Juan Guillermo Cordova

[Obinna]

3 minutes ago, El Hombre said:

You're right, I did forget about Miller.  That's good to note.  Also forgot about Kennedy.

The difference is that we are talking about two positions at CB, so there are double the opportunities. 

At RB, we have one player who is lighting it up in Laryea.  He's been great and is in the prime of his career.  After that, we've got Johnston and Brault-Guillard who are very young but everyday starts in MLS.  That is three top quality candidates for one spot.

At CB, we've got Miller and Cornelius who we hope will be everyday starters but that's not guaranteed.  And Vitoria, who much to my chagrin, has played well for Canada.  There are three decent candidates.  Because we generally play with two CBs, we would need another three at that level to match the RB depth just based on the three I just identified above (Laryea, Johnston, B-G).  Henry needs to stay healthy to be considered, as does Kennedy, as does Ferreira (as well as show that he can still play).  Didic is at a level that's too low at this point.

There are a lot more question marks at CB than at RB.  Which gives more of a sense of urgency on the "bring the guy in for a look".

Also, for the record, I haven't been clamouring for James to come back.  But I see more benefit at that position than bringing in Cordova at RB.

Yeah I forgot about Kennedy too...who definitely beefs up our depth and makes the CB position feel less dire. 

But yeah, for sure there are double the opportunities, however there is also double the depth, one could argue. You say we need another 3 candidates based on the RB depth, but then you list 3 very viable candidates: Henry, Kennedy and Ferreira. That's your "another three" right there, isn't it? Now you do mention the caveat where they must be healthy, but that's true of all players. If you are framing players who are chronically injured as less dependable, we are no longer talking about depth purely from a talent perspective. That's fine, but in that case I wouldn't lump Kennedy in the same category as Henry, unless his head injury is worse than we expect (hopefully) not. 

So we'll discount Henry and Ferreira as unreliable, treat Kennedy as reliable for now (young with no long term injuries), and say CB is two players short of having the sort of depth we have with RB. Would you say that's a fair assessment?

The other thing we haven't mentioned about Cordova is that he can play in both fullback positions, so the benefit may go beyond just RB. I am not necessarily making a case for Cordova, but I think we should mention that.

33 minutes ago, El Hombre said:

My main thoughts are:

1) Good on Cordova for putting in a shift against San Lorenzo.  Hope he keeps it up.

2) While he might be an unknown quantity to us, he's not an unknown quantity to Herdman and co.  So if he gets overlooked in June, I will not be surprised.

Just curious, would you be equally unsurprised if James doesn't get called either? You made it clear you aren't clamoring for him, but you did say there is more urgency to bring him in for a look (since CB is massively weaker, in your eyes).

Also, just as an aside, how do you feel about "worst team in Holland second division" Sturing getting calls over James now a days. Are you unsurprised by that? 

[Bison44]

[El Hombre]

45 minutes ago, Obinna said:

Yeah I forgot about Kennedy too...who definitely beefs up our depth and makes the CB position feel less dire. 

But yeah, for sure there are double the opportunities, however there is also double the depth, one could argue. You say we need another 3 candidates based on the RB depth, but then you list 3 very viable candidates: Henry, Kennedy and Ferreira. That's your "another three" right there, isn't it? Now you do mention the caveat where they must be healthy, but that's true of all players. If you are framing players who are chronically injured as less dependable, we are no longer talking about depth purely from a talent perspective. That's fine, but in that case I wouldn't lump Kennedy in the same category as Henry, unless his head injury is worse than we expect (hopefully) not. 

So we'll discount Henry and Ferreira as unreliable, treat Kennedy as reliable for now (young with no long term injuries), and say CB is two players short of having the sort of depth we have with RB. Would you say that's a fair assessment?

The other thing we haven't mentioned about Cordova is that he can play in both fullback positions, so the benefit may go beyond just RB. I am not necessarily making a case for Cordova, but I think we should mention that.

Just curious, would you be equally unsurprised if James doesn't get called either? You made it clear you aren't clamoring for him, but you did say there is more urgency to bring him in for a look (since CB is massively weaker, in your eyes).

Also, just as an aside, how do you feel about "worst team in Holland second division" Sturing getting calls over James now a days. Are you unsurprised by that? 

Unfortunately, Kennedy seems to be just as injury prone as Henry and Ferreira.  Well, maybe not as bad as Ferreira because he's a pretty bad case.  But really, Kennedy has had a hard time stringing five starts together.  I really hope he turns it around, but at this point he has had a rough go.

Basically, what I am saying is that Laryea, Johnston and Brault-Guillard are all everyday starters in a decent league.  To say that CB has the same depth, we would need at least six at the same level.  Right now Vitoria might be the only one there.  Miller will hopefully be a starter, but hasn't been on a regular basis thus far.  There is a good chance Cornelius won't be either.

The thing with James is that he has sat on the bench a lot for Midtylland and now he is sitting on the bench for his Greek team.  So that tells me more about him than one game in the Champions League.  So no, all things being equal, I wouldn't be surprised if he was overlooked. 

Now even if you talk about LB, the case is better for Cordova but not much.  I like Adekugbe a lot.  I also think Gutierrez is a gamer, but I see him getting relegated to the bench once Adnan comes back which isn't great.  Godinho put in a shift during OCQ on the left side which was impressive.  So there might be room for Cordova, but that's a stretch.  And also not based on one game.

[El Hombre]

1 hour ago, Bison44 said:

No one's arguing.  @Obinna's just playing hard to get before he comes around to my line of thinking. 

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, El Hombre said:

Unfortunately, Kennedy seems to be just as injury prone as Henry and Ferreira.  Well, maybe not as bad as Ferreira because he's a pretty bad case.  But really, Kennedy has had a hard time stringing five starts together.  I really hope he turns it around, but at this point he has had a rough go.

Basically, what I am saying is that Laryea, Johnston and Brault-Guillard are all everyday starters in a decent league.  To say that CB has the same depth, we would need at least six at the same level.  Right now Vitoria might be the only one there.  Miller will hopefully be a starter, but hasn't been on a regular basis thus far.  There is a good chance Cornelius won't be either.

The thing with James is that he has sat on the bench a lot for Midtylland and now he is sitting on the bench for his Greek team.  So that tells me more about him than one game in the Champions League.  So no, all things being equal, I wouldn't be surprised if he was overlooked. 

Now even if you talk about LB, the case is better for Cordova but not much.  I like Adekugbe a lot.  I also think Gutierrez is a gamer, but I see him getting relegated to the bench once Adnan comes back which isn't great.  Godinho put in a shift during OCQ on the left side which was impressive.  So there might be room for Cordova, but that's a stretch.  And also not based on one game.

I'll take that as "no deal" to my suggestion that Kennedy doesn't belong in the same category as Henry and Ferreira, as far as injuries go. We'll have to agree to disagree on this point, because I don't see how you can suggest Kennedy and Henry are comparable injury-wise.

Kennedy has never had a major injury like Ferreira and Henry, nor does he have a long history of minor reoccurring injuries like Jozy Altidore, for instance. MAK has more of an injury history than Kennedy, so would you put an asterisk next to his name when discussing our midfield depth? 

What you are saying here is that because Laryea, Johnston and Brault-Guillard are starting every game in MLS, we cannot consider Miller and Cornelius to be the same class of player, since neither has held the starting role long enough at their club. In my view, Miller and Cornelius are close enough to being starters, so why are we drawing an arbitrary line based on very specific club situations?

(Edit: I am not considering Laryea when making this point. I said previously he's a stand out and on another level)

If Miller/Cornelius start the same number of games as Johnston/ZBG, would you then be willing to consider them at the same level? We could also compare in terms of minutes and revisit at season's end. Probably a better metric anyways. It'll be interesting...

Looks like we view James in the same way.

As for Cordova at LB, well that's two positions he could play in which increases his chances, even if it's only slightly.

I do like Adekugbe and I like Guiterrez even more, but my opinion of Guiterrez doesn't change if he can't nail down a starting role ahead of Adnan this season. Not being a starter in the long term could hamper his growth, but in the short term he'll be the same player. That's why I think you are making a little too much of "starter" status, and using it as an arbitrary line to say the RB depth is massively better than CB. 

By the way, I am not suggesting the depth is the same. I think the RB depth is superior, I just seem to think it's much closer than you do. 

Edited April 23, 2021 by Obinna

[Corazon]

A little side note:

Toronto FC's newest Designated Player Yeferson Soteldo is coming directly from South American giants Santos (hopefully I don't have to list the legends that have come from this club).  He is a young and exciting player and I expect big things from him.  I was excited to see what Santos-Borre could offer for Toronto but I like this signing a lot.

Back to the sidenote - Soteldo played with Cordova for a couple seasons in 2016 & 2017 with Huachipato before he moved over to Chilean giants Universidad and then Santos in Brazil soon after.

Edited April 26, 2021 by Corazon

[Corazon]

Starting today at RB vs Paraguayan club 12 du Octubre in the Copa Sudamerica.  Currently 20 minutes into the game and still tied 0-0.

[Corazon]

Started last night in a 2-1 win over Paraguayan club 12 du Octubre in the Copa Sudamerica.  This game he started on the right side of the central midfield trio.  Fotmob gave him another strong rating last night at 8.1 while SofaScore gave him a 7.3.

Huachipato now currently leads the group after 4 games.  A group that includes both San Lorenzo & Rosario Central.

He has played in 8 of the 11 games this season (Copa Sudamerica & Primera Divison) including starting in 7 of their past 8 games.

Hope to see him with Canada soon.

Edited May 13, 2021 by Corazon

[Blackjack15]

Cordova to Gold cup

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

On 5/13/2021 at 9:06 AM, Corazon said:

Copa Sudamerica.

1) Huachipato had a decent run in the Copa Sudamericana earlier this year

2) Huachipato also had a decent run in the Chilean Cup

3) In recent matches Juan Cordova has tended to be a late-game sub at right-back.

4) In the league Huachipato have been awful. They are in serious relegation danger. They have a massive game this afternoon against Universidad Católica who are tied for first. UC will be just as desperate to grab the 3 points as Huachipato because they want to beat rivals Colo Colo and win the league.

5) Juan's contract is up at the end of the year

[BearcatSA]

30 minutes ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

5) Juan's contract is up at the end of the year

I'll start the baseless rumour that he will be with the Caps, opposite Gutierrez, in 2022, replacing the departing Godinho. 😉

[Corazon]

I would take him for depth at TFC as well.  Can play both sides like Auro & Laryea and with Morrow retiring and potentially Laryea heading to Europe, they will need some outside backs. 

[Bison44]

Poor old Cordova, things looked so promising in 2017. Moving up a division, getting called up for Canada and then, whammo.....the national team just cruised on by him.  First Laryea leap frogged him, then Johnston and now Adekugbe is looking more like a stud at LB every day.  Plus I think Zambrano was a fan of his, not so much Herdman.  Hard to see him getting back into the CMNT picture.  

[toontownman]

18 minutes ago, BearcatSA said:

I'll start the baseless rumour that he will be with the Caps, opposite Gutierrez, in 2022, replacing the departing Godinho. 😉

But where will Farsi and Abzi fit? #DEPTH    Guti/Abzi down the left, Cordova/Farsi for the right. NICE

Would love to see Cordova in the MLS, always felt, a bit like with Tesho, he was dealt a cruel hand with so many great players emerging just after her committed to us. Would be nice to actually see him play and get better eyes on him more regularly. Like Tesho he might just be the victim of not being as good as what we have but I feel like he never really got that chance to show what he could or couldn't do. 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

17 minutes ago, toontownman said:

a bit like with Tesho, 

Agreed although I'm not sure Juan would make Tesho's salary in MLS.

[BearcatSA]

5 hours ago, toontownman said:

But where will Farsi and Abzi fit? #DEPTH    Guti/Abzi down the left, Cordova/Farsi for the right. 

They don't, frankly, because the historical trend of this club has been to acquire younger but pro experienced Canadians from Europe or South America.  Godinho fit that category.  

Maybe things will be different under Schuster but I am not so sure.

Edited November 29, 2021 by BearcatSA

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

Massive must-win match for Huachipato starting in 10 minutes.

Juan is on the bench.

Other results must also go their way if they are to avoid relegation.

[baulderdash77]

Juan has to be playing at a better level if he’s going to back into the program I think.  A move to MLS would help him.

[Floortom]

Juan played the final 32 minutes and Huachipato won 3-1 but they will still be relegated.

Universidad de Chile, who had scored 1 goal in its last 9 matches, came back from a 2-nil deficit at the 85th minute mark to win 3-2 and knock Huachipato into relegation. Many calls for match fixing and an investigation 

 

[Obinna]

Always liked this guy, but there were questions about his eligibility, right?

Despite the two caps in friendlies, do we actually know for sure he's eligible for us? I would like to put that issue to bed so I can freely consider the merits of him being called up or not. 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

10 hours ago, jordan said:

@Buchta has explained it before, I will let him respond 

 

40 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

I don’t doubt that Cordova is Canadian. He just doesn’t qualify under fifa rules unless there’s a grandparent born in Canada. 

@jordan you do great work on this forum ( and on Canucks Abroad too ?) , but I think @CanadaFan123 has got it right.

Cordova is not eligible per the FIFA rules.

If another nation filed an appeal against us , we would lose. See the case of New Zealand:

https://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/nz-teams/70696876/ex-officials-say-new-zealand-football-should-have-known-fifas-eligibility-rules

 

[charlesmazz]

Will not be renewing with Huachipato for next season. 

[costarg]

20 hours ago, charlesmazz said:

Will not be renewing with Huachipato for next season. 

They realized he's not really Canadian, so lost interest.

[toontownman]

Would be an amazing pick up for the CPL. If he could get a work permit.

[jordan]

Expected to sign 2 year deal with Nublense, Copa Lib around the corner.