Frank Sturing

[canuckgbp]

13 minutes ago, Sal333 said:

Do you have any intel on how vigorously Nigeria is pursuing him? Despite the England cap tie, I think Nigeria is the country we really have to worry about. If the fields are leveled and we make Qatar 2022, I feel Nigeria still has one over us. He has absolutely no ties to Canada except that his mother delivered him in Calgary. England is the country he spent most of his life in and Nigeria is his parents's homeland and right now on paper it has a better team than we do. Our one and only ace in the hole is sweet talking John Herdman.

I read that his mother brought him back every year or multiple years to visit Canada. Ill try and dig up that article but maybe others remember it? Think I am remember that correctly. 

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

54 minutes ago, Shway said:

Means absolutely shit. Because he was in the exact same position last year.

I would disagree a bit.  Milan were in two rounds of the Europa League after he got there, having finished 6th in Serie A the year before.  They finished 2nd and are the Champions League group stage this year.  That changes how many looks he gets. 

 

And I would say Southgate has operated a little differently than some England administrations in the past.  Part of it is the changes in football with young English players being snapped up by foreign clubs a bit more but I think he does follow foreign-based players more than others have.

I got it wrong the first time on how many centre backs I saw ahead of him.  So I don't really have a percentage these days.

30 minutes ago, Sal333 said:

Despite the England cap tie, I think Nigeria is the country we really have to worry about

Some really great points in there as well. 

What you would probably say are the top 4 centre back that have got caps for them in last while play for West Brom, Hoffenheim, Boa Vista and Watford.  So as far as reputations go, he probably jumps to near the top of that list.

 

Edit: Does anyone know how the 3rd round of African qualifying works, it is seeded in any way?  Nigeria should get out of their group (going on now) pretty handily but then have a home and away round in March to take it from 10 to 5 teams.  Obviously some tough teams they could draw if not seeded. 

Edited September 2, 2021 by WestHamCanadianinOxford

[canuckgbp]

Here is the link

https://www.wakingthered.com/2020/10/16/21517997/canadian-born-chelsea-fc-defender-fikayo-tomoris-reflects-on-tough-decision-to-represent-england

”Currently valued at $22 million USD according to Transfermarkt, Tomori, 22, left Canada and moved to England with his family as a toddler where he joined the Chelsea academy at the age of eight. However, thanks to annual family visits back to his native land, he still feels a connection to his home country and considers himself to be a Canadian—except for when it comes to football now.”

 

[Sal333]

20 minutes ago, canuckgbp said:

Here is the link

https://www.wakingthered.com/2020/10/16/21517997/canadian-born-chelsea-fc-defender-fikayo-tomoris-reflects-on-tough-decision-to-represent-england

”Currently valued at $22 million USD according to Transfermarkt, Tomori, 22, left Canada and moved to England with his family as a toddler where he joined the Chelsea academy at the age of eight. However, thanks to annual family visits back to his native land, he still feels a connection to his home country and considers himself to be a Canadian—except for when it comes to football now.”

 

LOL! 99% of that article had me doubting myself. Maybe he will pick Canada after all but his closing line was a kick to the stomach, " And obviously, I wish (Canada) all of the best." That's what you say to an old sweetheart.

Edited September 2, 2021 by Sal333

[Obinna]

48 minutes ago, Sal333 said:

Do you have any intel on how vigorously Nigeria is pursuing him? Despite the England cap tie, I think Nigeria is the country we really have to worry about. If the fields are leveled and we make Qatar 2022, I feel Nigeria still has one over us. He has absolutely no ties to Canada except that his mother delivered him in Calgary. England is the country he spent most of his life in and Nigeria is his parents's homeland and right now on paper it has a better team than we do. Our one and only ace in the hole is sweet talking John Herdman.

I am a more casual Nigerian supporter than I was years ago, so I don't have any intel per se, but I would imagine Nigeria would very much welcome Tomori into the fold and are likely pursuing them.

Our saving grace may be the political and social issues in that "country" could plausibly turn him off.

Now that may be a stretch, because who's to say how engaged or informed he is on those things, but if some of my own family members are completely turned off by that place, maybe his parents fall in that category as well (if not him).

Was upon a time I would have been pushed to play for Nigeria (in an alternate timeline where I was actually good enough for a youth national team), but that definitely wouldn't be the case today, for the sole reason of what's going on down there. Again though, not everyone feels that way and it depends on how much you care about such matters, how informed you are, what your persuasion is, and possibly what tribe you belong to (he's Yoruba judging from his name, so it's possibly a toss up, if I may stereotype by ethnic group).

Anyways, at least it's something (for me personally) to hang my hopes on.

However, if it's strictly about soccer and nothing else, Nigeria is still deeper than us at most positions, and that's a bad thing for us. They may be perceived as having the better squad (although we are gaining ground quickly).

[Ivan]

1 hour ago, Sal333 said:

Do you have any intel on how vigorously Nigeria is pursuing him? Despite the England cap tie, I think Nigeria is the country we really have to worry about. If the fields are leveled and we make Qatar 2022, I feel Nigeria still has one over us. He has absolutely no ties to Canada except that his mother delivered him in Calgary. England is the country he spent most of his life in and Nigeria is his parents's homeland and right now on paper it has a better team than we do. Our one and only ace in the hole is sweet talking John Herdman.

I disagree with these statements.  He played for our youth teams, even captaining our teams in tournaments and that win over England, which ironically put him on their radar. 

[Corazon]

It also doesn't hurt that he has represented our National Team at the youth level.  That has to be a slight advantage over Nigeria in that category.  In the famous win over England in their friendly, Tomori captained the side that included Alphonso Davies, Tabla, Pantemis and others.  So he does have some sort of friendship/relationship with some of the Canadian players including Davies.

For those that don't know, as expected Tomori really stood out for Canada against England in those games by shutting out England's powerful attack that included Rashford.  The games, really put Tomori back on England's radar.

[Sal333]

24 minutes ago, Ivan said:

I disagree with these statements.  He played for our youth teams, even captaining our teams in tournaments and that win over England, which ironically put him on their radar. 

As a fan I hope you're right and I'm wrong.

[Shway]

Hey mods, are we able to move the last two pages to the Tomori thread lol....I do want to continue the Tomori convo, just in the right place. 

I put my hand up for this derail.

[Approve My Account Pls]

1 hour ago, Sal333 said:

Do you have any intel on how vigorously Nigeria is pursuing him? Despite the England cap tie, I think Nigeria is the country we really have to worry about. If the fields are leveled and we make Qatar 2022, I feel Nigeria still has one over us. He has absolutely no ties to Canada except that his mother delivered him in Calgary. England is the country he spent most of his life in and Nigeria is his parents's homeland and right now on paper it has a better team than we do. Our one and only ace in the hole is sweet talking John Herdman.

Agree with you on this, but I'd argue our true ace is how we perform in these first few windows. If we can show we're an exciting team and we're very young. Take away Borjan, Atiba, and Vitoria, our average age is 22.4. If we can start the qualifiers on fire, then we leave Herdman to sell him on how much better this team would look with Tomori in the back 3 for the next 3, possibly 4 WC cycles

 

Edit: possible math error, never my best subject - I forgot to include Wotherspoon in my calculation so it would actually be just over 25, but my point still stands, we're a very young team...

Edited September 2, 2021 by Approve My Account Pls

[king1010]

4 minutes ago, Approve My Account Pls said:

Agree with you on this, but I'd argue our true ace is how we perform in these first few windows. If we can show we're an exciting team and we're very young. Take away Borjan, Atiba, and Vitoria, our average age is 22.4. If we can start the qualifiers on fire, then we leave Herdman to sell him on how much better this team would look with Tomori in the back 3 for the next 3, possibly 4 WC cycles

Ferdi too. 

[dyslexic nam]

15 minutes ago, Shway said:

Hey mods, are we able to move the last two pages to the Tomori thread lol....I do want to continue the Tomori convo, just in the right place. 

I put my hand up for this derail.

The problem is that the Tomori thread is buried in the World Soccer section. 

[Shway]

12 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

The problem is that the Tomori thread is buried in the World Soccer section. 

You're right... it should be moved back.

[Sal333]

3 hours ago, Approve My Account Pls said:

Agree with you on this, but I'd argue our true ace is how we perform in these first few windows. If we can show we're an exciting team and we're very young. Take away Borjan, Atiba, and Vitoria, our average age is 22.4. If we can start the qualifiers on fire, then we leave Herdman to sell him on how much better this team would look with Tomori in the back 3 for the next 3, possibly 4 WC cycles

 

Edit: possible math error, never my best subject - I forgot to include Wotherspoon in my calculation so it would actually be just over 25, but my point still stands, we're a very young team...

That's exactly how I thought until recently. I felt if we made the Qatar WC and England didn't call him, he would make the switch but I minimized Nigeria in the equation. There are two reasons for playing on a national team. One is patriotic and the other is self-interest.  If I had to guess at his sense of patriotism for the three countries I would rate it England, Nigeria and last Canada.

It gets a little dicey  when it comes to self interest. In this aspect he obviously would choose England. Shine on that national team and you get top offers from the best pro teams. But if England ignores him that leaves Nigeria and Canada. Which team will help him shine brighter? It's a coin flip but right now on paper Nigeria has the better team and probably will permit him to shine more brightly and probably for a longer time in the Qatar WC.

Anyway, these are just thoughts to play with so I don't have a nervous breakdown waiting for the game tonight.

Edited September 2, 2021 by Sal333

[Kent]

6 hours ago, Corazon said:

For those that don't know, as expected Tomori really stood out for Canada against England in those games by shutting out England's powerful attack that included Rashford.  The games, really put Tomori back on England's radar.

I assume this is why we don't ever play friendlies anymore.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

Since signing for SV Horn he has played in all 3 of their matches (1 sub appearance and then 2 full matches).

He is getting playing time so he remains an option for us at CB.

[canuckgbp]

Playing as a CDM today. Sitting in front of the backline. Not sure if this is common or not at his new club. 

Link in the tweet if anyone is interested lol.

 

Edited October 1, 2021 by canuckgbp

[canuckgbp]

 

[PiedPilko]

5 hours ago, canuckgbp said:

 

There's a thought - will he ever actually get to come to Canada?

[nolando]

11 minutes ago, PiedPilko said:

There's a thought - will he ever actually get to come to Canada?

More likely as a spectator than a participant,  I'm afraid.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

Just like the MLS guys, he is currently in the off-season.

Austria D2 resumes for him on February 12th.

Could be a Camp Poutine option.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

Since the Austrian 2nd Division resumed in February he has started in all 6 matches for his club SV Horn.

If the lineups you find on Google can be trusted, he's been shifted around and has played LB, LCB, RCB & RB!

Basically all positions in a back four!

[Cblake]

Great to see Frank find the back of the net, his second for SV Horn in 15 league appearances, including 14 starts this season. 

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by Cblake

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

Was a regular starter for his club.

On April 15th he was subbed off at the 89th minute. Was he injured?

I can't find any reports of injury but he wasn't in the lineup at all for the last two matches on April 18th and April 22nd.

If anybody knows what is going on, please let us know.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

On 4/23/2022 at 1:32 PM, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

he wasn't in the lineup at all for the last two matches on April 18th and April 22nd...

Still not sure why he disappeared for the last two matches but the club clearly rate him because SV Horn have signed him for the 2022-2023 season:

https://www.svhorn.at/verein/news/sturing-bleibt-im-waldviertel

A risky move by Frank because the club is still fighting to avoid relegation.