CMNT World Cup Qualifying - Camp Roster

[madmonte]

+2 for Bernier...everyone thought he had fallen off, suffice it to say it just takes time to get used to MLS after being in Europe...different style of play.

[Tuscan]

I'd like to believe he was making a play to have his name included on the roster with that game yesterday, he was excellent.

[Wingback6]

REB Would be a poor choice in this situation. Too inexperienced.

Hart will go more like for like. We don't have many wingers per se, but we do have vets.

My guess would be Bernier, he's got experience, scores semi-regularly. And close at hand.

While normally I would consider it properly blase to quote myself. Can't but help but look at the sudden support for Bernier and laugh.

Cause he plays well over the weekend and suddenly people notice him, not the fact that say, he scored two goals in the Danish Superliga in 12 games, which is pretty dang good for a over-the-hill DM, forgetting of course, that he has also played winger.

But all of a sudden NOW he would be a good replacement.

[Keegan]

While normally I would consider it properly blase to quote myself. Can't but help but look at the sudden support for Bernier and laugh.

Cause he plays well over the weekend and suddenly people notice him, not the fact that say, he scored two goals in the Danish Superliga in 12 games, which is pretty dang good for a over-the-hill DM, forgetting of course, that he has also played winger.

But all of a sudden NOW he would be a good replacement.

Well he wasn't playing first team football up until this weekend, I think that's why people suddenly see him as a fit replacement. I don't think he should be called, I like the players we called up and I don't think a left winger going down warrants it.

[madmonte]

While normally I would consider it properly blase to quote myself. Can't but help but look at the sudden support for Bernier and laugh.

Cause he plays well over the weekend and suddenly people notice him, not the fact that say, he scored two goals in the Danish Superliga in 12 games, which is pretty dang good for a over-the-hill DM, forgetting of course, that he has also played winger.

But all of a sudden NOW he would be a good replacement.

Yeah, no, on THIS forum of all places, you are the ONLY one that knows about canadian players and where they used to play, and about their careers.

I was thinking Bernier before this weekend too...but Hart has stated he only wants players who are currently getting minutes. I stick to my previous thing...he was always decent for Canada, and just needed time to adjust to MLS from a different style of play in Europe.

[Grizzly]

Lack of playing time was a valid reason not to call Bernier if there were equally good options. However, calling Ledgerwood is incomprehensible. One of either Bernier or Straith should have been called instead of Ledgerwood. Bernier was not a steady starter at the Impact (and remains to be seen if this game will change that, I find Marsh's player selections pretty difficult to understand) but he was still getting minutes and not sitting on the bench every game either. Of course neither Bernier or Straith would replace Simpson positionally but then is there anyone available who would. Maybe the best option is to try and replace Simpson by someone already in the squad such as DeRo and then call someone else who can be useful elsewhere. While I think Bernier or Straith would be much better than Ledgerwood if for whatever inexplicable reason (ie. incompetence) Hart does not then it is no use calling either of them. REB is also not a replacement for Simpson and I am not convinced yet he is ready for the senior team. However, I think Ricketts is similar and both of them are crap shoot callups, guys who might do nothing or might get hot and pot a few. Since I don't see a lot of other guys available who would help the team maybe it would be worth taking a chance and calling REB. The only guys available who could be a Simpson replacement are Hoilett and Radz and I am not overly confident Hart can convince either to play. And in Radz' case it is hard to predict as well how much his skills have declined. Yes he looks good at his club but he is playing at a very low level.

[RS]

Straith was called, but he was injured and was never placed on the public roster (he was the one Jakovic replaced).

[Grizzly]

Straith was called, but he was injured and was never placed on the public roster (he was the one Jakovic replaced).

Thanks. He missed Saarbrucken's last game but I thought it was just because he was a loaned out player and the game was meaningless so they wanted to start their own player. I could not find any information on his injury so it is probably not very serious but in looking for the info I found that Cottbus released him this week and he signed with Saarbrucken for another year.

[Keano]

While normally I would consider it properly blase to quote myself. Can't but help but look at the sudden support for Bernier and laugh.

Cause he plays well over the weekend and suddenly people notice him, not the fact that say, he scored two goals in the Danish Superliga in 12 games, which is pretty dang good for a over-the-hill DM, forgetting of course, that he has also played winger.

But all of a sudden NOW he would be a good replacement.

Thanks for this pompous nonsense. I guess you forgot about the part where we've all been following the European careers of our Canadian players for decades. Also everyone here but the most casual supporter knows that Bernier is starting infrequently for the Impact not because he isn't excellent when called upon, but mainly because he's smaller and less physical than Collen Warner and Felipe is tiny. Hart didn't call him because, under "When To Call Up Players", the textbook says "Not When They're Only Occasionally Starting For Their Club" and he lacks the subtlety to see it differently. If you're looking for a slightly more obscure CMNT player to wax hipster about, Bernier is a bad candidate; he's been a fan favourite for many years, even if his performances are sometimes too stealth to register with the casual fan.

[Grizzly]

Hart didn't call him because, under "When To Call Up Players", the textbook says "Not When They're Only Occasionally Starting For Their Club" and he lacks the subtlety to see it differently.

Yes that is the sad truth.

[BearcatSA]

he's been a fan favourite for many years, even if his performances are sometimes too stealth to register with the casual fan.

I don't mind Bernier's skillset, though I have found him to be too inconsistent for a player of his experience.

[Grizzly]

I don't mind Bernier's skillset, though I have found him to be too inconsistent for a player of his experience.

Yes he has been inconsistent but when the other option at his position has been consistently bad I think he should be a clear selection. Were there better or equal options then I think it would be appropriate to bring in factors like inconsistency and lack of steady starts into the equation but unfortunately there are not better options.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

[BearcatSA]

Were there better or equal options then I think it would be appropriate to bring in factors like inconsistency and lack of steady starts into the equation but unfortunately there are not better options.

That pretty much sums up the whole program since the last WCQ.

[madmonte]

Thanks for that link

[trueviking]

It's a shame that friend has fallen off the face of the earth (and was less than effective for the nats before that).

He should be a far better option. But isn't.

[Keegan]

It's a shame that friend has fallen off the face of the earth (and was less than effective for the nats before that).

He should be a far better option. But isn't.

A far better option than who?

[villus]

A far better option than who?

Ya agree with this, OO has had the best season from a CMNT striker in years, I don't think Friend at his pinnacle has ever produced the type of season and amount of goals and assists that OO has. I think OO as a striker will be a strong point for this cycle if he can stay healthy and on form, his replacement is a bit more muddled but OO looking back a few years is about the maximum we could have expected from a striker.

[Grizzly]

Ya agree with this, OO has had the best season from a CMNT striker in years, I don't think Friend at his pinnacle has ever produced the type of season and amount of goals and assists that OO has. I think OO as a striker will be a strong point for this cycle if he can stay healthy and on form, his replacement is a bit more muddled but OO looking back a few years is about the maximum we could have expected from a striker.

Friend scored 18 one year in the 2nd Bundesliga, one more than Occean scored this year. Unfortunately Friend is a very specific type of striker and a club needs to have certain types of players for him to be effective and our national team does not have this type of player nor have we ever had a coach who understands how to employ Friend.

Before we get all hyped up on Occean though his career stats are pretty similar to Friends if you take away the last couple of years in which Friend has struggled. And while one can argue Occean has not gotten enough chances with the national team in the past he has for the most part not been very impressive either when he has played. And while he was good this year he was also on a team that was better than most 2nd Bundesliga teams throughout their roster and for the first half of the year had two other very good strikers who were also scoring (and making space for Occean) and even then went out and signed former German national team striker Asamoah who scored at a goal every second game pace when he came in (and probably would have outscored Occean had he been there the whole year). So while Occean was good he was also in an exceptionally good situation which is similar to Friend's situation when he went to Monchengladbach. Occean will be in a much different situation with the national team. I hope he can continue his scoring pace in WCQ but I would not be entirely surprised either if he disappoints like Friend did.

[villus]

Friend scored 18 one year in the 2nd Bundesliga, one more than Occean scored this year. Unfortunately Friend is a very specific type of striker and a club needs to have certain types of players for him to be effective and our national team does not have this type of player nor have we ever had a coach who understands how to employ Friend.

Before we get all hyped up on Occean though his career stats are pretty similar to Friends if you take away the last couple of years in which Friend has struggled. And while one can argue Occean has not gotten enough chances with the national team in the past he has for the most part not been very impressive either when he has played. And while he was good this year he was also on a team that was better than most 2nd Bundesliga teams throughout their roster and for the first half of the year had two other very good strikers who were also scoring (and making space for Occean) and even then went out and signed former German national team striker Asamoah who scored at a goal every second game pace when he came in (and probably would have outscored Occean had he been there the whole year). So while Occean was good he was also in an exceptionally good situation which is similar to Friend's situation when he went to Monchengladbach. Occean will be in a much different situation with the national team. I hope he can continue his scoring pace in WCQ but I would not be entirely surprised either if he disappoints like Friend did.

I agree with most of your points, I was always a Friend fan and he definitely is a specific type of striker that really does not fit in with what our MNT has at its disposal. Overall I think Friend was tried and mainly failed with the MNT, I think OO is a bit more mobile then Friend and should fit a bit better with the players we have since he offer more dynamism and is better with the ball at his fee. Obviously strikers with better service, better teams are going to score more goals so we can't get too carried away with that, but also a big issue with strikers is form and confidence, its always going to be an issue with any striker and so having OO coming off a very successful season in a good league in time for WCQ I feel is best case scenario as we will need clinical finishers if we want to advance.

And OO also provided a good amount of assists, so overall his contribution was well rounded from the sounds of it.

[trueviking]

i was actually referring to bernier.

it is disappointing that a country with so little depth cant even consider calling a guy who only 3 years ago scored 8 goals in 25 games in BL1....instead we are debating the merits of bernier....or wonder if radz can still play.

[Soju]

^Because we've logically deduced that certain players can play well within the national team setup and some cannot, regardless of club form.

[JimmyJames]

Did we replace Simpson?

[Sam]

Did we replace Simpson?

Not yet, but I still think we will probably see Bernier called up. Especially because it's a little late to call anyone from Europe at this point. So my guess is Bernier or no one.

[trueviking]

^Because we've logically deduced that certain players can play well within the national team setup and some cannot, regardless of club form.

i know....but we have so few guys to choose from that it sucks that a guy who is/was playing at such a high level might as well not exist....instead we have a league 1 striker on the roster.

you would hope that we could use all our top level talent, when we have so little of it....im not saying he should be called, im saying its frustrating that we have to exclude one of our few top level players because he is so ineffective in our line-up.