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Lucas Dias - Sporting CP


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1 minute ago, yomurphy1 said:

It does, he's not good enough at the moment. I sincerely hopes that changes sooner than later. You cannot cynically give an 18 year old without pro experience 4 caps in WCQ at this point.  That said he absolutely have a place at 2nd tier/Camp Poutine type camps to better integrate in him into the program. 

 

You 100% can do it that to cap-tie a player. We've had plenty of players who we could have cap-tied and chose not too and it bit us in the ass. When you're a developing country and you have a player who could pick another nation, you cap-tie them as soon as possible. 

You're sitting here talking about pro games.... Theo has never played a pro game. And he looked better than Hoilett last game, so?

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1 minute ago, dyslexic nam said:

No  one with a lot of potential is going to commit prematurely just because we extend the invitation.  Basically, we are not going to trick him or trap him. we need to show him the quality of the players we will have in the program for the next 10 years.  

It's not tricking him when you're inviting him to a team with players like Jonathan David, Alphonso Davies, etc. While also having guys like Theo Corbeanu who is a young kid who chose Canada and is inches away from the Premier League. 

It's not tricking him. It's calling him up, getting him cap tied, and letting him to continue to develop in our program. 

You're not going to get someone to commit without commitment to them either. Which is why so many players flip flop back and forth constantly until they get the call. 

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3 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

I would love to have him in the pool.   The deeper the pool the better - especially with young skilled players.  I just don’t see us using a WCQ game against a minnow to do it because it would be a pretty transparent tactic.
 

If he wants to join the program then great.  But  don’t see it happening like that.  

Call him up, put him on the bench and give him the option to say yes or no. Let him be around the team, see what the team has to offer. What better way to get a young talented player to commit then have him around young talented players like David, Theo, Davies, Millar.

Edited by Hawkguy
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11 minutes ago, Hawkguy said:

You 100% can do it that to cap-tie a player. We've had plenty of players who we could have cap-tied and chose not too and it bit us in the ass. When you're a developing country and you have a player who could pick another nation, you cap-tie them as soon as possible. 

You're sitting here talking about pro games.... Theo has never played a pro game. And he looked better than Hoilett last game, so?

But realistically that's every player in the pool! We become more attractive compared to other countries by winning. We win by having the best players out there. Lucas looks like a talented 18 year old who needs to bulk up a little before he breaks through as a pro. Theo was on the bench for a top Premier League team and doesn't look out of place against men, Lucas look young against U24 competition.  I'm okay with a couple really promising youngsters displacing second tier vets (eg. Corbeanu vs Akindele) but that's only ever going to be 1 or 2 players which brings us back to who does he displace?

Edited by yomurphy1
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2 minutes ago, yomurphy1 said:

But realistically that's every player in the pool! We become more attractive compared to other countries by winning. We win by having the best players out there. Lucas looks like a talented 18 year old who needs to bulk up a little before he breaks through as a pro. Theo was on the bench for a top Premier League team and doesn't look out of place against men, Lucas look young against U24 competition.  I'm okay with a couple really promising youngsters displacing second tier vets (eg. Corbeanu vs Akindele) but that's only ever going to be 1 or 2 players.

Theo was on the bench because half the team was injured. I'm a Wolves fan.. let's not act like he was there because of anything else. I think the kid is amazing and could play in the Premier League, but let's be honest with ourselves. :P

I'm just all for us cap-tying players with massive potential. Other nations do it all the time. If we want to be serious about contending, we need to do it too. Letting young talented players get away is how you don't grow your program. 

There's 5 subs right now.. there's no better time to do it. If he's even interested, that is. 

Edited by Hawkguy
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Anyways, maybe he'll read this thread, or maybe @JasonDiaswill say a few words to him but we're all very proud of him and what he brought to this team. Certified baller. Obviously we all hope he will continue with the program and get us to the U20 World Cup and Paris 2024.

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It would be interesting to see how he might play with a senior team of some sort because he looks really good but he's not likely to break into the current Sporting CP team. Sporting CP is undefeated in the Primeira Liga so far (like Rangers in Scotland).

A season-long loan to a Portuguese team (first or second division) or a loan to MLS would be really cool to see.

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https://www.tsn.ca/youngest-member-of-olympic-team-enjoying-first-taste-of-canada-program-1.1614775

Didn't see the above posted.

Did well tonight. Hope this isn't the last we see of him in a Canada Jersey but all the best to him and to @JasonDias for being our mole with the intel. Hope you keep checking in!

Also loved that he was singing O Canada at the start! 

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I think a Marcelo Flores approach would be best here. Have him with the senior team as an extra, just for training during the next round of WCQ. That way there's no obvious cap tie situation where he could be pressured into coming on as a sub, and he also gets the full view of the national team, Davies, David, Larin, etc. That's the honest approach and I think one that a player with options might respect.  

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I’d be fine with cap tying him if he wants to, but from the sounds of it, he still prefers Portugal so chances are he’d turn it down anyways. Hopefully we can continue to integrate him into the program and he eventually chooses us. Unfortunately, I don’t expect that to be in the near future. Hopefully he sees that style of play and the quality of players that we have in our senior team, because I don’t think our U23 team did justice to how good we can be at the senior level. 

Edited by archer21
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7 hours ago, yomurphy1 said:

But realistically that's every player in the pool! We become more attractive compared to other countries by winning. We win by having the best players out there. Lucas looks like a talented 18 year old who needs to bulk up a little before he breaks through as a pro. Theo was on the bench for a top Premier League team and doesn't look out of place against men, Lucas look young against U24 competition.  I'm okay with a couple really promising youngsters displacing second tier vets (eg. Corbeanu vs Akindele) but that's only ever going to be 1 or 2 players which brings us back to who does he displace?

This "bulk up" argument can only be made by people who don't watch football and are unaware of its young talents. Imagine arguing that Foden had to bulk up so he could be like David Silva, what a joke.

In football you don't need to bulk up, you need strength, balance and conditioning to go with technique, and he seems to have it. It is just maturing as a player that matters, and on a team that is maturing as a team.

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37 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

This "bulk up" argument can only be made by people who don't watch football and are unaware of its young talents. Imagine arguing that Foden had to bulk up so he could be like David Silva, what a joke.

In football you don't need to bulk up, you need strength, balance and conditioning to go with technique, and he seems to have it. It is just maturing as a player that matters, and on a team that is maturing as a team.

Clearly we all watch a lot of football here. It’s a supporters site.  No, of course he doesn’t need to be built like a tank but he definitely seems like he has some filling out to do which  will make him stronger on the ball. Silva also seems to me to have a lower center of gravity which probably allows him to get away with having a slighter frame. 

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1 hour ago, archer21 said:

I’d be fine with cap tying him if he wants to, but from the sounds of it, he still prefers Portugal so chances are he’d turn it down anyways. Hopefully we can continue to integrate him into the program and he eventually chooses us. Unfortunately, I don’t expect that to be in the near future. Hopefully he sees that style of play and the quality of players that we have in our senior team, because I don’t think our U23 team did justice to how good we can be at the senior level. 

I would think he is smart enough to realise that this side was missing between 12 to 15 players if not more that would have made this side. And a few of them like Davies, David, Millar, Corbeanu are real gems. As others have said, with a full side we definitely give Mexico a run for their money and don’t just park everyone behind the ball.  

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2 hours ago, An Observer said:

I would think he is smart enough to realise that this side was missing between 12 to 15 players if not more that would have made this side. And a few of them like Davies, David, Millar, Corbeanu are real gems. As others have said, with a full side we definitely give Mexico a run for their money and don’t just park everyone behind the ball.  

I don’t know their exact full U-23 but they were close to it.

If want to go by transfermarket our actual full U-23 should beat them.

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8 hours ago, BradMack said:

I think a Marcelo Flores approach would be best here. Have him with the senior team as an extra, just for training during the next round of WCQ. That way there's no obvious cap tie situation where he could be pressured into coming on as a sub, and he also gets the full view of the national team, Davies, David, Larin, etc. That's the honest approach and I think one that a player with options might respect.  

Ahh ok, so you mean just like England did with Tomori right?  Perfect.

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5 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

This "bulk up" argument can only be made by people who don't watch football and are unaware of its young talents. Imagine arguing that Foden had to bulk up so he could be like David Silva, what a joke.

In football you don't need to bulk up, you need strength, balance and conditioning to go with technique, and he seems to have it. It is just maturing as a player that matters, and on a team that is maturing as a team.

You have an incredible ability to oscillate between really insightful comments (the JasonDias stuff) and a not so useful arrogance.  I understand pushing back against a North American "bigger is better" approach over more skilled players but I watched a tournament where Lucas's skill was minimized by faster and stronger opposition that was not adequately offset by the strength, balance and conditioning you mention. This is hardly out of the norm for an 18 year old and hardly insurmountable.  My opposition is against the reflex on the board to promote him beyond a level where he still needs to improve. 

You have a wonderful background with Spanish football. Maybe you have some insight how someone like David Silva grew from a ?winger? to the linchpin of the best midfield in the Premier League? Are there aspects of Lucas's game that you see that I might be overlooking/minimizing that suggest he's on a Silva/Fodenesque path and his ceiling is exceptional rather than good with the potential to get better?

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15 minutes ago, yomurphy1 said:

You have an incredible ability to oscillate between really insightful comments (the JasonDias stuff) and a not so useful arrogance.

He's been pretty blunt about the fact that he thinks Canadians need to be tutored, coddled, and patronized by Europeans about the game of soccer

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U know with the Gold Cup coming Why Not call him up to the senior side along with Floro , Mitrovic, and Theo  would not hurt to give him some play vs adults. Plus I think Canada will send a B team anyway. The Gold Cup unfortuntaly is a bit of a farce to be honest, But that is another topic for another day.

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6 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

This "bulk up" argument...

 

1 hour ago, yomurphy1 said:

I understand pushing back against a North American "bigger is better" approach over more skilled players but I watched a tournament where Lucas's skill was minimized by faster and stronger opposition that was not adequately offset by the strength, balance and conditioning you mention. This is hardly out of the norm for an 18 year old

I'm not sure "bulk up" is the answer for Dias. It won't make him any faster! Everybody grows at a different rate during their teenage years. He was playing with (and against) 22, 23 and 24 year old guys. He's fine. He'll be fine.

I do feel the "bulk up" argument is a little more valid for someone 4½ years older like Charles-Andreas Brym. When you're 22 you shouldn't be muscled off the ball as easily as he was.

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