The next 3.5 years

[TGAA_Star]

Canada if we do play friendlies in the next 3.5 years then for opponents I would want Canada to face:

- Italy (reigning European Champions and the Azzurri are a World Cup quality type side despite missing out on the past 2 World Cups in a row)

- Germany

- Saudi Arabia 

- Brazil

- Egypt 

- Nigeria 

- Poland

- Norway

 

Just to name a few

[Grandbloke]

29 minutes ago, Sal333 said:

CF Montreal has a crop of young exciting players graduating to their senior team this year.

J. A. Assi winger

Tomas Girado midfield

Sean Rea midfield

Nathan Saliba midfield.

They're all younger than Kone and there's excitement around Rea and Saliba.

 

Montréal didn’t exercise its option on Giraldo. 

[Floortom]

19 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

I think you are underestimating Días. I understand he's playing for the Sporting u-23s.

All these kids need is a callup to the first team and the Portugal system will pay attention.

He's also the profile we need. I've seen him play btw, last year a couple times in Youth League. He looked physically young have to say.

Yah I watched him in a few youth league matches last season too and he was fine  overall. Nothing overly impressive but he seemed competent.  He’s about to be 20  years old and needs to do something of note.
 

He’s probably one of the oldest in the U23 team. Portuguese U23 is for 16-18 year old prospects. If you’re still there as a 20 year old it’s typically not a good sign.

[costarg]

14 hours ago, Mozart1756fan said:

Put in a plan to gradually ditch the MLS. CPL should be supported as Canada's top league and Canadian soccer is good enough to stand on its own, or it should be by 2026.

I feel that would just be shooting ourselves in the foot development wise.  In order to develop our players in the best possible way, they need to be playing at the most competitive level possible, with and versus the best players possible.  MLS will always have a better overall level than CPL.

[A.D.I.D.A.S.]

20 minutes ago, TGAA_Star said:

Canada if we do play friendlies in the next 3.5 years then for opponents I would want Canada to face:

- Saudi Arabia 

I see that going down very well with some of the Canadian public **cough** another Iran friendly-type debacle **cough** 

[Unnamed Trialist]

34 minutes ago, Floortom said:

Yah I watched him in a few youth league matches last season too and he was fine  overall. Nothing overly impressive but he seemed competent.  He’s about to be 20  years old and needs to do something of note.
 

He’s probably one of the oldest in the U23 team. Portuguese U23 is for 16-18 year old prospects. If you’re still there as a 20 year old it’s typically not a good sign.

Interesting, what do they do then? Go on loan?

I see Porto u23 averages over 21… both Sporting at 18 and Benfica at 18.5 are what you say, thanks.

[Shway]

2 hours ago, dyslexic nam said:

Ah, gotcha.  If that is the case I would def add Koleosho to the list.  While it is an area of strength this kid has the potential to be pretty good.  Mostly conjecture on my part but anyone who steps on the field for Espanyol as a 17 yr old has to be considered a pretty high ceiling prospect.  

I only consider them a lost if they played any soccer in Canada. That means they were developed by "us" in some kinda of way. 

Koleosho would be a  loss for the USA. And a "gain" for us. 

[Bigandy]

4 minutes ago, Shway said:

I only consider them a lost if they played any soccer in Canada. That means they were developed by "us" in some kinda of way. 

Koleosho would be a  loss for the USA. And a "gain" for us. 

I can appreciate this thought. I consider a CMNT eligible player not choosing us to be a loss (provided they are at the level to contribute to the CMNT). Kadioglu and christante were a big loss as they are guys who would start for us, even though we never really had a chance at them.

[archer21]

2 hours ago, Floortom said:

Dias might be the most strangely overrated prospect on this forum. The fact that people still talk about him as dual national at risk ( as if he would even be in play for Portugal’s F team) is bizarre. 
 

also we continue to overrate our attacking talent if we’re not strongly pushing for commitments from the likes of Jebbison and Koleosho. When we desperately needed a goal versus Belgium in the last ten minutes we subbed on Cavallini and Liam Millar. That’s not good enough for this level.

I want Jebbison and Koleosho to commit too but maybe you’re overrating them a bit. Jebbo can’t even make the bench for a championship side right now, it’s not like he’s of the quality to play for us right now I don’t think. He’s young and promising though, so obviously there’s a chance he develops into more.

[dyslexic nam]

8 minutes ago, archer21 said:

I want Jebbison and Koleosho to commit too but maybe you’re overrating them a bit. Jebbo can’t even make the bench for a championship side right now, it’s not like he’s of the quality to play for us right now I don’t think. He’s young and promising though, so obviously there’s a chance he develops into more.

Jebbo is injured now (since mid October from what I understand) and I think he was getting some bench “appearances“ before then.  He definitely was not kicking the door down for a call up before his injury but at his age (and with his physical attributes)  I am still optimistic that he can contribute to the Nats.  

I have been using that word a lot lately. “Optimistic”.  Hmmm.  

[Floortom]

20 minutes ago, archer21 said:

I want Jebbison and Koleosho to commit too but maybe you’re overrating them a bit. Jebbo can’t even make the bench for a championship side right now, it’s not like he’s of the quality to play for us right now I don’t think. He’s young and promising though, so obviously there’s a chance he develops into more.

I'm not overrating them at all. I agree with you.

I just disagree with the common sentiment here that states "well we have JD, AD, Tajon, etc." so we don't need to worry about attacking talent as much. We're very thin there too imo

[footballfreak]

18 hours ago, Mozart1756fan said:

Put in a plan to gradually ditch the MLS. CPL should be supported as Canada's top league and Canadian soccer is good enough to stand on its own, or it should be by 2026.

I support CPL as a development pathway, but no matter how big it gets MLS will always be bigger, and that’s fine. It’s just the reality of the size of the markets. Cutting ourselves off from that, especially since Canadians now count as domestics at American clubs, would be a truly foolish decision. Thankfully it also will not happen. The realistic medium term goal should be to bring CPL on par with USL Championship, which would be an impressive accomplishment in and of itself.

 

Edited December 5, 2022 by footballfreak
Typo

[Dominic94]

4 hours ago, Sal333 said:

CF Montreal has a crop of young exciting players graduating to their senior team this year.

J. A. Assi winger

Tomas Girado midfield

Sean Rea midfield

Nathan Saliba midfield.

They're all younger than Kone and there's excitement around Rea and Saliba.

 

Mael Henry is very good I’ve heard. 
 

Assi might take some time but he’s rated aswell.

 

Keep an eye on Schiavoni, they accommodated him to not lose him, there’s a reason his at Bologna. 
 

Montreal will become the next Dallas if Renard isn’t interfered with, there’s a lot of grade A talent in the academy. Kone is just the beginning. Biello is apparently something else.

[SpursFlu]

Hopefully in the next 3.5 yrs we see a Copa America. We need more experience against big teams in big moments 

[The Beaver 2.0]

22 hours ago, Mozart1756fan said:

Put in a plan to gradually ditch the MLS. CPL should be supported as Canada's top league and Canadian soccer is good enough to stand on its own, or it should be by 2026.

These are two separate propositions and should be evaluated as such. For my money, our national program will benefit most from the best possible version of CPL AND from a thriving MLS.  CPL is not likely to EVER surpass the quality of MLS, if only because of comparative markets, the US being significantly larger and richer than Canada. (Just a fact.)  Why kill MLS when it will likely be a step up on CPL (forever) and a great place for Canadians to develop their trade? We need both!!  

[The Beaver 2.0]

Clearly, investing in player development at the youth level has to be at the top of the list, which must include coaching development and some sort of system for effective scouting of young talent.  And, related, subsidies for low-income families to get their kids into soccer at a young age.  Soccer is still mostly affordable, relative to hockey, but think of all the kids like Kone and Davies who might be missing out because their families don't have the cash.  Immigrant families in particular. Best kid I ever coached came to Canada with his family from Argentina. They were doing okay but never had the cash to send their kids on out-of-town tournaments, which means the kid I coached could never be on a rep team. No guarantee he had the stuff to be a top tier professional, but holy shit did the kid have talent. 

Having written the above, I should state that I'd love to see some of these initiatives in place after 3.5 years. It'll take 10 years or more to really get this going. Needs lots of cash to coordinate such endeavours.

Edited December 6, 2022 by The Beaver 2.0

[The Beaver 2.0]

3 hours ago, Mozart1756fan said:

No, I'm not calling for destruction of MLS, just to get the league's presence out of Canada. Soccer independence from the US will make Canada a more credible competitor and the program and CANMNT taken more seriously. If you noticed all the WC winners and elite countries have their own domestic leagues w/o a foreign league's presence, ability to develop world-class homegrown players, and not coached by a foreigner. Canadian coaches are not yet at the level to compete w/ the world's best, but the first 2 are doable in the near future. 

If Canadians still want to play in MLS they're more than free to do so just like playing in any foreign league. I'm just talking about not having MLS teams in Canada so the CPL can have full support as a D1 league rather than being a co-D1 with someone else.

Gotcha! And yet, because one would think that Canadian-based MLS squads would be more likely to carry a larger contingent of Canadian players, and that MLS will likely remain the stronger league, I would much rather keep a few Canadian teams in MLS. I am not sure the success of CPL is necessarily contingent on removing all Canadian franchises from the MLS.

[TGAA_Star]

6 hours ago, The Beaver 2.0 said:

Gotcha! And yet, because one would think that Canadian-based MLS squads would be more likely to carry a larger contingent of Canadian players, and that MLS will likely remain the stronger league, I would much rather keep a few Canadian teams in MLS. I am not sure the success of CPL is necessarily contingent on removing all Canadian franchises from the MLS.

💯 💯 💯 💯 💯 💯 💯 💯  Exact thoughts

[dyslexic nam]

7 hours ago, The Beaver 2.0 said:

Gotcha! And yet, because one would think that Canadian-based MLS squads would be more likely to carry a larger contingent of Canadian players, and that MLS will likely remain the stronger league, I would much rather keep a few Canadian teams in MLS. I am not sure the success of CPL is necessarily contingent on removing all Canadian franchises from the MLS.

Yeah, this issue has come up multiple times, in multiple areas of the forum - and my thinking hasn’t really changed.  It would undoubtedly strengthen CPL to have exclusive access to our 3 biggest markets.  I am sure it would add stability and economic clout to the league, and would elevate the quality of play by increasing average salaries etc.  if it somehow did come to pass that MLS was kicked out of Canada, our national soccer league would surely benefit.

However, MLS is on a trajectory that will see it steadily improve in terms of player quality and salaries.  I believe that within 20 years, it will probably be just below the top 5 leagues in the world. It is already a league players can use to launch moves to high quality European teams, and it is able to produce players capable of competing at the WC.  If league growth continues, there is no reason to think that all of these attributes won’t continue to strengthen. And having 3 teams solidified in that league could be huge for Canadian footy.  While there are still some rather annoying aspects of the “domestic” rules governing player eligibility, it is very clear that the 3 teams offer a clear pathway for Canadian talent to springboard into lucrative pro careers - whether in MLS for the long term or in Europe as the eventual destination.  Post-2026, as franchise fees continue to rise, I think it will be a significant factor for our player pool that we have a strong foothold in the league.   

[CanadaFan123]

@dyslexic namagreed and I think we need to leverage our position as “we could leave” to get MLS to make Canadians domestic league wide. If we do that then we are in a perfect position. We’d have a top domestic league worldwide together with another top league in our confederation. One could argue we’d actually be in an even better position than the USA.
 

 

Edited December 6, 2022 by CanadaFan123

[Colonel Green]

12 hours ago, Mozart1756fan said:

No, I'm not calling for destruction of MLS, just to get the league's presence out of Canada. Soccer independence from the US will make Canada a more credible competitor and the program and CANMNT taken more seriously. If you noticed all the WC winners and elite countries have their own domestic leagues w/o a foreign league's presence, ability to develop world-class homegrown players, and not coached by a foreigner. Canadian coaches are not yet at the level to compete w/ the world's best, but the first 2 are doable in the near future. 

If Canadians still want to play in MLS they're more than free to do so just like playing in any foreign league. I'm just talking about not having MLS teams in Canada so the CPL can have full support as a D1 league rather than being a co-D1 with someone else.

It makes no sense for Canadian soccer to destroy its three most prominent, highest-level clubs in the name of development.

And yes, that is what would happen. Trying to turn them into CPL clubs would be a massive quality downgrade, and greatly lessen interest in them in the markets in question.

[Obinna]

We have 4 (5?) possible trophies to win over the next 3.5 years:

NL 2023

GC 2023

CA 2024 (if we get invited)

NL 2025

GC 2025

It's not outside the realm of possibility that we reach the finals for each of these tournaments, except copa america. This should be the aim for "New Canada". This is the same expectation Mexico and USA (and perhaps even Costa Rica) will have. Why not us?

Now obviously all 3 (or 4) of these teams cannot make every final. Someone will miss out. The big 2 will aim to keep the status quo. Can we break that?

I hesitate to say how many of these trophies we need to win, because anything can happen in a final, but for me "meeting expectations" would be winning at least 1 of these trophies and making the final in at least 2. For me, this is a realistic expectation considering where our team is at.

For Copa America, escaping the group stage should be the goal. Anything past that would be a bonus.

[Watchmen]

Events outside the Gold Cup/NL the CSA needs to get organized:

Participation in the Copa America is a must.  Honestly, it's a major failure for the CSA if it doesn't happen.  The team needs the on field testing and it's a major event that could/should appeal to the casual fan and keep them interested (while hopefully converting them to more active fans).

There needs to be a major friendly in Vancouver, as a make up for the shitshow Iran/Panama/cancellation event.  Honestly, a lot of fans/potential fans left feeling absolutely burned by that, and they need to make it up.

A series of Canada B/domestic-squad friendlies outside of the major markets.  Think: that T&T friendly that was supposed to happen in Victoria just before Covid broke out.  I'm not objecting to a full-squad game outside of the major markets either, I just think a B team might be easier to assemble for that.