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Theo Bair

Northvansteve

By Northvansteve
in Men's National Teams

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Shway Grand Master

Shway

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7 hours ago, SthMelbRed said:

It's a ******** tournament, so winning and losing won't matter much. Bair getting a clear run in the team as the man up front is great under the circumstances. If he performs, he can keep the spot.

It’s a great opportunity for him to perform.

Do you see him as the man that plays up front regardless of the circumstances, or do you think he’s better suited for the wing? 
 

 

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SthMelbRed Veteran

SthMelbRed

Posted
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1 minute ago, Shway said:

It’s a great opportunity for him to perform.

Do you see him as the man that plays up front regardless of the circumstances, or do you think he’s better suited for the wing? 
 

 

From what I've seen, I think he can excel in both roles. He's a big body, but not shy on athleticism or work rate. He's also got decent skill on the ball. He's got all the tools, he just needs the opportunity to put them to meaningful use. When the opportunity comes, it'll be up to him to grab on to it. 

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Obinna Grand Master

Obinna

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Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, SthMelbRed said:

I don't think there's much to learn about either of those players from this tournament. As long as those extra minutes flow on to some of the younger, Canadian players, this is a net gain for us. Hopefully, Bair and Fraser, in particular, make it impossible to ignore them after their performances there.

I was thinking more along the lines of simply getting them back to playing games and scoring goals. Cavallini in particular is an important player and with his MLS move it has been a while since he's had a run of competitive games. There is still some time before world cup qualifying begins, but 2021 will be here before you know it. It would be nice for him to start getting into a groove sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, I am very happy for some of his minutes to go to young Canadians who probably need it more, such as Bair (and the Raposos) ;)

Edited by Obinna
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BearcatSA Grand Master

BearcatSA

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On 7/7/2020 at 8:59 PM, SthMelbRed said:

From what I've seen, I think he can excel in both roles. He's a big body, but not shy on athleticism or work rate. He's also got decent skill on the ball. He's got all the tools, he just needs the opportunity to put them to meaningful use. When the opportunity comes, it'll be up to him to grab on to it. 

What I have noticed mostly is that he's not really learned to play to his big body as yet.  Too many times I saw him get out-positioned and outmuscled by smaller defenders in what should have been to his advantage.  What he impressed with on the wing last season is that he's a big guy who surprised opponents with a smaller man's game:  good foot skills, a sneaky burst of pace to get some separation, and the technical skills to play in a dangerous ball, not to mention the cracker he scored last season. 

That said, the management signed two new wingers and drafted a Cancon one to join their DP centre forward as well as their incumbent attackers from last year (Reyna and Montero), so there was a lot of  competition for minutes prior to Covid.  Perhaps his camp felt that he would be lost in the numbers?  Who knows 

Speaking of a possible move abroad for Bair, what happened with Simon Colyn's rumoured move to Holland last year?

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Northvansteve Community Regular

Northvansteve

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On 7/9/2020 at 10:19 PM, BearcatSA said:

What I have noticed mostly is that he's not really learned to play to his big body as yet.  Too many times I saw him get out-positioned and outmuscled by smaller defenders in what should have been to his advantage.  What he impressed with on the wing last season is that he's a big guy who surprised opponents with a smaller man's game:  good foot skills, a sneaky burst of pace to get some separation, and the technical skills to play in a dangerous ball, not to mention the cracker he scored last season. 

We've now started to see some more of this physicality from Bair. Defenders can't move him off the ball.

I'm expecting that he will continue to get starts with the Whitecaps - let's see how this plays out. 

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BearcatSA Grand Master

BearcatSA

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“Something we learned in the season is that Theo is much better in a striker position than a winger position. So we see him there,” said sporting director and CEO Axel Schuster.

“Something we also learned in this season … is that we should plan for one system or you can have a few variations — a 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-1-1. This is not a big change, but not to change between 3-5-2,4-3-3,4-4-2, because this is totally different approach."

We....

These two paragraphs lead me to wonder how much the sporting director and the head coach he inherited really are on the same page.  Maybe they totally are, who knows?  Was it MDS or Schuster or indeed both ("we") who decided to change systems like changing underwear?  Any decent coach would note the importance of stability with formation familiarity yet Schuster has to make the Malcolm Gladwell obvious-as-something-profound determination that it's good to have one system with a few, as needed tweaks, depending on game situation and personnel availability.  There is something disconcerting there.    

Personally, I see this as Schuster's team with MDS as a placeholder for the time being.  Regardless of the club's playing locales and circumstances, I sense that this team needs a good start in order for MDS to keep his job, imo.  Otherwise, Schuster's bringing in "his" guy and then he and and MDS won't be a "we" anymore. 

 

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Shway Grand Master

Shway

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Posted (edited)
13 hours ago, Northvansteve said:

Whitecaps planning to use Bair more as a pure striker this coming season

https://theprovince.com/sports/soccer/mls/vancouver-whitecaps/bair-hopes-canada-call-up-will-kickstart-2021-campaign-with-whitecaps?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1610321493

I have been saying this, just because he can play out wide, doesn’t mean he should. He’s best suited as a 9 and I think he can develop into a very strong one. 

Edited by Shway
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SpursFlu Grand Master

SpursFlu

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I think he can absolutely be a great CF but he needs to be a more selfish terrible mean person. You know like Zlatan

I'm kinda kidding but I do think he needs to develop a certain mind set for 90 minutes a week in order to excel at this position. He can go back to being a nice person once the game is done. If he can develop a mean streak coupled with his frame and talent, he could make life hell for CBs

Edited by SpursFlu
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VinceA Grand Master

VinceA

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Dos Santos mentioning in the post-game against Colorado that Bair has not been showing up in training and isn't seeing the field or making the team sheet for that reason.

Considering how lackluster he was at OLYQ for Can U23 (not all his fault) this isn't super shocking. We'll see how it goes as the season wears on.

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BearcatSA Grand Master

BearcatSA

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5 minutes ago, VinceA said:

Dos Santos mentioning in the post-game against Colorado that Bair has not been showing up in training and isn't seeing the field or making the team sheet for that reason.

Considering how lackluster he was at OLYQ for Can U23 (not all his fault) this isn't super shocking. We'll see how it goes as the season wears on.

Not surprised at all by the coach's comments here.  

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toontownman Grand Master

toontownman

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45 minutes ago, BearcatSA said:

Not surprised at all by the coach's comments here.  

Shame he seemed to turn a corner a couple of years ago when dealing with the same issues. You can lead or horse to water but you can't make it drink. 

Hope he sorts his head out. He has so much to offer if he can.

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SpursFlu Grand Master

SpursFlu

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I think Dos Santos is purposely making these comments in order to motivate Bair. I've been a big supporter of Bair but I've observed that he needs to enhance his competitive drive. A few years ago he was called out and he had a good run of games. Dos Santos likely figures if he needs to get under his skin and play the bad guy in order to light a fire then so be it

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Watchmen Grand Master

Watchmen

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12 hours ago, SpursFlu said:

I think Dos Santos is purposely making these comments in order to motivate Bair. I've been a big supporter of Bair but I've observed that he needs to enhance his competitive drive. A few years ago he was called out and he had a good run of games. Dos Santos likely figures if he needs to get under his skin and play the bad guy in order to light a fire then so be it

I'm sure he is. But generally, that kind of motivation only works short term. If he doesn't find a way to become a bit more self motivated, there's kids now coming up behind him who likely are, and his talent level isn't high enough to prevent the Whitecaps from cutting him.

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