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Tajon Buchanan


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41 minutes ago, Obinna said:

Yup 2 goals so far this year. Seems he is developing nicely. He will be a great addition to the U-23 team. I would be surprised if he never earned a senior cap next year.

He has arguably overtaken Tabla in the depth chart now. Should be challenging Millar now when things resume internationally. 

I hate to always be the guy....but how Millar can be considered that high up when he's not playing professional games at all this year. Does this mean Corbeanu has worked his way into the depth from playing and performing with the U23's at Wolves?

For me Tajon has surpassed those guys in the "depth chart" - because you know, he's playing consistently, performing and showing great potential.  

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1 hour ago, One American said:

Has anyone had worse luck at scoring? Had one called back for a questionable offside. Got stoned 3 times against Nashville. 

 

He just needs to be more consistent. He has a Dempsey-like "tries s***" quality. 

I like that comparison. Also funny that it was Bruce Arena who said that about Dempsey. Would be curious to know his thoughts on the comparison.

For me he has to be #3 on our winger depth chart behind Davies and Hoilett for now. Millar is by all accounts doing well for Liverpool u23s and can hopefully get a loan but if we were to play tomorrow I'm going with Tajon off the bench.

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He would need some friendlies/camps with his national team teammates before he can be considered ahead of players like Millar or Tabla IMO. I know he was named to the Olympic squad provisional roster before Covid delayed that, but has he ever played with any of our national teams yet? National team selection for matches that count isn't all about skill, there also has to be some familiarity and chemistry with the team & the coaches and system played. He (along with Johnston & St. Clair) must be called to whatever our next camps/friendlies will be for that purpose (assuming that it's not in Europe when the MLS season on).

Edited by Gian-Luca
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5 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said:

He would need some friendlies/camps with his national team teammates before he can be considered ahead of players like Millar or Tabla IMO. 

I don’t see why. He’s playing at a higher level / more consistently / more minutes than either of them. Why would past invites to a camp supersede that. If I’m playing a match tomorrow I take Buchanan over either of them regardless of the history with the CanMNT.

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6 minutes ago, Floortom said:

I don’t see why. He’s playing at a higher level / more consistently / more minutes than either of them. Why would past invites to a camp supersede that. If I’m playing a match tomorrow I take Buchanan over either of them regardless of the history with the CanMNT.

This and also, Millar or Tabla have never done anything of significance with the CMNT so why wouldn't he surpass them? It's not like we're saying he's surpassing Hoilett.

Edited by CanadaFan123
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6 minutes ago, Floortom said:

I don’t see why. He’s playing at a higher level / more consistently / more minutes than either of them. Why would past invites to a camp supersede that. If I’m playing a match tomorrow I take Buchanan over either of them regardless of the history with the CanMNT.

For the reason I stated - familiarity with teammates and the system being played. If he's miles ahead of either player in terms of talent then I might agree, if we have a WCQ match tomorrow we call him up instead of the other two even though he's never played with anyone on the national team before. But I don't think that can be said yet about him vs the other two (maybe it will be if his progression continues at a high upwards trajectory), and knowing where your teammates are going to be on the field at crucial times is too important a criteria in a team sport simply to dismiss or ignore as though it is meaningless and doesn't count for anything - we all know that it does. It's regularly been cited many times by national team players that they don't have enough time to get familiar with each other and this impairs the team performance.

Once he gets taken to some camps and gets familiar with his teammates then it's a different story. That's what I am advocating for.

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2 hours ago, Shway said:

I hate to always be the guy....but how Millar can be considered that high up when he's not playing professional games at all this year. Does this mean Corbeanu has worked his way into the depth from playing and performing with the U23's at Wolves?

For me Tajon has surpassed those guys in the "depth chart" - because you know, he's playing consistently, performing and showing great potential.  

I think that is fair. For me Millar is that high up the depth chart by virtue of his 8 caps. Others may not factor that in, which is fine.

Tajon is playing at a level higher than Premier League 2, but his output is similar to what Millar's was at Kilmonarck.

All that considered, along with what I see with my own eyes, Tajon should be challenging Millar for his spot on the team. 

Edited by Obinna
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1 hour ago, CanadaFan123 said:

This and also, Millar or Tabla have never done anything of significance with the CMNT so why wouldn't he surpass them? It's not like we're saying he's surpassing Hoilett.

Both have done more than Tajon, who has done zero (because he hasn't been called), but his time will come. I am excited to get him in the fold.

Edited by Obinna
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16 hours ago, Bertuzzi44 said:

Very nice!

Seems like you don't have to ask this kid twice to take a shot. Possible Hoilett heir?.....

It’s scary how much this goal reminded me of Hoilett’s goal at the 2017 Gold Cup.  Down 2-0, late in the game, screamer from deep, against Andre Blake and the exact same goal celebration (let’s get back and get another).  If only this was Tajon’s first goal for the team haha!

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9 hours ago, Floortom said:

I don’t see why. He’s playing at a higher level / more consistently / more minutes than either of them. Why would past invites to a camp supersede that. If I’m playing a match tomorrow I take Buchanan over either of them regardless of the history with the CanMNT.

There also something to be said about the fact of playing in a senior team and not a youth one. It's not the same. Even if the quality were the same, it will always be more demanding to be playing for a team that's actively competing in a first division league, there's more at stake.

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9 hours ago, Gian-Luca said:

For the reason I stated - familiarity with teammates and the system being played. If he's miles ahead of either player in terms of talent then I might agree, if we have a WCQ match tomorrow we call him up instead of the other two even though he's never played with anyone on the national team before. But I don't think that can be said yet about him vs the other two (maybe it will be if his progression continues at a high upwards trajectory), and knowing where your teammates are going to be on the field at crucial times is too important a criteria in a team sport simply to dismiss or ignore as though it is meaningless and doesn't count for anything - we all know that it does. It's regularly been cited many times by national team players that they don't have enough time to get familiar with each other and this impairs the team performance.

Once he gets taken to some camps and gets familiar with his teammates then it's a different story. That's what I am advocating for.

I mean just want to throw this out there... Arfield did debut for Canada in a WCQ game against Mexico after only spending a few days training with the team... 

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1 minute ago, LeoH037 said:

I mean just want to throw this out there... Arfield did debut for Canada in a WCQ game against Mexico after only spending a few days training with the team... 

Yeah, but that's what I mean about being miles ahead of other options. Arfield was an EPL midfielder in the prime of his career at that point and we didn't have much else that could compare. In circumstances like that (or Cristante if that had worked out or any other top 4 league "gift" that a player's Canadian lineage might get for us some day) for sure you would bring them in right away (and not play 6 CB's all over the field like Floro did in those games against Mexico) but I don't think we can say right now that Buchanan is at mid-table EPL team starter level. If he does match Dempsey's trajectory and goes to the EPL for sure, but I'd like to think he would have been brought in for some camps long before that happens (assuming it does, which would be great).

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"ahead of other options" and you make that judgement based on his current club form no? By that same logic, if Canada had to play a competitive game tomorrow, everything else the same (i.e. quality of play in respective league, playing time, etc..) I start the player playing in a senior pro club and getting minutes/scoring, and not the promising guy who is still in a youth team, regardless how long said player has been with the program.

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14 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said:

Yeah, but that's what I mean about being miles ahead of other options. Arfield was an EPL midfielder in the prime of his career at that point and we didn't have much else that could compare. In circumstances like that (or Cristante if that had worked out or any other top 4 league "gift" that a player's Canadian lineage might get for us some day) for sure you would bring them in right away (and not play 6 CB's all over the field like Floro did in those games against Mexico) but I don't think we can say right now that Buchanan is at mid-table EPL team starter level. If he does match Dempsey's trajectory and goes to the EPL for sure, but I'd like to think he would have been brought in for some camps long before that happens (assuming it does, which would be great).

That's a heavily biased view of Canada's options IMO

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20 hours ago, Gian-Luca said:

He would need some friendlies/camps with his national team teammates before he can be considered ahead of players like Millar or Tabla IMO. I know he was named to the Olympic squad provisional roster before Covid delayed that, but has he ever played with any of our national teams yet? National team selection for matches that count isn't all about skill, there also has to be some familiarity and chemistry with the team & the coaches and system played. He (along with Johnston & St. Clair) must be called to whatever our next camps/friendlies will be for that purpose (assuming that it's not in Europe when the MLS season on).

Under normal circumstances, for guys who are attending regular camps/games/friendlies, I would say that consideration should be given some weight.  But at this moment in time,  with the players in question, I don't put as much emphasis on past involvement for guys with limited Nat experience.  Millar has been more involved so probably has the edge on a newcomer to the group, but Tabla is in a different situation IMO.  I am a big cheerleader for him and hope he turns into a worldbeater,  but when was the last time he pulled on the red and white?  And given that limited involvement and the time that has passed, how much of an edge would that actually give him if he was called into a game situation?  Lets not forget, these guys are also realistically competing for a spot on the bench at most.  With Tajon's current play, and the kind of performances he is consistently putting in, I don't see how he wouldn't leapfrog at least Tabla - who was injured and has been underperforming for a while now.   Its not like Canada plays such a radically unique system that people need to spend a long time learning our tactics. 

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3 hours ago, dyslexic nam said:

Under normal circumstances, for guys who are attending regular camps/games/friendlies, I would say that consideration should be given some weight.  But at this moment in time,  with the players in question, I don't put as much emphasis on past involvement for guys with limited Nat experience.  Millar has been more involved so probably has the edge on a newcomer to the group, but Tabla is in a different situation IMO.  I am a big cheerleader for him and hope he turns into a worldbeater,  but when was the last time he pulled on the red and white?  And given that limited involvement and the time that has passed, how much of an edge would that actually give him if he was called into a game situation?  Lets not forget, these guys are also realistically competing for a spot on the bench at most.  With Tajon's current play, and the kind of performances he is consistently putting in, I don't see how he wouldn't leapfrog at least Tabla - who was injured and has been underperforming for a while now.   Its not like Canada plays such a radically unique system that people need to spend a long time learning our tactics. 

I would say that he's closer to surpassing Tabla  since they are playing at the same level and Tajon is currently performing higher but as you say, Tabla's been injured. If he gets back into the swing of things as he regains match fitness (and there is plenty of time to do before we next play, since who knows when that will be), then who knows. We'll have to see how they each progress (or not). The other thing is that Ballou can play on the left and Tajon on the right, so they aren't even necessarily competing. I actually see more overlap between Tajon & Millar in terms of positions.

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