Mo Farsi

[Obinna]

2 hours ago, costarg said:

Anyone else getting the meh feeling from Farsi now?  If his ambition is to play in UAE at 24, I feel it's pretty clear where his head lies.

Can't fault him for chasing the money though if he grabs a decent bag over there.

For a guy who played futsal, then played CPL, then went to MLS pro and hustled to finally earn 75k a year. If he goes to UAE and earns 400k a year that'd be life changing considering where he came from.

[costarg]

9 minutes ago, Obinna said:

Can't fault him for chasing the money though if he grabs a decent bag over there.

For a guy who played futsal, then played CPL, then went to MLS pro and hustled to finally earn 75k a year. If he goes to UAE and earns 400k a year that'd be life changing considering where he came from.

Ya, kinda agree there.  Just seems like miles away and the complete opposite of the Tajon and Liam types who just put their heads down, role up their sleeves and double down on themselves every single shift.

[Stoppage Time]

2 hours ago, Bigandy said:

Hes just not good enough imo to warrant this dual controversy. He never makes our A squad. There may be small windows of opportunities but whos to say sigur franklin ldf etc dont seize those moments. 

He's just meh to me. 

And if Farsi suddenly declared for Canada, we would be shouting for joy and hoping that he lands in a good league on a good team. As has been said before, we are a fickle bunch. I would like to see him in Montreal and in with a chance to represent Canada. Of course, we all have our views which makes this board so interesting.

[Aird25]

2 hours ago, costarg said:

Ya, kinda agree there.  Just seems like miles away and the complete opposite of the Tajon and Liam types who just put their heads down, role up their sleeves and double down on themselves every single shift.

Where is this coming from? Mo has ground his way to a career in this sport from what I can tell

[costarg]

11 minutes ago, Aird25 said:

Where is this coming from? Mo has ground his way to a career in this sport from what I can tell

My opinion - whatever that is worth - I see taking the high paying gig in UAE as selling out.  The other option would be he just likes the life style and culture better in the middle east.

I feel that if he truly believed in himself and wanted to put in the work, he'd bet on himself in a tougher league, grind it out and look to make more money in the long run as opposed the quick pay day.  Life moves quick as a pro-footballer.  It's difficult to come back after a couple of years vs lesser competition.  I could be wrong, and maybe the UAE league is more competitive than I believe.  But if the other options are France and MLS, I feel those offer more challenges and a higher ceiling.

 

[narduch]

5 minutes ago, costarg said:

My opinion - whatever that is worth - I see taking the high paying gig in UAE as selling out.  The other option would be he just likes the life style and culture better in the middle east.

I feel that if he truly believed in himself and wanted to put in the work, he'd bet on himself in a tougher league, grind it out and look to make more money in the long run as opposed the quick pay day.  Life moves quick as a pro-footballer.  It's difficult to come back after a couple of years vs lesser competition.  I could be wrong, and maybe the UAE league is more competitive than I believe.  But if the other options are France and MLS, I feel those offer more challenges and a higher ceiling.

 

There was talk of him rejecting a CanMNT call to hold out for Algeria.

But neither Canada or Algeria would probably call a guy playing in UAE.

[Shway]

50 minutes ago, costarg said:

Life moves quick as a pro-footballer.  It's difficult to come back after a couple of years vs lesser competition.  

And this is why you take the money when you can. Imagine betting on yourself, he has a career season and wins his team the championship on a last ditch tackle but in the process he does his knee in and it takes over a year to recover. After he recovers his team doesn't pickup up his contract option and he has to find another team willing to pay him what he had before. 

This is the story of Crepeau, not saying he had double his money contract offers wherever...but to show that life moves at you quickly and at the end of the day professional football is a job where the chances are you won't see that same money when the games done with you. 

....But overall I understand your sentiment of the "cop out", I just call it "cash out". 

[Bison44]

1 hour ago, costarg said:

My opinion - whatever that is worth - I see taking the high paying gig in UAE as selling out.  The other option would be he just likes the life style and culture better in the middle east.

I feel that if he truly believed in himself and wanted to put in the work, he'd bet on himself in a tougher league, grind it out and look to make more money in the long run as opposed the quick pay day.  Life moves quick as a pro-footballer.  It's difficult to come back after a couple of years vs lesser competition.  I could be wrong, and maybe the UAE league is more competitive than I believe.  But if the other options are France and MLS, I feel those offer more challenges and a higher ceiling.

 

Well maybe to us it seems like that.  But if he is Muslim, "feels" his Algerian heritage (all guess on my part but i know he speaks arabic), going to the middle east and playing in a big money league isnt much of a sell out.   This isnt a kid from Glasgow or Belfast turning his back on european leagues just for a big payday.  

[InglewoodJack]

8 hours ago, costarg said:

Ya, kinda agree there.  Just seems like miles away and the complete opposite of the Tajon and Liam types who just put their heads down, role up their sleeves and double down on themselves every single shift.

As much as I rag on the guy for not committing to us, listening to him in interviews, his journey from playing local pickup in Montreal, the journey through Tae Kwan Do (I think he was a Canadian youth champ at some point?), Futsal, Algeria, CPL tryouts, MLS2, now a starter for a championship winning team, I think he’s the definition of putting his head down and doing the work. 

He seems so proud to be a Montréal et that I hope that translates to committing to Canada regardless of where he ends up playing his club football, but if he is swayed towards Algeria, I’ll still have a soft spot for him along the lines of Bounou for being a guy from the city who made it to a really high level. 
 

I can also sympathize wanting to lock up that UAE bag, coming from his background and having a once in a lifetime chance to secure his future, but from what I heard, the picture in Dubai is pure coincidence- he’s probably not going to end up there, and he’ll probably resign with Crew. 

[Bigandy]

12 hours ago, Stoppage Time said:

And if Farsi suddenly declared for Canada, we would be shouting for joy and hoping that he lands in a good league on a good team. As has been said before, we are a fickle bunch. I would like to see him in Montreal and in with a chance to represent Canada. Of course, we all have our views which makes this board so interesting.

I dont think so. It would be the same if ZBG committed today. Ya its great for depth and we hope these types of players make a big jump, but until he makes a jump that puts him in contention for CMNT, I just dont really care. 

Is he solid enough defensively to play rb in a back 4 when your LB is davies bombing forward.... maybe but that really blunts out his attacking side. We have much better options defensively in johnston and laryea. 

Does he offer enough at wingback? Not more than buchanan, millar, laryea, or johnston. 

Hes just way to far from a CMNT starter to get excited about. 

[InglewoodJack]

24 minutes ago, Bigandy said:

I dont think so. It would be the same if ZBG committed today. Ya its great for depth and we hope these types of players make a big jump, but until he makes a jump that puts him in contention for CMNT, I just dont really care. 

Is he solid enough defensively to play rb in a back 4 when your LB is davies bombing forward.... maybe but that really blunts out his attacking side. We have much better options defensively in johnston and laryea. 

Does he offer enough at wingback? Not more than buchanan, millar, laryea, or johnston. 

Hes just way to far from a CMNT starter to get excited about. 

IMO his chance creation and playmaking is something that he has over AJ, and being 5 years younger than Laryea, there will be a time when he surpasses him. Agreed that you don’t get much from him that you don’t get from Buchanan or Millar, but I don’t think we’re deep enough to not play those guys as forwards. He’d be one of our better players on the B squad, and I do think he has more to offer than ZBG. 

[dyslexic nam]

I am always annoyed when someone doesn't choose Canada.  If I am being honest, I generally don't care about their reasons.  I want every player to choose us and deepen our pool.  Tomori.  Flores.  Sali.  Mitrovic.  DeRo2.  All of them.  When that doesn't happen it always sours me on them.

With that said, I gotta push back against the idea that Mo would be selling out by taking a big(ger) money move to a place like Saudi or Dubai.  This is a guy who has never made big money.  From what I am seeing, he was making somewhere in the vicinity of $75k last year.  Cool that he managed to carve a path through CPL to a professional career but that is still next to nothing on the bell curve of pro sports salaries.  There are waiters that make more than that.  If someone comes along and offers to substantially increase his income in a multi year contract, it is silly to judge him for taking it.  Hell, a 3 year contract in Dubai could easily turn into a string of relatively lucrative contracts that make him low-key wealthy.  Sure he could try to fight through the ranks of one or more second-tier European leagues, but even for talented players that comes with no guarantees whatsoever (just ask Richie).  This choice could literally be the difference between being able to make a good living and retire comfortably vs scraping by for a few years and then having to start all over when his playing career ends.  Faced with that option, and in his particular circumstances, I am grabbing the cash 100% of the time. 

It is easy to claim that these guys should universally try to play at the highest competitive level, but you can't lose sight of the fact that this is a job.  And compensation is a massive driver when choosing your next gig.  Sure you sometimes have to take a step back to take two steps forward, but if someone rolls out the red carpet for you, you generally take it.  

 

[Bigandy]

24 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

IMO his chance creation and playmaking is something that he has over AJ, and being 5 years younger than Laryea, there will be a time when he surpasses him. Agreed that you don’t get much from him that you don’t get from Buchanan or Millar, but I don’t think we’re deep enough to not play those guys as forwards. He’d be one of our better players on the B squad, and I do think he has more to offer than ZBG. 

I 100% agree. But in a back 4 with davies LB, we probably want a proper RB and not a RWB playing RB. His playmaking is less important than defensive balance in a back 4. In a back 3, millar and buchanan will play wingback as they are better both ways than farsi. 

By the time laryea caps out, we will have franklin and johnston as RB and likely other guys. Maybe buchanan moves to RB for CMNT. 

Basically theres a small potential window for farsi to be in contention and then everything would really have to fall into place. Its so unlikely imo. 

What scenario would we play him? We need a goal and laryea, millar or even shaf come on a WB before him. We need to lock down a game and we need someone defensively sound like johnston. Does he start? Not with our other options available. 

It's like waterman. Decent player but its tough to see a scenario where we need him. 

[Obinna]

38 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

I am always annoyed when someone doesn't choose Canada.  If I am being honest, I generally don't care about their reasons.  I want every player to choose us and deepen our pool.  Tomori.  Flores.  Sali.  Mitrovic.  DeRo2.  All of them.  When that doesn't happen it always sours me on them.

With that said, I gotta push back against the idea that Mo would be selling out by taking a big(ger) money move to a place like Saudi or Dubai.  This is a guy who has never made big money.  From what I am seeing, he was making somewhere in the vicinity of $75k last year.  Cool that he managed to carve a path through CPL to a professional career but that is still next to nothing on the bell curve of pro sports salaries.  There are waiters that make more than that.  If someone comes along and offers to substantially increase his income in a multi year contract, it is silly to judge him for taking it.  Hell, a 3 year contract in Dubai could easily turn into a string of relatively lucrative contracts that make him low-key wealthy.  Sure he could try to fight through the ranks of one or more second-tier European leagues, but even for talented players that comes with no guarantees whatsoever (just ask Richie).  This choice could literally be the difference between being able to make a good living and retire comfortably vs scraping by for a few years and then having to start all over when his playing career ends.  Faced with that option, and in his particular circumstances, I am grabbing the cash 100% of the time. 

It is easy to claim that these guys should universally try to play at the highest competitive level, but you can't lose sight of the fact that this is a job.  And compensation is a massive driver when choosing your next gig.  Sure you sometimes have to take a step back to take two steps forward, but if someone rolls out the red carpet for you, you generally take it.  

 

This is a great post and I think it perfectly encapsulates how most of us feel on this matter.

Just wanted to stack on this other point: his career isn't over because he is joins a team in the UAE.

He could play there for two or three seasons and still be in his prime, at which point he can then "bet on himself" by taking a gamble and moving to Europe (if he's inclined to do so).

For his situation, taking the money now is definitely a smart play imo.

Edited January 5 by Obinna

[RJB]

49 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

I am always annoyed when someone doesn't choose Canada.  If I am being honest, I generally don't care about their reasons.  I want every player to choose us and deepen our pool.  Tomori.  Flores.  Sali.  Mitrovic.  DeRo2.  All of them.  When that doesn't happen it always sours me on them.

With that said, I gotta push back against the idea that Mo would be selling out by taking a big(ger) money move to a place like Saudi or Dubai.  This is a guy who has never made big money.  From what I am seeing, he was making somewhere in the vicinity of $75k last year.  Cool that he managed to carve a path through CPL to a professional career but that is still next to nothing on the bell curve of pro sports salaries.  There are waiters that make more than that.  If someone comes along and offers to substantially increase his income in a multi year contract, it is silly to judge him for taking it.  Hell, a 3 year contract in Dubai could easily turn into a string of relatively lucrative contracts that make him low-key wealthy.  Sure he could try to fight through the ranks of one or more second-tier European leagues, but even for talented players that comes with no guarantees whatsoever (just ask Richie).  This choice could literally be the difference between being able to make a good living and retire comfortably vs scraping by for a few years and then having to start all over when his playing career ends.  Faced with that option, and in his particular circumstances, I am grabbing the cash 100% of the time. 

It is easy to claim that these guys should universally try to play at the highest competitive level, but you can't lose sight of the fact that this is a job.  And compensation is a massive driver when choosing your next gig.  Sure you sometimes have to take a step back to take two steps forward, but if someone rolls out the red carpet for you, you generally take it.  

 

No one is more noble and honourable than couch potatoes who are past their playing days!  "I would NEVER play for the money!  I would sign for a Vanorama club and work my way up, no matter what!"

Too easy for people to say he should struggle more, and shameful actually.  I hope Mo has hit a big pay day and has some excellent seasons. Well done to him. 

Side note: is this what people say when players come to CPL?  Guys like Ollie Basset, has he sold out?  Ws sure aren't disappointed when players pick CPL, so we shouldn't be so arrogant as to begrudge UAE from earning players too. 

Edited January 5 by RJB

[InglewoodJack]

41 minutes ago, Bigandy said:

I 100% agree. But in a back 4 with davies LB, we probably want a proper RB and not a RWB playing RB. His playmaking is less important than defensive balance in a back 4. In a back 3, millar and buchanan will play wingback as they are better both ways than farsi. 

By the time laryea caps out, we will have franklin and johnston as RB and likely other guys. Maybe buchanan moves to RB for CMNT. 

Basically theres a small potential window for farsi to be in contention and then everything would really have to fall into place. Its so unlikely imo. 

What scenario would we play him? We need a goal and laryea, millar or even shaf come on a WB before him. We need to lock down a game and we need someone defensively sound like johnston. Does he start? Not with our other options available. 

It's like waterman. Decent player but its tough to see a scenario where we need him. 

Agreed with all this. I think he’s better than some of the B list guys mentioned (waterman, ZBG, so on), but if we lose him, it’s not the worst loss in the world. It would suck if he does end up in ligue 1 and playing for Algeria- we can never have too many top league players, but nowhere near the impact of losing a guy like Koleosho, Tomori and our other bigger losses.

[costarg]

Sure money is important, but a few things to consider....

1- Of course my comment is a little biased, mostly due to him turning down the invite to CANMNT.  

2- Need to keep in mind, Canada has given this guy (and family) a lot.  So that also sucks from a fan perspective.

3- Weren't we talking about him having options and maybe resigning with Columbus?  If that is the case, he won't be making $75k/year if he resigns with Columbus or Ligue1.  So it isn't really $75k in MLS vs $400k in UAE.  Reality is probably more like $250k vs $350k.  *IF* he gets more than that in UAE we can restart the convo. 

[Bigandy]

2 hours ago, InglewoodJack said:

Agreed with all this. I think he’s better than some of the B list guys mentioned (waterman, ZBG, so on), but if we lose him, it’s not the worst loss in the world. It would suck if he does end up in ligue 1 and playing for Algeria- we can never have too many top league players, but nowhere near the impact of losing a guy like Koleosho, Tomori and our other bigger losses.

Good point. 

If he does end up in ligue 1 then I think we include him and johnston as RB. Move laryea to LB depth charts with davies. Then we drop sam. We could also move davies to winger on the depth chart. 

Theres room for a ligue 1 RWB on the squad... I just have hesitations that farsi will be our 6th best player ish ( based on playing in a top 5 league) 

[Obinna]

4 minutes ago, Bigandy said:

Good point. 

If he does end up in ligue 1 then I think we include him and johnston as RB. Move laryea to LB depth charts with davies. Then we drop sam. We could also move davies to winger on the depth chart. 

Theres room for a ligue 1 RWB on the squad... I just have hesitations that farsi will be our 6th best player ish ( based on playing in a top 5 league) 

Two thoughts:

- Has the dust settled yet for Laryea? Last I checked NF are losing like a dozen players to AFCON, including some defenders. The coach who didn't rate Richie is out. Perhaps still unlikely, but I am still holding out hope for a recall. That could radically change the situation if he goes back there and starts playing in the EPL (especially if he does well).

- I would definitely move Davies to winger instead of dropping Adekugbe. He's back in MLS, but he's pretty solid. I know the depth charts are somewhat theoretically, but I like to factor in chemistry to it and Sam is obviously part of the core. 

[InglewoodJack]

30 minutes ago, Bigandy said:

Good point. 

If he does end up in ligue 1 then I think we include him and johnston as RB. Move laryea to LB depth charts with davies. Then we drop sam. We could also move davies to winger on the depth chart. 

Theres room for a ligue 1 RWB on the squad... I just have hesitations that farsi will be our 6th best player ish ( based on playing in a top 5 league) 

The way I see Farsi is very narrowly as a situation based sub for AJ. Johnston does have a few stinkers and if we’re playing against a team like Jamaica with a back 4 and at half time we just aren’t creating much, a guy like Farsi could be a bit of a electric shock to the team. Kinda guy who wouldn’t get called up every window but nice to have when we’re missing a couple guys. In order of importance, he’s behind a guy like Adekugbe, but above a guy like McGraw, if that makes sense. 

[costarg]

20 hours ago, Bison44 said:

Well maybe to us it seems like that.  But if he is Muslim, "feels" his Algerian heritage (all guess on my part but i know he speaks arabic), going to the middle east and playing in a big money league isnt much of a sell out.   This isnt a kid from Glasgow or Belfast turning his back on european leagues just for a big payday.  

This is exactly what I'm suggesting in the second sentence of the text you quoted.

"The other option would be he just likes the life style and culture better in the middle east."

[Bigandy]

On 1/5/2024 at 11:54 AM, InglewoodJack said:

The way I see Farsi is very narrowly as a situation based sub for AJ. Johnston does have a few stinkers and if we’re playing against a team like Jamaica with a back 4 and at half time we just aren’t creating much, a guy like Farsi could be a bit of a electric shock to the team. Kinda guy who wouldn’t get called up every window but nice to have when we’re missing a couple guys. In order of importance, he’s behind a guy like Adekugbe, but above a guy like McGraw, if that makes sense. 

I 100% see what you're saying and great comparison to mcgraw vs adekugbe. 

If he was the same quality but as a CB, then im really excited about him. Its just to bad he is up against 2-3 of our best players at wingback/fullback. 

If AJ is having a stinker, laryea comes on before farsi to give that electric shock. If laryea is injured, AJ is having a stinker and we choose a back 4 and not a back 5, then farsi could come in and do that job IF buchanan is prefered at winger.

However, I think if we need a goal, buchanan drops to RB, and 2 of millar/davies/hoilett/corbenua/nelson/shaf play as wingers (assuming this hypothetical scenario is some time in the future and these guys develop). If AJ is having a stinker but we dont need a goal vs jamaica, its hard to see farsi put up against bailey, grey etc. 

Like you said, theres a time and place for farsi, but unless he gets significantly better, its hard for me to see that realistically occuring.

[Bigandy]

On 1/5/2024 at 11:32 AM, Obinna said:

Two thoughts:

- Has the dust settled yet for Laryea? Last I checked NF are losing like a dozen players to AFCON, including some defenders. The coach who didn't rate Richie is out. Perhaps still unlikely, but I am still holding out hope for a recall. That could radically change the situation if he goes back there and starts playing in the EPL (especially if he does well).

- I would definitely move Davies to winger instead of dropping Adekugbe. He's back in MLS, but he's pretty solid. I know the depth charts are somewhat theoretically, but I like to factor in chemistry to it and Sam is obviously part of the core. 

It would be wild if richie got epl minutes. I just dont see it but i have hope like you too!

I agree with sam. However, if farsi plays in a top 5 league, TB is RWB for inter, AJ and richie are somewhere in the english pyramid and millar cements his spot as our LW, then i think we have to consider dropping sam. Im no where near ready to do so, but in this hypothetical world I think hes our first FB to be dropped. 

[Shway]

Contract extension. 

https://www.columbuscrew.com/news/columbus-crew-sign-mohamed-farsi-to-multi-year-contract-extension

I wonder if he will accept the call soon for Canada.

[Kadenge]

4 hours ago, Shway said:

Contract extension. 

https://www.columbuscrew.com/news/columbus-crew-sign-mohamed-farsi-to-multi-year-contract-extension

I wonder if he will accept the call soon for Canada.

He really should. He's younger than all our FBs other than TB and AD+  won MLS cup so we can't say he's not good enough.