CPL General

[ted]

3 hours ago, dyslexic nam said:

I have no idea what others are like, but I haven't watched a single MLS game since CPL started.

 

I tried to watch a couple of times and just couldn't get into them. The closest I came was when there was a chance we would have played the Whitecraps in the VCup and we were getting plans for a group to go over.

[RS]

6 minutes ago, deschamp86 said:

Which is kind of funny that they went to USSDA for better competition. TFCIII averaged 2.0 points per game in USSDA and 2.1 points per game in L1O. I realize that doesn't tell the whole story, but it seems like they should have stuck with a league with less travel and more ability to scout Canadian players

I think moving to the USSDA was more about providing better competition for the younger ages than it was for the U19s. It was likely a case of moving all the TFC Academy teams to USSDA or none at all, and TFC took Option A.

[Ansem]

3 minutes ago, RS said:

Yes, their reserve teams would be superior. Yes, they'd raise the bar for the rest of those leagues. But no, VWFC and IMFC wouldn't see any improvement for their reserve squads by having them walk over amateur players week in and week out, so why would already cheap owners invest in that?

Canadian soccer matters more than 2 clubs. That's the CSA's mandate and they are acting accordingly.

5 minutes ago, RS said:

I already said I agree that IMFC and VWFC (and TFC) should be placing teams in existing or upcoming high-level local amateur leagues, but the fully pro reserve squads shouldn't be those teams. If anything, I'd like to see a combined CPL-MLS reserve league in Canada.

It would be more productive if they helped CPL building a D2 league when they are ready so they could include their reserve teams. Until then, we have D3 leagues of our own

11 minutes ago, RS said:

As for L1O improving, TFC3 (U-19s) was one of the best teams in that league last year. L1O didn't suddenly undergo a huge jump in quality over one offseason after losing several of its best players to the CPL and losing its entire fourth-place team to the USSFDA league. That's not how it works.

The CSA's mandate is to do what's best for Canadian soccer, not 1 multi-billionaire organization which too many are trying to victimize. It benefits more Canadians to be exposed to TFC III, than removing them altogether and giving Americans that kind of exposure which ultimately benefits their program over ours.

You can shoot yourself so many times before being unable to make a full recovery.

[RS]

Just now, Ansem said:

The CSA's mandate is to do what's best for Canadian soccer, not 1 multi-billionaire organization which too many are trying to victimize. It benefits more Canadians to be exposed to TFC III, than removing them altogether and giving Americans that kind of exposure which ultimately benefits their program over ours.

I have no idea what you're talking about here. The CSA is allowing TFCII to play in USL-2 and the three MLS clubs to place all of their academy teams in the USSDA, so maybe you need to remind the CSA of its mandate rather than trying to pointlessly argue with me about it.

[Ansem]

16 minutes ago, RS said:

I have no idea what you're talking about here. The CSA is allowing TFCII to play in USL-2 and the three MLS clubs to place all of their academy teams in the USSDA, so maybe you need to remind the CSA of its mandate rather than trying to pointlessly argue with me about it.

For now, but shouldn't be the case forever. Disagreeing...not arguing 

Edited September 17, 2019 by Ansem

[Watchmen]

I would think MLS ratings are down on TSN because all 3 MLS teams are pretty much garbage this year more than the influence of the CPL.

Just curious, but do we have we any ratings for the CPL games on CBC?  I never seem to see that posted anywhere.  (Note: that's not me trying to start an MLS ratings vs CPL ratings debate.  I'm just generally curious).

[Ansem]

 

Edited September 18, 2019 by Ansem

[Kent]

This should probably go into a 2019 CPL Championship thread or something, but I don't have time to check if there is one.

https://canpl.ca/article/season-update-forge-clinches-2nd-overall-hfx-out-of-the-running

Summary, HFX is eliminated from contention for the championship game. Forge will be in the championship if Cavalry win the Fall season.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

Given the Forge and Cavalry play each other twice between now and the end of the regular season and at a minimum both of them will obtain two points from that, they could both obtain three points or one of them will obtain four or six points, it's an extreme long shot that it won't be Forge vs Cavalry at this point.

Edited September 23, 2019 by Ozzie_the_parrot

[narduch]

1 hour ago, Kent said:

This should probably go into a 2019 CPL Championship thread or something, but I don't have time to check if there is one.

https://canpl.ca/article/season-update-forge-clinches-2nd-overall-hfx-out-of-the-running

Summary, HFX is eliminated from contention for the championship game. Forge will be in the championship if Cavalry win the Fall season.

I haven't done that math, but essentially wouldn't Forge have to lose almost every game and a team like Edmonton or York would need to run the table.

Edited September 23, 2019 by narduch

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

If Forge lose twice to the Cavalry, the Cavalry will have 31 points making them impossible to catch by all but Y9 who could match them on 31 points if they win all their games. The Forge already have the points they need to have second most points overall if the Cavalry win the title given they were second in the spring season well ahead of most of the teams other than FCE who are now 11 points back in the Fall season.  If Cavalry beat Y9 and the Forge beat Pacific in the next set of games, even the faint possibilities that there are right now will be gone.

[Kent]

2 hours ago, narduch said:

I haven't done that math, but essentially wouldn't Forge have to lose almost every game and a team like Edmonton or York would need to run the table.

Yeah basically. Maximum points each team not named Forge or Cavalry.

York 9 - 31
Pacific - 30
FC Edmonton - 29
Valour - 28
HFX - 26

Cavalry and Forge are currently on 25 points. As Ozzie pointed out, Forge and Cavalry play each other twice, so the absolute minimum that the fall season champ will get is 27 points (if they draw both games. Obviously if one of them wins one of those games they will obtain at least 28 points).

So Valour will be out of it as soon as they drop a point or Cavalry/Forge pick up any points that are NOT from a draw between Cavalry and Forge. Edmonton is in virtually the same boat. Pacific and York 9 have about one result (either against themselves, or for Forge/Cavalry) worth of wiggle room, but that's about it.

[BFBF]

On 5/27/2019 at 4:14 AM, ktf said:

Well I will attempt to do some Canadian minute tallies for us!

Starting with, shockingly, PFC...

Not counting Blasco/McCurdy and I am counting Macnaughton, as he is CNT eligible

PFC- 3,492 League (698/game). 1,518 in CC .

HFX- 1,844 League (461/game). 1,077 in CC.

Cavalry- 3,515 League (703/game). 1,553 in CC.

York 9- 2,916 League (729/game). 1,441 in CC.

FC Edmonton- 1,457 League (486/game).

Forge FC- 3,714 League (619/game). 

Valour FC- 3, 896 League (779/game).

A few obvious tiers here... Valour, Cavalry, York, and PFC are doing a wonderful job of playing many Canadians. They are basically averaging 8ish Canadians playing a full 90 each game (obviously it works out a little differently with substitutions and such.)

Forge is also doing very well and are averaging having just under 7 Canadians play a full 90 each game. 

Halifax and Edmonton are in the obvious bottom tier. They are still giving Canadians meaningful professional minutes when compared to our previous state of nothing! But you would like to see it be higher. 

 

 

I would like to point out that the general number of minutes per team really doesn't apply directly to the development of Canadians. The main thing is forge/cavalry etc brought in experienced Canadians who play all the time (they don't need development) whereas some other teams brought in less experienced Canadians to learn from experienced internationals. Both are accomplishing the same thing in terms of development.

[Blackjack15]

Interview with one of the most exciting young players of the league 

on how he analyzes his first pro season, tells me his family background, the 1000 U21 Minutes rule, targeting the U20 Canadian Men’s Team next year, his goal for next season and making the jump to a higher league at some point as well passing on scholarships to fulfill his professional dream 

 

[baulderdash77]

Aside from Bekker and Nanco, Forge didn’t have any established professionals on their team.  I’d say Forge has played so well because most of the team played for Bobby S at Sigma and knew the system in advance.  Borges turning into the leagues most dynamic player in year 1 has certainly helped as well.

Same thing with Calgary, everyone played there last year and knew the system in advance so they played cohesively the whole season.

[Bison44]

If you include Nanco...what about Quillan ROberts, Welshman, Dominic Samuels, Awuah, Frano...they all rode the pine in MLS or slogged through a few USL seasons before coming back to Sigma/Forge.  The Sigma/Bobby S familiarity I'm sure was big, but there was some good players that  had been in pro enviroments to build off.  

[KW519]

Add Achinioti-Jonsson to the list of established pro

[fil]

When looking at the combined table of both seasons it's amazing how far Cavalry and Forge are from the rest of the teams.

Third place is still up in the air though...

Edited October 1, 2019 by fil

[Gopherbashi]

I'm just going to post a screenshot since the formatting on that messed up.

 

[Stouffvillain]

Wheedon and the Foothills were preparing for the CPL for at least 2 seasons, so it was no surprise to see them come out so strong. 

Smyrniotis came in with a plan and having the background at Sigma knew which players could do the job exactly as he wanted.  

It isn't that surprising that Forge and Calvary are the cream of the crop.  There was much less uncertainty surrounding these two coming into the year. 

[Kent]

I had thought Cavalry would start out strong because they weren't really a new team, but I didn't think they had the roster to maintain being a top team in the league. I just double checked my rankings from before the season (March 9th) and I had them in 6th place

[RickC]

Forge FC SSH renewal information is out now. I'm putting this in CPL General as part of the details are regarding 7 Spring Season and 7 Fall Season games. So, we now know about that structure for next year. Lots of other goodies too for renewals!

[Gopherbashi]

46 minutes ago, RickC said:

Forge FC SSH renewal information is out now. I'm putting this in CPL General as part of the details are regarding 7 Spring Season and 7 Fall Season games. So, we now know about that structure for next year. Lots of other goodies too for renewals!

Nice to know that the spring and fall seasons will be balanced at least.  28 game season again.

[Ansem]

Discuss?

 

[SadOnMondays]

I think Calvary and Forge would likely be the bottom teams in the SPL, but probably wouldn't be rolled every game and would win some matches. I agree with Duane Rollins in principle, maybe Millar shouldn't be a given while every CPL player is a long shot for selection. 

Slightly OT, how can Herdman select Didic over Zator? It's madness. For that matter, why is Didic in the team over Borges even?