Scott Arfield

[Shway]

I just can’t see how a lot of you guys are giving him a bly to be picking and choosing. 

Arfield is very good, he isn’t the undisputed greatest midfielder we have though. We have a lot of very good midfielders who all offer something different. Knowing that I hope Herdman sticks to his word of not allowing guys to pick and choose. Only guy who has earned this right is Atiba! And he was there for Bermuda, and Cayman Islands while chasing a league double, and coming from further away. 

Arfield deserves no exceptions or special treatment - he only has 19 caps of service not 39!

Lastly, I’m not writing him off...but when we do qualify for the Octo, and play our first games against Honduras...he better how he’s in some great form to earn a call.
Run with us, or be done with us.

[VinceA]

I suppose we'll know more soon enough.

Edited May 21, 2021 by VinceA

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

10 minutes ago, Shway said:

Run with us, or be done with us.

When does your album drop

----

My prediction regarding other posters and myself on the forum on our Arfield-less midfield after a tough 45 minutes on matchday:

 

 

 

[Obinna]

21 minutes ago, Shway said:

I just can’t see how a lot of you guys are giving him a bly to be picking and choosing. 

Arfield is very good, he isn’t the undisputed greatest midfielder we have though. We have a lot of very good midfielders who all offer something different. Knowing that I hope Herdman sticks to his word of not allowing guys to pick and choose. Only guy who has earned this right is Atiba! And he was there for Bermuda, and Cayman Islands while chasing a league double, and coming from further away. 

Arfield deserves no exceptions or special treatment - he only has 19 caps of service not 39!

Lastly, I’m not writing him off...but when we do qualify for the Octo, and play our first games against Honduras...he better how he’s in some great form to earn a call.
Run with us, or be done with us.

I see where you're coming from, but Arfield is not helping his Canada chances by sitting out, if you want to look at it that way. It's clearly a risk worth taking for him, otherwise he'd find a way to be there come hell or high water.

He won't be able to waltz his way back into the starting line up, if and when he returns (I am confident he will return). The same is true for Osorio though, who's also been struggling with injury. They are both in the same situation if you think about it. Obviously I get that doubt has been cast about Arfield's commitment for various reasons, so that part is different, but the reality is that both could miss this window and Kaye or even Eustaquio could step ahead of them in the pecking order. We know Stephen has the ability to play a little more advanced, while up until this point it's seemed like Kaye has been a little more behind Osorio/Arfield than ahead.

The impact of the guys who help us advance won't be easily forgotten. These are massive games, far bigger than Nations League against the United States or the 2019 Gold Cup. 

[Bison44]

If Arfield isnt fully fit, ie nursing something that needs long term rest to be able to have a good season next year etc, then he needs to skip this camp. What good is he going to be, if he's barely played in last month and isnt 100%?    Same with Osorio..or anybody else for that matter.  If everyone is in camp Arfield might not start anyways...It could be some combo of Eustaquio, Kaye, Peite, Osorio and Hutch in the middle.  Who isnt replaceable now in our heady days of having some depth?? Davies, David, Larin/Cav, Borjan..???  Hell, when Kaye went down against the USA, Fraser stepped in and played like a champ.  

[costarg]

54 minutes ago, Shway said:

I just can’t see how a lot of you guys are giving him a bly to be picking and choosing. 

Arfield is very good, he isn’t the undisputed greatest midfielder we have though. We have a lot of very good midfielders who all offer something different. Knowing that I hope Herdman sticks to his word of not allowing guys to pick and choose. Only guy who has earned this right is Atiba! And he was there for Bermuda, and Cayman Islands while chasing a league double, and coming from further away. 

Arfield deserves no exceptions or special treatment - he only has 19 caps of service not 39!

Lastly, I’m not writing him off...but when we do qualify for the Octo, and play our first games against Honduras...he better how he’s in some great form to earn a call.
Run with us, or be done with us.

Come on man, the guy just came back from 2 important injuries.  It's just normal and logical if he wants to keep playing a few more years.  We don't know the full deal, but by seeing him play even one match you just know he isn't the lazy, take it easy type.  You're putting him in the Vela category too quickly.

[Ansem]

If we can't beat Suriname and Haiti without him - we don't deserve to be in the Ocho

He was supposed to be out for the rest of the season but healed fast enough to play the final game.

Let's get the job done and have him be 100% for the games in the Ocho where we WILL need him and obviously, has a preference for playing those. But let's let him rest the whole summer so he gets his minutes next year at Rangers - People forget that Rangers will try to qualify for the Champions League group stage. Healing and making it to play at the highest level in the better long term play here.

No point having him injured against Suriname or Martinique at the Gold Cup.

Edited May 21, 2021 by Ansem

[Obinna]

3 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

If Arfield isnt fully fit, ie nursing something that needs long term rest to be able to have a good season next year etc, then he needs to skip this camp. What good is he going to be, if he's barely played in last month and isnt 100%?    Same with Osorio..or anybody else for that matter.  If everyone is in camp Arfield might not start anyways...It could be some combo of Eustaquio, Kaye, Peite, Osorio and Hutch in the middle.  Who isnt replaceable now in our heady days of having some depth?? Davies, David, Larin/Cav, Borjan..???  Hell, when Kaye went down against the USA, Fraser stepped in and played like a champ.  

That's right. This is why we celebrate depth. We should be happy that missing Arfield won't break us, instead of getting upset that we don't have every single player available. 

Speaking of depth, this may create the opportunity for someone else to have a "Fraser" moment with our team. 

There is a silver lining to Arfield's absence.

 

[El Hombre]

I don't have him in the front six of my starting eleven against Suriname, so not really worried that he isn't there:

Cavallini

Davies - David - Larin

Eustaquio - Hutch

[Shway]

Fack it, call up the guys who are committed, who love to get the call, and would never turn down Canada.

Call up, call up.....CALL UP RUSTY!

[archer21]

Pretty disappointing news. I’m not going to write him off forever because at the end of the day, winning is the most important thing. I think if he commits to some Oct games, he’ll probably be welcomed back. If he’s basically even with some other players though, I’d rather see they get the start though.

[Stryker911]

One thing that must cross his mind alot is that he made a mistake joining us. If he looks at the Scotland squad which will be playing at the Euros this summer, he probably feels like he is good enough for that squad. Obviously that isn't our fault, but he could have been playibg against Croatia and England instead of Aruba and Suriname.

[Ansem]

5 minutes ago, Stryker911 said:

One thing that must cross his mind alot is that he made a mistake joining us. If he looks at the Scotland squad which will be playing at the Euros this summer, he probably feels like he is good enough for that squad. Obviously that isn't our fault, but he could have been playibg against Croatia and England instead of Aruba and Suriname.

If we make the ocho, we might go to the World Cup... For Scotland, Euro is as good as it gets

[dyslexic nam]

4 minutes ago, Stryker911 said:

One thing that must cross his mind alot is that he made a mistake joining us. If he looks at the Scotland squad which will be playing at the Euros this summer, he probably feels like he is good enough for that squad. Obviously that isn't our fault, but he could have been playibg against Croatia and England instead of Aruba and Suriname.

Sure, but Aruba and Suriname are a means to an end.  After that come respectable CONCACAF teams and possibly the WC.  And I still think that he has a better chance of making the WC with us.  

[LeoH037]

On 5/21/2021 at 4:43 PM, Shway said:

Fack it, call up the guys who are committed, who love to get the call, and would never turn down Canada.

Call up, call up.....CALL UP RUSTY!

For all the games he has been there for, Arfield has always given 110% of himself, so it is extremely unfair to accuse him of otherwise, specially when none of us know his reasons why he has decided to sit this one out (and yes, picking what games he is involved in so as to prolong his playing career as long as possible is a perfectly legitimate reason to sit games out, IMO Herdman making that statement was very naive (to put it lightly), given the realities of club soccer). The moment I see him walking on the field on a must win situation is when I'll call the guy out.

Edited May 22, 2021 by LeoH037

[Blackjack15]

If/When canada makes the octagonal, Arfield for me has one last chance. If he isn't accepting the call up vs the big teams then forget him

Now i sorta get it

[El Hombre]

9 hours ago, Stryker911 said:

One thing that must cross his mind alot is that he made a mistake joining us. If he looks at the Scotland squad which will be playing at the Euros this summer, he probably feels like he is good enough for that squad. Obviously that isn't our fault, but he could have been playibg against Croatia and England instead of Aruba and Suriname.

He waited for Scotland to call him until he was 27.  He was playing EPL at the time.  If they weren't going to call him then, why would they call him now?

If he regrets his decision then he's got rose-coloured glasses on.

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, El Hombre said:

He waited for Scotland to call him until he was 27.  He was playing EPL at the time.  If they weren't going to call him then, why would they call him now?

If he regrets his decision then he's got rose-coloured glasses on.

There is nothing out there indicating he regrets playing for Canada besides our imagination. The only player I can think of who gave such an indication was Cavallini and even that was iffy. 

[PopePouri]

I'm not going to jump on him. We know he's had a number of injury concerns this year and he's 32. Not everyone can be the unicorn that's Hutch. 

Edited May 22, 2021 by PopePouri

[LeoH037]

9 hours ago, PopePouri said:

I'm not going to jump on him. We know he's had a number of injury concerns this year and he's 32. Not everyone can be the unicorn that's Hutch. 

my thoughts exactly, the guy is no spring chicken, at this stage on his career he needs to weight the pros and cons of increasing his workload, the probability of an injury ending a player career increases more steeply with age. I don't doubt we will see him El Ocho if we make it, I'm sure Scott wants to play in a World Cup before he retires, but he has to be smart about it, specially since he is the type of player to truly leave everything in the field when the stakes are high.

Edited May 22, 2021 by LeoH037

[The Real Marc]

14 hours ago, El Hombre said:

He waited for Scotland to call him until he was 27.  He was playing EPL at the time.  If they weren't going to call him then, why would they call him now?

If he regrets his decision then he's got rose-coloured glasses on.

Isn’t that most players though? Aren’t most of them convinced of their own abilities and skills and eventual success, if only given the chance?

Is it not possible that he put in his papers to see what reaction he’d get and when Strachan said “ta-rah” his path was decided for him?

I don’t think he’d be a starter for Scotland but looking at some of their callups I think he might have earned a handful of caps if he’d have held out.

Im not nuts he opted out but I’m sure glad he didn’t hold out for Scotland!

Edited May 23, 2021 by The Real Marc

[LeoH037]

Arguably he still has a better chance to play in a world cup with Canada

[Stryker911]

My point wasn't whether he has a better chance to make a World Cup playing for Canada. On this board it is regularly brought up which nationality a player feels. Without a doubt he feels Scottish. Even to get a couple games with Scotland would probably feel more important to him than a Good Cup game with Canada. I also believe that last season, when he was one of Rangers best players, he likely would have at the very least made the 23 man squad for qualifying matches, if not the final Euro squad.

In regards to him having having better chance to make a World Cup with Canada, I am not sure how that can be true. Scotland has made the world Cup 8 times and the Euro 3. They can put out nearly an all Premier League team with Celtic, Rangers, and Championship players on the bench.

[ADP10]

14 minutes ago, Stryker911 said:

My point wasn't whether he has a better chance to make a World Cup playing for Canada. On this board it is regularly brought up which nationality a player feels. Without a doubt he feels Scottish. Even to get a couple games with Scotland would probably feel more important to him than a Good Cup game with Canada. I also believe that last season, when he was one of Rangers best players, he likely would have at the very least made the 23 man squad for qualifying matches, if not the final Euro squad.

In regards to him having having better chance to make a World Cup with Canada, I am not sure how that can be true. Scotland has made the world Cup 8 times and the Euro 3. They can put out nearly an all Premier League team with Celtic, Rangers, and Championship players on the bench.

I can’t see Scotland making the World Cup with the quality of teams in Europe. Canada imo has a better chance of finishing in top 3 of Concacaf

[costarg]

On 5/22/2021 at 8:26 AM, El Hombre said:

He waited for Scotland to call him until he was 27.  He was playing EPL at the time.  If they weren't going to call him then, why would they call him now?

If he regrets his decision then he's got rose-coloured glasses on.

We're just making shit up here.  Scott nor anyone else that's in his head has claimed this is indeed the case.  Let's keep it real please.