Roster for Iceland announced

[loyola]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

Agreed on Begovic & possibly Ledgerwood, I think McKenna would have been there as an additional defender though.

What also might be interesting to speculate is who the 20-plus European-based players & 10 to 15 North American based players are.

Euro:

The 17 that are on the roster, plus the four players invited but unable to attend, makes 21. That's already 20-plus, but I think that we can safely add Josh Simpson, Jamie Peters & Will Johnson to that list especially given how high Mitchell is on the latter two, that would make it 24. Who else might be added from Europe. Ademolu? Grande? Giacomi? Dodds?

NA-based:

De Ro, Jazic, Harmse, Serioux, Brennan, Sutton, Stamatopolous, Pozniak, Braz and Reda (the MLS senior players, not counting Lombardo & Canizalez) would make 9. Onstad would make 10 I suppose. Who else can be added to make up another possible 5? Nash, Gervais & Ribeiro I suppose as another 3 based on their Gold Cup call-up, and I guess Lombardo might make it 14 (though I think he's way behind the other strikers at this stage) given the level he's playing at. I struggle to come up with a 15th name, unless I'm missing someone obvious.

I think you can cut a few keepers from your list, you have 6 (Hirsch, Stama, Sutton, Onstad, Begovic and Wagenaar).

I expect Mitchell will have 4 keepers in his pool for WCQ. If Onstad isn't interested anymore I think you can cut him and Begovic for the 2008 WCQ.

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by squid2

I

I'm hopeful that Mitchell doesn't start "tinkering" too much or start

re-evaluating to identify "his" pool of players. He doesn't have that kind of time.

Agreed entirely. This was the same mistake that Yallop made in the last qualifying attempt & it cost us. I'm pleased to see that Mitchell appears to be building on the momentum & progress of what Hart established with the Gold Cup team. Increasing squad depth is good, and some fine-tuning and squad improvement is fine, but I don't want to see established & experienced players with a bunch of caps on their team dropped from the roster for the first game of the semi-finals of qualifying in favour of teenagers or guys barely in their 20's who are getting their first or second cap.

[Guest Ed]

Julian should be given the Captain's armband starting with this match, and retain it until he retires.

[loyola]

quote:Originally posted by Ed

Julian should be given the Captain's armband starting with this match, and retain it until he retires.

As long as our captain has Premiership, Bundesliga or La liga experience, I don't really mind who's our captain. The important things are credibility and leadership. I would think Mckenna, Stalteri and DeGuzman have that.

[canso]

"Julian should be given the Captain's armband"

But he's so small and baby faced, how can he be taken seriously as a leader? Captains should be intimidating and commanding and forceful, like Big Kev and Screamin Larry or even Jimmy "The Spartan" Brennan.

Creative guys like Jules don't need to be burdened with extra responsibility.

[jpg75]

quote:Originally posted by Ed

Julian should be given the Captain's armband starting with this match, and retain it until he retires.

I like this idea for a couple of reasons. First, Julian is a great player in CONCACAF (and a good Liga player) and he brings the rep. to be taken seriously. Second, he'll have more influence on Mitchell to play a style of game that is both attractive and conducive to offense. Third, he'll have experience dealing with Spanish refereeing which can come in handy with a Hispanic ref down in Central America.

Then there's also the side benefits of this, such as Julian gaining influence/access to the CSA to try and make some changes in their level of professionalism. And also, Jonathan might view the Canadian team a little differently if his brother becomes Captain.

[jpg75]

quote:Originally posted by canso

Creative guys like Jules don't need to be burdened with extra responsibility.

This is the counter argument, does this put added mental stress that will lead him to try to do too much?

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

NA-based:

De Ro, Jazic, Harmse, Serioux, Brennan, Sutton, Stamatopolous, Pozniak, Braz and Reda (the MLS senior players, not counting Lombardo & Canizalez) would make 9. Onstad would make 10 I suppose. Who else can be added to make up another possible 5? Nash, Gervais & Ribeiro I suppose as another 3 based on their Gold Cup call-up, .....

Jack Stewart

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Stewart_(soccer)

Having made the trek down to New York on the weekend I have a hard time believing Reda and Braz belong anywhere near the national team although they obviously must do based on past appearances and call ups. Scary how far behind players like that are relative to MLS playing standards.

[BearcatSA]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

Increasing squad depth is good, and some fine-tuning and squad improvement is fine, but I don't want to see established & experienced players with a bunch of caps on their team dropped from the roster for the first game of the semi-finals of qualifying in favour of teenagers or guys barely in their 20's who are getting their first or second cap.

quote:Originally posted by BringBackTheBlizzard

Having made the trek down to New York on the weekend I have a hard time believing Reda and Braz belong anywhere near the national team although they obviously must do based on past appearances and call ups. Scary how far behind players like that are relative to MLS playing standards.

I liked these two comments very much and I think they nicely sum up the perils of being the MNT manager: when to bring in a younger, fresher, in form player, for instance, in place of an out of form yet experienced performer, possibly not seeing first team action at club level; a player who nonetheless was an important cog with the MNT only months before, but looks sluggish and "past it" in a recent international match.

[Gian-Luca]

With respect to Braz & Reda, I think the emergence of Hainault & Ledgerwood will push them further down the depth chart (you might also add the emergence of Hastings as a CB). Given Braz's age I expect that he will feature more for Canada over the years that Reda, particulary if they move him into a central defender role (as they have done with Hastings) something I've been suggesting for a while.

Hainault is 21 & Ledgerwood 22, by the time qualifying starts they will have had a couple of years of playing pro under their belt & especially with Hainault quite a few caps, which for me is a big difference when comparing them to Peters & Simpson when Yallop played them in the first match of semi-final qualifying against Guatemala - Peters was 17 & Simpson had just barely started his pro career at Millwall & neither had played for the senior team before. The likes of Brennan, Bernier & Klukowski were dropped in their favour.

[BearcatSA]

G-L,I agree with the Peters and Simpson scenarios you have described. Neither were established with their club sides and so Yallop's high risk gamble didn't pay off.

Did Braz ever play centre back with the Impact prior to joining TFC? Was he a centre back with the U20s? I can't remember

[The Beaver]

Love Jules, especially after GC2007, but I am not convinced he is the best captain for this team. He should be a key leader, but I like the idea of Mckenna or Larry leading the way. (In a pinch, I'd even take Onstad, though that will seem like heresy to most here.)

As for squad selection, let's keep in mind the core challenge we always face when trying to qualify for WC: player depth/availability. I see the core of our "A" being those players plying their trade in Europe--with a few NA additions--but these guys are not always available due to injury, and travelling is damned tough on them. Having a support crew of very good NA-based players is a huge benefit to this team, something we've not had for 20 years. Prior to TFC and MLS, our best domestic options were A-league or CSL, which I'm sure the bulk of you will admit is simply not good enough when trying to qualify for world cup. With close to a dozen players in MLS now--a league very clearly better than A-league and CSL--we are in a much better position. Jazic might not be one's first choice for left back, but he's a pretty good choice in a pinch etc.

Certainly, we need more players playing at the top level in Europe, and more playing in MLS if we are to have any real success on the world stage, but we seem to be heading in the right direction, and Mitchell seems--at first glance--to understand this.

[Guest Ed]

Braz was one of the 'Fab Five' as they called them back in 2000 or so leading up to the 2001 U20 WCQ in Victoria. The FAB FIVE (off the top of my head) were: Julian de Guzman, Adam Braz, Victor Oppong, Miles O'Connor and Michael Klukowski. As you can see, only Julian and Kluka has gone on to live up to the reputation. Braz in fact was injured in the run-up to 2001 U20 WCQ and didn't play at all in Victoria or Argentina with our back line made up of combinations of Victor Oppong, Winston Marshall, Tam Nsaliwa, Justin Thomspson and Chris Pozniak in Victoria and Bernard Oussa was added to the mix in Argentia. I don't have the material on hand for verification of all these names so I hope I don't have too many errors.

[Guest Ed]

quote:Originally posted by The Beaver

Love Jules, especially after GC2007, but I am not convinced he is the best captain for this team. He should be a key leader, but I like the idea of Mckenna or Larry leading the way. (In a pinch, I'd even take Onstad, though that will seem like heresy to most here.)

As for squad selection, let's keep in mind the core challenge we always face when trying to qualify for WC: player depth/availability. I see the core of our "A" being those players plying their trade in Europe--with a few NA additions--but these guys are not always available due to injury, and travelling is damned tough on them. Having a support crew of very good NA-based players is a huge benefit to this team, something we've not had for 20 years. Prior to TFC and MLS, our best domestic options were A-league or CSL, which I'm sure the bulk of you will admit is simply not good enough when trying to qualify for world cup. With close to a dozen players in MLS now--a league very clearly better than A-league and CSL--we are in a much better position. Jazic might not be one's first choice for left back, but he's a pretty good choice in a pinch etc.

Certainly, we need more players playing at the top level in Europe, and more playing in MLS if we are to have any real success on the world stage, but we seem to be heading in the right direction, and Mitchell seems--at first glance--to understand this.

Jules is our captain. I hope the mister will make it official.

There are not a lot of names on my list of 'very good NA-based players' for our nats: de Rosario, Jazic, Brennan, Onstad (who finally showed something for us in the last GC). Add Harmse, Serioux and Sutton a notch down from 'very good'. Short list.

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by Ed

Braz was one of the 'Fab Five' as they called them back in 2000 or so leading up to the 2001 U20 WCQ in Victoria. The FAB FIVE (off the top of my head) were: Julian de Guzman, Adam Braz, Victor Oppong, Miles O'Connor and Michael Klukowski. As you can see, only Julian and Kluka has gone on to live up to the reputation.

I had thought the fab five was actually Julian, Tam, Klukowski, Hume & Wojtek Zarzycki. I seem to recall the five of them getting interviewed for a half-time feature for the first U20 qualifier in Victoria that year (followed by a separate feature on Ali Gerba (or Ngon as he then was) in the telecast for the second game. If so whoever did the article on them did a pretty good job - 80% prediction rate.

Maybe if I have the time I'll try to dig out the tape tonight to see if that was the case.

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by BearcatSA

G-L,I agree with the Peters and Simpson scenarios you have described. Neither were established with their club sides and so Yallop's high risk gamble didn't pay off.

Did Braz ever play centre back with the Impact prior to joining TFC? Was he a centre back with the U20s? I can't remember

He was supposed to be part of a back three (Oppong on the left, Poz as a sweeper, Braz on the right but more central than in a 4-4-2) with the U20 team but as Ed mentioned, ended up missing out on all the important matches due to injury. He did play some time as a centre back for the Impact but they moved him out to the right IIRC because they felt better served with Gervais & Pizzolitto in the middle.

It should be noted that while he didn't have as strong a game against New York as he did the previous week (which could be said about the entire TFC roster, except Stamatopolous), his coach called his performance against LA "tremendous".

[BearcatSA]

Then hopefully Braz will get a regular run in with the first team, either at right back or your suggestion of centre back. Regardless, he needs to establish himself as a regular before he gets an MNT recall, IMO.

[Guest Ed]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

I had thought the fab five was actually Julian, Tam, Klukowski, Hume & Wojtek Zarzycki. I seem to recall the five of them getting interviewed for a half-time feature for the first U20 qualifier in Victoria that year (followed by a separate feature on Ali Gerba (or Ngon as he then was) in the telecast for the second game. If so whoever did the article on them did a pretty good job - 80% prediction rate.

Maybe if I have the time I'll try to dig out the tape tonight to see if that was the case.

I'm pretty sure that Tam was not one of the Fab Five (as they were called by Inside Soccer Magazine) as they were all from Ontario as I recall. You might be right about Wojtek but I have a mental image of Braz on the cover and Hume too now that I think about it. Sportsnet's Fab Five and ISM's were difft I think. I will likewise dig through back issues to verify.

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by Ed

I'm pretty sure that Tam was not one of the Fab Five (as they were called by Inside Soccer Magazine) as they were all from Ontario as I recall. You might be right about Wojtek but I have a mental image of Braz on the cover and Hume too now that I think about it. Sportsnet's Fab Five and ISM's were difft I think. I will likewise dig through back issues to verify.

Just found & checked the tape... the Sportnset version of the Fab Five was actually De Guzman, Hume, Tam, Zarzycki and Miles O'Connor. They got 60% of that correct, though they really missed badly on the other 40% given that Klukowski, Pozniak, Atiba, Gerba & Friend were also on that team while those two have (unfortunately for them) never played for Canada since then (at any level, AFAIR).

[Guest Ed]

I can't find anything but I am missing a couple of issues last part of 2000. Maybe it was an article in an Ontario magazine, Orville Reynold's 'It's Called Football'? No big deal.

[Grizzly]

I think Julian might be a bit quiet to be captain. He is a character guy though and must be well respected on the team so I wouldn't find him a poor choice either. The problem I have with McKenna as captain is I don't think he is anywhere near one of our top players nor even a guaranteed starter which certainly would not be a problem in Julian's case. The key points in choosing the captain would be does this team need an intense motivating type of captain or a quieter well respected captain who motivates mostly by his performance on the field. The other key factor is whether we would be better served in dealing with the CONCACAF refs by someone passionate and intimidating or someone much calmer and in Julian's case absolutely not intimidating because of his size.

[squid2]

With regards to WC qualifying and every game in between, no single 90 minute opportunity can be wasted by Mitchell, Hart & Dasovic. With that said, I think where we are most vulnerable is on the sidelines – the technical/tactical area.

These three have to come together real quick. They have to deliver and perform at a certain level too. There’s 20 guys wondering about them and what they bring to the program.

If I hadn’t seen the u20s play against Austria & Congo I would not have believed how poorly prepared our team was or that Mitchell would be outcoached and unable to make adjustments in-game against either of these two opponents. Far as I’m concerned, Mitchell choked as much, if not more, than many of his players did. My 2nd concern is that I’m not confident that Mitchell will ever control the “room”, certainly no more than Hart, and I doubt Hart ever had control of the “room” during the GC.

We’ve finally got some depth in terms of players playing at higher levels in Europe and we’ve got some talented players performing well in the MLS, but none of our current coaches have this same experience or exposure. Certainly not at the pro level, game in and game out; and coaching u20/u17s boys are far different than professonal men.

From where I sit, I’m counting on the players overcoming the short comings of the team’s staff and hoping the staff get the right players on the pitch as early as possible. I’m pretty sure the players realize this too.

[BrennanFan]

no way julian should be captain. maybe next time around, but damn, do people really see this guy giving the halftime dressing room talk that turns a game around? especially when mckenna, stalteri, dero, and brennan are right there. yea jules may be out most gifted player, but theres still a pecking order that must be respected. stalteri for captain.

[Guest Jeffery S.]

quote:Originally posted by BrennanFan

no way julian should be captain. maybe next time around, but damn, do people really see this guy giving the halftime dressing room talk that turns a game around? especially when mckenna, stalteri, dero, and brennan are right there. yea jules may be out most gifted player, but theres still a pecking order that must be respected. stalteri for captain.

I agree, it is Stalteri as we now stand, as long as the other players accept that, which I think they would.

[Start fan in exile]

It seems Lars Hirshfeld will miss the game - he cut off the tip of a finger with a cheese slicer (!) and cannot play...

http://fotball.aftenposten.no/eliteserien/article87846.ece