Aird25

Great interview with KJ and Marco. He talks a fair bit about his fitness and mentality with the Whitecaps when he was younger, compared to where he is now. Also talks about his Mexico stint and time in USL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkEQI1Ih0_g

18 minutes ago, davey_twelve said:

Very true. I didn't tune in until the 17th minute (perfect timing!) so just saw the goals conceded on the replay. It's a shame Pacific's first goal resulted in a PK, that was some great work by Bustos and it would have been nice for them to be able to finish the sequence.

Bustos and Chung have such a good understanding. We saw it on the third goal too, though there are no shortage of examples this season

Please go to a team that I can actually follow. 

Those two goals against are exactly why we’ve never been contenders. So many self inflicted mistakes.

Can someone explain why Ottawa fans are so mad at the ref? He looked to get all the big calls right to me

No goals last night, but he drew the penalty on the first, setup the second, and hit the post with a great shot on the third leaving Diaz with the rebound. Another strong showing but I still think he needs to prove it against Forge and Cavalry, and the Whitecaps will be a big opportunity for him as well 

Is this the same kid that spent some time with the Victoria Highlanders?

Stoked to play the Whitecaps (though I wish it wasn't round 1). I wonder if they'll be without their internationals if WC qualifying is a week out

Crazy run from Sirois and Valour

16 hours ago, frmr said:

That's a pretty liberal definition of the word "controversial", but sure. At any rate, my argument does not hinge on continental tournaments, although that was one factor, and a pretty important one if you ask me. You'll find that if you actually read my posts I also mention transfer pipelines, more active scouting and opportunity, and the fact that Canadians are currently absolutely thriving in European leagues outside of the top 10. The European pipeline has finally just began, absolutely no reason to throttle it by sending players to Mexico. I also mention how Liga MX is a glass ceiling, which doesn't do us any good in producing more tier 1 players. And so on.

The only discernible argument I've seen you make is that it would allow us to "know our enemy", which I disagree is important at all. In fact, I'm not exactly sure what your argument is at all. You've now stated that you'd rather have a Canadian playing in Liga MX than the Romanian league, which is the 25th best league in Europe—which is surely not the same as what you originally said, that you'd rather Mexico than anything outside of the top 10 leagues. That would suggest you'd have preferred Larin and Hutch in Liga MX instead of winning a double with a huge club like Besiktas. Or that you'd rather have Millar in Mexico than at Basel, a club that has been in European competition for the last 20 years and produced players like Salah.

Anyways, I'm sorry if you feel like you're mired in controversy now, but I categorically disagree with your original point, and this is in fact the main function of this forum: to discuss CMNT. The only reason I chose to elucidate my point is because you responded to my original post with a confused emoji, so I just thought I'd clear things up.

To be honest though, I would love to hear some points as to why Mexico would be a better destination than 11-20 leagues in Europe, but you haven't exactly provided a compelling argument.

RandyScandie…Is that you? It was a confusing and confrontational reply to a rather innocuous post, but I do regret using the emoji

I disagree with you, let’s get back to Tajon

2 hours ago, frmr said:

Europa League play over CCL play is relevant for leagues all the way down to 30. David getting his start in Belgium and winning the French league the next year was a league outside of the top 10 (actually just inside, but nevertheless). Larin and Hutchinson's dramatic title win and double are outside of a top 10 league. Our (arguably) all-time best goalkeeper dominating a league outside of the top 10 and having the game of his career against Liverpool in UCL. Millar getting a golden opportunity on a team that has produced some global stars in a league outside of the top 10. This has literally been the best time in Canadian history for our players in these lower leagues, and now you're thinking Mexico is the better option? Sorry, not buying it one iota.

I never expected wanting more players in Liga MX would be so controversial, but here we are. The fact that your argument hinges on potential inclusion in continental tournaments of which top teams alone qualify for, and not league play itself is telling, no? Players generally play far more league games than continental games.

Regardless, I disagree that Romanian league play + Europa league qualification, would outweigh CCL competition and Liga MX play anyways. 

Odds that he suites up for Canada before this thread gets to 20 pages?

19 hours ago, frmr said:

Who cares if it's the best league in the federation? It's not even close to the best league in the world, which is the only thing that should matter if we want to actually be at a high level. USA's starting XI are basically all playing in top 5 leagues in Europe, as are Mexico's best players. If we want to beat USA and Mexico we need as many players as possible playing at the top level as well. By aiming for the top league in the federation, you're basically just giving yourself a glass ceiling. Do you think Eustaquio would be on the radar of Napoli and the Portuguese giants if he didn't immediately move back to Europe when he recovered? Not to mention lower leagues in Europe can get Europa league which puts the player on a massive global stage competing against top teams. Look at David scoring against Roma in Europa League with Gent. That would have put him on a lot of clubs radars if he wasn't already. Compare that to CCL and the possibility of scoring against Columbus Crew. Who cares if our players are familiar with Liga MX, firstly that won't help whatsoever against the US, and secondly, we're Canada, we play the Canadian way. That style is being forged right now with our players who are plying their craft at levels much higher than in Mexico and at home in Canada (and some in the US). Mexico as a top destination is arbitrary and pointless, and arguably objectively worse for a players career.

The comment you're quoting is literally conditioned with 'the top 5 - 10 leagues'. I don't get why you're spinning what has been said to appear contradictory to your raving narrative

1 hour ago, narduch said:

That's right. We play a team from Group C for sure.

I’m not even sure who I’d prefer 

He’s been on a quite a tear lately. Good to see

Well done Laryea

It would be nice if we won a duel or two

Missed the first 20 minutes but we look shaky. I’m struggling to see positives beyond having the lead 

5 players on yellows in the starting XI

23 minutes ago, johnyb said:

Pretty Good list! Not much different from my own. I would love to find a way to add Carlo Corrazin but wouldn't know who to remove.

Agreed. I was going to say that it's a pretty decent list, and it demonstrates that he's familiar with Canadian soccer 

12 minutes ago, Canuckistan2019 said:

Why Mexico? Liga mx isn’t that good imo no clue why you would suggest such a thing. It’s either Europe or bust for tajon.

 

Because it's the best league in the federation we compete in and one of the strongest in all of the America's. In order to win trophies, we need to be able to beat Mexico and USA, and having more players familiar with that level and style of play would seemingly be beneficial. I'd prefer Mexico to most European leagues outside of say the top 5-10 leagues

Perhaps not Buchanan, if he does have interest from the clubs in Europe we’ve seen rumoured, but I’d like to see more Canadians in Mexico. I think it would help the national team 

12 minutes ago, Cheeta said:

Came out this PM that IG Field will be fully open for the CFL kickoff.  Fully vaxed only allowed in.

Would expect this will extend to CPL fixtures as well.   More details to follow of course.  Do you still need to buy food to get a beer?  Don't know.

They make you buy food to get a beer?! I'd better not complain about the limit of 2 drinks at a time at Starlight then

I had constant issues to start the game but the stream’s been solid since 

5 hours ago, narduch said:

It's basically going to be like this until November 

One of those whoever stays healthiest, wins, seasons. I think results are going to continue to be all over the map as managers choose when to rest players

47 minutes ago, Free kick said:

Are we smarter than the americans?

Deleted.