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Finally have a chance to put down some thoughts from yesterday in Frisco while flying back to Canada. First of all, kudos to Kevin Blue for coming and meeting the supporters at the pre-game. He talked to everyone who approached him and was very interested in seeing all of us come down to support the team. About the game itself, not pretty. We could have been behind before we scored. It was all about patience because T&T literally parked the bus. You could tell from our vantage point. We might have more success at Copa offensively because no one will be running a low block against us, but we will also get punished at the back. I would say just as satisfying as our win was seeing a stadium packed full of Hondurans and a smattering of Costa Ricans make noise like I haven’t heard since CR away in WC qualifying. And to say that more than a few Vs cheered the Tico goals would be an understatement. Then there was the Honduran fans pointing lasers at Navas, throwing liquids of various types at the CR supporters and every fifth word being “puta”. A really unpleasant bunch. Glad we didn’t have to play them cause it would have been like San Pedro Sula. Finally, Mauro Biello is 2 rows behind me on the plane. Already had a quick chat but can ask who he wants to replace him. Ha ha!

L’Equipe is reporting that FFF and CSA are finalizing a deal to have Canada play France in Bordeaux on June 9th https://x.com/jfteotonio/status/1776273174356783137?s=46&t=jq2aEPgJj7vxzNx1NF6O7A

I am going to start complaining that we are playing TOO MANY games now.

COPA AMERICA TICKETING: The Voyageurs are actively in contact with Canada Soccer and Copa America organizers about a supporters section. Once we receive details, we will let you know. However, based on expected demand especially for the Argentina game, there will be a priority system for tickets in this section based on paid membership duration. If there are any tickets remaining after this allocation, then they may be made available to non-Voyageurs members. EDIT: the prioritization will finalized once we know the number of tickets to be allocated. .

Imagine asking Earl Cochrane for an update on the financial state of affairs, let alone an actual plan of action, and then tell me that we aren't in a better situation leader-wise than we were a year ago.

Lol. That is fucking funny

Made his Championship debut today. Played 5 minutes in a 5-0 win.

Assist tonight v Philadelphia

Weeks 1 through 5 All three Canadian teams have had reasonable results to start the season and there have been a few standout performances already to start the season. This year, MLS has changed their primary statistics page, so I have made a few changes to the chart accordingly. This is also for only Canadian players or Canadian-eligible players. If I have missed anyone, please let me know. CF Montreal Canadian Minutes 1,622 Minutes Toronto FC Canadian Minutes 1,260 Minutes Vancouver Whitecaps Canadian Minutes 376 Minutes US Based MLS Canadian Minutes 3,480 Minutes According to MLS.com Player Team POS GP GS MP G XG A P% CLR AD% Moise Bombito Colorado CB 4 4 360 0 0.16 0 84.0% 7 57.1% Kamal Miller Portland CB 4 4 360 0 0.15 0 86.6% 13 66.7% Joel Waterman Montreal CB 4 4 360 0 0.06 0 89.0% 24 50.0% Mathieu Choiniere Montreal CM 4 4 360 0 0.03 1 87.6% 4 0.0% Zac McGraw Portland CB 4 4 360 0 0.02 0 87.9% 21 100.0% Samuel Piette Montreal CM 4 4 324 0 0 0 87.2% 9 75.0% Jonathan Osorio Toronto CM 4 3 298 0 0.51 0 93.8% 1 0.0% Lukas MacNaughton Nashville CB 3 3 270 0 0.11 0 90.0% 15 40.0% Ryan Raposo Vancouver CM 4 3 268 1 0.42 1 76.0% 2 0.0% Liam Fraser Dallas CM 3 3 235 0 0.05 0 89.0% 1 66.7% Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty Toronto RB 4 2 210 1 0.87 0 93.4% 2 50.0% Jacen Russell-Rowe Columbus ST 3 2 195 2 0.79 0 73.1% 1 0.0% Kobe Franklin Toronto RB 5 1 180 0 0.35 0 81.4% 2 0.0% Mohamed Farsi Columbus RB 4 2 175 1 0.88 0 73.1% 3 0.0% Mark Anthony Kaye New England CM 3 2 175 0 0 0 84.7% 1 28.6% Scott Arfield Charlotte CM 5 2 171 0 0.22 0 87.3% 1 0.0% Jacob Shaffelburg Nashville LW 4 1 150 0 0 0 64.3% 0 0.0% Jules-Anthony Vilsaint Montreal ST 2 1 134 1 0.64 0 90.3% 0 0.0% Kosi Thompson Toronto RB 4 0 109 0 0.06 0 88.1% 1 0.0% Tani Oluwaseyi Minnesota ST 4 0 108 1 0.08 2 74.1% 1 55.6% Ali Ahmed Vancouver CM 4 0 91 1 0.08 0 80.0% 0 0.0% Stephen Afrifa Kansas City ST 4 0 78 0 0.02 0 74.2% 0 33.3% Richie Laryea Toronto RB 1 1 70 0 0 0 93.8% 1 100.0% Ayo Akinola Toronto ST 3 0 67 0 0.51 0 70.6% 0 40.0% Deandre Kerr Toronto CM 2 1 56 0 0.27 1 90.9% 0 0.0% Nathan-Dylan Saliba Montreal CM 1 0 45 0 0 0 79.2% 1 66.7% Raheem Edwards Montreal LB 3 0 38 0 0 0 87.5% 2 50.0% Levonte Johnson Vancouver ST 2 0 17 0 0 0 66.7% 0 0.0% Zorhan Bassong Kansas City LB 1 0 16 0 0 0 100.0% 0 0.0% Kyle Hiebert St. Louis CB 1 0 9 0 0 0 50.0% 0 0.0% Kimani Stewart-Baynes Colorado ST 1 0 8 0 0 0 71.4% 0 0.0% Rida Zouhir Montreal CM 1 0 1 0 0 0 100.0% 0 0.0% Salvatore Mazzaferro Austin CB Brandon Cambridge Charlotte CM Enes Sali Dallas CM Marcus Ferkranus Los Angeles CB Ilias Iliadis Montreal CM Woobens Pacius Nashville ST Isaiah Johnston Nashville CM Luca Petrasso (Out on Loan) Orlando LB Jordan Peruzza Toronto ST Hugo Mbongue (Out on Loan) Toronto ST Adam Pearlman Toronto CB Belal Halbouni Vancouver CB Ralph Priso-Mbongue Vancouver CM Sam Adekugbe Vancouver LB Player Team POS GP GS MP S S % P% GA GAA SO Luka Gavran Toronto GK 3 3 270 13 86.7% 68.2% 2 0.67 2 Dayne St Clair Minnesota GK 4 4 360 14 77.8% 62.6% 4 1.00 1 Maxime Crepeau Portland GK 3 3 270 14 77.8% 75.9% 4 1.33 0 Jonathan Sirois Montreal GK 4 4 360 19 73.1% 63.2% 7 1.75 1 James Pantemis Portland GK 2 2 180 6 60.0% 72.4% 4 2.00 0 Chituru Odunze Charlotte GK Sebastian Breza Montreal GK Greg Ranjitsingh Toronto GK Isaac Boehmer Vancouver GK Max Anchor Vancouver GK

Usually it’s just me and the game but yesterdy I had guests over to watch the game so I would say I likely missed certain moments but here is my review Biello - Thanks, but no thanks. Glad we qualified but it felt more because of the fact we were just more skilled. Loved that he was bold and picked players in form but that formation was not it. I’ve seen enough in the few games he’s coached to know I’d rather an outside hire altogether. Crepeau - Did no wrong in net but was mostly untested throughout the matchup. Came up huge when needed including that late save on Levi. Kamal - I thought he was okay. Nothing special but a strong presence back there. Waterman - I’ll happily take the shutout but I was not comfortable with him anchoring there throughout. His speed was really exposed on that first half break and then he gave a lot of space for T&T player to turn and send a pass right past him on the Levi chance late. Johnston - Not sure if it was tactical but seemed to be caught out a few times and very uncharacteristic lash out on the yellow card. Eustaquio - I thought he was a beast everywhere again last night. Missed some pretty simple passes and some of his long balls were a bit off but showed real urgency when others didn’t. Strong performance after being handed captaincy. Kone - Similar to Kamal. Solid but nothing special. Playing Davies and Tajon alongside a 2-man midfield does not help our two central midfielders. Davies - Despite being given a high score on the apps, I was overall disappointed with his performance. He’s so much better than everyone that he does enough quality things throughout a game to standout in a good way but too many turnovers and hero ball. Tajon - Probably even worse than Davies but once again so talented that he can still have several strong plays throughout a game. Such as the buildup on the first goal. Really need to figure out how to get the best out of Davies and Tajon. Larin - Aside from his brilliant and calm finish on the goal, he looked okay at best. A couple of weak shots and really not involved as much as he should. Formation change likely didn’t help. Ugbo - Much like Larin, aside from his layoff assist on Larin’s goal, was very nonexistent for large parts of the game. Happy he was able to contribute though. David - Masterclass performance. He was everywhere and everything came through him. Shaffelburg - Continues to impress. He still seems very one dimensional but he does it well. His finishing seems to have improved which has always been a bit of an issue of his. Choiniere - Not a lot to do for him but did his job well in his cameo. JRR - He looked quite good in his few touches and beautiful turn to get that 2nd goal going. I was doubtful of his inclusion over Corbeanu but watching what he’s done in the past couple weeks has been impressive. He could be our next big striker up. Piette - Nice to see him get some minutes. Such a dedicated member of this program. LDF - What a smile on his face. Genuinely looked super happy and proud to be coming on late for his debut. Let’s hope he continues to develop into a CB that we need.

It's official

Signed to a homegrown deal

Could have used a header like that on 1 of our 14 corners.

Didn’t see a thread for him, but think he might be worthy of his own given his CPL play and now this. Currently on trial with Monaco:

Draw was this morning. Canada is in a group with Honduras, Dominican and El Salvador. Should be a very competitive, but also winnable group. Probably the best we could have hoped for being a pot 4 team.

It looked different in the US

Didn't see it but Inter fans in the PGT on reddit are saying he played well in the short amount of time he was on. Did more than Dumfries did all game and a lot want to see him start. I haven't seen one second of him with Inter aside from highlights of his first appearance yet but it sounds like he's doing all he can with the limited minutes he's been given.

Wow...definitely showed a lot of skill here.

He scored

Stewart-Baynes first assist in MLS. Nice pass on the header. Perfect spot for Mihailovic to score. This kid deserves so much credit for coming from the u19's into the MLS. So young. Played as a RW

Team celebrated his first cap: https://x.com/canmnt_official/status/1771710468073128371?s=46&t=spIaqlQfufAO3HreB1455Q

Officially can't get relegated! and can't get a European spot. Give the young man some minutes!

Came on in 81' with the score 1-1 but Inter totally dominant. Had a couple shots blocked in the box. Inter ended up scoring in the 90'+5 to win it.

Better quality video here, pretty impressive stuff

Missed a PK, Motherwell scored on the rebound, then he scores one of his own 2 minutes later.

Excellent

If anyone has a still shot of the ear to ear grin on LDF's face when he was waiting on the sidelines to come on, would love to see it. It was like someone told him he had a date with his H.S. Prom queen. Incredible to see. As much as I want a higher level coach for Canada, Biello gets full marks for being in touch with his father, including Luc in the past 4 squads and finally getting him capped. Hope Mauro remains with the CSA in some capacity as I really believe he has Canada's best interests at heart.

Dumfries got a late red too- maybe that helps Tajon see some time next week.

Scored tonight. Game is on TSN

Instagram official. Baby was born on Monday, so she may have been on standby or in the hospital Sunday. https://www.instagram.com/p/C5ltTsPIv4e/ Congrats Stephen and family! 👶

It's taken 2 years but one more article actually saying what people on this forum already know but rarely mentioned elsewhere. ..Mediapro may not have done as much for grassroots Canadian soccer as it had hoped, but it’s certainly done more than any Canadian broadcaster. Before it launched OneSoccer in 2019, there were generally two ways that Canadians could watch their men’s or women’s national teams: Either Canada Soccer could pay a hefty fee to a broadcaster to produce and air the games, or fans could search the internet for low-quality pirated foreign streams. Still, not everyone shared that vision.....So, when OneSoccer couldn’t get carriage on the major cable systems, except for Telus, it meant lower potential sponsorship revenue for Canadian Soccer Business – and Canada Soccer itself, which, despite reports to the contrary, still owns the rights to several categories of commercial sponsorships. Canada’s broadcast system was built to protect Canadian companies – and those who work for and with them – from foreign competition. For decades, it enabled Canadian voices to be heard, to not be drowned out in our own home by the cacophony from the other side of our southern border. But it also meant that private gatekeepers were able to dictate what Canadians could or couldn’t watch. And while the streaming revolution has helped to disrupt that order, the system still favours incumbents. Canadians shouldn’t have had to wait for a foreign company to show us what we were missing on our own soccer pitch. Still, having seen the possibilities, it would be nice to think Canadian broadcasters might be able to take it from here. Likely paywalled.

Canadian legend there for support.

The Blue Planet, of course!

Matches against Netherlands, France, Argentina, Peru, Chile in 23 days. What planet have we woken up on?!

Need to wait to see how Westhead spins this negatively.

Kevin Blue is a pro. Everything he has done so far has been spot on and what we have lacked in the past.

His crossing ability has improved tremendously. He’s always had the speed to beat his man down the wing but his end product has lacked. That goes with finishing as well. It looks like he’s improved both.

Interview with Moise in French. He talks in detail about his path to MLS, spent a lot of time with CS Saint-Laurent and was a rotation player in his youth, was plugged into different positions when guys were injured. Played fullback, winger and later defensive mid. One year at Ahuntsic the team didn't have enough central defenders, coach used him there and he established himself as a center-back. For those who aren't aware, Ahuntsic is a Cegep here in Montreal and has produced a couple pro players, Farsi, Charles Auguste, Pierre Lamothe. So he was playing on the school team while playing club. Decided at around 20 he wanted to play professional. Credits a couple coaches for his development, namely Kwame Ansah (CS Saint-Laurent), Francois Bourgeais (CS Saint-Hubert and Ahuntsic) and Mike Brown (Juco). He learned through social media that there was a pathway to MLS through NCAA and decided he wanted to go that route. Brown instilled in him a sense of discipline, strict curfews and regimented meal plans. He also started analyzing more game tape. The transition to New Hampshire was seamless. Also mentions L1QC has a lot of talent but isn't respected enough domestically. Players are often forced to look abroad for opportunities, guys like him and Farsi (and Kone) will help raise the reputation of the league.

I think we're in an interesting time for the CMNT. I don't think there's anyone coming up through the system who's at the Davies/David level, but I think we're also starting to see the floor of the team raise considerably. We moved on years ago from "Unattached FC" being a big part of the team to now being at a stage where it's not enough just to be playing at a decent level, you now have to be performing at a decent level just to have a chance to make the 23 man roster.

I think it was mentioned on here somewhere - maybe not - he stayed around Texas for the Dallas Cup with the Fulham u19s. Fulham's side made it to the semi finals where he captained them. Unfortunately they lost 4-0 to perennial power Sao Paolo. Full match here if you are a bit of masochist. (And not just because the commentators' butchery of his name) Edit: Listened while doing other things and watched when his name came up Some points - They played out from the back - 95% through him. Was good for most of it but the Brazilians pressed and forced some bad passes (got worse as he tired, see below) - He is still very right-footed but probably out of neccesity they played him as the LCB in a pairing. Some problems came from that. - Solid tackling and organization over all - Was up against a dominant Brazilian side in some heat and looked it by the end. Got sloppy and done for pace for a goal at the end. - Ultimately a really tough test and the score reflected that.

Insigne is out for 6 weeks. Time for JMR to step up

Picked up a knock in training for Canada hence why he didn’t play Vs t&T…(the day before the match.., was a late fitness test for todays match…

Good article by Kloke about Canada's need to continue improving tactically. I disagree with his assessment that Biello should be in charge for the Copa (he thinks there isn't time for someone new, and Biello has an understanding of the current players), but it's interesting to hear the players say it was definitely time to "ditch the brotherhood", that they can no longer rely on team spirit, and essentially know they need to evolve. I don't think Biello can do that, which is why I don't think there's a point to having him around for the Copa. Accelerate the hiring process and find the guy you want for the next two years. https://theathletic.com/5364468/2024/03/24/canada-copa-america/ Unrelated, but Kloke has actually done quite a number of articles about the CMNT in the past week for The Athletic. It's nice to see some coverage by a well known (if not quite "mainstream") media outlet.

Not sure this was mentioned anywhere but when Staq came off he gave his armband to Davies.

Geesh, poor guy cant get 5 starts into his MLS journey before the board speculates on his international loyalties.