Cyle Larin

[Keegan]

The sooner he goes the closer he is to coming back to MLS for a big DP contract.  Moving to Europe is a win-win anyway he slices it at this point.  

[Alex D]

I hope he follows a career path similar to Atiba (using MLS to skip Scandinavia) by becoming a valuable starter for clubs who constantly play in Europe.

I don't really see him as premier league quality. That's not a slight against him, it's the bloody premier league. I don't want him to sign as a flavour of the month and get cast away when he doesn't produce immediately. With the money pouring into that league now they are always looking for the next big thing. 

Edited March 21, 2017 by Alex D

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Alex D said:

I hope he follows a career path similar to Atiba (using MLS to skip Scandinavia) by becoming a valuable starter for clubs who constantly play in Europe.

I don't really see him as premier league quality. That's not a slight against him, it's the bloody premier league. I don't want him to sign as a flavour of the month and get cast away when he doesn't produce immediately. With the money pouring into that league now they are always looking for the next big thing. 

Most overrated league in the world

[RS]

10 hours ago, Ruffian said:

I think he is a fan of Antoine Griezmann. That is his celebration.

And Griezmann is imitating  Larin's countryman.

[dyslexic nam]

1 hour ago, Alex D said:

I hope he follows a career path similar to Atiba (using MLS to skip Scandinavia) by becoming a valuable starter for clubs who constantly play in Europe.

I don't really see him as premier league quality. That's not a slight against him, it's the bloody premier league. I don't want him to sign as a flavour of the month and get cast away when he doesn't produce immediately. With the money pouring into that league now they are always looking for the next big thing. 

I tend to agree with this.  That is why the Portugal rumours were interesting - it seems like the kind of league that could help Larin get to the next level.  

[Pottsy3]

3 hours ago, dyslexic nam said:

I tend to agree with this.  That is why the Portugal rumours were interesting - it seems like the kind of league that could help Larin get to the next level.  

I like the Portugal rumours as well and hope the Celtic rumours don't play out.  I'm a big Celtic supporter and would buy his jersey immediately if he joined the hoops, but i'm not sure the league quality is any better than the MLS (old firm aside). He'd be starting at the same level as Marcus Haber, not totally forward movement. I appreciate the European tournament incentive, but would rather see that with a team in a country like Portugal who seem to have a deeper league.

[Bertuzzi44]

Altidore is a great player, but considering he is a striker his numbers in the EPL are shocking: 2 goals in 70 league appearances!

/tangent

[shamrock]

I'd love to see him move to Portugal, Netherlands or Belgium or something like a mid-table Spanish club in summer. It should be a clear of upwards to see if he can progress. If he succeeds at that, bigger clubs / leagues are sure to come. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

9 hours ago, BrennanFan said:

The longer he stays in MLS, the less likely it becomes that he will reach the next level.  As is, he is not a difference maker at the international level, at least not for Canada given how little service we provide our strikers and given that we we only create 1 or 2 chances in a typical qualifying game against decent opposition.

I agree. Since this is only the third year pro, it is fine. But next year, or this summer, he should go to a club where he'll be forced to learn.

I mean, a pro team with no other player to compete with a striker who's 21, even that is ridiculous. Even scoring, anywhere he'd go in Europe he'd have more pressure and competition.

[matty]

6 hours ago, Pottsy3 said:

I like the Portugal rumours as well and hope the Celtic rumours don't play out.  I'm a big Celtic supporter and would buy his jersey immediately if he joined the hoops, but i'm not sure the league quality is any better than the MLS (old firm aside). He'd be starting at the same level as Marcus Haber, not totally forward movement. I appreciate the European tournament incentive, but would rather see that with a team in a country like Portugal who seem to have a deeper league.

Can we all agree the old firm is dead and the only power that remains is Celtic. I'm tired of everyone acting like there are still two mega teams there

[nolando]

20 minutes ago, matty said:

Can we all agree the old firm is dead and the only power that remains is Celtic. I'm tired of everyone acting like there are still two mega teams there

https://thecelticblog.com/2017/03/blogs/yesterdays-reactions-prove-that-even-the-idea-of-the-old-firm-is-dead/

 

[Fort York Redcoat1555362293]

1 hour ago, matty said:

Can we all agree the old firm is dead and the only power that remains is Celtic. I'm tired of everyone acting like there are still two mega teams there

lol. All, who? Do you believe that the clubs supporters and owners won't use past histories to build anew? 

2 mega teams right now? No. Old Firm dead? Not to everyone.

I really have no preference where Larin goes outside of MLS I just wish him luck if and when he does.

Edited March 22, 2017 by Fort York Redcoat

[matty]

Just now, Fort York Redcoat1555362293 said:

lol. All, who? Do you believe that the clubs supporters and owners won't use past histories to build anew? 

2 mega teams right now? No. Old Firm dead? Not to everyone.

A) Celtic are not threatened by Rangers
B ) Celtic and their fans know it
C) It'll take at least a decade for Rangers to rebuild enough to actually rival Celtic
D) This is the Rangers in name only

[Fort York Redcoat1555362293]

5 minutes ago, matty said:

A) Celtic are not threatened by Rangers
B ) Celtic and their fans know it
C) It'll take at least a decade for Rangers to rebuild enough to actually rival Celtic
D) This is the Rangers in name only

Cool list. So in a decade you would prefer to say The Old Firm is back from the dead? Honestly, talking in absolutes, thinking one of the biggest rivalries in sport would disappear that easily is incredibly bias. But hey, that's sports.

 

Whatever, this is Cyle's thread. 

Edited March 22, 2017 by Fort York Redcoat

[gator]

15 minutes ago, matty said:

A) Celtic are not threatened by Rangers
B ) Celtic and their fans know it
C) It'll take at least a decade for Rangers to rebuild enough to actually rival Celtic
D) This is the Rangers in name only

I agree with all but C), it remains to be seen whether Sevco will have the financial resources to be competetive with Celtic again! I would like to see Larin move on but not to Celtic, the EPL just doesn't offer enough challenge week in and week out!

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

Have either of you ever lived in Scotland or are you both just playing the role based on stuff you have read on one of the more extreme Old Firm messageboards? If a club like Aberdeen could mount a bit of a title challenge in recent times, it won't take ten years for Rangers to be able to do the same given Rangers can still attract 50,000 fans to games while Aberdeen are doing well when they attract more than 12,000 or so. Celtic are a pale shadow of what they used to be as their results in Europe have demonstrated in recent seasons. Have to say though that as I read Mo Johnston stating in a Scottish newspaper recently I think MLS is a better standard than the SPL overall, so it's not where Larin should go next if he is aiming for the real big time.

Edited March 22, 2017 by BringBackTheBlizzard

[matty]

31 minutes ago, Fort York Redcoat1555362293 said:

Cool list. So in a decade you would prefer to say The Old Firm is back from the dead? Honestly, talking in absolutes, thinking one of the biggest rivalries in sport would disappear that easily is incredibly bias. But hey, that's sports.

 

Whatever, this is Cyle's thread. 

I would say it's possible that Rangers could truly rival Celtic again and that their games have stakes.

Also sports rivalries can die and fall to the backburner we've seen it happen before

[matty]

4 minutes ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

If Aberdeen could mount a bit of a title challenge in recent time, it won't take ten years for Rangers to be able to do the same given Rangers can still attract 50,000 fans to games while Aberdeen are doing well when they attract more than 12,000 or so.

Rangers are still in a great deal of debt and not not generating the funds needed to both deal with money issues and outright compete with Celtic. They might be a cup/Europa contender but it's unlikely we'll see a non-Celtic win Scotland for nearly a decade.

[Kent]

Bit of a tangent but this thread is already filled with them.

People here are talking about Portugal here as a potentially good landing spot for Larin. I just did a bit of digging today and found out (maybe everyone already knows this) that Portugal is actually the 4th best league in Europe according to the UEFA coefficients. People generally accept the big 4 as being Germany, Spain, England, and Italy (in no particular order), and if there is a 5th, it's probably France. But the coefficients tell a different story.

1. Germany
2. Spain
3. England
4. Portugal
5. Belgium
6. Italy
7. Netherlands
8. France

Incidentally, I was looking this up to see which players were in the highest rated leagues. Arfield obviously in England, then next is Stamatopolous in Sweden (number 16, Turkey if you are wondering is at 22).

[matty]

3 minutes ago, Kent said:

Bit of a tangent but this thread is already filled with them.

People here are talking about Portugal here as a potentially good landing spot for Larin. I just did a bit of digging today and found out (maybe everyone already knows this) that Portugal is actually the 4th best league in Europe according to the UEFA coefficients. People generally accept the big 4 as being Germany, Spain, England, and Italy (in no particular order), and if there is a 5th, it's probably France. But the coefficients tell a different story.

1. Germany
2. Spain
3. England
4. Portugal
5. Belgium
6. Italy
7. Netherlands
8. France

Where did you get these rankings? Spain currently tops it

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

The problem with Portugal is that the standard falls away quickly after you get past Benfica, Porto and Sporting Lisbon and some of the weaker clubs struggle to attract even 2000 spectators. The reason people rate those other leagues has a lot to do with the strength of teams 4 to 18/20.

 

[Unnamed Trialist]

17 minutes ago, matty said:

Where did you get these rankings? Spain currently tops it

Thanks Matty, I dunno, Kent saying he done a bit of digging, that is, like, lovely. Here is what happens when you "dig" around search engines for Uefa country rankings: http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/country/

Here is the UEFA ranking, Portugal 7th. In any case, we have good examples of players going from the top Portugal sides to the top leagues and excelling, while with Scotland it most certainly does not. 

Portugal has three strong teams, another 2-3 that are good quality, could have a say in Europa League every now and then---, then a drop, but that in fact gives you the chance to develop as in the top leagues, with very strong opposition always, striking is very tough. In Portugal you can get numbers, you face weaker teams and you can rotate squads, younger guys can get playing time. And they are very interested in selling, so they showcase talent well. 

 

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Thanks Matty, I dunno, Kent saying he done a bit of digging, that is, like, lovely. Here is what happens when you "dig" around search engines for Uefa country rankings: http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/uefarankings/country/

Here is the UEFA ranking, Portugal 7th. In any case, we have good examples of players going from the top Portugal sides to the top leagues and excelling, while with Scotland it most certainly does not. 

Portugal has three strong teams, another 2-3 that are good quality, could have a say in Europa League every now and then---, then a drop, but that in fact gives you the chance to develop as in the top leagues, with very strong opposition always, striking is very tough. In Portugal you can get numbers, you face weaker teams and you can rotate squads, younger guys can get playing time. And they are very interested in selling, so they showcase talent well. 

 

Some important points made in this post that I'd like to build on:

1) Portugal has a track record of exporting players directly to the top leagues, such as La Liga, the Bundesliga, Serie A and the English Premier League. We want Larin to ultimately arrive at one of those destinations. The downside of Belgium is that players sometimes need to take another step before landing in a top league. The downside of Scotland (well Celtic), is that they only export to the EPL. 

2) The top 2-3 teams in Portugal are arguably stronger than their counterparts in other exporting leagues (Holland, Belgium etc.). This means they often sell directly to the top clubs in the world. They also put up a fight against such clubs in the Champions League (which is probably way their players get scooped up).

 

Even though I originally listed Celtic as a decent landing spot, I've convinced myself that Portugal is probably the best destination.

Edited March 22, 2017 by Obinna

[matty]

4 minutes ago, Obinna said:

Even though I originally listed Celtic as a decent landing spot, I've convinced myself that Portugal is probably the best destination.

Without doubt Portugal would be awesome. Benfica, Sporting, Porto and even Braga would all be solid for him. Of all the rumours I still like Genk because I think he'd get more minute there but Portugal is a close second for me followed by Lazio.

[Guest]

Those rankings are not correct at all. You dug up some trash