Free kick

I have not ever seen a play like that whereby a pk is awarded on a play when the ball and play is clearly and undisputably outside the box. Should a PK have been awarded? And if anyone feels that the answer is Yes. Then what about on all those corners kicks where there too many fouls to count occuring by defenders in the box. Holding, grabbing, jostling...etc.

In this canadian series, i am wondering if there should be an LVP named as opposed to MVP. Right now its a tough battle bettween Camacho and Laurent Ciman.

Yes. Thats the sad part

Everybody who wins a national championship in europe gets play play in champions league. Including those from UEFA minnow countries. UEFA Champions league normally starts in mid to late August. The real interest in the competition starts at around the 32 team group stage phase. That doesnt mean that there arent some good clubs interspersed in the early stages. Of course there are. But think about this: If we were talking about a true prospect, why does the entourage need to come here to promote his services?

That i agree with.

Thats the key words right there. “Potential”. We all want to know about those with potential. But To define potential you have to draw the line in the sand somewhere. And thats going to be based a lot on club situation. Some secondary consideration have to be given to age and status at a club. I get that you, me and the next guy will draw the line at differnt places. But surely to gawd people who follow the game at even cursory level cant be that far appart. In two to three pages of players posts in the MNT forum, i would say the 60-90% would be player profiles who are NOT above the line. Like the third string keeper in serie B Lecce for example. So why should these be of interest or concern to anyone with interests ito canadians in the national teams and intl soccer discussion? Are we that bad as a national team? They are advertisements rather than informative content. So why is it that outside this forum, i have no issues when talking to people who have some basic or advanced understanding of the games club structures so we reach a narrow consensus as to where to draw that line.

When we hear stories (from legitamate or credible independant sources) that clubs like Bayern Munich are showing an interest in this kid, then let us know. Then i will be interested. But i suspect that, if that time ever comes, he will be on the radar of the the bulagrian FA. And he will choose them. There are hundreds of kids, playing in the the MLS academies, does that mean i should paying attention to all of them thinking they will be the next Phonzie? There are tens of thousands maybe hundreds of thousands playing overseas at varying levels. Some will invariably have some Cnd connection. What value is ther to pay attention to all of them? is this forum for MNT discussions and chat for fans? Or this is Linkedin site for aspireing soccer players (or their agents) looking to create or boost a profile with the objective of selling their services?

I wonder what they think in Bulgaria about MLS or CPL? Do you think that they speak about this competitions with the same revererance that we see in this thread about the Bulgarian clubs. My guess is that no one there has ever of heard of our leagues and clubs. My guess is that you wont find an eight page thread on MLS or CPL

But when it comes to soccer. Its euro snobbery thats the problem.

To your first point, as i said many times here. I have nothing against Bulgaria or that club. I said, playing in that club or league is not significant nor warrant mention in regards national teams for canada. in regards to your last point. All i can say is WOW. You have a really low opinion of MLS. This is a club in a country of 6.7 million people which was in the former eastern block. And hence where private enterprise is new. Your saying that MLS, which operates in a combined economy (Canada and the US) of 400 million people, and where most of the largest companies (ie.: sponsorship revenues) in the world resides cant compete for talent globally against a former eastern block country of 6.7 million people. Your saying that MLS with with average attandances that exceeds what serie A attained, cant compete with Bulgarian clubs? Your saying that investors like MLSE, who are entities worth some 4 billion dollars, dont have the financial wherewith to acquire pay talent to the level of the clubs in Bulgaria? And cant invest more in development. Your saying that in the league where stadiums are relatively new versus a country where most stadiums are over 30-40 years old, its the the league with the older infrastructure that has the economic advantge. It should be clear to anyone that economic earning power will drive your ability to pay and aquire talent. Talent will go where the money is. I dont want to hear an argument on this point. It is absolutely un realistic and even illogical that the talent could be better on the Bulgarian clubs. These are facts. finally, As far as national teams, you would have to go back to the days of Stoichkov when you would see Bulgaria at the WC or the Euros. Who has has done more internationally, the US or bulgaria? euro snobbery has always been a problem in north america. Even on this forum. Too much of an unwarranted inferiority complex exist. According to some, Everything in europe is better when it comes to soccer. There is no way we need to envy the majority of the european countries with our clubs, competeitions and infrastrures. Yes i know we cant compare ourselves in soccer leagues to the countries with the larger enconomies in europe. Particularly in western europe. That might be half a dozen to two dozen who knows.

Now you are cherry picking my examples rather than addressing my main point. There are over 50 Div 1 conferences in basketball. Some are weaker than the CIS. As i said, in european soccer, compared to US college basketball, the differenecs are even more pronounced. For vast variety of reasons (economic, country, etc). Yes, Most of the players you mentioned didnt play in the power eight conferences. They played in the at-large conferences. I acknowledged that there are exceptions. But the players you mentioned still played in schools wherebthere would be some visibiity. Santa clara is not some cream puwff school. But as i said, if you cant tell the difference between and EPL game and a Championship game, then i dont know what to tell you guys anymore. And it even more pronounced when you look at europe as whole. i am not continuing on this. I stand by my point.

From what i gather, he is 20. As for your second point. Thanks. But i am not interested. Send me the link if he ever gets transferred to a better club/ team country/ league, plays more minutes, plays for the senior team etc etc etc. as i said, where you play does matter. Regardless of the sport. In basketball, you can fall in draft or not get drafted if you played college ball in weak conference. Weak conferences have smaller schools with smaller recuiting budgets and by extension cheaper infratsucures and weaker talent. Every now and then there are guy who break the mold. The scouting report on Pascal Siakim, said that the competion he faced was too weak. So he fell to the raptors in the draft. But by and large teams clubs and evaluators judge you based on your competion. If you want to play in the nba, dont play in the CIs or some poor conference. In soccer, the differnces are exponentially more pronounced than in college basketball. This happens in every single sport. And its no differnt in any other sport when it comes to national team selections. So tell this kid, that if he wants to play for our MNT, he needs to find a better club.

But i didnt really discredit him. I said, based on what is known here about him in the absence of seeing him play, there is nothing in his resume that should be of interest to the national team or followers of the national team. Did you see every single canadian playing? Like the guys in the Ontario league one? Ever see them. I didnt. So does that mean i cant pass judgement on player based on where he is playing when dicussing national team prospects. Well every national team and nation team coaches in every sport does that. Where you play does matter. If he really impressed, he would be picked up by a better, more prominant club. edit.: again, i am in no way intending to pick on this player. More than fify percent of the player threads in the MNT, should not be of any significaance the the Canadian national teams or national team followers. Obviously, there might migh be one or two where that could change. But i want to hear about it when it does. Not before.

But Pozuelo, at nineteen, was playing for a much much more prestigious club. You cant compare. yes, you are right about the rest of what you said. No arguments here.

But you can watch those guys play. Turn on the TV. Go watch an academy game. Give me an honnest answer: have you watched Bulgarian soccer? Maybe unintended, but you automatically dissing and pre-judging the structures that we have here in north america in favour of the notion that “ if its Europe, it must be better”. Europe is very different from country to country. Invetsment, Infrastucture, national economy, etc etc. are different from country to country. and profesional soccer in europe is exactly the same. What we now have here in North american is a lot better than what there is in the vast majority of countries in europe. So yes, i am going to be more interested in akid who is here. you cant watch a guy who plays in some second tier euro league in canada. Unless you go to the extreme. I brought this up before but Nobody here on this forum has ever watched or been able to watch club games from these second teir leagues or clubs in europe. Hell its hard enough to find a source that will show you LOSC games. So we are giving credibility and pumping up the tires of playsers we cant watch or have never watched at the expense of the guys that you can watch. Why? Does that make sence to you? It doesnt to me. There are some people here cutting up and dessecting the play and abilities of player like Liam Fraser. But thats becaue you watch Fraser. So is it fair that the guys you cant see dont get the same treatment?