Yeah I don't mind Akintola, as a free transfer intended as 4th choice winger behind belloumi, Millar and Ndala he's a decent option, may not be the most talented but he is very direct and has already got a goal and an assist (I think....) despite only starting one game, so fair ****s.
Exactly he’s also a incredibly hard worker which can’t be said about his predecessor who may have had more class but Kamara has seemingly already been dropped by Getafe with fans on twitter questioning his effort levels
Strikes me as a perfect squad player. Seems happy to just be here and gives everything on the pitch. He's erratic and can be absolutely shocking, but I feel as a winger you can get away with that unpredictability a bit more?
Sergej on Williams absence... "This is my decision right now, he is not on the level like other players still, but he is trying. He's hard working, so you see, it's two years without football, but we will try to help him. "It's not easy for sure (for Williams). I know that, but he needs to work very hard because it's not so easy to return on the pitch, especially now that some other players have an advantage."
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/66...-city-acl-injury-depression-world-cup-marsch/ Not sure if posted already or where to put it but had no idea he'd been through all that. Fingers firmly firmly crossed it all works out for him now.
No I wasn’t aware of that at all Hope his recovery keeps positive. Also I saw it live, and was close and watching him closely. I immediately said to others it was an ACL as soon as he went down…but I honestly didn’t think it was a tackle. I thought he’d got his studs caught in the turf and jarred it.
Just over 10 minutes into an EFL Championship game against Burnley in October 2024, the Canada and Hull City left winger took a run directly at Connor Roberts. Millar darted as he does, wanting the Welsh and Burnley right back to know this wasn’t going to be easy. As Millar barreled by Roberts with the ball, the defender clipped his heel. “I didn’t think he was going to touch me,” Millar said. Millar was 25 at the time, once a touted product of Liverpool’s youth system. He used his speed and dribbling to ascend from humble roots outside of Toronto. Millar has played throughout Europe and become a mainstay in Canada’s national team, including in a World Cup. He felt invincible. Until he heard a sound coming from the tackle. “A big crack in my knee,” he recalled in a lengthy conversation with The Athletic. That crack splintered through his leg and, eventually, Millar’s psyche. He was not, as he believed, fine. It began a harrowing 11 months that shook his foundation. Yet that time also revealed who Millar is, and why Canada’s men’s national team feels emboldened heading into the October international window and the 2026 World Cup. please log in to view this image Hull City and Canada winger Liam Millar was injured in an October 2024 match against BurnleyGeorge Wood / Getty Images As Millar jogged around the field and took tests on the touchline to determine whether he had torn his ACL, he still felt no pain. He remained in the game. Minutes later, out of the corner of his eye, his kneecap began “moving all over the place.” Fear set in. Millar was substituted, returned home, and insisted to himself that he was fine. Hull City’s head of medical performance, Andrew Balderston, assured Millar that if he could make it through the night without any swelling emerging, he’d be in the clear. Millar awoke in the middle of the night to see his knee swelling “like a balloon.” Tests the next day confirmed he had torn his ACL. “How I dealt with it was,” Millar said, pausing as he tries to find the right words, “different from most people.” During his fourth month of rehabilitation, Millar’s movement and strength weren’t improving. He had hoped to finish ahead of schedule and return to Hull City at the beginning of the 2025-26 season. Instead, his stalled progress sent his mind to a dark place. Millar began wondering not just if he’d ever play soccer again, but whether he would be able to walk the way he always had. Anger took over. “I was finding it hard to deal with day-to-day life,” Millar said. Millar initially did as he did in the past: he blamed others. He hadn’t caused this injury, after all. Now, a promising career was being derailed. His mind shut down. The place he was in grew darker. “I felt like I was nowhere. I didn’t know where I was at all times,” Millar said. Millar stopped communicating with his wife and two young daughters. He spent days alone in his room. Calls and texts went unanswered. The kind of depression Millar had never faced, and many athletes aren’t open about, set in. He thought his career was over. “I honestly had no idea what was going on in my life,” Millar said. “Someone could have tried to hit me with their car and I probably would have no idea. I felt dizzy, constantly. I couldn’t live my life.” WHAT YOU SHOULD READ NEXT please log in to view this image Moise Bombito injury: What comes next for Canada? One of Canada's most important players suffered a fractured left tibia, likely causing a World Cup squad domino effect It was around this time that Millar got a phone call from Jesse Marsch. Millar needed a lifeline, and he got it from his national team coach. Marsch had initially pressed to get Andy Williams, a renowned knee surgeon known for working with Premier League players, to perform Millar’s surgery. Millar was set to continue his rehab at a clinic in Bologna, Italy. Marsch had been keeping tabs on his winger’s recovery and invited Millar and his family to his home in Tuscany for a few days. Millar’s daughters swam in Marsch’s pool. Marsch’s wife, Kim, and Millar’s wife, Daniela, shared experiences about being partners of professional soccer players. Millar’s entire family sampled the olive oil Marsch himself cultivates from the olive trees on his property. “The best olive oil I’ve ever had,” Millar beamed. And when Millar and Marsch spoke, something changed for the player. Millar heard about progress in the Canada squad, but also about how much he was needed upon his return. They spoke at length about the ups and downs that come as a player. Marsch never hit the highs Millar did, himself playing just twice for his national team. Through the conversation, Millar realized not just that he was needed as a player, but that he was more fortunate as a human. His career was not over. “When you have a coach who is able to be such a good person, it really allows you as a player to want to fight for more and to be able to give absolutely everything that you have,” Millar said. This is a snapshot of Canada’s national team under Marsch. Whereas a lack of communication between head coach Mauricio Pochettino and players within the United States side is the norm, Marsch has taken on more of a paternal role. “(Millar) and I have been texting back and forth on an almost daily basis to get updates on where he’s at and how he’s doing, mostly just to encourage him to keep going,” Marsch said. Marsch hopes that looking out for his players’ well-being could bring the best out of them on the pitch. He’s made multiple visits to Ismaël Koné in Italy as the midfielder tries to get his club career back on track at Sassuolo. After opening his home to his wounded player, Marsch saw Millar become re-energized. Millar realized he had tried to rush back to playing. He had to be more present with his children and family. Positivity took over his headspace. Returning to the national team became a goal. After attacking his rehab, Millar returned to the pitch 11 months after his initial injury, coming on as a substitute in Hull’s draw against Preston North End on September 30. He found himself shaking with nerves as he put on his shin pads. Millar walked to a mirror, looked at his reflection, and gave himself a stern, brief pep talk. “Liam, stop being a b***h.” please log in to view this image Liam Millar in his second game back from injury, Hull City’s win over Sheffield United in the EFL ChampionshipTony King / Getty Images And now, Millar’s return makes life very interesting for Marsch, as who starts on Canada’s left side in an attacking role at the World Cup remains up for debate. Jacob Shaffelburg looked like the incumbent during his remarkable 2024 Copa América run, and while he is fearless on the ball and attacks almost solely in transition, his form has since dipped. Ali Ahmed is in pole position. His technical qualities have developed and there’s more cunning than ever in his game on the ball. Yet Ahmed is still slight and could be muscled off the ball by strong, experienced defenders in World Cup games. If Ahmed can move to Europe in the middle of this season, he could elevate his game. Marsch could also play his wild card and start Richie Laryea at left back before moving Alphonso Davies – another star coming back from an ACL tear – higher up the pitch into a midfield role. Marsch knows he has to find a way to get Davies into his starting XI, even if that means sacrificing those who have performed well in his absence. What Millar brings is more experience in a left-wing role than any other Canadian player. He’s one of the few holdovers in an attacking position from Canada’s incredible 2022 World Cup qualifying run. And Marsch wants to rely on him: Millar appeared in every game from the beginning of Marsch’s Canada tenure before his injury. If he can show his ability to deal with the physicality he faces routinely in the Championship and produce attacking chances, the spot could yet be his. “We need to make sure that we integrate him in all ways, because he’s an important player in our group,” Marsch said. Millar will get his opportunity against Australia – on Friday, which, perhaps fittingly, coincides with World Mental Health Day – and Colombia in the October window. “I’m pushing myself to get that starting spot. That’s what you need, though: healthy competition. All three of us in our own ways deserve to play in that position,” Millar said. For Millar, this international break will feature a return that did not come easily. The goal of getting back into Canada’s lineup pushed him through his recovery. He’s learned he wants to return as a leader. “I care so deeply about the national team. I’m a very proud Canadian and I want to be starting in this team,” Millar said. “I just needed to start looking at myself. Once I started doing that, I felt really drastic changes in my life in the way that I’m thinking. Now I’m at a place where I feel like I can be the best version of myself, because I’m holding myself accountable to everything that I do.”
You wouldn’t walk in to Tesco and steal things off the shelf so what makes you think this is acceptable?
You wouldn't shoot a policeman and then steal his helmet. You wouldn't go to the toilet in his helmet and then send it to the policeman's grieving widow. Copy/paste is theft.
