktas is the most-likeable of the 4-5 teams based there. They have a beautiful, new stadium just a short walk from Taksim Square, play in sharp, simple kits, and their supporters love Atiba as much as any of us do. I'm likely to continue seeing them as my favoured Turkish team even after Hutch and Larin move on.

I connected and got flashbacks with soo much of this, i had similar experiences and feelings with Istanbul, Osaka and Melbourne.  Fun to read.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, SthMelbRed said:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/jan/28/besiktas-and-cska-moscow-keen-on-loan-move-for-evertons-cenk-tosun

Dick move on Besiktas' part if they bring Tosun back despite what Cyle has been doing for them this season?

I don't quite see it like that.  Strictly from an asset management prospective, Besiktas knows they can cash in on Larin down the road and they're not going to do anything to impair what they can get for him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Bertuzzi44 said:

Bottom of the table teams usually don't score too many goals. I like the idea of moving to Ligue 1, but this could hurt his numbers/perceived productivity too.

They came in fourth two years ago. Seventeenth last year. The would be mid-table if they hadn't taken two points of the last possible fifteen. I haven't been following them at all but maybe they just need a finisher.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

50 minutes ago, frmr said:

Would be a good move for him provided they stay up. He should be taking advantage of his current form to move to a better league. Besiktas is a big club but in a poor league.

I think the Turkish league, while not a top 5 league, is criminally underrated to the average fan. It’s objectively the 3rd best league that we have a Canadian in at the moment and arguably better than any league outside Europe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

I think the Turkish league, while not a top 5 league, is criminally underrated to the average fan. It’s objectively the 3rd best league that we have a Canadian in at the moment and arguably better than any league outside Europe.

Historically yes, currently it's 13th in coefficient ranking though which puts it below Belgium, Scotland and Ukraine. Not exactly powerhouse leagues. Maybe not that's the be all end all metric to judge a league but the Turkish league has fallen far from the past decade.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

I think the Turkish league, while not a top 5 league, is criminally underrated to the average fan. It’s objectively the 3rd best league that we have a Canadian in at the moment

I'd argue it's the 4th best imo behind Bundesliga, Ligue un and the Portuguese league. But I agree that the Turkish league is underrated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, frmr said:

Historically yes, currently it's 13th in coefficient ranking though which puts it below Belgium, Scotland and Ukraine. Not exactly powerhouse leagues. Maybe not that's the be all end all metric to judge a league but the Turkish league has fallen far from the past decade.

 

I find it puzzling that Scotland could be above Turkey there. There has been a Turkish teams in the UCL group stages at least for the past 25 years and Besiktas made the knockout stages just 2 years ago. I’m a fan of Scottish football but they really aren’t in the same league in terms of parity, budget or support. I also can’t remember Rangers or Celtic in the UCL knockouts for some time. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

I find it puzzling that Scotland could be above Turkey there. There has been a Turkish teams in the UCL group stages at least for the past 25 years and Besiktas made the knockout stages just 2 years ago. I’m a fan of Scottish football but they really aren’t in the same league in terms of parity, budget or support. I also can’t remember Rangers or Celtic in the UCL knockouts for some time. 

Rangers undefeated streak in europa helps and knocking Galatasaray out certainly helps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

I find it puzzling that Scotland could be above Turkey there. There has been a Turkish teams in the UCL group stages at least for the past 25 years and Besiktas made the knockout stages just 2 years ago. I’m a fan of Scottish football but they really aren’t in the same league in terms of parity, budget or support. I also can’t remember Rangers or Celtic in the UCL knockouts for some time. 

Coefficient takes into account last five years, Turkey has been on a steady decline. I would have thought Turkey would be above all three of those leagues.

 

https://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/country/#/yr/2021

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...