Your 23-Man Roster for Belize series.

[Hawkguy]

He *did* replace Occean with a striker, Cavallini, who came into the game in the second half. (Given the scoreline at the time, no, it didn't make a difference, other than to cap-tie the kid.)

 

Hume actually came in before Cavallini. Cavallini replaced Jackson, if I'm not mistaken. So yes, we went with two strikers in the second half.. and at least we scored a goal, haha.

 

Why drop Jackson, he didn't even get a chance in the gold cup. Drop ricketts and have him try out for a track and field team.

Haber played well for us and doesn't deserve to be dropped, but yes bring on occean

 

I think Haber played well in the Gold Cup, so I agree with that statement. 

 

Because

a) Jackson didn't impress to get playing time during the Gold Cup.

Jackson plays for the Voyageurs' favourite club, Unattached FC

c) What has Jackson brought to that national team ever? Seriously what has he done?

d) What has Jackson done for his club during the past two years  Going to Bundesliga where he played a couple of games and disappeared for a bad team going 6 months later to a bad Championship side and not gaining a starter''s job and rarely on the matchday squad for a League One team.

e) As sad as it is, Tosaint Ricketts has been better than Simeon Jackson for our national team when both have been playing.

 

I do think that a lot of people like Jackson, but don't see that. He's not the saviour people.

 

I tend to agree. I'm not a big fan of Jackson at all. 

[Northvansteve]

Because

a) Jackson didn't impress to get playing time during the Gold Cup.

Jackson plays for the Voyageurs' favourite club, Unattached FC

c) What has Jackson brought to that national team ever? Seriously what has he done?

d) What has Jackson done for his club during the past two years  Going to Bundesliga where he played a couple of games and disappeared for a bad team going 6 months later to a bad Championship side and not gaining a starter''s job and rarely on the matchday squad for a League One team.

e) As sad as it is, Tosaint Ricketts has been better than Simeon Jackson for our national team when both have been playing.

 

I do think that a lot of people like Jackson, but don't see that. He's not the saviour people.

Sadly, Jackson has been on a career slide for some time now. He needs to find a home in MLS or NASL to salvage his career. World Cup qualifying is not the time to give a spot to a guy who can't find a club team to sign him. You have to go with the guys who are playing and, hopefully, playing well. 

[Canadian Pride]

Because

a) Jackson didn't impress to get playing time during the Gold Cup.

Jackson plays for the Voyageurs' favourite club, Unattached FC

c) What has Jackson brought to that national team ever? Seriously what has he done?

d) What has Jackson done for his club during the past two years  Going to Bundesliga where he played a couple of games and disappeared for a bad team going 6 months later to a bad Championship side and not gaining a starter''s job and rarely on the matchday squad for a League One team.

e) As sad as it is, Tosaint Ricketts has been better than Simeon Jackson for our national team when both have been playing.

 

I do think that a lot of people like Jackson, but don't see that. He's not the saviour people.

He plays in the 3rd division, so at this point I don't think anything think he's a saviour. But he does have quality and can do well on the wing.

[Supersonic78]

Ricketts out for anyone. Love the guy's dedication to the team, but it's time for him to go.

[Footscray]

Out : ricketts, ouimette, bekker, pacheco

In : hutch, johnson, petrasso, henry

Debating froese for tissot too.

If any of arfield, hoillet, vittoria or the other wannabe portugese international defender from toronto (can't remember his name) want to play, would look a bit different

Ricketts has to go, he is not at this level. Bring in someone who can dribble like petrasso.

The other 3 moves are no brainers, only tough call is who you boot, pacheco or tissot. Tissot has more upside imo.

[Stoppage Time]

Pedro Pacheco is very under rated in my opinion.  He is good defensively and can actually make accurate passes.  His only liability is that he is a yellow card risk.

 

As for the whole squad, I agree that present form will count a lot, and that "Unattached FC" no longer has a place on the national team.  In addition, Floro needs to balance out the attack and defense during matches.  Belize should provide an opportunity to change the look of the formation.  A 4-2-3-1 provides better defensive coverage and allows the "front four" more latitude to attack.  The "2" in front of the defense allow for a better balance from side to side. Certainly, at least one of the "3" must be aware to get back and defend high when possession is lost (always at least 7 players behind the ball), while 2 or 3 players can press as the situation allows before tracking back.  Finally, I like the Spanish and Dutch, for example, strategy of quickly and relentlessly pressuring to regain possession of the ball after it has been lost.

 

Let's offer opinions on lineups again toward the end of August.

Cheers!

 

[Bertuzzi44]

Ricketts won't go from a Gold Cup starter in every game to off the roster. Floro obviously likes him.

[Alex]

Ricketts will do his usual and bag two or three versus a minnow like Belize. Then he will play against Mexico/ Honduras and be in over his head

[BuzzAndSting]

I'm not to worried about this lineup other than Will Johnson. He's the only guy I desperately want to see play, if he misses these matches then it's time to panic.

Looking at the Timbers schedule they play Sunday Aug 30 at Seattle and then Wednesdag Sep 9 at home to KC, that's not good.

[jonovision]

Ricketts is our active leading goal scorer. He has scored against minnows, but also Jamaica, Ecuador, T&T, Cuba, Moldova. Jackson has more caps, including similar opponents, with 4 fewer goals (6 total). Those include his hat trick against St Lucia.  With 40+ caps each, I think we have a large enough body of evidence to claim that Ricketts has been a more effective player for Canada. Unlike Jackson he is also capable of (and often willing to) do a bit of defensive work on the wing.

[Shway]

Ricketts is our active leading goal scorer. He has scored against minnows, but also Jamaica, Ecuador, T&T, Cuba, Moldova. Jackson has more caps, including similar opponents, with 4 fewer goals (6 total). Those include his hat trick against St Lucia. With 40+ caps each, I think we have a large enough body of evidence to claim that Ricketts has been a more effective player for Canada. Unlike Jackson he is also capable of (and often willing to) do a bit of defensive work on the wing.

This...

I've seen on this board talks of the great Radzinski,and I realized his stats are equal to Ricketts.

There's a few players I would remove from the roster before I pick ricketts.

Bekker, Pacheco, ouimette

[baulderdash77]

Ricketts always scores on a minnow so he's going to be good for one of those goals.  It's not even a question that he'll be lining up at RW for us.  He's our leading active scorer and we don't have many bona fide scorers. 

 

By the end of next year we'll see him and Ledgerwood sitting at 50 caps for us.  That may be an indictment of our team but it does show who's who on the pecking order for roster call-ups. 

[Northvansteve]

I understand the criticism of Ricketts but he does bring a combination of size, speed and aggressiveness to our attack that no one else can offer right now. His finishing and judgement around the 18 is poor but in the games I've seen he has created more opportunities for the team than anyone else. Keep him on the roster and use him strategically. 

[Keegan]

I understand the criticism of Ricketts but he does bring a combination of size, speed and aggressiveness to our attack that no one else can offer right now. His finishing and judgement around the 18 is poor but in the games I've seen he has created more opportunities for the team than anyone else. Keep him on the roster and use him strategically. 

 

Exactly, his athleticism is amazing and can go head to head with most if not all players in the region.  It's the technical aspect that lacks.

 

As for the criticism of Jackson and asking what he's ever done for the MNT... I've always thought Jackson was one of our best players.  In 2009-2010 (he was just 22/23) he was arguably our 3rd most effective player after Hutchinson and Simpson (I'm thinking Ukraine friendly).  When he was on the ball he could take on guys, he has speed, he has technical skill (comparable to other players in CMNT) and most importantly he can poach goals.  He's one of our better attackers if you look at his resume and skills.. I'm really surprised he didn't get an appearance at the Gold Cup. 

 

I remember Jackson won the free kick against Panama that we scored on in 2012.  I honestly believe that if he can get a starting spot somewhere he will be a starter on the MNT.  How many 28 year olds do we have with Bundesliga and EPL experience?  Exactly.  Despite Rickett's athleticism there is no chance he could ever get a contract on the teams that Jackson has played at.  I appreciate both players but I don't see how people here can hold Ricketts up while stomping on Jackson.

[Big_M]

We need to call the best players in each position that play at an acceptable level and regularly in club. No more 4th division players or free agents. Our pool is large enough now.

[dbailey62]

Pedro Pacheco is very under rated in my opinion.  He is good defensively and can actually make accurate passes.  His only liability is that he is a yellow card risk.

 

As for the whole squad, I agree that present form will count a lot, and that "Unattached FC" no longer has a place on the national team.  In addition, Floro needs to balance out the attack and defense during matches.  Belize should provide an opportunity to change the look of the formation.  A 4-2-3-1 provides better defensive coverage and allows the "front four" more latitude to attack.  The "2" in front of the defense allow for a better balance from side to side. Certainly, at least one of the "3" must be aware to get back and defend high when possession is lost (always at least 7 players behind the ball), while 2 or 3 players can press as the situation allows before tracking back.  Finally, I like the Spanish and Dutch, for example, strategy of quickly and relentlessly pressuring to regain possession of the ball after it has been lost.

 

Let's offer opinions on lineups again toward the end of August.

Cheers!

Pacheco is very solid.

[BradMack]

Ricketts always gives 100% and actually creates a lot for himself. I think of him as a less effective version of Dom Oduro or TFC's Jackson. Fast players who can beat a defender by just pushing the ball past them and out running them, but once they get into a spot where they need to cross or shoot, its basically pure luck if the ball ends up on another players foot or in the back of the net. His decision making against teams that know how to defend and can pressure him ends up being pretty bad, but against minnows who aren't offering the same kind of pressure he has the time to focus and make the smart play or take a nice finish. We saw this against Dominica with his goals he made smart plays, but in the gold cup, while he still managed to create some opportunities he ended up being frustrating to watch around the 18.

[king1010]

So cyle larin just scored a hat trick in one half against nyc.

Safe to say he'll be on the roster. And probably starting.

If he can get the service he'll score.

Also scoring 3 goals in an mls half is a good way to forget about that wide open miss against el salvador.

[BearcatSA]

Pedro Pacheco is very under rated in my opinion.  He is good defensively and can actually make accurate passes.  His only liability is that he is a yellow card risk.

 

He's got some skills but I don't find him that great defensively because he is slow.  That's probably why he draws cards with late challenges.

 

Under Hart, Pacheco couldn't even beat out Dunfield for a starting spot four years ago and now, under a different manager with a vastly superior c.v., he couldn't beat out Bekker to replace JDG to start the important first match of this tourney.     

[Floortom]

So cyle larin just scored a hat trick in one half against nyc.

Safe to say he'll be on the roster. And probably starting.

If he can get the service he'll score.

Also scoring 3 goals in an mls half is a good way to forget about that wide open miss against el salvador.

Will be interesting to see what Floro decides to do with Larin. Will he be part of the Olympic qualifying squad in October or part of the WCQ in Sept? I doubt Orlando would allow him to be at both

[king1010]

Id like to think we can beat belize without him and he plays olympic qualifying.

Also if canada really wants to play hard ball we can call him up regardless of what orlando wants as both are fifa dates (save for the first 2 olympic games)

I mean michael bradley doesnt pick and choose which intl dates he misses.... He misses ALL of them for tfc

[Shway]

Also if canada really wants to play hard ball we can call him up regardless of what orlando wants as both are fifa dates (save for the first 2 olympic games)

I mean michael bradley doesnt pick and choose which intl dates he misses.... He misses ALL of them for tfc

 

This.

 

It's time this bullshit stops.  I understand the European teams saying no, but the MLS which picks and chooses which players are okay to leave is bullshit.

[Obinna]

I want us to call the best possible squad for Olympic Qualifying. With the GC and Pan AM failures, we need to win (or qualify) for something on the mens side.

If I were Floro, I would call up Larin for Olympic Qualifying and if it's necessary to strike a deal with Orlando for WCQ, leave him in Florida and call up Occean in his place. That would be the best way to re-introduce Occean back into the squad (if he even wants to join) and the relationship between the CSA and OCSC remains amicable.

[dbailey62]

So cyle larin just scored a hat trick in one half against nyc.

Safe to say he'll be on the roster. And probably starting.

If he can get the service he'll score.

Also scoring 3 goals in an mls half is a good way to forget about that wide open miss against el salvador.

Ya, it's all about service. He can obviously finish given the opportunity. We should just forget about that miss.

[rightback]

Larin has to be a lock, no question. Ricketts isn't good by any stretch, I get depressed watching him play, but if he's the best we've got, what can you do?