Aidan Morris

[toontownman]

1 minute ago, Approve My Account Pls said:

Also, is there anything to be read into that Koleosho is not on the American 60 man list?

They know he has picked Italy 😆

 

[DrunkOffPunch]

2 hours ago, Canadian Chuck said:

His brother used to have a Canadian emoji on his Instagram bio. Probably how they found out.

One key factor here is he is U23/Olympic-eligible for the USA. Given the core four central midfielders of Adams, McKennie, Musah, and de La Torre for the US senior team, he is more realistically for their U23s than an A-senior team. So it might be more of a US U23s vs Canadian senior team question. Unless the US tries to permanently cap-tie him this summer.

No it’s for the senior team. You need more than 4 midfielders in a squad and all he needs to be is the second best option at CDM. He’s better than Acosta and Adams is currently injured.

[DrunkOffPunch]

2 hours ago, Canadian Chuck said:

His brother used to have a Canadian emoji on his Instagram bio. Probably how they found out.

One key factor here is he is U23/Olympic-eligible for the USA. Given the core four central midfielders of Adams, McKennie, Musah, and de La Torre for the US senior team, he is more realistically for their U23s than an A-senior team. So it might be more of a US U23s vs Canadian senior team question. Unless the US tries to permanently cap-tie him this summer.

No he’s for the senior team. Olympics is next year. Need more than 4 players on the squad for the midfield. He’s better than Acosta and Adams is currently hurt.

[footballfreak]

5 hours ago, Bigandy said:

Where is morris in our depth charts. I no virtually nothing about him but it sounds like hes a CDM. 

Staq is currently our cdm but he plays as more of an 8. So a midfield of staq, kone and a true CDM would be a good system. 

At CDM I would imagine it goes. 
1. piette
2. Morris
3. Loturi

At CDM/CM hybrid
1. staq
2. Piette
3. Morris
4. MAK
5. Loturi 
(maybe choinirre has boosted himself into 4,5,6 spot)
Can anyone else weigh in? 

Small sample size, but Ahmed has been absolutely killing it as an 8 this year, and has the defensive chops to play as a 6. I would take him over MAK and Loturi on current form. 

[FC_Hali]

His floor is Piette/Kaye level and he’s just 21. Full court press time for Herdman.

I think it’s also noteworthy that the USMNT is still in without a coach while Herdman is locked in until 2026.

[narduch]

 

[FreddyCanuck]

And thus begins another dual national saga. 😅

[gigi riva]

2 hours ago, FreddyCanuck said:

And thus begins another dual national saga. 😅

Great  [sarcasm]

[kacbru]

My view is he can f right off. That way, I can treat it as a massive bonus if he actually chooses us, but no actual loss if he doesn't. 

[CanadaFan123]

This would be a dual national that wouldn’t inspire a ton of confidence if he did choose us.
 

He’d essentially be giving up on his true country after winning two caps and 3 years prior to hosting the World Cup. We’ve had numerous dual nationals over the years that were all explainable. This would be a 100% American kid just jumping ship for an “easy” roster spot? There’s no reason for him to play for us other than taking the easy way. 

Also, which true canadian is dropped for him? We have Mathieu Choiniere and Victor Loturi yet to be capped as is. He’s not at a Kone, Eustaquio or Osorio level either. I’ve seen him this season and he’s good but hardly a can’t miss player. 

[Floortom]

Judging by reaction on Twitter and USMNT forums, most US supporters don’t seem to really care all that much if they lose him. I see less excitement about him than even Akinola a couple years ago. 

I would gladly take him - he’s only 21 years old and already a pretty high level MLS player. He’s a guy who can be a part of the program for the next 10 years and add a lot of depth. 

 

 

Edited May 20, 2023 by Floortom

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

That we are in the conversation is great to see and since we struggled in midfield at the World Cup no amount of depth there is too much.

I know we have other options emerging there but healthy competition is not a luxury we have had much in the past.

[Approve My Account Pls]

2 hours ago, Floortom said:

Judging by reaction on Twitter and USMNT forums, most US supporters don’t seem to really care all that much if they lose him. I see less excitement about him than even Akinola a couple years ago. 

 

I bet you if Balogun didn't commit last week the reaction might be a little different

That being said, unlike some of the other duals which would be a loss not to get (Jebbisson, Costa, Farsi, Abz etci - still not sure if i include Koleosho in this group), this one feels more like house money.

[Stoppage Time]

4 hours ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Also, which true canadian is dropped for him? We have Mathieu Choiniere and Victor Loturi yet to be capped as is. He’s not at a Kone, Eustaquio or Osorio level either. I’ve seen him this season and he’s good but hardly a can’t miss player. 

Well, which true American is dropped to make room for Balogun? International football is run by sentiment only by some fans. In reality, nations, under the eligibility rules, must create the best roster of players in order to win matches. If Morris can improve Canada, at the expense of any lesser player, then so be it and good! If Loturi, for example, is better than some other present Canadian roster player, then Loturi should be included - simple logic and simple execution. Wins count, not sentiment.

[VinceA]

Hopefully Aidan is seeing the brigade of Anti-MLS losers who have already gone on their tangents on social media saying he's a poor player that the MLS machine is hyping and propping up and won't be a loss to them.

[The Real Marc]

It's all about leverage. Worse than dating in grade 8.

[FreddyCanuck]

5 hours ago, CanadaFan123 said:

This would be a dual national that wouldn’t inspire a ton of confidence if he did choose us.
 

He’d essentially be giving up on his true country after winning two caps and 3 years prior to hosting the World Cup. We’ve had numerous dual nationals over the years that were all explainable. This would be a 100% American kid just jumping ship for an “easy” roster spot? There’s no reason for him to play for us other than taking the easy way. 

Also, which true canadian is dropped for him? We have Mathieu Choiniere and Victor Loturi yet to be capped as is. He’s not at a Kone, Eustaquio or Osorio level either. I’ve seen him this season and he’s good but hardly a can’t miss player. 

I see what you mean, but maybe it's a similar situation to Eustaquio and Vitoria. Their dream was Portugal for the longest time and they both could've played for them at least a handful of times if it wasn't for injuries. I'm sure Ike Ugbo was in a similar boat with Nigeria/England.

When it became apparent that Portugal/Nigeria/England wasn't going to be an option, Canada was the 1A choice.

They all definitely love playing for Canada and are fully committed (Stacks and Vitoria anyways), but it may not have been their initial priority. Maybe Morris would be in the same camp, especially when it sounds like we're pursuing him hard based on the ESPN story. It's nice to feel wanted.

That's not to mention he'd have a spot in our midfield on lock for the next decade or more. Eustaquio is our No. 1 there but this would enable us to play him as an 8 without losing those qualities he brings. Piette has the edge in terms of experience but let's be real, in Tier 1 matches or games with more dynamism/technique to them, he's not reliable. Look at Uruguay. And the fact he didn't see the field at the World Cup says a lot in that regard.

[CanadaFan123]

Ugbo or Eustaquio could have played for Nigeria and Portugal. Maybe not as regulars but they would get caps. 

[costarg]

41 minutes ago, FreddyCanuck said:

Piette has the edge in terms of experience but let's be real, in Tier 1 matches or games with more dynamism/technique to them, he's not reliable. Look at Uruguay. And the fact he didn't see the field at the World Cup says a lot in that regard.

Piette not seeing the field at the WC says more about Herdman's limits than Piette.  Piette is exactly what was needed playing against the better teams.

[InglewoodJack]

lol

[footballfreak]

1 hour ago, costarg said:

Piette not seeing the field at the WC says more about Herdman's limits than Piette.  Piette is exactly what was needed playing against the better teams.

I would argue it had more to do with the unfortunate game/tournament states we found ourselves in. Piette is the perfect player to kill a game and help secure a result, but not well suited for a game that needs a goal.

Game 1: The team was set up well, but didn’t take advantage of the chances created. Piette was never going to start, but would have come on had we not been trailing.

Game 2: There’s some argument to be had for starting him here, but we were in a position where we realistically needed to win to progress. If we had gotten to half/60 mins up 1-0, Piette comes on, but it never got to that point. Even when it went 3-1 there was no choice but to go for it offensively. By 4-1 it was the 94th minute and we had used all our subs.

Game  3: Morocco is a counterattacking team. Piette is not going to help break them down. You can make an argument for starting him here based on how much he’s given to the program over the years, but as pure tactical decision adding him doesn’t do much to blunt Morocco’s wing play. The 2-1 goal probably sealed any chance of Piette seeing the field. Hutchinson/Kone was the right sub for the moment and almost gave us the tying goal.

It really, really sucks that Piette didn’t see the field. He deserved to. But I don’t know that I would have done it any differently than Herdman did under the circumstances. Sometimes it’s no one’s fault.

[footballfreak]

1 minute ago, InglewoodJack said:

lol

Safe to say he’s not a Rhodes scholar, but I suppose he doesn’t need to be.

[dyslexic nam]

[toontownman]

[FreddyCanuck]

2 hours ago, costarg said:

Piette not seeing the field at the WC says more about Herdman's limits than Piette.  Piette is exactly what was needed playing against the better teams.

If he was part of a trio, maybe. He was badly, badly exposed on and off the ball against Uruguay. They were a step or two faster than him in almost every way. 

39 minutes ago, footballfreak said:

I would argue it had more to do with the unfortunate game/tournament states we found ourselves in. Piette is the perfect player to kill a game and help secure a result, but not well suited for a game that needs a goal.

It really, really sucks that Piette didn’t see the field. He deserved to. But I don’t know that I would have done it any differently than Herdman did under the circumstances. Sometimes it’s no one’s fault.

That was absolutely a factor and I think he still deserved a few minutes at the end of the Morocco game at least, but I can see him being a bit slow in possession and off the ball at that level being a reason for him not coming on.

2 hours ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Ugbo or Eustaquio could have played for Nigeria and Portugal. Maybe not as regulars but they would get caps. 

Eustaquio for sure could've been a regular call-up for Portugal. Ugbo with Nigeria, I'm not so sure. He would've been competing with Osimhen, Awoniyi, Moffi, Iheanacho and Onuachu, who took his spot at Genk. That's not to say he couldn't have done it, but it would've been much harder than with Canada IMO.