Marcelo Flores

[prairiecanuck]

1 hour ago, Tyler55 said:

Our boy is doing marketing now.

I don't speak or read Spanish, but when I went to this tweet and read the first comment using the translator function it was "His Spanish is improving, I hope he stays"  There's a lot of pressure on a kid who grew up in Canada  and English is his first language and he doesn't speak Spanish perfectly.  First bad game and it's...get rid of him.  He's not a proper Mexican.  He's have English.  Give him back to Canada.  I mean he might just be a wonderkid and that would never happen because he's just so good.  Just feels like added pressure for the kid to perform and fit in with his team mates.
 

Edited November 13, 2021 by prairiecanuck

[Tyler55]

17 minutes ago, prairiecanuck said:

I don't speak or read Spanish, but when I went to this tweet and read the first tweet using the translator function it was "His Spanish is improving, I hope he stays"  There's a lot of pressure on a kid who grew up in Canada  and English is his first language and he doesn't speak Spanish perfectly.  First bad game and it's...get rid of him.  He's not a proper Mexican.  He's have English.  Give him back to Canada.  I mean he might just be a wonderkid and that would never happen because he's just so good.  Just feels like added pressure for the kid to perform and fit in with his team mates.
 

Very true, I saw many Mexican fans saying this about Pepi as well after he committed to the US saying "we didn't want him anyway, he's not a proper Mexican". If we beat Mexico and show we are on level terms at that point if he's joining Canada, we're a similar caliber side and Flores grew up here. Of course his family has a massive impact but it will be interesting how this plays out.

[gator]

Of course I want him to commit to us but the closer we get to qualification the less of a window there is for these dual nationals, Herdman is not going to drop many or any members of the squad who get us there for a player who has never worn the shirt! I could be wrong but he is always preaching loyalty and band of brothers so even though I would welcome any of these stars with open arms JH may think differently!

[Bison44]

Well we have seen if you are ready to go (IKE) and we can use you, he will bring you in ASAP...open arms etc.  If its still a prospect like Flores, and its any much later like Gator said he better not expect to step right into a camp.  

[Tyler55]

3 minutes ago, gator said:

Of course I want him to commit to us but the closer we get to qualification the less of a window there is for these dual nationals, Herdman is not going to drop many or any members of the squad who get us there for a player who has never worn the shirt! I could be wrong but he is always preaching loyalty and band of brothers so even though I would welcome any of these stars with open arms JH may think differently!

With the young duals (Jebbison, Flores, Dias) none of them help us win now which is probably being communicated to them. In a recent interview Herdman said he had a conversation with Akinola and told him he'd be further back in the striker depth chart for Canada as opposed to the US so he is supposedly honest about this stuff. Now if someone like Ferdi was to join I don't think the brotherhood factor really affects it that much would it cause that much controversy in the team if he takes Wootherspoon's spot for example?

[prairiecanuck]

1 hour ago, gator said:

Of course I want him to commit to us but the closer we get to qualification the less of a window there is for these dual nationals, Herdman is not going to drop many or any members of the squad who get us there for a player who has never worn the shirt! I could be wrong but he is always preaching loyalty and band of brothers so even though I would welcome any of these stars with open arms JH may think differently!

Flores is only 18 and not all 18 year olds are created equally.  Some are very physically mature at that point, many are not.  I know growing up I was very slight at 18 and my body grew and developed a lot into my early 20s.  Flores is not a big kid either and he's never played at a level that would make me think he's ready for this cycle.  He's probably a year or two away from being ready to contribute to any national team.  

[jordan]

Scored vs Brazil 

 

[TOcanadafan]

5 hours ago, prairiecanuck said:

I don't speak or read Spanish, but when I went to this tweet and read the first comment using the translator function it was "His Spanish is improving, I hope he stays"  There's a lot of pressure on a kid who grew up in Canada  and English is his first language and he doesn't speak Spanish perfectly.  First bad game and it's...get rid of him.  He's not a proper Mexican.  He's have English.  Give him back to Canada.  I mean he might just be a wonderkid and that would never happen because he's just so good.  Just feels like added pressure for the kid to perform and fit in with his team mates.
 

Hopefully this is part of our tactics  in recruiting him.  I’m not very hopeful on him though… Pops surely wants him to play for Mexico and I don’t think we’ve ever heard anything from Jr. that leans to Canada.

Edited November 14, 2021 by TOcanadafan

[grigorio]

16 minutes ago, TOcanadafan said:

Hopefully this is part of our tactics  in recruiting him.  I’m not very hopeful on him though… Pops surely wants him to play for Mexico and I don’t think we’ve ever heard anything from Jr. that leans to Canada.

In all his social media he’s obviously very proud of his Mexico call ups and accomplishments. His sisters play for Mexico. His mega influence dad is Mexican. In my mind Marcelo is 0% likely to just randomly decide to switch to Canada. I’m over it. 

[Wilfrid Laurier]

25 minutes ago, TOcanadafan said:

Hopefully this is part of our tactics  in recruiting him.  I’m not very hopeful on him though… Pops surely wants him to play for Mexico and I don’t think we’ve ever heard anything from Jr. that leans to Canada.

Pops was let go by Guelph Soccer.

I heard some rumors that were was some politics on the board and there is likely some hard feelings there.

 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.guelphtoday.com/amp/local-sports/guelph-soccer-goes-through-major-changes-307655

[An Observer]

44 minutes ago, TOcanadafan said:

Hopefully this is part of our tactics  in recruiting him.  I’m not very hopeful on him though… Pops surely wants him to play for Mexico and I don’t think we’ve ever heard anything from Jr. that leans to Canada.

When we make the World Cup and Mexico doesn’t, I think he will change his mind. 🙂

[OhCanadaOhBaby]

Starting the countdown until this topic gets moved to world football 😂

It does not look good for us ngl

[Ivan]

15 minutes ago, OhCanadaOhBaby said:

Starting the countdown until this topic gets moved to world football 😂

It does not look good for us ngl

And he is wearing the #10! 😬

[Atlantic]

El Tri fans will probably start to look to this guy as the future for them so while it would be nice to crush their hearts and cap him I’d imagine much like Enes Sali, his father wants him to play for Mexico and it will probably happen. 

[TOCanada115]

Yeah, my gut is this guys not playing for us.
 

He can pretend to be Mexican all he wants. They will turn on him, and when they do, they will make it clear that he’s not one of them. They already going after him a bit because he’s not fluent in Spanish. 

[sebdeserio]

Seems like 2 high level dual-nat attacking mid prospect gone, leaving us with Dias (until more pop out of the woodwork). Good thing Portugal is far from lacking in attacking mids. It'll be interesting since he'll be 23 by 2026 so if he hasn't made his choice by then you'd think that'll be a now or never moment.

[Sal333]

Was it Flores or Jebbison that in one of his pressers Herdman referred to as a typical Canadian boy?

My feeling tells me he may go with Mexico. He has two sisters who were born in Canada and they play for Mexico. Ah well. I guess it's Karma for Arfield, Wotherspoon and Ugbo.

Edited November 14, 2021 by Sal333

[apbsmith]

9 hours ago, TOCanada115 said:

Yeah, my gut is this guys not playing for us.
 

He can pretend to be Mexican all he wants. They will turn on him, and when they do, they will make it clear that he’s not one of them. They already going after him a bit because he’s not fluent in Spanish. 

Definitely can tell he has a north american gringo accent in him talking Spanish above. 

Talented player, maybe has a shot at 2026 World Cup with Mexico. You are right though, they will turn on him so fast if he has a few bad games. Will never be a true Mexicano. 

Not sure what the Mexico obsession is, the way progression and development has been going for them, give it another decade and Mexico will be #3 in the region. Kind of ironic if there #10 was not born in Mexico and spent a significant part of his youth in Canada. 

To add , and to be honest, does seem like a really nice kid. Hope whatever he decides it works out for him. Thing is good or bad game, or wherever your ancestry comes from, Canada fans will always have your back. Hope he really takes his time making his decision, which sounds like he is.

Edited November 14, 2021 by apbsmith

[prairiecanuck]

11 hours ago, Atlantic said:

El Tri fans will probably start to look to this guy as the future for them so while it would be nice to crush their hearts and cap him I’d imagine much like Enes Sali, his father wants him to play for Mexico and it will probably happen. 

i would be shocked if his first senior cap is with anyone other than Mexico.  I'm not getting my hopes up for Flores.  If he's a true prodigy I could see him making a switch to England and really pissing the Mexican fans off though.

[Strait Red]

2 hours ago, Sal333 said:

Was it Flores or Jebbison that in one of his pressers Herdman referred to as a typical Canadian boy?

My feeling tells me he may go with Mexico. He has two sisters who were born in Canada and they play for Mexico. Ah well. I guess it's Karma for Arfield, Wotherspoon and Ugbo.

It was Jebbison 

[Floortom]

1 hour ago, apbsmith said:

Definitely can tell he has a north american gringo accent in him talking Spanish above. 

Talented player, maybe has a shot at 2026 World Cup with Mexico. You are right though, they will turn on him so fast if he has a few bad games. Will never be a true Mexicano. 

Not sure what the Mexico obsession is, the way progression and development has been going for them, give it another decade and Mexico will be #3 in the region. Kind of ironic if there #10 was not born in Mexico and spent a significant part of his youth in Canada. 

To add , and to be honest, does seem like a really nice kid. Hope whatever he decides it works out for him. Thing is good or bad game, or wherever your ancestry comes from, Canada fans will always have your back. Hope he really takes his time making his decision, which sounds like he is.

Mexico is one of the wealthiest federations in the world - they play a ton of matches, have an amazing history and there's a ton of prestige / cache in being capped by them. Even if Canada overtakes them in the next few years (which I dont think is nearly as likely as you seem to), none of that will be erased. 

[bwilly11]

21 minutes ago, prairiecanuck said:

i would be shocked if his first senior cap is with anyone other than Mexico.  I'm not getting my hopes up for Flores.  If he's a true prodigy I could see him making a switch to England and really pissing the Mexican fans off though.

I want him to pan out and play for us, even though I think he will choose Mexico. I wish him the best, I do! However, I think we need to retire the "prodigy" title of this thread.

Was Tabla at prodigy at Barca, or Millar at Liverpool? How about Josh Doughty at Man Utd? Busti at Juventus? 18 years olds playing youth football all look amazing when they score goals against other kids who will never play pro. A prodigy is someone like Davies who debuts mens football at 15, then Bayern at 18.

I'm not saying he wont be a successful player, but he isn't playing Mens football yet. It really pisses me off we don't have a proper youth setup like Mexico or England. Maybe we wouldn't have to panic all the time with our dual kids if they had a place in our system that suited their skill level. At this point, Herdman may not be able to justify a call up the likes of Dias, Flores, Jebbison etc, because our WCQ games cannot be gambled with unproven youth. When Mexico or England get enough points early to qualify, its youth cap tie season. For us, we likely will need to play to win until the end.

 

End of Rant

 

 

 

[Floortom]

41 minutes ago, bwilly11 said:

I want him to pan out and play for us, even though I think he will choose Mexico. I wish him the best, I do! However, I think we need to retire the "prodigy" title of this thread.

Was Tabla at prodigy at Barca, or Millar at Liverpool? How about Josh Doughty at Man Utd? Busti at Juventus? 18 years olds playing youth football all look amazing when they score goals against other kids who will never play pro. A prodigy is someone like Davies who debuts mens football at 15, then Bayern at 18.

I'm not saying he wont be a successful player, but he isn't playing Mens football yet. It really pisses me off we don't have a proper youth setup like Mexico or England. Maybe we wouldn't have to panic all the time with our dual kids if they had a place in our system that suited their skill level. At this point, Herdman may not be able to justify a call up the likes of Dias, Flores, Jebbison etc, because our WCQ games cannot be gambled with unproven youth. When Mexico or England get enough points early to qualify, its youth cap tie season. For us, we likely will need to play to win until the end.

 

End of Rant

 

 

 

He's had a ton of hype about him for a while and is clearly very skilled. Check out his last two performances vs U20 Brail and Colombia where's he's been pretty dominant. The Doughty or Busti comps dont seem warranted.

I do find it a bit strange he's still only with arsenal U18. Why not even with the U21s? There are a bunch of player in the U21 squad that are the same age as Flores. Seems odd that he isnt playing with at that level yet.

[apbsmith]

2 hours ago, Floortom said:

Mexico is one of the wealthiest federations in the world - they play a ton of matches, have an amazing history and there's a ton of prestige / cache in being capped by them. Even if Canada overtakes them in the next few years (which I dont think is nearly as likely as you seem to), none of that will be erased. 

Arguing future opinion hypotheticals.

As for prestige:

Mexico's team is known in the international football world as a team from a very soft region that can't perform at the men's level on the big stage. They have an inflated ranking and thus get a softer WC group, but take the L in the first KO game( 7 world cups in a row). That's been the valid opinion for decades of them on the world stage. It can certainly change if they start performing on the global stage at the men's level, just don't really see that happening in the next 10-15 years.  Happy to be proven wrong.

The history of the game itself within Mexico, I will definitely give you that, it's incredible. 

I'll give you the prestige within CONCACAF or the country of Mexico and within it's population. I am sure it is very prestigious for his family and his Dad if he gets to be capped by the Mexican National team.   

Being deeply involved with many overseas agents, I can assure you if he's trying to be a pro baller in Europe, a Mexico cap is not a "prestige" game changer by any means. His family and Dad I'm sure played a major and positive role in his young career, so it will be interesting. It does seem like him and his family are keeping all options open. I truly do wish him the best, it's definitely not an easy decision, especially when you feel connection to both countries, as I'm sure he does. Seems like a solid and well brought up young man.

I will continue to cheer for him, until anything becomes official.

Edited November 14, 2021 by apbsmith
Typos

[Approve My Account Pls]

I'm sure this has been mentioned already, but I can't remember, does the revs cup require him to do a one time switch later?