jonovision

Kaye or Davies LB or 3-5-2?

Think we should expect big changes to the Canada XI from last match?

Dylan Sacramento hat trick?

King's Head is a downtown Winnipeg pub, and one of two establishments where supporters gather (Nicolino's, much closer to the stadium, being the other).

Not so long ago people were saying that Davies needed to go out on loan because he wasn't in Kovac's plans. Now people are worried about the reverse situation. I'm confident enough in Davies' talent to believe he'll continue to make appearances for Bayern no matter who is hired as manager.

Eastern Suburbs takes the Failed Valour Striker derby 1-0. Hoyle didn't dress, Ferguson started for the losing side going 68 goalless minutes.

Certainly a vote of confidence from his manager and/or teammates that a 19 year old is the one selected to take a crucial late-match penalty.

Had a moment to do a bit more googling and, perhaps unsurprisingly, he had some time with Thunder Bay Chill in the early-mid 2010s.

Does anybody know anything about this Canadian Gavin Hoy they have on the roster? Soccerway has him as a 27 year old from Thunder Bay with no professional experience prior to NZ.

Valour 2019 Report Card - Midfielders A fair bit of subjectivity is involved in deciding who is a midfielder and who is an attacker (and to a lesser extent a defender) so to keep things simple I'll use the same designations at @Lofty did in his ratings. Beland-Goyette - A The closest thing had to a consistent performer from about June onward. My favourite thing about his game is that he seemed to develop offensively over the course of the season without sacrificing much of his defensive game. Sacramento - C It was hard for me to get a good read on his game as he was used in a lot of different positions over the course of the season. As an attacking midfielder he has the ability to be direct. Weak defensively. Good luck in New Zealand.- Gutierrez - B+ I liked his game when played in midfield. Didn't care for him as a right back. Whether due to injuries, other roster issues, or general Gale-y-ness, he played too much of the latter and not enough of the former role. Galán - C I was excited about what he could bring to the team after watching his first few performances, but he didn't really show much more than that after settling into the team. When played alongside LBG, probably allowed the latter to do more offensively. Carreiro - C+ I thought Dylan was one of the team's best players in the late season (except for the latter two matches which I did not watch). On the other hand, he was very disappointing early on, and had trouble staying in the lineup. Galvis - D I agree with @Lofty that he is not good enough for CPL. Peña - C I'm not sure where he'll end up on the pitch if he continues as a professional, but I liked him best in a defensive role. Gave up the ball too easily when attacking. Golubar - B+ Obviously wasn't in the lineup for long but looked a step above most of his teammates on the ball, even if his fitness and athleticism reflected his advanced footballing age. Interested to see if he'll return in 2020.

Valour 2019 Report Card - Defenders For a team this leaky defensively, there was a no way I could give better than a C average to the group. Arguinarena - B I wonder if the eye test deceives with Arguinarena. He had some apparent class and did well in one-on-one situations, but at times appeared completely baffled about where he should be on the pitch. Garcia - B Full of effort and decent getting forward and one-on-one. Not as effective when deployed on the left. One to keep and develop, for sure. Ohin - C Obvious physical gifts and more defensive sense than I had any right to expect from him, but also erratic and prone to fouls and cards. Thomas - C Did not live up to the advance billing, but of the 'veteran' CBs the most competent. Low bar and all that. Had the occasional shutdown performances but too many off days. Mitter - D One of the oldest-seeming 26 year olds I've seen, both in his total lack of pace and his habit of chewing out teammates. Not physically talented enough to keep up with many CPL attackers. Many of the left-side of the pitch mix-ups involved Mitter and Arguinarena and I think they share the positional blame for some of these. Le Bourhis - C- Some strong matches, especially when paired with Thomas, but caught napping often later in the season. Good in the air on attacking corners, but got lost like most of the team on defensive set piece assignments. Murrell - D What else is there to say? He sucked. I feel a bit badly saying that as he was played out of position much of the year, but had the resume where one would expect he'd be able to adjust. I'm also curious about which factors went into him being selected as captain.

Valour 2019 Report Card - Keepers Janssens - B- Farago - C Not much between the two of them. Obviously neither performed as well as a defensively poor team like Valour needed to have any sort of success. Both are decent shot stoppers, though Farago had more notable gaffes on that end. The team's defensive set pieces woes also have to be laid to some extent at the feet of the keepers. Janssens showed improvement in his ability to handle crosses, which was a major defect of his in the early season (open play and dead balls). Janssens' age and his penalty-saving prowess are the only reasons I have him ahead of Farago. Neither is good enough to be a top starter in CPL, but Janssens looks the likelier to get to that point.

Which decisions were egregious, exactly? The penalty was a penalty, and by my understanding of the rules, had to be red. Borges' was probably only a yellow (certainly no less than that), but you're asking for trouble by reacting that way in a match that's on edge (Wheeldon should have had a second yellow for play-acting in addition to the one he earned for his foul). I watched enough Valour matches this year to know there are plenty of much-worse officials in the regular rotation, particularly the 25-year old guy.

I don't feel sorry for either of these teams dealing with the referee's decisions, especially Cavalry since they played on the edge like this all year and were rarely punished.

Has it been reported that LBG is likely to leave, or do you have another reason for thinking it likely?