El Diego

I feel like we all agree on Botman, which must be saying something. I am surprised that Ajax let him go for that price. I think there is a real concern about his quickness, but his intelligence and positioning make up for it. Sort of like a Per Mertesacker, who was always pretty slow but was able to play in a high line. Mats Hummels is maybe another stylistic comparison, but at his peak Hummels was absolutely incredible with his positioning and distribution. Bradaric I am pretty meh on. As a prospect he is better than Reinildo due to age, but as of now Reinildo is the better player. I am

I have always felt that unlike other major North American sports leagues, the MLS and MLSPA really don't think they can survive a lock out, so despite there being a lot of issues with MLS rules and the CBA they will continue to agree at the 11th hour to some suboptimal proposal. Please note I haven't done any real research into this, just my feeling.

Gosh, I remember when Wyn Belotte was considered a huge prospect

David fought very hard today, first game where he looked like a real leader. Obviously it is great to see him score, but it again was a good performance even forgetting about the goal. Very involved offensively, defensively, and in transition.

Smart bit of pressing on that first highlight, too

Bayern Munich have a Polish player and a Canadian player, but I cannot bring myself to cheer for them even though I wish Lewandowski and Davies all the success in the world. A little while ago Dortmund had Lewandowski, Blaszczykowski, and Piszczek, so I followed them closely and was cheering for them every match. It helped that they were trying to topple Bayern and played attractive soccer, but I don't necessarily have any allegiance toward them now. One of the more fun parts of following Canadian players (and for me, Polish players) is that you watch clubs you wouldn't normally watch. Fr

I agree with this. Despite what I said earlier, even though I think Wheeler's source is from the team, I don't understand why they are so cavalier about the info they leak. Jeepers, we even saw a Sportsnet employee report that the Blue Jays signed Michael Brantley which turned out to be incorrect. I don't understand being "first" when everyone gets the same info soon after, anyway.

I've said it before, but I think it is pretty clear that Wheeler is getting info from someone involved with the MNT program, possibly from Herdman himself. I think they selectively release info to Wheeler/OneSoccer, so when Wheeler says something like this I think it is more than just mere speculation/gut feeling. Now, obviously we saw with Yankov that this intel isn't infallible, but I don't think it was a case of Wheeler speculating something and relaying it as fact and being wrong. I think that was a case of the MNT thought Yankov was committed and he decided to then go with Bulgaria.

The CanPL Review aims to provide an analysis of each Canadian Premier League match from The Island Games, focusing on tactical trends and individual performances. Once all matches are analyzed, a team by team and season review summarizing the tactical trends and individual performances will be provided. View full record

I thought he played quite well, even beyond the goal. His pressing was smart as usual, but his combination play and control in tight areas was better than previous matches. Lille remind me of Toronto FC at their worst. Slow, ponderous, basically waiting for teams to set up defensively and then having massive trouble breaking them down. In the second half they played quicker and more vertically and therefore much better.

I've been known to stay in a robe all day.

Moving away from Besiktas in the winter (especially to a lower end French side) makes no sense. Are Besiktas in financial trouble or something? I am warming up the idea of Davies and Larin on the wings with David in attack, creating space for the wide players to run in behind.

I accept that is the most likely case, but does Galindo have sources? He does lots of scouting/analytic stuff, but I can't recall him breaking anything.

Can't be totally sure, but he might be the first option for a wide player if they want to do a like for like swap. Could also see an attacker come off for a centre back, especially if Wolves take the lead.