CONCACAF Nations League

[Boominbooty]

I'm sure this conversation was had in bits in pieces on the Board but now that we can see the full schedule do we want the team to call the best players up i.e. Arfield, Cavallinni, Hoillet, Borjan etc etc against the US Virgin Islands and try and get a zillion goals or do you bring in a younger team to gain more experience as the go to the fiery cauldron of Paul E. Joseph Stadium (move over Azteca)?

[Boominbooty]

9 minutes ago, Boominbooty said:

I'm sure this conversation was had in bits in pieces on the Board but now that we can see the full schedule do we want the team to call the best players up i.e. Arfield, Cavallinni, Hoillet, Borjan etc etc against the US Virgin Islands and try and get a zillion goals or do you bring in a younger team to gain more experience as the go to the fiery cauldron of Paul E. Joseph Stadium (move over Azteca)?

Ack. My research was poor. The famed Paul E. Joseph Stadium has been demolished!! (Visiting teams couldn't handle the pressure!). We must now contend with visiting the revered Lionel Roberts Park which by the looks of things had the same architect as Royal Athletic Park in Victoria.

[Blackdude]

Both home matches are being played at 7:00 Eastern Time during the week, so it's safe to say that they'll play both matches in the East unless they change the time of course.

Edited May 29, 2018 by Blackdude

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, Boominbooty said:

I'm sure this conversation was had in bits in pieces on the Board but now that we can see the full schedule do we want the team to call the best players up i.e. Arfield, Cavallinni, Hoillet, Borjan etc etc against the US Virgin Islands and try and get a zillion goals or do you bring in a younger team to gain more experience as the go to the fiery cauldron of Paul E. Joseph Stadium (move over Azteca)?

As tempting as it is to call a young, inexperienced team, we can't afford to drop point to anybody. We must qualify for league A.

At the same time, our call ups must be pragmatic. Does it make sense to call Hoilett in early September when he is trying to settle in the EPL with newly promoted Cardiff? Does it make sense to call Larin when he is out on loan from Besiktas trying to settle into a club in God knows where?

I think we need a healthy blend of established players and new faces. I would pick from mostly from MLS as they will be in best condition.

We cant overlook any team in this qualifying tournament. 

[aloyol]

14 minutes ago, Obinna said:

As tempting as it is to call a young, inexperienced team, we can't afford to drop point to anybody. We must qualify for league A.

At the same time, our call ups must be pragmatic. Does it make sense to call Hoilett in early September when he is trying to settle in the EPL with newly promoted Cardiff? Does it make sense to call Larin when he is out on loan from Besiktas trying to settle into a club in God knows where?

I think we need a healthy blend of established players and new faces. I would pick from mostly from MLS as they will be in best condition.

We cant overlook any team in this qualifying tournament. 

Agree, we can't take anything for granted. But most likely, we'll get  loopsided wins against the US Virgin Islands and Dominica.

That's why we need to have friendlies in the same window.

To have our best players showed up only  for a 6-0 win against the US Virgin Islands will be a real waste of time/money for everybody.

Edited May 29, 2018 by aloyol

[Obinna]

This would be my 18 based on today's current form:

D - Crepeau

D - Borjan

D -Jakovic

D - De Jong

D - Henry

D - Petrasso

D - Attakora

D/M - Cordova

M - Piette

M - Osorio

M - Kaye

M - Chapman

M/F - Davies

M/F - Edwards

M/F - Telfer

F - Jackson-Hamel

F - Cavallini

F - Ricketts 

 

I think there is wiggle room for working in guys like Ried or Levies if we want to use this as a chance to cap some uncapped players, but I would caution us to resist the urge to tinker too much here.

Edited May 29, 2018 by Obinna

[jpg75]

26 minutes ago, Obinna said:

This would be my 18 based on today's current form:

D - Crepeau

D - Borjan

D -Jakovic

D - De Jong

D - Henry

D - Petrasso

D - Attakora

D/M - Cordova

M - Piette

M - Osorio

M - Kaye

M - Chapman

M/F - Davies

M/F - Edwards

M/F - Telfer

F - Jackson-Hamel

F - Cavallini

F - Ricketts 

 

I think there is wiggle room for working in guys like Ried or Levies if we want to use this as a chance to cap some uncapped players, but I would caution us to resist the urge to tinker too much here.

Very experimental, Obinna. But i think we shouldn't get too cocky and keep Borjan in net instead of playing with an extra defender.

[Keegan]

If it’s based off form you have to include Larin and should probably drop Jakovic, Attakora and Chapman. 

James, Vitoria and Edgar are all ahead of Attakora and Jakovic IMO. I’d drop Ricketts for Millar as well (cap tie).  I think Sam Adekugbe also has to be called as him and De Jong have that LB spot to fight for. 

[Ruffian]

4 minutes ago, Keegan said:

If it’s based off form you have to include Larin and should probably drop Jakovic, Attakora and Chapman. 

Chapman has scored in 2 of the past 3 games for Toronto. 

[Obinna]

41 minutes ago, Keegan said:

If it’s based off form you have to include Larin and should probably drop Jakovic, Attakora and Chapman. 

James, Vitoria and Edgar are all ahead of Attakora and Jakovic IMO. I’d drop Ricketts for Millar as well (cap tie).  I think Sam Adekugbe also has to be called as him and De Jong have that LB spot to fight for. 

Yes agreed if we are talking about form and nothing but. However, I don't see it necessary to call any players on a winter schedule (most of Europe). Borjan would be the exception. I don't trust any of our keepers at the moment and they can lose you a game as we saw this weekend in the UCL final.

Attakora by all accounts has been doing well over the last few seasons at NASL level, looks to be key for Ottawa's USL side, and I think he deserves a chance and considering the timing of the fixture it would be a good chance to bring him in and let James and Vitoria focus on winning or holding down a spot at their club.

Edgar I left out as we have no indcation where he'll play next or even what level he'll be playing at next. Still very concerned about his knee.

Also I think Jakovic is fully deserved even if we called up our strongest team. He is playing well for a good LAFC when called upon. More importantly he has experience.

Chapman is more debatable but I find it strange you'd single him out. What has he done or not done in your opinion and who'd you select ahead of him for this one and why?

Edited May 29, 2018 by Obinna

[Kent]

39 minutes ago, Ruffian said:

Chapman has scored in 2 of the past 3 games for Toronto. 

2 of the last 5.

[Keegan]

 

2 minutes ago, Kent said:

2 of the last 5.

And has missed about three times the chances. 

For me Chapman just isn’t a player I want to see on the cmnt anytime soon.  He’s just not that good.. we’re trying to move forward not backwards and I don’t  think Chapman would have earned a spot on any of the past WCQ teams.  I’d pick Teibert or Johnson over him in a heartbeat.

Attakora is a depth option.. I don’t think one USL game puts him back in contention for the full team when he has been on the fringes for years.. the guy has 10 caps in 11 pro seasons and I don’t see why he would be ahead of Vitoria or James or even a guy like Cornelius, Hainault or Stanese he’s about 8/9 on the CB depth chart.

Edited May 29, 2018 by Keegan

[Obinna]

Millar is a good shout but again, I would rather him get off to a good start for Liverpools U23s. We can cap-tie him later in the qualifying tournament. No rush.

[Obinna]

Just now, Keegan said:

 

And has missed about three times the chances. 

But he also got into chances to score so that counts for something, and besides goals for Chapman are a bonus. He's not a striker.

[Keegan]

5 minutes ago, Obinna said:

But he also got into chances to score so that counts for something, and besides goals for Chapman are a bonus. He's not a striker.

Very true, 2 goals in even 10 matches would be good for his position but I’m not basing this on goals.. I genuinely just don’t  rate him and he’s 24 now not really a prospect. Teibert is just 25.. why should Chapman be ahead of him even?  FWIW I wouldn’t call either but just saying... 

How about Wotherspoon even?  Until Chapman is at or near Osorios level he isn’t a player I’d want to call and I don’t think he’s highly rated by Canada’s staff.  He was awful against Jamaica in September.

[Gian-Luca]

24 minutes ago, Keegan said:

For me Chapman just isn’t a player I want to see on the cmnt anytime soon.  He’s just not that good.. we’re trying to move forward not backwards and I don’t  think Chapman would have earned a spot on any of the past WCQ teams.  I’d pick Teibert or Johnson over him in a heartbeat.

They aren't the same kind of players though and play different roles for their clubs based on current form, so it really depends on what sort of player you are looking to fill out your roster. I would agree that Chapman is more likely to be a depth attacking midfielder for Canada and not a starter, but if you need to put in a player who has the ability to make forward runs with the ball or the guts to actually attempt a forward pass, I'd be taking Chapman over Teibert any and every day of the week.

[Obinna]

45 minutes ago, Keegan said:

Very true, 2 goals in even 10 matches would be good for his position but I’m not basing this on goals.. I genuinely just don’t  rate him and he’s 24 now not really a prospect. Teibert is just 25.. why should Chapman be ahead of him even?  FWIW I wouldn’t call either but just saying... 

How about Wotherspoon even?  Until Chapman is at or near Osorios level he isn’t a player I’d want to call and I don’t think he’s highly rated by Canada’s staff.  He was awful against Jamaica in September.

I almost put Tiebert on that list.

Fair enough if you simply don't rate him for a subjective reason. We all have our tastes. I personally like what Chapman offers and I like his upside despite his age. At 24 years old we all would have hoped he'd be further along, but he broke into the professional game late. Typical for North American players. 

At any rate, it is clear to me that Chapman is improving quickly. 

Tiebert on the other hand is a player in stagnation. Not getting worse but definitely not getting better. We can blame Vancouver but that's another conversation. 

I would not be surprised if Chapman overtakes Teibert at some point in total caps.

Wotherspoon I completely forgot about to be honest. It actually may be a good chance to give him a taste of CONCACAF.

On the other hand, we can give that to him at a later stage of this tournament. Not sure we need to call him in for September, although I wouldnt complain if we did, since I am not too worried about his club situation or anything like that.

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, Keegan said:

He was awful against Jamaica in September.

He also was (iirc) one of the few players not to see the field recently against NZ.

....if we can call that "recent".

God I hate when we aren't playing games.

Edited May 29, 2018 by Obinna

[Lou]

FIFA have just reworked their rankings formula. They are now adding more weight to Nations League competitions. 

https://resources.fifa.com/image/upload/revision-of-the-fifa-coca-cola-world-ranking.pdf?cloudid=jgxjkdrj1jfwyunjbkha

 

[Yoginess]

Okay one thing to note on the "Goal Differential should matter" point is that it's going to matter just as much to minnows who want to make League B. I can see their mentality being "just don't get beat by more than what countryX got beat by Jamaica". So yeah maybe it's free flowing up until 2-0 but then we could be facing a lock down situation.

[jtpc]

Not sure where the CSA wants to hold our October 16 match vs. Dominica, but if it's Toronto, there's no conflict with the Argos schedule as they play October 12 and October 20. From that perspective, an October match at BMO works, as does the listed 7 pm ET start time. Knowing that the October matches are between the 11th and 16th, and that the Argos play on the 12th, maybe that's why October 16 was chosen as our match day so that BMO Field would work as a venue?

Edited June 11, 2018 by jtpc

[maccaliam]

Perhaps one of the CPL stadiums if they can get ready in time. I assume Halifax could do it as they are hosting a rugby match before then, aren’t they?

[coppercanuck]

Did I hear that Guatemala was reinstated?  Does that mean they are back in the Nations League?

Re CPL stadium ... Could Winnipeg host?  Give the Valour FC members a crack at some tickets?

[Kent]

I might be mistaken, but I believe Guatemala missed the deadline for the Nations League, so if they have been reinstated now, it’s too late.

[Zem]

9 hours ago, Kent said:

I might be mistaken, but I believe Guatemala missed the deadline for the Nations League, so if they have been reinstated now, it’s too late.

They missed the deadline for the qualifying tournament, so they could still play in the inaugural Nations League, they'd just start in League C by default.