Niko Sigur

[GasPed]

2 hours ago, blueseeka said:

The games I saw of Sigur, he played like Piette but with much more speed and wonderful ball distribution.  Always in the right spots defensively.  He should allow Eustáquio and Kone more chances to roam freely. I didn't see any games of him as a RB

I'm just wondering if he's the pit bull/destroyer type that Sam is though.  I mean clearly he's a level above in terms of technical skill, distribution, dribbling, anything with the ball really.  But Sam is so tenacious and physical on D - not sure if Sigur fits that part of the DM profile...

[SthMelbRed]

I find this guy very weird.

He's not somebody who fell through the cracks. He was in one of the top academies in the country. Couldn't find anything in a pro environment, so went the U-Sports route. He didn't necessarily stand out against his peers at any point. Goes on holiday to the Balkans and a minute later he's an international caliber player? I guess there's nothing that makes sense in football, but this one really confuses me.

Hoping that he turns out to be the extra player we need in midfield, though.

[Soro17]

4 hours ago, Macksam said:

Not to be blunt, but that in itself is a travesty for your province. Considering the weather you have throughout the year in your more populated areas, you'll need to step up your game.  

Nah that’s the myth, at least in Vancouver / Van Island, we don’t play during the nice parts of the year and have next to no indoor facilities. It is outside in the rain on flooded or frozen pitches from September to March! 

[GlassCity]

8 hours ago, ahmedou said:

Take a look on this future lineup 🇨🇦🔥

 

[Soccerpro2]

39 minutes ago, SthMelbRed said:

I find this guy very weird.

He's not somebody who fell through the cracks. He was in one of the top academies in the country. Couldn't find anything in a pro environment, so went the U-Sports route. He didn't necessarily stand out against his peers at any point. Goes on holiday to the Balkans and a minute later he's an international caliber player? I guess there's nothing that makes sense in football, but this one really confuses me.

Hoping that he turns out to be the extra player we need in midfield, though.

Exact same path as Ante Jazic (trial while on vacation to the balkans during Usport career) minus playing for a Canadian academy.

[costarg]

35 minutes ago, SthMelbRed said:

I find this guy very weird.

He's not somebody who fell through the cracks. He was in one of the top academies in the country. Couldn't find anything in a pro environment, so went the U-Sports route. He didn't necessarily stand out against his peers at any point. Goes on holiday to the Balkans and a minute later he's an international caliber player? I guess there's nothing that makes sense in football, but this one really confuses me.

Hoping that he turns out to be the extra player we need in midfield, though.

It's crazy what a real qualified coach/manager can do with an athlete. 

I'll say it again, Canada's biggest obstacle is adequate coaches to help develop our athletes.  The academies and even CPL are nowhere near the level they should be.  

Examples: Poku has played 7 different positions in 12 months.  The guy is a gem, yet they have no idea what they have in their hands, just rolling the dice.  JMR was being played at RB FFS.

[VinceA]

1 hour ago, SthMelbRed said:

I find this guy very weird.

He's not somebody who fell through the cracks. He was in one of the top academies in the country. Couldn't find anything in a pro environment, so went the U-Sports route. He didn't necessarily stand out against his peers at any point. Goes on holiday to the Balkans and a minute later he's an international caliber player? I guess there's nothing that makes sense in football, but this one really confuses me.

Hoping that he turns out to be the extra player we need in midfield, though.

I think I mentioned it earlier in this thread but if Sigur was called in to our U20s when he was with York University, this board would have been calling for heads to roll.

Development is a funny thing and so are development pathways, especially in this country. We just a dude who was playing community college ball transfer to Ligue 1.

[Shway]

1 hour ago, GlassCity said:

 

While I don't agree with it, but our coaches system deploys a 442.

[top cheese]

3 minutes ago, VinceA said:

I think I mentioned it earlier in this thread but if Sigur was called in to our U20s when he was with York University, this board would have been calling for heads to roll.

Development is a funny thing and so are development pathways, especially in this country. We just a dude who was playing community college ball transfer to Ligue 1.

I don't think this is a case of a player falling through the cracks. In all likelihood, he got the right break and the right time that put him in the right situation to flourish. I think what is clear is that the Canadian system is failing so many players with talent. The MLS academies are failing Canadian players and Canada Soccer continues to use it as the primary source for youth national team players. The majority of players in Canada are excluded from the identification process. 

I have to say after watching this player you tube highlights I think he has immense potential, what a development situation to be in as a 20 year old DCM and having Gattuso as head coach! Can someone remind me of Mitrovics situation? 

 

 

[VinceA]

5 minutes ago, top cheese said:

I don't think this is a case of a player falling through the cracks. In all likelihood, he got the right break and the right time that put him in the right situation to flourish. I think what is clear is that the Canadian system is failing so many players with talent. The MLS academies are failing Canadian players and Canada Soccer continues to use it as the primary source for youth national team players. The majority of players in Canada are excluded from the identification process. 

I have to say after watching this player you tube highlights I think he has immense potential, what a development situation to be in as a 20 year old DCM and having Gattuso as head coach! Can someone remind me of Mitrovics situation? 

 

 

So I agree with this to an extent.

My counter point is this: TFC's Academy team regularly ran over every one this season in League1 Championship. And having watched a bunch of their games, those kids are all a cut above their opponents. If they were in Premier they'd probably be upper half, and a lot of those kids are like 06/07/08s.

In at least that context, they have the best talent.

[eramosat]

well, it's nice to see a dual international win.   but it also seems like nothing much important...a max 2% so far on the RIchter scale for the squad?

Good luck Niko.  The ride might be rough.

[Bison44]

^^ Oh I dont know, guys were ready to dust off Liam Fraser for some DM cover a month ago.  He'll get regular call ups, and if he is as good as advertised he'll make an impression a la Kone, Shaff, Bombito etc and could easily win a starting spot at a thin position.     

[finchster]

3 hours ago, eramosat said:

well, it's nice to see a dual international win.   but it also seems like nothing much important...a max 2% so far on the RIchter scale for the squad?

Good luck Niko.  The ride might be rough.

He is ahead of Piette who gets called to the National team, and as Bison pointed out, pushes Liam Fraser off the team.

If he develops, Canada may have a top tier DM on their hands which gives them options with Kone and Eustáquio. 
If he stays the same, we have a Piette replacement who is younger and perhaps upgraded. 

As it stands right now, not a huge development, but has the potential to be very important in the future.

[Corazon]

14 hours ago, Macksam said:

Not to be blunt, but that in itself is a travesty for your province. Considering the weather you have throughout the year in your more populated areas, you'll need to step up your game.  

I’m actually from Toronto, Ontario, and not BC.  And I agree that it is a travesty.  We need to get BC to start producing National team calibre players once again.

[Sal333]

3 minutes ago, Corazon said:

I’m actually from Toronto, Ontario, and not BC.  And I agree that it is a travesty.  We need to get BC to start producing National team calibre players once again.

I have an idea. Why don't we start a stud farm in B.C.? Every summer, we invite David, Davies, Tajon, Eustaquio, Kone, Bombito, Johnston, and Cornelius to come and frolic with the patriotic females. I'll bet we'll be WC Champions in 20-25 years.

[TOcanadafan]

8 hours ago, top cheese said:

I think what is clear is that the Canadian system is failing so many players with talent. The MLS academies are failing Canadian players and Canada Soccer continues to use it as the primary source for youth national team players. The majority of players in Canada are excluded from the identification process.

 

9 hours ago, costarg said:

It's crazy what a real qualified coach/manager can do with an athlete. 

I'll say it again, Canada's biggest obstacle is adequate coaches to help develop our athletes.  The academies and even CPL are nowhere near the level they should be. 

I agree with both of these posts, especially the point on our coaching deficiency...  to add, I think our biggest issue is our small soccer infrastructure...  if Sigur grew up in England, and wasn't picked up by one of the Prem academies, there'd be 72 other clubs who he could catch on with in the EFL pyramid. 

I also suspect that Sigur failed to catch attention due to being a smaller / 'technical' player.  We are all with Marsch when he says that it's unacceptable that a player with Bombito's potential goes unnoticed, but how many coaches/scouts would have noticed the small skinny winger (the Kloke article says he had a late growth spurt) and said, there's the next Van Dijk?  I guess we are fortunate Bombito fell into the lap of the one high-pedigree coach who saw his potential, and Sigur had the connection to Croatia. 

 

[Kadenge]

DSC, Richie, AJ, Bombito, Miller, Larin, Tajon, Tani (did I miss anyone?) all went through NCAA, presumably because they  couldn't find  a pro club. I'm not surprised re Sigur, just glad he didn't quit the game. We need to do a much better job with identifying young players and the CPL has to become a big part of that process with 8 pro teams.

[Ottawafan]

14 hours ago, GasPed said:

I'm just wondering if he's the pit bull/destroyer type that Sam is though.  

Was.

[Metro]

9 hours ago, top cheese said:

The MLS academies are failing Canadian players and Canada Soccer continues to use it as the primary source for youth national team players. The majority of players in Canada are excluded from the identification process. 

 

 

 

I'm guessing this situation can only be exacerbated with "MLS Canada" paying the manager's salary.

"Oh, you don't want to give preferential treatment to our players, CSA?  We can just stop paying your coaches, then."

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

Many of the CSA's revenue streams were handed over to CSB for up to 20 years. The MLS Canada Men's National Team Head Coach angle was necessary to undo some of the damage that caused.

[Bigandy]

9 hours ago, eramosat said:

well, it's nice to see a dual international win.   but it also seems like nothing much important...a max 2% so far on the RIchter scale for the squad?

Good luck Niko.  The ride might be rough.

What an odd post. 

The rough ride comment leads me to believe you have some weird bias against him... all pro's have a rough road relatively speaking. 


2% is also such an odd arbitrary number that no one can quantify. On a 23-26 man roster each player is worth 4% spread evenly. Now we assume that starters are worth more so lets pick a random 6%. Now we factor in the upgrade factor when you compare to the alternative. At this point we technically do not have a starting calibre DM. So our team went from 0% to 12% in that spot if Sigur starts.  I havent considered player longevity or how he will improve guys like staq and kone who don't have to hold the midfield together alone. 

All very arbitrary numbers that I pick out of thin air but at least theres some sort of formula for my thoughts. To argue that a player who could start for us for the next 10 years is a max 2% increase seems wild. Imagine we lose kone and staq to injuries at the WC. Do we really want a midfield of choiniere and an even older oso playing a 2 man midfield? Sigur gives us the potential to maintain our midfield quality and balance regardless of who else we lose. 

[Kadenge]

19 minutes ago, Metro said:

I'm guessing this situation can only be exacerbated with "MLS Canada" paying the manager's salary.

"Oh, you don't want to give preferential treatment to our players, CSA?  We can just stop paying your coaches, then."

Our recent U20 team had a good balance of MLS, CPL & Euro players

[Bigandy]

11 minutes ago, Metro said:

I'm guessing this situation can only be exacerbated with "MLS Canada" paying the manager's salary.

"Oh, you don't want to give preferential treatment to our players, CSA?  We can just stop paying your coaches, then."

This is nonsense. If this had any weight then you could also argue that TFC says they won't pay because a montreal player was chosen instead of theirs. 

Now this also assumes that the MLS clubs want their players to be selected. However, what benefit does TFC get from losing a player for their own matches and risk he comes back tired or injured. Preferential treatment would be not selecting players from the 3 MLS teams. 

As for evidence: 

Richie, Oso, Piette, Choiniere, Ali and Waterman as a late addition were the only players chosen from those teams. Clearly they all deserved their spot. You can argue that we didnt need another CB in waterman and couldve taken corbeanu but if we take a CB, waterman was a logical choice. 


Now consider how contracts work. You can't just sign an agreement and pull out of it without justifiable reasons. 

Now consider that if marsch is forced to pick certain players, he will walk. He pulled out of EPL offers when he wasnt able to do what he wanted. 

Now consider that CSA could fight back and cause bad publicity for the MLS teams that cost them far more than 250k or whatever they are contributing. 
 

Now consider the angle that the 3 mls teams don't have one uniform agenda. They all work in their own self interest which would make this sort of threat difficult to implement. 

Now consider that some of these investors care about the CMNT. Why would they want to hamstring their investment. If the MLS CMNT Head coach loses all the time, it makes the MLS look garbage. 



This whole concept is nonsense and comes from an angle that every rich guy/corporation is evil and want to tear down everything, including their own investment. It ignores that these extremely successful business men are wise enough to fulfill contract terms and avoid bad publicity for minimal gain. 

 

[narduch]

30 minutes ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

Many of the CSA's revenue streams were handed over to CSB for up to 20 years. The MLS Canada Men's National Team Head Coach angle was necessary to undo some of the damage that caused.

I guess when nobody is talking about the only thing your are obsessed with you need to keep bringing it up, even when it's not warranted

[SpursFlu]

Watching the players highlights he seems to be a holding midfielder who controls the game with possession. The reality is MLS teams are looking for wide players who run past players from their domestic pipeline. They're looking to import players like this. They're not looking to hand over the keys to their engine room to a 19yr old Canadian