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Who will play the final NCC game for TFC?


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Now that TFC has the NCC wrapped up, who do you think will play in the final game against Vancouver? I doubt we will see De Rosario, De Guzman or Frei. Barrett will probably only come on late.

Here is my (very rough) starting lineup:

Conway

Usanov, Attakora, Garcia, Hscanovics

Gargan, LaBrocca, Sanyang, Gala

White, Ibrahim

Your picks?

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Kocic

Gargan, Henry*, Garcia, Harden

Peterson, Nane, Sanyang, Labrocca

Ibrahim, Matheson*

Hscanovics and two of the current three TFC trialists to sub on at some point. :D

*TFC Academy players.

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I think Rudi is pretty close to bang on with that XI. One question; is Harden ready to return?

I'll say:

-------------Conway-------------

Gargan--Henry--Garcia-Hscanovics

Peterson--Nane--Sanyang----Gala

--------Ibrahim----Matheson------

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I read that someone from TFC twittered that they had asked the CSA for permission to play academy players in the last match. I hope permission is not granted considering the agreement that was reached between all three clubs before this years edition of the tournament, and was published somewhere (perhaps on the csa website) that said all teams owuld field competitive first team lineups for all games.

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I think Rudi is pretty close to bang on with that XI. One question; is Harden ready to return?

I'll say:

-------------Conway-------------

Gargan--Henry--Garcia-Hscanovics

Peterson--Nane--Sanyang----Gala

--------Ibrahim----Matheson------

Question: Is this anywhere near the top lineup? If no, how does this compare to Montreal playing a reserve-side last year?

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Question: Is this anywhere near the top lineup? If no, how does this compare to Montreal playing a reserve-side last year?

Of course it's not anywhere near the top lineup. That's the point of this thread.

Toronto earned the right to run out the scrubs by winning the tournament with a game to spare. Montreal last year ran out many of its benchwarmers and reserves during a match that could and did affect the competition for the other two teams.

I'm not sure how these two scenarios are similar, aside from both teams using a less than first-choice side (for far different reasons).

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He may have just meant in terms of quality of player, Rudi. I agree that Toronto has the right to play Academy kids, although since this game is on national television and is a bit of a showcase for the sport in Canada I'd prefer they didn't.

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He may have just meant in terms of quality of player, Rudi. I agree that Toronto has the right to play Academy kids, although since this game is on national television and is a bit of a showcase for the sport in Canada I'd prefer they didn't.

If that's what he meant, then I'd say that the relative strength of the hyopthetical lineups posted here versus what Montreal put on the field last year is not too similar. These TFC lineups that myself and others are posting are FAR worse (versus the first-team of TFC) than Montreal's was versus the first-choice Impact squad.

There are very few, if any, first-teamers in these hypothetical lineups, whereas Montreal had a few first-teamers on the field last year. Hell, I posted a starting lineup featuring a 17-year-old Academy centre back (Doneil Henry).

That said, I doubt Preki goes completely crazy with his lineup the way I would like him to.

And don't worry about national TV coverage, this is Sportsnet we're talking about. They've relegated the entire tournament to East and West regions only, and there is ample time between now and Wednesday for them to push this match further down the pecking order.

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My query was regarding the strength of the lineup in a meaningless game versus that of the first team lineup. My concern with this is that if TFC fields a meaningless squad, and gets thumped 6-1(unlikely, but it was also unlikely last year), are we all going to sit back say it's all ok because they've earned the right? If they come out with a bunch of kids and embarass themselves, that is the exact same thing that Montreal did last year, except that at the end of the day, TFC will get a trophy.

Now, before you jump on me, I feel strongly that TFC can do this if they wish. But I also believe that Montreal, in a round about way, earned that right last year by being out of the tournament. It stung bad as a Whitecaps fan, but as a neutral, it could easily have been dismissed as no big deal. Let's all just hope for a great game, with a high intensity, and entertainment all around.

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Question: Is this anywhere near the top lineup? If no, how does this compare to Montreal playing a reserve-side last year?

????

The tournie is over. It doesn't matter.

Lord Bob's concern over tanking the game on TV is legitimate. Both Vancouver and Toronto could use the break.

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I'm in favour of both sides featuring some (not all) academy players. It'd be good experience for the lads, even if the quality might be somewhat less than what us viewers are used to. Tournament is over, let's let the lads play with and against some of the bench and reserve players of Pro Leagues.

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I'm in favour of both sides featuring some (not all) academy players. It'd be good experience for the lads, even if the quality might be somewhat less than what us viewers are used to. Tournament is over, let's let the lads play with and against some of the bench and reserve players of Pro Leagues.

Exactly. A healthy reasonable mix on both teams will be interesting for us soccer nerds, and valuable to those players.

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Bring on the stiffs!

Frankly, I think the CSA and Sportsnet should consider not airing this match. Soccer geeks (i.e. people on this forum) would love to see the academy kids play against each other and against more experienced players, but do we want average people potentially seeing Canadian club football for the first time stumbling upon this match? Perhaps an internet stream would suffice for us geeks.

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Bring on the stiffs!

Frankly, I think the CSA and Sportsnet should consider not airing this match. Soccer geeks (i.e. people on this forum) would love to see the academy kids play against each other and against more experienced players, but do we want average people potentially seeing Canadian club football for the first time stumbling upon this match? Perhaps an internet stream would suffice for us geeks.

Agreed.

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Wow, I disagree with that. I would be excited to see how the future of our club plays with some of our 1st/2nd string guys. For some of us that only get out to 1 acadamy game per year, this is an exciting time for us to see how our jr-stars play relative to tougher competition.

Plus now that TFC qualified for CCL, we need to get all of our subs and extras upto match fitness to properly compete as the Impact did 2 seasons ago.

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Wow, I disagree with that. I would be excited to see how the future of our club plays with some of our 1st/2nd string guys. For some of us that only get out to 1 acadamy game per year, this is an exciting time for us to see how our jr-stars play relative to tougher competition.

Plus now that TFC qualified for CCL, we need to get all of our subs and extras upto match fitness to properly compete as the Impact did 2 seasons ago.

I agree. I am excited to see which young guys are given a shot and how they perform.

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^ I'm just as excited as you two to see the academy kids in action. But you seem to have missed my point.

My point was that a match filled with academy kids shown on national TV might not be the best advert for Canadian club footie for the casual/first time viewer. Uber soccer geeks (i.e. people who post on the Voyageurs forum, or 0.001% of Canada's population) will still thoroughly enjoy watching it, but will a match filled with kids and stiffs win anyone over to soccer? Or will it result in terrible ratings for Sportsnet, thus making them question whether they would want to bother televising the tournament again next year?

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