Shortdutchcanuck

Langley8 FC it is then.

Fotmob had him listed as injured and day-to-day

We've all played with that guy who just wasn't the most skilled player but had a knack for scoring goals. Probably either fast or big and just good at finishing breakaways or finding the back of the net on goal-line scrambles. And that guy played ahead of 'prettier' players because guess what, at the end of the day putting the ball in the back of the net is more important than the ability to play pretty soccer.

Looking at Cebara's Wiki page: stops in Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, Lithuania, and Serbia. And as @Big_M mentioned above not a long stay or a lot of games anywhere. 8 goals in 20 games for our U20's once upon a time though. Given teams have brought in players from 2nd level Finland and 3rd level Sweden I think he's worth a shot as a depth player though.

Some decent pedigree if true. I wondered where this guy ended up after his time in Eastern Europe.

Serious question: now that he seems to be on a roll for the Impact is it better for his development to go to Olympic qualifiers or stay with Thierry?

Didn't realize the dude was quite so jacked!

Also when actually seen on players I really like the new Forge jersey. Very distinct look. Wasn't so sure when I just saw the pic of the shirt itself.

Thought I'd throw these into the conversation.

Giving out a 'horrendous' for such an obviously mixed performance is a bit like being a teacher and routinely failing 3/4 of the class. As others have mentioned, he was solid at some points and gave the ball away cheaply under pressure at others, and threw in a few of his signature brilliant tackles. He looked, along with most of the team, to be in preseason form. I agree though that with our depth in the central midfield he can't be considered a surefire starter. He was immense, probably MOTM, in that game in Toronto vs the US, but for many other games either Kaye or Eustaquio might be a better fit at DM (although whether Stephen will regain his pre-injury form remains to be seen).

Solid game for Waterman I thought. Piette with some great tackles and actually a few very nice passes to spring counters but unfortunately too many giveaways under pressure. Brault-Guillard had an ok game but seriously out-muscled for the header on 1st Saprissa goal. Tabla caught being a pylon on the second. Saprissa is a fun team to watch when they are clicking but the Impact were clearly gassed in the 2nd half. To me it is a serious issue with this competition that MLS teams come in in preseason form. No surprise there were 3 injuries. Still, 2 away goals put Montreal in a decent position for the home leg.

Came on in the 73rd minute in a 2-1 loss.

Most of us on this board would be playing professionally, and probably in Champion's League, if it weren't for our stupid youth coaches!

I've obviously struck a nerve here. Not surprising, I feel like this is one of the major schisms of the modern game. But let's at least drop the condescension, as if those of us to whom diving is like fingernails on a blackboard are rubes who lack a basic understanding of the sport. Look UT, you have good points here as usual. Simply put: some level of embellishment is necessary to protect skilled players and enable positive and attractive soccer. If someone is fouling you, go down and get the call. This has been accepted (somewhat reluctantly by Canadian fans like myself) in soccer for a long time, and often rewarded by referees. Fine, results in more attractive soccer, we'll try and stomach it. As with most things though it leads to an overreaction. Players push the envelope, trying to get opponents carded for zero or minimal contact. Smart, positional defenders, integral figures on good soccer teams, become victims of phantom calls. Neymar rolls all the way to the airport. So, in the name of protecting attractive soccer we corrected one way by overlooking some embellishment. Now, in order to curb excessive (and especially malicious) embellishment we need to correct the other way: watch replays and suspend the worst offenders, the ones flopping to get perfectly good defensive plays seen as cardable offenses. Escalante is not one of the worst of these in the game but he walks that line and frequently crosses it. When he goes down easy after a foul, fine. When he dives with little-to-no contact, punish him. Do I think Clanachan went too far with this ice hockey brand of soccer he pushed in year 1? Yes. Did I enjoy some of the physicality and hard tackling? Equally yes. With a few corrections, ie call things tighter, protect your skilled players, and meanwhile punish blatant divers, a great balance can be struck. I've watched a lot of Bayern Munich this year. You know what gets Bayern fans just as worked up as an electrifying Phonzie run? Him getting stuck in and physical and tackling tough. Likewise I've watched Ireland-Scotland games that were just as entertaining for their intensity and forcefulness as any match between the Spains and Brazils and Germanies of the world. Do I want the goons of soccer allowed to ruin the exquisite exploits of world-class talents? Obviously no. But do I want the inveterate divers of soccer to ruin the exquisite exploits of world-class, rugged, physical defenders? Equally no.

I mean, most of the players at Forge FC came out of our academy 😉

Look, he makes a good villain and I like his personality but his diving was sad and pathetic. Since when are we not allowed to be critical of some of the reprehensible aspects of the beautiful game? I'd love to see justice handed out retroactively for blatant divers. It will always be around but as much as possible get it out of the sport or at least out of this league.

Sounds like it mainly centered around setting himself up for a future career on the marketing side of things. Guessing he could have found a place a level higher given his quality.

There's also another guy playing LB at a reasonably good level we could plug in back there if necessary 😁

Seems Bassong can play either side but he's naturally a left back, imagine that's where he'd mostly slot in for us.

Watching every game I found Owundi to be fairly inconsistent, some very good games and a lot of mediocre ones. There was no faulting his effort or toughness but his ball skills weren't great, he almost always passed sideways or back, and was prone to a few careless plays most games. I always felt a lot calmer with Edgar and Krutzen together back there, and found the ball moved out of the backfield much more efficiently.

Pah-Modou Kah in as Pacific coach?

Aidan Daniels, who I thought might end up with York or Halifax, signs with Colorado Switchbacks.