Stefan Mitrovic

[dyslexic nam]

No offence whatsoever to Ivan but I suspect he would tweet whatever he thinks would give his son the most opportunities - and at this point that likely consists of not alienating one of his two international options before he gets a formal call up from either of them.  Having said that, I wouldn’t take his explanation as necessarily refuting what was in the article - that seems like a really specific allegation to just make up with no grounds whatsoever.  Not saying it is true, but there may be something behind it.  Smoke and fire and all that.  

[narduch]

The fact he signed a 1 year extension sort of implies that ther just isn't that great a market for him yet. Seems to be more hype than substance 

[Obinna]

I think signing an extension was a perfectly reasonable move. I think earlier in the thread I suggested that staying in Serbia wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, though I believe I made the comment in the context of him joining Red Star instead of going to Portugal or Belgium.

Regardless, he gets more reps at a level and a club that'll secure him playing time, and he's young enough where suitors are still going to be interested a year or half year from now. By then he'll have more games and goals under his belt, which just further proves to interested teams that he's worth investing in. 

[CanadaFan123]

2 hours ago, baulderdash77 said:

I’m sure he will be called up this summer to the Nations League games.   That will be the tournament where we bring in some new young players.

If he's turning down calls to a qualified Canada side we have a problem. We have two straight World Cups. That would have been enough for even JDG2. 

[narduch]

10 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

If he's turning down calls to a qualified Canada side we have a problem. We have two straight World Cups. That would have been enough for even JDG2. 

I predict he won't accept a call to a game that cap ties him until he transfers 

[Obinna]

He was invited to, and accepted a call for, the Jan camp (that never happened), right? Would he really turn down a call to protect his eligibility? Being smart about your eligibility (i.e. not cheaply throwing it away) is different than turning down real opportunities to protect your eligibility (Jebbison), and I really don't get the vibe that he's holding out for Serbia. Nations league seems to be the next opportunity for him, because it's safe to assume we see no experimentation for the final WCQ window. I think we may actually see him get called (and accept) for those games in summer. 

[narduch]

1 minute ago, Obinna said:

He was invited to, and accepted a call for, the Jan camp (that never happened), right? Would he really turn down a call to protect his eligibility? Being smart about your eligibility (i.e. not cheaply throwing it away) is different than turning down real opportunities to protect your eligibility (Jebbison), and I really don't get the vibe that he's holding out for Serbia. Nations league seems to be the next opportunity for him, because it's safe to assume we see no experimentation for the final WCQ window. I think we may actually see him get called (and accept) for those games in summer. 

He accepted the pre-camp. Which doesn't cap tie him.

I believe he needs to do the one time switch paper work to really play for us. When that happens I will believe it.

Jebbison is another story. I bet it will be years before he decides.

Edited March 11, 2022 by narduch

[Obinna]

1 minute ago, narduch said:

He accepted the pre-camp. Which doesn't cap tie him.

I believe he needs to do the one time switch paper work to really play for us. When that happens I will believe it.

Jebbison is another story. I bet it will be years before he decides.

Agreed on Jebbison. 

I think if you're Mitrovic you switch your eligibility to play in Nations League for Canada. Him and his father have been talking Canada up, so here's where the rubber will meet the road. 

Interestingly, Serbia will also be competing in UEFA Nations League during the same window. It's hard to predict what sort of squad they'll go with, but they'll have to play Norway and Slovenia, both of which will roll out strong sides. Serbia will have to roll out a strong squad to compete, decreasing the chances they dip deep into their pool. If they wanted, they could roll out a decently strong side, picking and choosing which youngsters to blood, but there are several young attacking domestic players with senior caps they may invest in, plus I don't see capping Mitovic as being a high priority for Serbia in the way it was for Enis (Romania) or Yankov (Bulgaria). Meanwhile, we can probably afford to rotate our roster more given our nations league competition, because I assume (so don't quote me here) we'd be a top ranked team based on the CONCACAF ranking and would thus avoid USA, Mexico and Costa Rica, thus we're likely to face one of Honduras, Panama, Jamaica, El Salvador along with one of Suriname, Curacao, Grenada or Martinique. No matter who we draw we can very likely afford to rotate and experiment to the point where Mitrovic is given an opportunity to show what he can do, not merely participate at a pre-camp. It's not impossible, but it's very unlikely he has a competing call up from Serbia in June, and I don't see him turning down a Canadian NT call for CONCACAF Nations League to protect his Serbia eligibility.

[Unnamed Trialist]

I personally think we should bring him in. 

First, of all the players who have not gotten a whiff from our NT so far, and are playing in solid first tiers, he is perhaps the most interesting. Maybe along with Ennin at Novgorod.

Then, we have some possible injuries in the midfield, depending how Osorio evolves, Piette, and we especially could use an attacking mid with a bit of verticality, in the middle of the pitch. So he is a good fit. 

Finally, you have to keep sending out that message to the younger players that getting top flight minutes will matter. Not in a way that seems to refute the principle, which is what we did with Brym (and hindsight for a 2nd division player in Netherlands does not alter that), but in a way that reinforces it. 

If they don't ask for Stefan quite yet, it could be Raheem Edwards. We need some more midfield coverage. 

 

[dyslexic nam]

If we still anticipate being thin in the middle  (and it looks like we will be) I wouldn’t be opposed to inviting one of Kone or Mitrovic.  The reason I have suggested the former is because I have seen a few of his games with Montreal and have a decent baseline for his skill level.   I don’t really have a sense of that yet with Mitrovic - my interest is purely based on hearsay and the usual hype of a young dual.  No idea who the better player is at this particular moment.  But whichever one that is - I might use the current midfield injuries as an excuse to bring them into the fold if I was Herdman.

[TOcanadafan]

Looking at the current depth of the Serbia Sr. Squad, he is far far away from a legitimate call up, however, it does appear by their u21 standing / roster that they don’t have a large crop of talent on its way.

The June window would also provide Serbia the same opportunity to cap-tie him… I agree with others who suggest that if there is a spot open for this window, we call him, as there may be an opportunity to cap tie him now.

[maccaliam]

22 hours ago, narduch said:

The fact he signed a 1 year extension sort of implies that ther just isn't that great a market for him yet. Seems to be more hype than substance 

Not sure I agree. Without knowing the terms obviously, signing an extension can actually be a good move for both club and player (and agent).
Player gets a bump in pay and a bit of a signing bonus (as does agent), and club secures their investment (player) allowing them to hold out for a move that is more on the club’s terms. Perhaps I am mistaken but I feel like Portuguese teams are very good at this. Very often before a big move in Portugal I feel like players sign new contracts which may initially keep them at the club a bit longer but usually does not stop a move to another club. 

[costarg]

20 hours ago, Obinna said:

we'd be a top ranked team based on the CONCACAF ranking and would thus avoid USA, Mexico and Costa Rica

Is is just me that still needs to pause, reflect and think about the past year every time I read a statement like this?  CANMNT's trajectory has been nothing short of incredible.

[Obinna]

6 hours ago, dyslexic nam said:

If we still anticipate being thin in the middle  (and it looks like we will be) I wouldn’t be opposed to inviting one of Kone or Mitrovic.  The reason I have suggested the former is because I have seen a few of his games with Montreal and have a decent baseline for his skill level.   I don’t really have a sense of that yet with Mitrovic - my interest is purely based on hearsay and the usual hype of a young dual.  No idea who the better player is at this particular moment.  But whichever one that is - I might use the current midfield injuries as an excuse to bring them into the fold if I was Herdman.

Why not both? It sounds like I have watched Mitrovic and Kone about as much as you have and Kone strikes me as a pure 8, while Mitrovic is an attacking midfielder who's capable of playing out wide. I don't think they'd be competing directly. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

On 3/12/2022 at 4:46 PM, maccaliam said:

Not sure I agree. Without knowing the terms obviously, signing an extension can actually be a good move for both club and player (and agent).
Player gets a bump in pay and a bit of a signing bonus (as does agent), and club secures their investment (player) allowing them to hold out for a move that is more on the club’s terms. Perhaps I am mistaken but I feel like Portuguese teams are very good at this. Very often before a big move in Portugal I feel like players sign new contracts which may initially keep them at the club a bit longer but usually does not stop a move to another club. 

This is often the case, and it suggests something else that I like: the player in this way is ensuring the club that has nutured him and given him a chance to get a transfer fee, it is a gesture of good will on the part of the player.

[VinceA]

We can ask for Mitrovic all we want but he'd need to file a one time switch and there isn't anything to suggest he has or is in the process of doing so.

[archer21]

2 hours ago, VinceA said:

We can ask for Mitrovic all we want but he'd need to file a one time switch and there isn't anything to suggest he has or is in the process of doing so.

It’s not like we always hear of them filing a switch in advance though. His camp have consistently said he wants to play for Canada and would switch if given the chance so I’m sure these conversations have already taken place.

[VinceA]

31 minutes ago, archer21 said:

It’s not like we always hear of them filing a switch in advance though. His camp have consistently said he wants to play for Canada and would switch if given the chance so I’m sure these conversations have already taken place.

I mean so far most of Mitrovic's career moves (or lack thereof) have been made public.

[Markoaleks]

 

 

 

[VinceA]

If he's gonna play senior ball for us it will be at the Nations League.

[Shway]

21 minutes ago, VinceA said:

If he's gonna play senior ball for us it will be at the Nations League.

And this is where fringe guys and potential newcomers will make their final stake for the world cup squad. 

I can see a lot of regulars getting rest in anticipation for the early start of their seasons, and nations league being essentially an audition or extended opportunities for some guys to stake their claim.

Potential Newcomers - Mitrovic, Jebbison, 
Extended Opportunities - Corbeanu, Millar, Ugbo

[narduch]

I think we will use our strongest team in Nations League.

There won't be a lot of time to prep for the World Cup. Other than June there is only the September window for friendlies. There is no October window this year and we may not even be able to play a pre-World Cup friendly with our full sqaud depending what Group we end up in.

[Shway]

19 minutes ago, narduch said:

I think we will use our strongest team in Nations League.

There won't be a lot of time to prep for the World Cup. Other than June there is only the September window for friendlies. There is no October window this year and we may not even be able to play a pre-World Cup friendly with our full sqaud depending what Group we end up in.

I keep flip flopping on the idea of if we will/ if we won't. 

I think we will for the reasons you mentioned.

but I think we won't because JH will want to give some guys a rest before their gruelling seasons that will start earlier this year. I also think Nations league doesn't really give any additional preparation considering we would've played the best talent twice within 8 months.

I think we see "our strongest team in Nations League" if it's paired with a marquee friendly like what is being rumoured. 
Other than that, I think we've had "enough" preparation against the best Concacaf teams.  

[VinceA]

10 minutes ago, Shway said:

I keep flip flopping on the idea of if we will/ if we won't. 

I think we will for the reasons you mentioned.

but I think we won't because JH will want to give some guys a rest before their gruelling seasons that will start earlier this year. I also think Nations league doesn't really give any additional preparation considering we would've played the best talent twice within 8 months.

I think we see "our strongest team in Nations League" if it's paired with a marquee friendly like what is being rumoured. 
Other than that, I think we've had "enough" preparation against the best Concacaf teams.  

I agree. I also don't think Herdman can completely freeze out a number of dual nats for all of 2022 without it potentially biting us in the butt later on.

[Approve My Account Pls]

1 hour ago, narduch said:

I think we will use our strongest team in Nations League.

There won't be a lot of time to prep for the World Cup. Other than June there is only the September window for friendlies. There is no October window this year and we may not even be able to play a pre-World Cup friendly with our full sqaud depending what Group we end up in.

I think it'll be a balance. With 4 matches in a two week period in June I can see us calling in our strongest team for 2 matches against the better opposition with more experimental/younger sides being preferred for "lesser" opposition. With the number of injuries we've seen happen over the last few months, it's hard to imagine any guy will play 4 matches in 12 days