How would you rank Canada in regards to the other CONCACAF teams?

[Kent]

I agree with @ThiKu with regards to @Club Linesman's outlook.

The impression I get is that the MLS academies are only as good as the clubs/academies that they recruit players from. Who are the big breakout academy signings recently? For TFC it's Raheem Edwards, who came to TFC only after already having been playing his youth soccer elsewhere and getting noticed in League1 Ontario. For Vancouver it's Alphonso Davies who learned to play in Edmonton, then came to the Whitecaps and essentially immediately climbed the ladder to the first team. And for Montreal it's Ballou Tabla, who it seems based on his wikipedia page was in and out of the Impact academy, separated by 3 years of playing for CS Panellinios.

All that being said, probably the biggest thing that needs to be done to improve the national team is to fix the problems that ail youth development. Problems like keeping academies and clubs separate, rogue leagues like in Ottawa that we've been hearing about recently, etc.

That being said, I am very excited about the idea of us casting a bigger net with CPL in the hopefully not too distant future. That should help a lot as well.

[harrycoyster]

7 hours ago, Kent said:

I agree with @ThiKu with regards to @Club Linesman's outlook.

The impression I get is that the MLS academies are only as good as the clubs/academies that they recruit players from. Who are the big breakout academy signings recently? For TFC it's Raheem Edwards, who came to TFC only after already having been playing his youth soccer elsewhere and getting noticed in League1 Ontario. For Vancouver it's Alphonso Davies who learned to play in Edmonton, then came to the Whitecaps and essentially immediately climbed the ladder to the first team. And for Montreal it's Ballou Tabla, who it seems based on his wikipedia page was in and out of the Impact academy, separated by 3 years of playing for CS Panellinios.

To be fair it is common practice for the top academies in countries across the world to cut the bottom out of their youth classes and replace them with the best players at lesser sides. Borussia Dortmund is regarded as having one f the best academies in Europe, but if you look at most of their best players that came through the academy to the first team(Pulisic, Passlack, Schmelzer, etc.), they played for 2-3 other youth teams first.

 

[Club Linesman]

 

11 hours ago, Kent said:

I agree with @ThiKu with regards to @Club Linesman's outlook.

The impression I get is that the MLS academies are only as good as the clubs/academies that they recruit players from. Who are the big breakout academy signings recently? For TFC it's Raheem Edwards, who came to TFC only after already having been playing his youth soccer elsewhere and getting noticed in League1 Ontario. For Vancouver it's Alphonso Davies who learned to play in Edmonton, then came to the Whitecaps and essentially immediately climbed the ladder to the first team. And for Montreal it's Ballou Tabla,

Those three players if and when Tabla signs on could be the start of something big for Canada.  When the CPL starts there will be more chances to catch players who might otherwise fall through the cracks. I don't have the intense scrutiny of the academies of the past 8 years but I don't think we have produced 3 players of that quality in a short time.  Hopefully it will continue.

[harrycoyster]

After our Gold Cup exit, I think it's pretty clear the discussion should be between us and T&T for 7th in CONCACAF.

 

[mpg_29]

~7th

[theaub]

On 02/06/2017 at 6:32 PM, theaub said:

In a neutral site tournament?  Probably 8th behind Mexico/USA/Costa Rica/Trinidad/Jamaica/Panama/Honduras

In a home and home elimination tournament?  Still think we'd struggle with El Salvador (assuming they aren't on strike nor have nothing to play for) and Guatemala.  

So...somewhere from 8-10.

holla

[gigi riva]

I  would  rank  us   at  least  7 or  8th  on  par  with  T&T , Jamaica,  and  Haiti   We   still  need  some  work  to  do   though   but  I   think   there is   hope   for  better  days

[top cheese]

The national teams success going forward will be depended upon the commitment of dual nationals. I believe the youth set up and development system is getting better in this country but if they cant have there best available players committed to the program then nothing will change. We can talk development all we want but the reality is that most of these national teams only see there players for 3-4 weeks in a calendar year. Canada wont succeed until it has players who are playing in reputable professional leagues not third and 4th divisions. Hopefully the improvements to the program has increased attention to it and encouraged more players to want to join. 

Ferreria, Tomori, Talba, Christante, Weatherspoon are sorely needed to upgrade the depth in quality

Returns of Edgar, Henry, and Hutchenson would help immensely

Imagine if you added on - De Guzman, Begovic, etc

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Keegan]

It's important to get enough depth where players are afraid to miss games for fear of losing their spot.  I feel in the past we've been walked over by players because they know we'll still come calling.  With this new found depth that is going to happen less and less.

I think we can easily be 4th best team in the region with the football we are playing and our young guys. 

I know it hasn't translated to youth results but in terms of youth talent ready for the senior team we have to be near or at the top of the region.  I think we have a lot of young players that any team in the region would love to have, the US and Mexico included. 

[harrycoyster]

5 hours ago, gigi riva said:

I  would  rank  us   at  least  7 or  8th  on  par  with  T&T , Jamaica,  and  Haiti   We   still  need  some  work  to  do   though   but  I   think   there is   hope   for  better  days

I don't see how we can consider Canada on the same level as Jamaica considering we just lost to them while they were missing 5-6 starters. 

42 minutes ago, Keegan said:

It's important to get enough depth where players are afraid to miss games for fear of losing their spot.  I feel in the past we've been walked over by players because they know we'll still come calling.  With this new found depth that is going to happen less and less.

I think we can easily be 4th best team in the region with the football we are playing and our young guys. 

I know it hasn't translated to youth results but in terms of youth talent ready for the senior team we have to be near or at the top of the region.  I think we have a lot of young players that any team in the region would love to have, the US and Mexico included. 

I think 5th is realistic in the next 5 years (overtaking Jamaica, Honduras, T&T). Panama has a pretty good side, and would be pretty significant favorites if we played them in a home and away right now. 

[Big_M]

We are at least equal to Panama. No amazing players and similar results against costa rica, honduras, el salvador...

Morgan, McAnuff and Donaldson are 33+ and most likely done or will be very soon for Jamaica. To be seen for Mariappa at 30 and who has played very little in the past two season. Watson their top player at cm close to 34. Missing Hector. We are equal to them and will be better very soon

[Ruffian]

2 minutes ago, Big_M said:

Morgan, McAnuff and Donaldson are 33+ and most likely done or will be very soon for Jamaica. To be seen for Mariappa at 30 and who has played very little in the past two season. Watson their top player at cm close to 34. Missing Hector. We are equal to them and will be better very soon

Exactly, saying Jamaica is missing 5-6 starters is a huge stretch. We just got beat by their 1st team 2-1 but really played as the better team most of the match.

[harrycoyster]

4 minutes ago, Big_M said:

We are at least equal to Panama. No amazing players and similar results against costa rica, honduras, el salvador...

They have considerably better defenders and one of the hardest atmospheres to play in in all of CONCACAF. I'm not 100% positive we'd win a home and away against El Salvador yet, let alone Panama.

1 minute ago, Ruffian said:

Exactly, saying Jamaica is missing 5-6 starters is a huge stretch. We just got beat by their 1st team 2-1 but really played as the better team most of the match.

At the very least Morgan, Hector, Donaldson, and Barnes would be starters. And to point out their roster is older means little. The Jamaican team has had an average age of ~30 for a long time. They have a constant stream of 26-30 year old English players that decide to play for Jamaica after they realize the will never be in the England team. You can expect at least one of Dwight Gayle, Liam Moore, Danny Simpson, Rolando Aarons, etc. to accept a call-up for the next World Cup cycle.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, top cheese said:

The national teams success going forward will be depended upon the commitment of dual nationals. I believe the youth set up and development system is getting better in this country but if they cant have there best available players committed to the program then nothing will change. We can talk development all we want but the reality is that most of these national teams only see there players for 3-4 weeks in a calendar year. Canada wont succeed until it has players who are playing in reputable professional leagues not third and 4th divisions. Hopefully the improvements to the program has increased attention to it and encouraged more players to want to join. 

Ferreria, Tomori, Talba, Christante, Weatherspoon are sorely needed to upgrade the depth in quality

Returns of Edgar, Henry, and Hutchenson would help immensely

Imagine if you added on - De Guzman, Begovic, etc

 

 

 

 

 

 

If these players are so important to our program you could at least learn how to spell their names right.

[harrycoyster]

25 minutes ago, dsqpr said:

We just won home and away against El Salvador in WCQ.

Right. I was making the point that it wasn't exactly a convincing tie.

[gigi riva]

On ‎2017‎-‎07‎-‎21 at 5:10 PM, dsqpr said:

But football matches are rarely convincing. Winning is enough.

I certainly agree with you that we are well behind Panama though.

I  think  Panama   is   maybe   the  most  underated   team  in  CONCACAF  next   to  Jamaica

[Bertuzzi44]

On 7/21/2017 at 1:39 PM, dsqpr said:

We just won home and away against El Salvador in WCQ.

I thought we tied their C team in San Salvador....

[harrycoyster]

12 hours ago, gigi riva said:

I  think  Panama   is   maybe   the  most  underated   team  in  CONCACAF  next   to  Jamaica

The one thing we do have going for us in that particular match-up is that Panama's 3-4 best players are all 27 and older, which is why I think it is feasible we challenge for 4th-5th in CONCACAF by 2025. 

I don't think I'll ever feel comfortable with the CMNT playing in Panama City anytime soon, however.

[Soccerpro]

Group 1:

Mexico, USA, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras

Group 2:

Jamaica, Canada, T&T

Gold cup results don't change anything for me. Get a result away in Central America, have some sustained success in WCQ. Then we can bump a team up.

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Soccerpro said:

Group 1:

Mexico, USA, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras

Group 2:

Jamaica, Canada, T&T

Gold cup results don't change anything for me. Get a result away in Central America, have some sustained success in WCQ. Then we can bump a team up.

would you think the gold cup results change something if we won it?

[ray]

1 hour ago, canta15 said:

would you think the gold cup results change something if we won it?

I wouldn't think so.  Just like nothing had really changed when Canada did win in 2000.

[SpecialK]

8 minutes ago, ray said:

I wouldn't think so.  Just like nothing had really changed when Canada did win in 2000.

I could be wrong , but I thought they changed the points system for world rankings from the time of 2000. So it will make a difference, we jumped 9 sports just for the tie in Scotland and beating Curaçao and Bermuda

[Blackdude]

8 minutes ago, SpecialK said:

I could be wrong , but I thought they changed the points system for world rankings from the time of 2000. So it will make a difference, we jumped 9 sports just for the tie in Scotland and beating Curaçao and Bermuda

I thought the Bermuda didn't count and it was mostly because our losses against Mexico were worth less. 

[Marc]

Bottom third of the top ten

[mpg_29]

9 hours ago, Soccerpro said:

Group 1:

Mexico, USA, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras

Group 2:

Jamaica, Canada, T&T

Gold cup results don't change anything for me. Get a result away in Central America, have some sustained success in WCQ. Then we can bump a team up.

I think more like

Group 1:

Mexico, USA, Costa Rica

Group 2:

Panama, Honduras, Jamaica, Canada, T&T