Stefan Mitrovic

[Obinna]

1 minute ago, Shway said:

If you guys don't think this is a real issue, then you don't have kids or have  friends who have kids that are playing the game at competitive levels right now. Specifically in Ontario, as that is what I can speak on. 

5K not including travel expenses for youth soccer is crazy. 

I grew up playing soccer in newfoundland at the most competitive level available, which was playing on the newfoundland provincial teams that were sent to nationals, and also playing for my club team that competed for the provincial club championships, which were basically the national club championship qualifiers. Even in the years I was part part of both programs, I don't think my combined fees came anywhere close to 5k, excludung travel of course. Mind you, I stopped playing youth soccer in like 2003 so maybe things got far more expensive, or maybe things really vary from province to province.

[Razcal]

Can we move this thread to World Soccer?

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

15 hours ago, Razcal said:

Can we move this thread to World Soccer?

He is on the bench for the Serbia U21 team right now:

https://www.uefa.com/under21/match/2031912--faroe-islands-vs-serbia/lineups/

[Canuckistan2019]

15 hours ago, Obinna said:

I grew up playing soccer in newfoundland at the most competitive level available, which was playing on the newfoundland provincial teams that were sent to nationals, and also playing for my club team that competed for the provincial club championships, which were basically the national club championship qualifiers. Even in the years I was part part of both programs, I don't think my combined fees came anywhere close to 5k, excludung travel of course. Mind you, I stopped playing youth soccer in like 2003 so maybe things got far more expensive, or maybe things really vary from province to province.

What was a man with an igbo name doing in Newfoundland 😂😂😂

[grigorio]

I’m not sure how some of you are managing to find some chuckles in this. Sure Ivan is a little whacky but through those tweets we see the attitude that he and many others (and now possibly an increasing amount) have about Canada Soccer and contributing factors to missing out on duals. If we strike out on Flores, Mitrovic, and Dias that’s no laughing matter. 

[Shway]

6 minutes ago, grigorio said:

I’m not sure how some of you are managing to find some chuckles in this. Sure Ivan is a little whacky but through those tweets we see the attitude that he and many others (and now possibly an increasing amount) have about Canada Soccer and contributing factors to missing out on duals. If we strike out on Flores, Mitrovic, and Dias that’s no laughing matter. 

I get your perspective. But at the moment, it's all hindsight as these guys are all youth players (albeit Stefan).

Also the well of players being developed isn't as sparse as it used to be, so running after unproven fickle pride players while we got willing and promising guys in the backyard who simply just don't have a European passport.

Take your pick.

[Approve My Account Pls]

35 minutes ago, Shway said:

Also the well of players being developed isn't as sparse as it used to be,

This is by no means a valid reason for us to be losing out on Canadian born duals. Sure, it's a benefit that we are finally capable of developing talent, but any kid born in Canada that we lose out on is a loss. Like @grigorio said, if we lose out on Flores, Mitrovic, Dias, or even guys like Jesse Costa (who played Portugal youth before Canada), that indicates we have an issue retaining our own players. What about if we lose Rida Zouhir to Morocco? He's MLS developed, then what's our defence?

At some point we need to change from being reactive to proactive as a federation if we want to win battles for our own guys

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

1 hour ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

He is on the bench for the Serbia U21 team right now:

https://www.uefa.com/under21/match/2031912--faroe-islands-vs-serbia/lineups/

Subbed in at the 72nd minute. Gets a goal at the 77th to tie the game against the Faroe Islands. Match ends 1-1.

Edited June 7, 2022 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[InglewoodJack]

Based on the fact that not only has his dad made it clear that the CSA disrespected his son, doesn't rate him, has all these corporate issues, and the kid is physically playing in and for serbia, if he was really going to commit to serbia, he'd stay quiet and just do that. Serbia has a better team than us, a better league than us, better players than us, better youth development programs than us, etc. If your son is highly sought after by a team like that, what are you doing tweeting about the CSA? It's like you started dating someone really attractive but you're still complaining about your awful ex that never left their hometown. I think when the dust settles, Canada will have a decent world cup, people will remember that our team is not only good but ascending, Mitrovic will eventually get his international transfer, and at that point, it'll be more attractive for him to play here, and he will be more attractive to the CANMNT. I would be very shocked if he commits to Serbia, ever. I may be wrong, but if you're still wasting so much breath on an inferior soccer team who doesn't even really care about you you clearly want something from them.

59 minutes ago, grigorio said:

I’m not sure how some of you are managing to find some chuckles in this. Sure Ivan is a little whacky but through those tweets we see the attitude that he and many others (and now possibly an increasing amount) have about Canada Soccer and contributing factors to missing out on duals. If we strike out on Flores, Mitrovic, and Dias that’s no laughing matter. 

I think it's important to understand the why of why players commit to other teams. The biggest reason will always be external factors. Flores was never not going to play with Mexico. If he wanted to be a star for his team, he'd play for us, if he wanted to be on the best team possible, he'd play for England, but he was committed to making it work with Mexico. For Dias, we know it'll come down to whether or not the top 5 team that he is eligible for offers him a spot or not; very little canada can do to offer a better deal. Doubtful that Ronaldo is still playing in 2026, but the attraction of playing with a 41 year old Ronaldo in a career send off at the 2026 world cup or even at the 2024 Euro in itself is better than anything we can offer Dias, probably. Hell, purely playing in the Euros is a better sweetener than anything we've got. Do you wanna play Germany, Italy and England, or the US, Jamaica and Honduras for the next 15 years in your career?

I think it's with cases like Mitrovic and others who are choosing between other teams more or less in the same tier as ours that are important to evaluate. I still think he'll commit, but if we find out that it was an issue of our team not properly scouting him and thus undervaluing him, then that's a major issue. I'm also really interested in the Koleosho situation. On the one hand, based on everything Ivan is saying, no dual national should want to play for us. And yet, Koleosho, someone who has never lived in Canada (idk if his "italian canadian" mom means she lived here or has a single canadian parent), who has a good shot at making the USMNT, a far more accomplished program than ours, is actively considering committing to us. And then, if we end up in a situation where Mitrovic does commit to Serbia and Koleosho commits to Canada, then where's the issue to fix? As it stands, the better, more promising, arguably more accomplished dual national just posted a picture of himself in full CANMNT kit, and the other player's dad is whining on twitter to his 300 followers. Makes no sense from the info we have.

[Bison44]

How is it clear that the CSA disrespected his son??  This shit gets a life of its own.....what disrespectful thing did they do to him?? And it better not be not calling him into a youth camp.  

[costarg]

15 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

How is it clear that the CSA disrespected his son??  This shit gets a life of its own.....what disrespectful thing did they do to him?? And it better not be not calling him into a youth camp.  

Just the fact that he hasn't gotten an invitation to play for our senior team is strange and can be seen as disrespectful in certain cultures and circles.

[El Hombre]

18 minutes ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

Subbed in at the 72nd minute. Gets a goal at the 77th to tie the game against the Faroe Islands. 1-1 now.

Yikes.  Second straight draw with the Faroe Islands.  That doesn't look too good.  Maybe the Faroe Islands have a golden generation coming through?

This was also a nothing game.  In fact, the whole window was a long shot.  Technically they could've caught Ukraine but Ukraine had two games in hand and three of their final four games were against the bottom three teams in the group (Faroe Islands, North Macedonia, Armenia).

So if the midfield group is mostly 2001/2002 and he's a 2002 that's getting spot duty, how close is he really to the senior team?

[costarg]

23 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

Based on the fact that not only has his dad made it clear that the CSA disrespected his son, doesn't rate him, has all these corporate issues, and the kid is physically playing in and for serbia, if he was really going to commit to serbia, he'd stay quiet and just do that. Serbia has a better team than us, a better league than us, better players than us, better youth development programs than us, etc. If your son is highly sought after by a team like that, what are you doing tweeting about the CSA? It's like you started dating someone really attractive but you're still complaining about your awful ex that never left their hometown. I think when the dust settles, Canada will have a decent world cup, people will remember that our team is not only good but ascending, Mitrovic will eventually get his international transfer, and at that point, it'll be more attractive for him to play here, and he will be more attractive to the CANMNT. I would be very shocked if he commits to Serbia, ever. I may be wrong, but if you're still wasting so much breath on an inferior soccer team who doesn't even really care about you you clearly want something from them.

I think it's important to understand the why of why players commit to other teams. The biggest reason will always be external factors. Flores was never not going to play with Mexico. If he wanted to be a star for his team, he'd play for us, if he wanted to be on the best team possible, he'd play for England, but he was committed to making it work with Mexico. For Dias, we know it'll come down to whether or not the top 5 team that he is eligible for offers him a spot or not; very little canada can do to offer a better deal. Doubtful that Ronaldo is still playing in 2026, but the attraction of playing with a 41 year old Ronaldo in a career send off at the 2026 world cup or even at the 2024 Euro in itself is better than anything we can offer Dias, probably. Hell, purely playing in the Euros is a better sweetener than anything we've got. Do you wanna play Germany, Italy and England, or the US, Jamaica and Honduras for the next 15 years in your career?

I think it's with cases like Mitrovic and others who are choosing between other teams more or less in the same tier as ours that are important to evaluate. I still think he'll commit, but if we find out that it was an issue of our team not properly scouting him and thus undervaluing him, then that's a major issue. I'm also really interested in the Koleosho situation. On the one hand, based on everything Ivan is saying, no dual national should want to play for us. And yet, Koleosho, someone who has never lived in Canada (idk if his "italian canadian" mom means she lived here or has a single canadian parent), who has a good shot at making the USMNT, a far more accomplished program than ours, is actively considering committing to us. And then, if we end up in a situation where Mitrovic does commit to Serbia and Koleosho commits to Canada, then where's the issue to fix? As it stands, the better, more promising, arguably more accomplished dual national just posted a picture of himself in full CANMNT kit, and the other player's dad is whining on twitter to his 300 followers. Makes no sense from the info we have.

Specifically because he wishes things would have worked out between his son and CANMNT.  These are the guys we need and should be capping if the CSA wasn't such an incompetent and corrupt shit show

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

4 minutes ago, El Hombre said:

So if the midfield group is mostly 2001/2002 and he's a 2002 that's getting spot duty, how close is he really to the senior team?

Closer than he was yesterday, considering how weak this U21 crop is.

Probably why he was so quickly promoted from the U20s to the U21s.

He could get to the senior team by September if he does something extraordinary at club level.

I wouldn't be surprised  to see him get a call in January 2023, when the domestic league is on break.

Edited June 7, 2022 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[narduch]

9 minutes ago, costarg said:

Just the fact that he hasn't gotten an invitation to play for our senior team is strange and can be seen as disrespectful in certain cultures and circles.

He was invited but refused to do the one time switch 

[El Hombre]

1 minute ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

Closer than he was yesterday, considering how weak this U21 crop is.

Probably why he was so quickly promoted from the U20s to the U21s.

He could get to the senior team by September if he does something extraordinary at club level.

I wouldn't be surprised  to see him get a call in January 2023, when the domestic league is on break.

Really?  I had the exact opposite reaction.  He's too old for the current U20 team and is only getting spot duty for the U21 team.  He's got at least two or three other guys on this U21 team that are ahead of him and this team didn't do that well (especially compared to the U20 team which is playing later today for qualification).

And that's not counting any of the current midfielders for the senior team.  I don't know much about Serbia but it would seem he'd be pretty far down their senior depth chart and he's running out of time to shine for the youth teams.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

1 minute ago, El Hombre said:

Really?  I had the exact opposite reaction.  He's too old for the current U20 team and is only getting spot duty for the U21 team.  He's got at least two or three other guys on this U21 team that are ahead of him and this team didn't do that well (especially compared to the U20 team which is playing later today for qualification).

And that's not counting any of the current midfielders for the senior team.  I don't know much about Serbia but it would seem he'd be pretty far down their senior depth chart and he's running out of time to shine for the youth teams.

Ya, which is why I don't think it likely he would get a senior team call from Serbia before Jan 2023 and their "Camp Poutine".

[Big_M]

Hes still eligible for the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship and qualification will begin in 2023

[Obinna]

2 hours ago, Canuckistan2019 said:

What was a man with an igbo name doing in Newfoundland 😂😂😂

I'm a rare breed

[InglewoodJack]

19 minutes ago, costarg said:

Specifically because he wishes things would have worked out between his son and CANMNT.  These are the guys we need and should be capping if the CSA wasn't such an incompetent and corrupt shit show

I wonder how true this is though. Canada allegedly rates Mitrovic below even guys like Jayden Nelson. What if they're right? Is a player that can play first team on a team in serbia at 18 as impressive as we believe it to be? How will he ultimately fit into Canada's plans when on top of the guys we have now, if he's competing with Brym, Colyn, even JMR when he gets his career back on track, etc. And on Mitrovic's side- what type of treatment was his dad looking for? Did he expect us to treat him like the next Phonzie with a nice Vice documentary at like 16? I know he wasn't even drafted by the CPL, which I'd really love to know more info about, but I still think all of this is a smoke screen by his dad to put pressure on the CSA. Serbia is the 25th ranked country in the world. They play the Euros. They play the world cup. Their fans are among the most passionate in the world. If Serbia was going to call him up, why is papa Ivan whining to his 300 followers about some podunk country's corrupt incompetent team that doesn't even care about his son?

The reality is that almost every player on Serbia plays in a top 5 league, unless you play for Red Star or Partizan they won't call you up. Of the forwards they called up for Nations league, 4 don't play in a top 5 league, and of those 4, one plays for ajax, one for benfica, and one for Porto. Even if he gets transferred to like, Belgium or something which is what seems to be the recurring rumour, is that even enough to get on Serbia's radar?

 

Also, I know nothing about Serbia's soccer federation, but all of this is under the assumption that unlike the rest of their government and institutions, the Serbian soccer federation is not a corrupt shit show.

[Corazon]

38 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

I wonder how true this is though. Canada allegedly rates Mitrovic below even guys like Jayden Nelson. What if they're right? Is a player that can play first team on a team in serbia at 18 as impressive as we believe it to be? How will he ultimately fit into Canada's plans when on top of the guys we have now, if he's competing with Brym, Colyn, even JMR when he gets his career back on track, etc. And on Mitrovic's side- what type of treatment was his dad looking for? Did he expect us to treat him like the next Phonzie with a nice Vice documentary at like 16? I know he wasn't even drafted by the CPL, which I'd really love to know more info about, but I still think all of this is a smoke screen by his dad to put pressure on the CSA. Serbia is the 25th ranked country in the world. They play the Euros. They play the world cup. Their fans are among the most passionate in the world. If Serbia was going to call him up, why is papa Ivan whining to his 300 followers about some podunk country's corrupt incompetent team that doesn't even care about his son?

The reality is that almost every player on Serbia plays in a top 5 league, unless you play for Red Star or Partizan they won't call you up. Of the forwards they called up for Nations league, 4 don't play in a top 5 league, and of those 4, one plays for ajax, one for benfica, and one for Porto. Even if he gets transferred to like, Belgium or something which is what seems to be the recurring rumour, is that even enough to get on Serbia's radar?

 

Also, I know nothing about Serbia's soccer federation, but all of this is under the assumption that unlike the rest of their government and institutions, the Serbian soccer federation is not a corrupt shit show.

I agree with almost everything you write.  Although I will say that "Canada allegedly rates him below Jayden Nelson", is strictly coming only from Wheeler who I have come to distrust more than I dislike his commentary.  So a part of me actually doesn't believe those names Wheeler mentioned are true.  It's easier to believe Wheeler is defending CSA's position as he always does.  What seems to be more of the truth is that he was called and refused to switch his allegiances currently, possibly to finish up the u21 cycle with Serbia.

The other thing is that even though I know Nelson has been playing in central midfield with Toronto FC this season, I don't believe him, Brym and whoever else was mentioned by Wheeler naturally play the same position as Mitrovic.  He seems to be more of a natural attacking midfielder which we lack in our program.

Everything else, I agree with wholeheartedly.

[El Hombre]

1 minute ago, Corazon said:

I agree with almost everything you write.  Although I will say that "Canada allegedly rates him below Jayden Nelson", is strictly coming only from Wheeler who I have come to distrust more than I dislike his commentary.  So a part of me actually doesn't believe those names Wheeler mentioned are true.  It's easier to believe Wheeler is defending CSA's position as he always does.  What seems to be more of the truth is that he was called and refused to switch his allegiances currently, possibly to finish up the u21 cycle with Serbia.

The other thing is that even though I know Nelson has been playing in central midfield with Toronto FC this season, I don't believe him, Brym and whoever else was mentioned by Wheeler naturally play the same position as Mitrovic.  He seems to be more of a natural attacking midfielder which we lack in our program.

Everything else, I agree with wholeheartedly.

What I took from Wheeler's comments was that Herdman and company see Mitrovic as more of a winger than an attacking midfielder.  If you look at it from that lens, then you could definitely see how he might be down the depth chart being behind Davies, Buchanan, Hoilett, Millar and jockeying for position with guys like Brym, Koleosho, Shaffleburg, Corbeanu, Nelson, JMR etc. rather than being behind someone like Osorio who's playing in the middle of the park.

Also, it should be noted that while I was a huge Wheeler booster around here 12 months ago, that has changed over the last two months (particularly the last ten days) so I also take that comment with a grain of salt.

[InglewoodJack]

1 hour ago, Corazon said:

I agree with almost everything you write.  Although I will say that "Canada allegedly rates him below Jayden Nelson", is strictly coming only from Wheeler who I have come to distrust more than I dislike his commentary.  So a part of me actually doesn't believe those names Wheeler mentioned are true.  It's easier to believe Wheeler is defending CSA's position as he always does.  What seems to be more of the truth is that he was called and refused to switch his allegiances currently, possibly to finish up the u21 cycle with Serbia.

The other thing is that even though I know Nelson has been playing in central midfield with Toronto FC this season, I don't believe him, Brym and whoever else was mentioned by Wheeler naturally play the same position as Mitrovic.  He seems to be more of a natural attacking midfielder which we lack in our program.

Everything else, I agree with wholeheartedly.

If Wheeler straight up lied about that, that would be an insane mess up, but I just named Nelson because he was the most surprising name on the list, but yeah, I remember there being multiple names on that list, point being that even if half turn out to be good enough to play for Canada, we still see him as our fourth or fifth option, which would be nice to have on the team, but not incredibly important.

 

also his dad said he was never contacted for a switch, so even there, who knows the truth for real.

[narduch]

18 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

If Wheeler straight up lied about that, that would be an insane mess up, but I just named Nelson because he was the most surprising name on the list, but yeah, I remember there being multiple names on that list, point being that even if half turn out to be good enough to play for Canada, we still see him as our fourth or fifth option, which would be nice to have on the team, but not incredibly important.

 

also his dad said he was never contacted for a switch, so even there, who knows the truth for real.

The dad id lying because he doesn't want fans to hate his son for choosing Serbia

Edited June 7, 2022 by narduch

[Bison44]

1 hour ago, El Hombre said:

What I took from Wheeler's comments was that Herdman and company see Mitrovic as more of a winger than an attacking midfielder.  If you look at it from that lens, then you could definitely see how he might be down the depth chart being behind Davies, Buchanan, Hoilett, Millar and jockeying for position with guys like Brym, Koleosho, Shaffleburg, Corbeanu, Nelson, JMR etc. rather than being behind someone like Osorio who's playing in the middle of the park.

Also, it should be noted that while I was a huge Wheeler booster around here 12 months ago, that has changed over the last two months (particularly the last ten days) so I also take that comment with a grain of salt.

Say it aint so????  No more drunken Wheels is the greatest posts on gamenights??