Mo Farsi

[PiedPilko]

Sounds like he declined the call 😞

[Wasp]

20 minutes ago, PiedPilko said:

Sounds like he declined the call 😞

Was always the most reasonable explanation for why he wasn't on the preliminary list. As with all dual nationals, it's their right to choose and they can take as much time as they need to make their final decision. Until he's capped with Algeria, he's still a possible CANMT player so let's hope he continues to develop and decides to join a bit down the line.

[toontownman]

Might just be he wants to concentrate on Columbus and solidifying his place. Might be a bit too hopeful but that's what I'm going with lol

[grigorio]

If we can’t hold on to Canadians born in Canada whose journey to pro is completely part of the League One - CPL - MLS pathway AND has been a part of Canadian youth teams… who until maybe two years ago no one had ever heard of… 

[canuckgbp]

[Joe1973]

15 minutes ago, grigorio said:

If we can’t hold on to Canadians born in Canada whose journey to pro is completely part of the League One - CPL - MLS pathway AND has been a part of Canadian youth teams… who until maybe two years ago no one had ever heard of… 

My humble opinion, it's less a question of Canada Soccer holding on vs a question of what is makeup of Canada. For every Milan Borjan who wears his love of Canada on his sleeve, there's a whole lot more of Enes Sali, Flores, Mitrovic, Farsi, etc, etc. But it's a numbers game now...more players wr develop, more the pipeline will be full despite these potential losses

[grigorio]

3 minutes ago, Joe1973 said:

My humble opinion, it's less a question of Canada Soccer holding on vs a question of what is makeup of Canada. For every Milan Borjan who wears his love of Canada on his sleeve, there's a whole lot more of Enes Sali, Flores, Mitrovic, Farsi, etc, etc. But it's a numbers game now...more players wr develop, more the pipeline will be full despite these potential losses

Yes this is the right and measured  take. Buuuut this is still frustrating  because before we were any good you could justify almost anyone with other options choosing them over Canada. Now that we’re good we still have an uphill battle. 
 

We get the kids who: 1) aren’t eligible for a better nation 2) don’t have strong family or cultural influence based on heritage. Those two combined put a big dent in who we can get in the program and even those that fight through those two factors seem to take their sweet time to commit anyways. 

[Stoppage Time]

1 hour ago, PiedPilko said:

Sounds like he declined the call 😞

J'espere que son avenir international sera avec les rouges!

[Joe1973]

6 minutes ago, grigorio said:

Yes this is the right and measured  take. Buuuut this is still frustrating  because before we were any good you could justify almost anyone with other options choosing them over Canada. Now that we’re good we still have an uphill battle. 
 

We get the kids who: 1) aren’t eligible for a better nation 2) don’t have strong family or cultural influence based on heritage. Those two combined put a big dent in who we can get in the program and even those that fight through those two factors seem to take their sweet time to commit anyways. 

Oh I'm 100% with you on the frustration part. But I'm a half glass full guy. You now have kids who play soccer growing up and watching Davies, David, etc...and seeing oh Canada played at a world cup. It was never going to be easy the climb, but as long as we keep turning up prospects and growing, we will get to a point where IF a player like Farsi commits to another country, it will be a complete afterthought. 

[VinceA]

1 hour ago, grigorio said:

If we can’t hold on to Canadians born in Canada whose journey to pro is completely part of the League One - CPL - MLS pathway AND has been a part of Canadian youth teams… who until maybe two years ago no one had ever heard of… 

I mean sure, but it can also be something as simple as he sees Johnston, Laryea, ZBG, as players in his way, not to mention others who are popping up regularly and comparing that to Algeria who could be much less deep at the RB position and assessing their options.

[Kadenge]

25 minutes ago, VinceA said:

I mean sure, but it can also be something as simple as he sees Johnston, Laryea, ZBG, as players in his way, not to mention others who are popping up regularly and comparing that to Algeria who could be much less deep at the RB position and assessing their options.

If you want something badly, you will do what it takes to achieve your goal. If he  feels he can't surpass some of the guys you mentioned, it's a  lack of confidence in his own potential. Injuries happen and Canada has a WC spot locked for 2026 in our home. There's no guarantee Algeria will even qualify. They missed out in 2022. What really sucks is that he came through CPL and now  plays in MLS and not Europe like Sali, Mitrovic and Flores

[Approve My Account Pls]

Maybe I'm overly optimistic, but I'm gonna put this down to the guy is keeping his options open and wants to solidify his spot as an MLS regular.

I'd argue that his spot into a lineup is equally difficult tho...

Canadian RB: Johnston, Laryea, ZBG - this list extends to include guys like Buchanan, Hoilett if we thing about WBs on the right

Algerian RB: Atal, Zedadka (AJ Auxerre, loaned from Lille), Van Den Kerkhof (Ligue 2)

Both nations currently have some depth in front of him, but it's ageing on both sides.

Now for the stalker level investigations we love on this forum: looking at his twitter page - unlike Abzi who almost exclusively has Moroccan content on his twitter - he does show quite a bit of love to Canadian content/players. 

In summary: it's not over, until I see him rep Algeria I think the kid is just keeping his options open as opposed to being a cap-tied bench option for us at this point

[Floortom]

Douchebag move IMO.

Born and raised in Canada, played all of his football here, used the CPL to progress. Now he’s in MLS for a year and he’s holding out for Algeria ?

I would get it if he was thinking about a country that is significantly better ( ie if there’s a chance that France is calling…) or significantly worse (guaranteed to get more chances with Somalia than Canada) but Algeria is neither. They are the exact same level as Canada.

I hope Algeria never calls him and we never bother too either.

[dyslexic nam]

I am waffling somewhere between the last two posts.  

[Bison44]

I like Farsi, like the way he plays, like the way he almost looks better when he steps up a level.  But lets be honest, he got his chance here, and he got it because CPL put the emphasis on CDN players and he took advantage of that.  So at one time he was very happy to be classified as CDN.  So maybe this has nothing to do with that nationalistic can of worms, but it would be dissapointing (to me/cpl fan) if he went to Algeria, but everyone is free to do what they want eh??  I hope he gives Canada a fair shake though.  

[Dominic94]

I think he will rep us once he realizes he will pass ZBG on the chart ( if he hasn’t already) and that his ceiling could be higher than Riche’s and AJ’s. He just needs to see that there’s a path to being a starter. He had developed nicely and should only get better.

[PiedPilko]

Not to mention the guy spent a season in the Algerian league without making a single appearance. CPL gave him a career.

[pod818]

I don't see this as him choosing or leaning towards Algeria. This is a PRELIMINARY ROSTER. Its not like he was selected for the actual roster. In fact, if he had agreed and had been selected for this roster, I think it would have put him MORE on the radar for Algeria. I'm with the camp that he is still open to all options but is focusing on solidifying club career. 

Edited May 20, 2023 by pod818

[Footyeh]

I find it confusing if he declined to be in the preliminary roster all together for a tournament he may or may not be called into… and even if he is, he can still decline if he doesn’t feel ready.  
 

He’s having a terrific season and Gold Cup would be a great chance to integrate him if he’s open to it.  The more players we can look at in these types of games the better prepare we will be heading into 2026.  

[Stryker911]

This guy was also our 2020 Futsal player of the year. Unfortunately, he only played 2 games for our Futsal team. I believe if it was 3 than that would cap tie him permanently to us.

Edited May 21, 2023 by Stryker911

[The Real Marc]

15 hours ago, Floortom said:

Douchebag move IMO.

Born and raised in Canada, played all of his football here, used the CPL to progress. Now he’s in MLS for a year and he’s holding out for Algeria ?

I would get it if he was thinking about a country that is significantly better ( ie if there’s a chance that France is calling…) or significantly worse (guaranteed to get more chances with Somalia than Canada) but Algeria is neither. They are the exact same level as Canada.

I hope Algeria never calls him and we never bother too either.

This is why you have to cap them earlier in their careers, before the visions of options dance in their heads.

[Dominic94]

23 minutes ago, The Real Marc said:

This is why you have to cap them earlier in their careers, before the visions of options dance in their heads.

Tbh he wasn’t worthy of a look until later last year.

[Kadenge]

11 minutes ago, The Real Marc said:

This is why you have to cap them earlier in their careers, before the visions of options dance in their heads.

Realistically though, you can't just cap tie young players unless they have earned it or exhibit something special early  like Kone. With NL we play very few if any friendlies and we've had WCQ over the past 2 yrs. Farsi is in his 2nd MLS season and rightly got the call to be on an extended list. This despite having serious competition at RB/RWB. Born and raised in Canada, cut his teeth in CPL and called up in his 2nd MLS season. He is still young. It's not like he was ignored until 25. What more  could he ask for? This is on Farsi not Herdman 

[InglewoodJack]

14 hours ago, Footyeh said:

I find it confusing if he declined to be in the preliminary roster all together for a tournament he may or may not be called into… and even if he is, he can still decline if he doesn’t feel ready.  
 

He’s having a terrific season and Gold Cup would be a great chance to integrate him if he’s open to it.  The more players we can look at in these types of games the better prepare we will be heading into 2026.  

I interpreted that as Herdman probably told him he has a good chance of making the actual team and Farsi told him that he won’t accept if he gets called so Canada removed him from the list all together. At least that’s the only scenario I can imagine leaving him off the list entirely but still including king shots like Koleosho and Morris.

[shorty]

I think that’s a good call, given that Herdman apparently has pretty frank conversations with players about their pathways. I imagine the conversation went something like this:

JH: you would definitely get a call, and you might get some sub minutes

MF: I’m worried that with Canada I end up behind some young guys and only ever get sub minutes. Algeria might be a path to international starts sooner.

JH: I get that. Think about it. From my end I’m going to pull you from the long list for this one because I don’t want Algeria to rush capping you thinking they’re going to lose you. Lots of countries do that but I don’t do that. Take your time and if you change your mind about a camp, the doors open.

ps Jury’s out on Herdman capping guys he thinks we might lose, but I think he genuinely doesn’t. Guys we’ve capped and not used much either haven’t performed or have been out-competed for spots. I get the sense that someone like an Ugbo was told exactly what he could expect if he came over.  JH is consistently slow and careful (too slow and careful for some) with how he incorporates new players. That would only wash with the bench players if they had gone in eyes wide open and knowing JH had been straight with them.