Olympic Qualifying U24 Tournament - Guadalajara Mexico - March 18 to 30 2021

[costarg]

Not trying to bash or insult here, just an honest take.  I'd appreciate an overview or explanation of the positive Baldisimo ratings please. 

I understand most of the team was off-season and rusty.  However I just can't wrap my head around some of us saying he had a good tournament.  Sooo many failed passes and giveaways.  I'd love to see the stats, if i had to bet i'd place money on him leading the team in turnovers.  In my eyes he's just behind Brym and Bair as most disappointing in regards to expectations.

[SpursFlu]

I thought Baldisimo was a bit disappointing. His switch of play was off, he tried to play the ball long a little too much and when had to he couldn't create space for himself. But.. the competition was high so I'm not too concerned. He was ok

 

Edited March 29, 2021 by SpursFlu

[yomurphy1]

3 minutes ago, SpursFlu said:

I thought Baldisimo was a bit disappointing

 

Baldisimo strikes me as similar to Liam Fraser in that they both have a wonderful ability to hit a pass which looks pretty and is a joy to watch..  They also both have limitations when they get pressured. Baldisimo's not the biggest and wasn't getting the protection to get off those passes and doesn't have the dribbling to get out tight situations. Fraser's a little slow and doesn't make up for it with positioning.  

[Unnamed Trialist]

9 minutes ago, costarg said:

Not trying to bash or insult here, just an honest take.  I'd appreciate an overview or explanation of the positive Baldisimo ratings please. 

I understand most of the team was off-season and rusty.  However I just can't wrap my head around some of us saying he had a good tournament.  Sooo many failed passes and giveaways.  I'd love to see the stats, if i had to bet i'd place money on him leading the team in turnovers.  In my eyes he's just behind Brym and Bair as most disappointing in regards to expectations.

This is also on Biello, and perhaps the one aspect where I think the coach really did fail: we did not have a proper possession setup with the ball in the midfield. Our movement off the ball and team approach in the middle was weak. While lining up in defense we were more or less right, though overly simplistic and "flat" (players line up in the middle straight across in 4 or 5, which looks and is a bit dumb but is not uncommon), when you have the ball that has to shift immediately. Baldi is more a player to play in a dynamic midfield set up, where we are slicing through lines and moving ahead without having to always resort to going back to the CBs or out to the wide players waiting (something Biello did have right).

How many times were Baldissimo and Metcalfe working together? Either with Dias? We rarely saw it, unless it was an aggressive move forward, much riskier. 

Sometimes you have to put the ball in the marinade and move it about a bit until it gets that flavour.

[El Diego]

I am still unsure what Baldisimo's best role is, but I don't think it's in a midfield two. I think you want as many options ahead of him as possible, so I lean towards him being the deepest mid in a 3. Semi side note, he seems to have a penchant for the odd studs up horror tackle. He had two really bad ones versus Honduras (one got a yellow). If the timing was slightly off on either one, I wouldn't have been shocked to see a red. Couldn't help but remember the red card he got in the u20 qualifiers a little while back, which I remember him playing really well in and was actually when I think a lot of us started to get excited about him.

I think generally he was "ok", but we are disappointed because we had high expectations of him.

[Unnamed Trialist]

10 minutes ago, El Diego said:

I am still unsure what Baldisimo's best role is, but I don't think it's in a midfield two. I think you want as many options ahead of him as possible, so I lean towards him being the deepest mid in a 3. Semi side note, he seems to have a penchant for the odd studs up horror tackle. He had two really bad ones versus Honduras (one got a yellow). If the timing was slightly off on either one, I wouldn't have been shocked to see a red. Couldn't help but remember the red card he got in the u20 qualifiers a little while back, which I remember him playing really well in and was actually when I think a lot of us started to get excited about him.

I think generally he was "ok", but we are disappointed because we had high expectations of him.

I kind of enjoyed our crunching tackling, some of it very cynical. Yesterday we were a bit lucky on a few, but at least we have that part of the tactical nous down.

I was never that high on Baldissimo because I'm a Caps fan, and the team really had hardly anything to get excited about last year. It was pretty miserable. I don't think any player deserved to be lauded the way we played, maybe Hasal excepted.

[costarg]

21 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

This is also on Biello, and perhaps the one aspect where I think the coach really did fail: we did not have a proper possession setup with the ball in the midfield. Our movement off the ball and team approach in the middle was weak. While lining up in defense we were more or less right, though overly simplistic and "flat" (players line up in the middle straight across in 4 or 5, which looks and is a bit dumb but is not uncommon), when you have the ball that has to shift immediately. Baldi is more a player to play in a dynamic midfield set up, where we are slicing through lines and moving ahead without having to always resort to going back to the CBs or out to the wide players waiting (something Biello did have right).

How many times were Baldissimo and Metcalfe working together? Either with Dias? We rarely saw it, unless it was an aggressive move forward, much riskier. 

Sometimes you have to put the ball in the marinade and move it about a bit until it gets that flavour.

Yes, system can also play into it.  Biello obviously gave him a bog role and played him as the distributor, everyone was giving him the ball deep in the midfield.  From the chair where I was sitting at, he couldn't hit the short or the long passes.  Looked more like a hockey player playing dump and chase, he made his teammates worse not better.  That's my issue, I honestly feel he took everyone down with him.  Every team we played realized quickly they just needed to pressure him and he'd give it up.  He just had too much responsibility and failed.

[ag futbol]

53 minutes ago, costarg said:

Yes, system can also play into it.  Biello obviously gave him a bog role and played him as the distributor, everyone was giving him the ball deep in the midfield.  From the chair where I was sitting at, he couldn't hit the short or the long passes.  Looked more like a hockey player playing dump and chase, he made his teammates worse not better.  That's my issue, I honestly feel he took everyone down with him.  Every team we played realized quickly they just needed to pressure him and he'd give it up.  He just had too much responsibility and failed.

Let’s face it, the single pivot in midfield structure is easy to snuff out and disrupt. You’ve seen TFC go through that at times when everyone on the field knows Bradley is getting the ball off the CB’s.

The answer is have a second player centrally provide an outlet. And make sure the wide players are moving enough so that if the opposition closes in they are quickly made to pay for it. 

I thought Baldissimo did okay in certain respects but the passing was too much side-to-side and not enough play between the lines. It’s more than him that plays into that equation though.

[BearcatSA]

2 hours ago, yomurphy1 said:

Fraser's a little slow and doesn't make up for it with positioning.  

Which makes me ponder how much his similar to others MLS preseaon fitness level would have affected him out there.  

[Shway]

Baldisimo is better than Fraser. He's more mobile, and closes down spaces a lot better.
I think if we saw Fraser in that middle with Metcalfe -  it would've been a lot worse. 

Although he would've been beneficial to this squad, I'm started to think you guys have way too high of hopes for Fraser/he's overrated.

 

[Shway]

On a side note, I kinda wish the U23 competition was more frequent - Kinda like the U21 European Championships. 
I feel like the U17-U20 isn't much of a difference in terms of development...but the U23 years is when guys are coming into their own. 

It's also a last chance to impress for some guys on the international stage vs having just 3 years from 17-20.

 

[gator]

12 minutes ago, Shway said:

Baldisimo is better than Fraser. He's more mobile, and closes down spaces a lot better.
I think if we saw Fraser in that middle with Metcalfe -  it would've been a lot worse. 

Although he would've been beneficial to this squad, I'm started to think you guys have way too high of hopes for Fraser/he's overrated.

 

This is exactly why I really was hoping he was going to be at this tournament, I don't agree with your assessment at all and I think Fraser would have been the better choice last night, I thought this tournament could have been great for him, Baldisimo was ok but overall disappointing to me!

[El Diego]

At this point in time I cannot see how you can argue that Baldisimo is better than Fraser, which is no knock on Baldisimo considering that Liam is a little over two years older. Fraser has 32 MLS appearances for a better team, and 4 senior caps (one being in the win against the USA where he looked mobile enough in a midfield two).

I'm very open to Baldisimo being the better prospect between the two, but I see no way one can say that he is better right now.

[ag futbol]

I wouldn’t sweat Fraser. The pieces that could have been useful:

- Prisso as a box-to-box option. Played very clean and mistake free in several TFC games last late year. Greg Vanney hooks his young players without much thought, so the fact he played so well from minute 1 and seems to be making his way up the rotation was impressive. We really could have used someone like this to shore up midfield. 
 

I realize he’s played very limited minutes but very much passes the smell test. TFC has basically always produced guys that have some disclaimer attached. This is the only player I’ve seen hit our roster who was just game ready, right away, no caveats.

- Perruzza as an actual target man. Maybe this is over stated but I think his track record in USL and general skill set could have made him a worthwhile option. 

it’s hard to know what any of the others might have offered given very limited visibility (Okello, Romeo) or just appearing to be very raw (Nelson).

Edited March 29, 2021 by ag futbol

[CanadaFan123]

3 minutes ago, ag futbol said:

I wouldn’t sweat Fraser. The pieces that could have been useful:

- Prisso as a box-to-box option. Played very clean and mistake free in several TFC games last late year. Greg Vanney hooks his young players without much thought, so the fact he played so well from minute 1 and seems to be making his way up the rotation was impressive. We really could have used someone like this to shore up midfield. 

- Perruzza as an actual target man. Maybe this is over stated but I think his track record in USL and general skill set could have made him a worthwhile option. 

it’s hard to know what any of the others might have offered given very limited visibility (Okello, Romeo) or just appearing to be very raw (Nelson).

Perruzza and Dunn for me would have been the two most valuable TFC pieces to this squad. Okello, Priso and Fraser would have been good too but I feel we really lacked a CF.

Question.. did Brym or Bair have a scoring chance all tournament?

Good news is that both Priso and Perruzza, along with Nelson and JMR are eligible for next cycle.

Edited March 29, 2021 by CanadaFan123

[El Hombre]

4 minutes ago, ag futbol said:

- Prisso as a box-to-box option. Played very clean and mistake free in several TFC games last late year. Greg Vanney hooks his young players without much thought, so the fact he played so well from minute 1 and seems to be making his way up the rotation was impressive. We really could have used someone like this to shore up midfield.

1 - No one has turned 180 minutes of professional game time into more hype than Priso.

2 - He did not make his way up the rotation.  The rotation made its way down to him through injuries and Vanney's terrible man management.

(Agree about Peruzza though)

[ag futbol]

3 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Perruzza and Dunn for me would have been the two most valuable TFC pieces to this squad. Okello, Priso and Fraser would have been good too but I feel we really lacked a CF.

Question.. did Brym or Bair have a scoring chance all tournament?

Forgot about Dunn. That sort of goes in the Terran Campbell category for me. In theory, looks like something we need but in camp how would he compare to the other options? Difficult to know.

[CanadaFan123]

Just now, ag futbol said:

Forgot about Dunn. That sort of goes in the Terran Campbell category for me. In theory, looks like something we need but in camp how would he compare to the other options? Difficult to know.

I mean I'm pretty confident he would have been better than at least one of TMG, Norman and Montgomery. 

[ag futbol]

Just now, El Hombre said:

1 - No one has turned 180 minutes of professional game time into more hype than Priso.

2 - He did not make his way up the rotation.  The rotation made its way down to him through injuries and Vanney's terrible man management.

(Agree about Peruzza though)

I fully admit it’s speculative and half baked. Great games, minuscule sample size m.

But from my completely unprofessional eyeball test if I were to take one of Fraser or Priso, I’m taking Priso 10x out of 10. 

Several years on I’m still waiting for Fraser to play one game that was a clean as the ones Priso played. 

[Shway]

2 minutes ago, ag futbol said:

I fully admit it’s speculative and half baked. Great games, minuscule sample size m.

But from my completely unprofessional eyeball test if I were to take one of Fraser or Priso, I’m taking Priso 10x out of 10. 

Several years on I’m still waiting for Fraser to play one game that was a clean as the ones Priso played. 

Agreed. 

I like Fraser, I just think his style of play and game might be suited for position change which is CB. I feel like I was watching Norman, when seeing Fraser - I just think where Norman was patient, Fraser would've dived in a few times. 

[toontownman]

3 hours ago, costarg said:

Not trying to bash or insult here, just an honest take.  I'd appreciate an overview or explanation of the positive Baldisimo ratings please. 

I understand most of the team was off-season and rusty.  However I just can't wrap my head around some of us saying he had a good tournament.  Sooo many failed passes and giveaways.  I'd love to see the stats, if i had to bet i'd place money on him leading the team in turnovers.  In my eyes he's just behind Brym and Bair as most disappointing in regards to expectations.

I was dissapointing with where and how he was deployed. He started and finished fine and really got stuck in against Mexico. I believe he was limited to a more defensive role which cut out what he is best at in terms of spraying the ball around and playing balls from deep.

He was unfortunately part of our weak center. Had we had the tfc guys maybe he could have thrived more.

[dyslexic nam]

When it comes to the TFC guys, is there something I am missing about Nelson that results in everyone omitting him?  To me, he is one of the more exciting prospects we have and generally hasn’t looked out of place when he was on the field for TFC.  

[ag futbol]

Just now, Shway said:

Agreed. 

I like Fraser, I just think his style of play and game might be suited for position change which is CB. I feel like I was watching Norman, when seeing Fraser - I just think where Norman was patient, Fraser would've dived in a few times. 

The thing that is going to haunt that kid (Fraser) whether it’s at CB or CM, is going to be those one off mistakes and a slow first step that hurts his ability to recover.

If I were Norman, I’m filing for a career change to CB. He got spun around a lot vs. Mexico but I put that down to the quality of the opposition and inexperience at the position. Cause otherwise, I think he has a lot to offer there and let’s be honest, Canada as a whole is not producing a lot of CB’s at any level while other positions are looking increasingly competitive. 

[Shway]

1 hour ago, gator said:

This is exactly why I really was hoping he was going to be at this tournament, I don't agree with your assessment at all and I think Fraser would have been the better choice last night, I thought this tournament could have been great for him, Baldisimo was ok but overall disappointing to me!

I've seen pretty much every game that both of these guys have played. I just feel Baldi is more agile, more nimble on the ball than Fraser, more able to break up a pass, and make a breaking pass. 

I don't get the Baldi disappointment (along with the ZBG) tbh, I thought he played well - like any other guy in the team, they had their mistakes. Not to discredit Metcalfe, but I think if Fraser was partnered with him in the midfield...we would've absolutely looked worse. 

Here's some quick stats for comparison....I know it's #FreeLiamFraser with TFC, but this is still substantial:

Baldi 20 - 703 minutes, 7 starts, 4 assists
Fraser, 23 - 1861 minutes, 20 starts, 1 assist

Same position.

[ag futbol]

54 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

When it comes to the TFC guys, is there something I am missing about Nelson that results in everyone omitting him?  To me, he is one of the more exciting prospects we have and generally hasn’t looked out of place when he was on the field for TFC.  

Nice speed / skill but not yet turning skill into end product (goals, assists, chances). Needs considerable seasoning tactically (the nice way to say it). Wild and unpredictable.

Think the club believes in the potential but not what he shows on the field today.