Match thread-May 8th. 2019 -Cavalry FC vs Valour FC

[jonovision]

This referee is very bad. Created the topic for this reason only. Call some fouls, and maybe the game will get a bit of flow going.

[jonovision]

Mitter seems to have locked down the all important "I'm slow and kind of bad but at least I yell at guys" role. Only good player for Valour in this match has been Arguinarena. Everyone else has been very poor.

Edited May 9, 2019 by jonovision

[Pottsy3]

Unfortunate timing for that foul, leading to an Escalante free kick goal

 

[jonovision]

Still can't get over this refereeing performance though. He ruined this game by the way he called the first half.

[Cheeta]

LOL.  6 cautions and the ref let things go.  Truthfully was rough and tumble.

Oh man, Farago wears that free kick goal.  Escalante great working getting the placement and the bounce but I don't know.  Expect better.

  

[Unnamed Trialist]

My vote for surprise player of the CPL so far: Jay Wheeldon. Everyone thought it was a bogus signing, or one that was meant to give Tommy a coaching assistant. But he is a very solid player. He has no pro background don't think does he? He was in amateur Belgium, non-league England.

What has he been like at Foothills over the years?

[Ivanovski94]

2 minutes ago, Cheeta said:

LOL.  6 cautions and the ref let things go.  Truthfully was rough and tumble.

Oh man, Farago wears that free kick goal.  Escalante great working getting the placement and the bounce but I don't know.  Expect better.

  

I think Farago agrees with you, just from his reaction after the goal.

[Cheeta]

And what the Hell?  We've seen hints of this but Murrell isn't exactly shy about going on raids is he?  And towards the final minutes there I have to believe Ferguson didn't realise how alone he was at the top of Cavalry's box because otherwise why would he lay off when he should be taking the opportunity and look for the glory?

Pitch is pretty good but weird in spots.  Could have sworn a ball took a jump off a sprinkler head or something here and there. 

[Big_M]

Even in the first game Dunfield had Wheeldon as the player of the game..solid player..with him and a few others from lower leagues doing well it shows d7-8 England is good enough for this league

This one is on Farago..should have had that 100%..first went the wrong way then still could have had it but had his hands wrong..cost his team a point

[Cheeta]

5 minutes ago, Ivanovski94 said:

I think Farago agrees with you, just from his reaction after the goal.

I'm not going to read too much into that.    The man has a "Not Impressed" expression painted onto his face. 

It's early days yet, lots of things still coming together with the players obviously, including keepers, but Farago is mostly solid.  Has a stumble here and there which gets everyones heart beat up but we'll see less of that as the season gets on I expect. 

Gale freshed things up at the top (quite liked it really) but it'll need time to come together of course.  More a move out of necessity than any great chance in the grand scheme I'd think.  Tough schedule for Valour right now and he has to think ahead about keeping the home fans entertained so using the roster on the road isn't such a bad idea.  Curious to see how Bustos fits into the plans.

P.S.  Nik escaped a booking but he put out his share of elbows and forearms to go along with the rakings to probably warrent one.  Good for him.  Ref has a whistle.  You'll know if he has a problem with any of it.  Thought Adekudge had a good night.  Marila in patches as well.        

[Unnamed Trialist]

22 minutes ago, Big_M said:

Even in the first game Dunfield had Wheeldon as the player of the game..solid player..with him and a few others from lower leagues doing well it shows d7-8 England is good enough for this league

This one is on Farago..should have had that 100%..first went the wrong way then still could have had it but had his hands wrong..cost his team a point

I would not say d7 is good enough, as I watch that level in Spain and have never seen anyone near the level for CPL--I am sure England is no different. If I went up to 6th tier, there are some flashes, fifth up to fourth (in Spain a lower level than 4th tier England) could be more like it.

Thing is, he was just playing amateur since he teens until his brother asked him to play for Foothills, when he was like 23 or so. But he had been at Torquay as a teen, and obviously he had the basics and the ability, but needed the chance. 

Still, asking again: how was he as a Foothills player?

[toontownman]

Could have easily had some reds this game. Got a little out of control at times. 

Valour will be disappointed again. Bustos will be a big boost for the weekend. 

[Big_M]

In Spain there are over 300 teams at the fourth level and over 500 at the fifth so has nothing to do with England..mitter played d7 and mavila d6 so those levels in England are good enough for cpl

[Greatest Cockney Rip Off]

I think people greatly underestimate the level of non league football in England. There are D5 clubs spending as much or more than MLS teams. If you haven’t been to matches at that level, you can’t simply judge it based on what level in the pyramid the club sits in. 

[Reign]

3 hours ago, Greatest Cockney Rip Off said:

I think people greatly underestimate the level of non league football in England. There are D5 clubs spending as much or more than MLS teams. If you haven’t been to matches at that level, you can’t simply judge it based on what level in the pyramid the club sits in. 

 

Are you sure ? What teams are spending more then even a bottom tier MLS club ? Or did you mean to say CPL? 

 

Anyways about the game... Cavalry are hard to play against. They challenge every ball and teams have to expect to get a little beat up playing them. Their midfield continues to look top tier for CPL. On Wheeldon I wonder what happens when Mason Trafford gets healthy ?

[Unnamed Trialist]

4 hours ago, Greatest Cockney Rip Off said:

I think people greatly underestimate the level of non league football in England. There are D5 clubs spending as much or more than MLS teams. If you haven’t been to matches at that level, you can’t simply judge it based on what level in the pyramid the club sits in. 

I've seen the top four tiers in England. And all tiers in Spain, in fact almost every year I see all tiers. My take is that CPL is like a good Spanish 4th tier, where as mentioned there are a few hundred teams--so maybe that does have an equivalent in a D6 England, on that basis alone. 

Aparicio, who was sharp in that first match, or Soria, were mostly D4 level players in Spain, though both with some experience a tier up. Piette went from being a solid D3 in Spain to a solid MLS player, without missing a step. 

What it seems with Wheeldon is that he did not find his chances, or take them, or maybe a combination, since he has a lot of poise, is very competitive, has good positioning, is tough, has leadership on the pitch, a lot of things you would not expect from someone at his age with solely three years of Foothills--but hey, look at the whole team, most of us were wrong about them. 

[Greatest Cockney Rip Off]

1 hour ago, Reign said:

 

Are you sure ? What teams are spending more then even a bottom tier MLS club ? Or did you mean to say CPL? 

A few years ago Forest Green Rovers were spending £2-3 million. on player salaries and when this was reported, they were not the only club paying that amount. This season Salford City was offering more money than Scottish Premier League clubs. 

I think all of the 5th division and some of the 6th division sides are fully professional now and spending big on salaries. 

[Greatest Cockney Rip Off]

50 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

I've seen the top four tiers in England. And all tiers in Spain, in fact almost every year I see all tiers. My take is that CPL is like a good Spanish 4th tier, where as mentioned there are a few hundred teams--so maybe that does have an equivalent in a D6 England, on that basis alone. 

Aparicio, who was sharp in that first match, or Soria, were mostly D4 level players in Spain, though both with some experience a tier up. Piette went from being a solid D3 in Spain to a solid MLS player, without missing a step. 

What it seems with Wheeldon is that he did not find his chances, or take them, or maybe a combination, since he has a lot of poise, is very competitive, has good positioning, is tough, has leadership on the pitch, a lot of things you would not expect from someone at his age with solely three years of Foothills--but hey, look at the whole team, most of us were wrong about them. 

I make it out to a handful of 5th and 6th tier matches around London each year and I always felt there were players at that level that could improve TFC, especially in defence. 

[JamboAl]

1 hour ago, Greatest Cockney Rip Off said:

I make it out to a handful of 5th and 6th tier matches around London each year and I always felt there were players at that level that could improve TFC, especially in defence. 

I agree that are some players in the National League could play CPL and do very well.  I used to watch Conference (now National League) matches and some of those sides are on par with League 2.

[The Real Marc]

8 hours ago, Greatest Cockney Rip Off said:

I think people greatly underestimate the level of non league football in England. There are D5 clubs spending as much or more than MLS teams. If you haven’t been to matches at that level, you can’t simply judge it based on what level in the pyramid the club sits in. 

Generally agreed - professionalism has nearly taken over Tier 5, although FGR and Salford are outliers in terms of budgets.

People forget, too, that in addition to being a national league system all the way down to tier 5, all of those lower English leagues are importers of talent - they attract not only the English players from the Premier league that have been displaced by foreigners post-Bosman, not only the academy players that don't crack Premier league/Champ lineups, not only the Premier/Champ league loans, but also players from all over Europe due to their decent wages. I mean, heck, Stanley have five foreigners.

To me, it makes sense that our league, with its pro-but-only-just salaries, players drawing from USL, more marginal Canadian pros, guys playing PDL, etc. would be generally equivalent to Tier 5/6 UK.

I mean, look who came back? Not Hainault and guys like that but Haber (on the downslide in Tier 2 Scotland), Issey (on the downslide in SE Asia), Tyson Farago (couldn't get a game in Ireland), Legerwood (ending his lower league career), etc.

Obviously not directly related, because it's a lower level, but there's an article about how every year a bunch of even lower level players (Tier 6/7/8) shift over to Australia to play semi-pro. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/47334814

 

Edited May 9, 2019 by The Real Marc

[youllneverwalkalone]

We'll, the great thing about a pyramid is that there are always players a level or two down who could play a level or two up. Historically, North America buries these guys because the pyramid, for what it is, doesn't work. But Anthony "The Next Ricky Lambert" Novak scored a beauty last night, so maybe that's changing with the CPL.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

 

[Obinna]

Some interesting comments at the game about the level. The British women who sat next to me commented that it seemed similar to League One in England, because they "hoofed the ball about". Then, leaving the match, a heard a guy behind me making comparison to the local premier league in Calgary. Very interesting to hear peoples opinions.

[jonovision]

29 minutes ago, Obinna said:

Some interesting comments at the game about the level. The British women who sat next to me commented that it seemed similar to League One in England, because they "hoofed the ball about". Then, leaving the match, a heard a guy behind me making comparison to the local premier league in Calgary. Very interesting to hear peoples opinions.

Of all the games I've watched in whole or in part, this one seemed the worst advertisement for the league and its level.

It certainly was choppy and stop-start, with no flow, mostly because for the first 40 minutes neither team could play through midfield because most possession was broken up by obvious fouls that weren't called, and then for the remainder of the game the teams played the same way but the ref finally discovered his whistle.

The "let them play" ethos (seemingly a league mandate, given what we've seen so far and comments from the broadcasters), alongside the holier-than-thou "our players don't dive and roll around" theme also being pushed (already proven to be utter BS), are two of things that I hope the league discards sooner than later in this inaugural season. As we've seen in other sports, failing to punish minor transgressions is a good way to reduce the importance of players with actual skill in favour of the relatively talentless guys that are willing to get "stuck in".

Edited May 9, 2019 by jonovision

[red card]

From watching all the teams so far, Cavalry and FCE play the least interesting styles and most suited for the laissez faire style of reffing. 

For the sake of the CPL and the development of our players, I hope teams like Forge or Valour win the league. Or the reffing has to get more tighter - upper body contact such as shoulder to shoulder is fine but more of the lower body contact needs to be whistled.