General Discussion on CMNT

[Cblake]

1 hour ago, Approve My Account Pls said:

To those people all I can say is: Grass.

I wouldn't be surprised to see us play some European based friendlies as well, hoping we get at least on marquee nation playing in Toronto over the summer though. But I'd expect to see Nations League played in Vancouver and one other venue (Ottawa/Montreal) in June

There is only one Nation's League home game in June on the 3rd, the second game is on the road, since its double window they can play a friendly in the second week. 

[Obinna]

21 minutes ago, Cblake said:

There is more money to be made in Toronto right now, its a big even place as North America's 4th largest city. The media exposure can not be underestimated here. Also the TFC training ground is second to none that would be at for the week. You can have the players on the morning show talk circuit. The can not let this opportunity to pass them buy. Look at the difference in ticket pricing too, most expensive at BMO last Sunday was $250, Hamilton was $175 and Edmonton was $60. A lot of it will also come down what they are able to setup in terms of a friendly in the second week of the double break. The opening game at home is against a second pot opponent: Panama, Jamaica, El Salvador, Honduras. The minnow is the road match.

Here is also something to consider the 2020 Canadian Championship between TFC and Forge is on June 4th at THF, could they place the game there as it will be all set with the CSA branding already. Its turf so no pitch consideration there. Makes sense in a way. 

Edmonton is not Vancouver and nations league is not world cup qualifying, so you are comparing apples to oranges here.

Generally speaking, a bigger stadium should generate more than a smaller stadium. The capacity of BC Place is almost double that of BMO. Granted, Toronto is a very big market, with a superior media presence, but I am not convinced all of that overrides the thirst Vancouver is going to have for the national team. They have been starved out while Southern Ontario has had 5 in the span of 1 year. Vancouver hasn't seen the team since Nations League qualifying.

So, you can carry on believing there is no risk of saturation in your market, with the team's popularity at an all time high, and you may be correct, but I can safely assure you the risk of saturation in the Vancouver market is far lower, because they haven't seen the team in 2 years. 

Even if we give Toronto the slight edge in money making potential (I don't, but let's just say for argument's sake), I would bet on the CSA making good their promise to bring games to the rest of the country before the World Cup, not after.

We'll see though.

Finally,  @Admin was also suggesting to me in the Canada Red & White thread not to overlook the West Coast for nations league games. He's more in the know than most of us, so while he may have just been speculating like the rest of us, I would factor in his opinion/comments on the matter.

 

Edited March 31, 2022 by Obinna

[BearcatSA]

I don't really see any kind of a "celebratory tour" until 2023 and beyond, where some version* of the MNT comes into town.

*Versions might include U20 squads or possible Olympic qualifying teams down the road.  High profile player selection may vary significantly on "availability" and might include caps for home town players who may otherwise not have a hope in hell of being part the regular NT set up (except for one match).  Talk to your local CSA rep for details.

[RS]

1 hour ago, Cblake said:

Look at the difference in ticket pricing too, most expensive at BMO last Sunday was $250, Hamilton was $175 and Edmonton was $60.

Not even close. The most expensive tickets at BMO were the blue sideline seats, which sold for $400 each before taxes and fees.

I don't have any preference where the next set of games are played, but I just wanted to correct that fact.

[kacbru]

Marquee friendly vs. Brazil will be played at the training facility in Florida.

Edited March 31, 2022 by kacbru

[Cblake]

53 minutes ago, RS said:

Not even close. The most expensive tickets at BMO were the blue sideline seats, which sold for $400 each before taxes and fees.

I don't have any preference where the next set of games are played, but I just wanted to correct that fact.

Oh yeah those were added after and sold through TFC, just looked at the chart from the initial sale. 

[Cheeta]

46 minutes ago, RS said:

Not even close. The most expensive tickets at BMO were the blue sideline seats, which sold for $400 each before taxes and fees.

I don't have any preference where the next set of games are played, but I just wanted to correct that fact.

Forget the appearance money Canada Soccer will receive for qualifying for the finals (if you can!) Canada Soccer has to be over the moon this cycle.  I'd suspect this is the 1st qualifying round in the MNT history where income exceeded expenditure.  By a shit load.

What was Sunday's gate?  $3M?   More?  For a venue they get on the super cheap.  Ancillaries?  Good Gawd.

[Meepmeep]

2 hours ago, Obinna said:

Finally,  @Admin was also suggesting to me in the Canada Red & White thread not to overlook the West Coast for nations league games. He's more in the know than most of us, so while he may have just been speculating like the rest of us, I would factor in his opinion/comments on the matter.

 

This makes sense as those countries can’t say no to playing on turf.  
 

Any upcoming friendly with a good team from another confederation will have to be played on grass at BMO (if we are able to schedule one or more).  

Edited March 31, 2022 by Meepmeep

[Sal333]

8 minutes ago, Meepmeep said:

This makes sense as those countries can’t say no to playing on turf.  
 

Any upcoming friendly with a good team from another confederation will have to be played on grass at BMO (if we are able to schedule one or more).  

Stade Saputo has grass.

[Corazon]

3 hours ago, Obinna said:

I wouldn't take that home to the bank just yet. 

First of all, doing what's best for the team is of the upmost importance when WCQ on the line, but with that sealed up now I have my doubts it's as big of a factor as before. Nations League will likely be the final testing ground for players looking to play their way onto the team, so I expect a different group that's probably less picky about where we are playing. We could be looking at many new players for this window, some of which could be earning their first caps. The "team" may not have a preference here, or even as much of a say in the matter. 

This is also an opportunity for the CSA to bring more games out to the West. Play in a bigger stadium and perhaps squeeze more money out of a bigger BC Place. Just a thought. 

The other thing is that if we want to play high profile friendlies to prep for the world cup, they won't likely be on Turf. If they are in Canada at all they'll probably be at BMO or possibly Saputo. Therefore, you are essentially suggesting the West wait until after the world cup to see the team play again. I would be surprised if that happens. 

My guess is two games out west for Nations League will be marketed as part of the celebration tour, and any other pre-world cup games played in Canada will be going to Toronto/Montreal (grass) and will be marketed as part of the celebration tour as well.

By the way, I don't think the Women's celebration tour is in any way the CSA making up for the West not getting CMNT. That's almost disrespectful to the women's team to suggest the locations of their celebration games are being used as a make-weight for appeasing fans of the men's team. Secondly, they already had 2 games out east, so they were always going to have 2 games out west to complete the tour. Nothing to do with appeasing the West Coast. 

Personally, I wouldn’t call anything a “celebration tour” for qualifying to the World Cup.  The women earned that label as Gold Medalists.

I also think western Canada should get the Nations League game this spring as our friendlies will likely be played on grass in the east.  We can debate gate revenue and higher capacity stadiums all we want.  But there have been people on here that have stated that BMO and Canada Soccer have some sort of deal where it costs significantly less to play home games at BMO than anywhere else in Canada.  So you might make more money on ticket sales but increased capacity doesn’t necessarily translate to a greater net revenue after costs.  I can’t comment too much on this but I know it’s been discussed multiple times on this board.

[A_Gagne]

Vancouver be dying for a game!

But yes, can see how a top team would not want to play on Turf and in the Pacific time zone.

Maybe a close to qualifying but missed out team from SA or Asia would be interested? E.g. Columbia or Australia.

[red card]

I adapted this USMNT Nutmeg article for the Voyageurs:

 

CANMNT Fan Devastated As Team Makes World Cup
March 31, 2022
Toronto, ON - Muttering, “Now nothing will EVER change,” CANMNT fan Tommy Klein (aka Special K) was reportedly devastated after Canada qualified for the World Cup.

“I’m just done, DONE,” stated Klein to his Twitter account @sacktheCSA. “I’ve been waging this campaign to bring around the structural changes that will be necessary for the CANMNT to compete on a global level and their success has shown that the team, the sport and this federation will never succeed.”

Sources indicate that Klein has long been complaining about the structure of the Canadian Soccer Association, the youth men’s team, Major League Soccer’s influence on the national team and the senior men’s playing style as he turned criticism of organizational and playing structures into his entire persona for the last 7 years.

“I truly thought that missing the World Cup again would create the possibility of bringing around some kind of change,” stated Klein. “I truly thought that the devastation we felt would spur our federation to do something different, but here we are in the next World Cup and it is just infuriating.”

Between routinely roasting the lineup choices, coming up with mocking nicknames for John "Ted Talk" Herdman and finding unknown Canada prospects playing in the second division of Serbia that are clearly better than an MLS player on the roster, Klein indicated that all his attempts to improve the federation by speaking out to his 452 followers has failed.

“I’m just moving on. Canada Soccer will never make it here,” stated Klein.

The Nutmeg News will have more on this as Klein pivots from his CANMNT hot takes to his podcast about affordable crypto currency.

Edited April 1, 2022 by red card

[Obinna]

5 hours ago, Corazon said:

Personally, I wouldn’t call anything a “celebration tour” for qualifying to the World Cup.  The women earned that label as Gold Medalists.

I wouldn't necessarily call it that either and if I did I was being loose with words, but Herdman did say in an interview that games following our qualification would be spread around the country in order to celebrate, or something to that effect.

I wasn't suggesting our qualification was on the level of the woman winning gold, that was besides my point. I was merely saying that games were going to be spread around the country after the mission was accomplished. The time has come now, so that's why I was pushing back on what @Cblakewas saying. 

I think the interview in question came around the time it was being pondered whether we would play in Hamilton or Vancouver for the winter window. Maybe I am misremembering, but if I get around to re-watching that I will post it 

[narduch]

Nice twitter thread on all out players used in qualifying 

 

[Gian-Luca]

Apparently Sportsnet doesn't think own-goals count, as they delete all three of them from this compiliation of our Octagonal goals:

 

[Gian-Luca]

https://www.eurosport.com/football/from-massive-gamble-to-ending-36-years-of-hurt-canada-s-astonishing-rise-to-qualify-for-qatar-2022_sto8864272/story.shtml

[Kent]

I am pages behind on this thread, so apologies if someone has already posted this link. But I just think it's funny/awesome how we have changed the ESPN FC guys' opinions of us.

2.5 years ago "How did they lose to THAT 11. They've got guys that haven't even signed." "Now you're bringing in Canada, they don't have the talent."

 

Now currently "I think they can get to the quarter finals at a minimum"

 

[BearcatSA]

10 hours ago, Obinna said:

I wouldn't necessarily call it that either and if I did I was being loose with words, but Herdman did say in an interview that games following our qualification would be spread around the country in order to celebrate, or something to that effect.

I wasn't suggesting our qualification was on the level of the woman winning gold, that was besides my point. I was merely saying that games were going to be spread around the country after the mission was accomplished. The time has come now, so that's why I was pushing back on what @Cblakewas saying. 

I think the interview in question came around the time it was being pondered whether we would play in Hamilton or Vancouver for the winter window. Maybe I am misremembering, but if I get around to re-watching that I will post it 

That's what I inferred as well from Herdman's comments at the time.  It was something along the lines of "national team on tour" nationwide.

But I think that tour will be more likely to happen in 2023 and thereafter because the prep for this tourney is very important so the logistics still need to be at their optimum.  And I question the composition/selection of the team depending on the time of year and where they are playing.

 

[Cblake]

A2 would be nice 

[fil]

Beaverton "Article"....

https://www.thebeaverton.com/2022/03/canada-eager-to-find-out-what-this-world-cup-is-theyve-heard-so-much-about/

[Obinna]

4 hours ago, BearcatSA said:

That's what I inferred as well from Herdman's comments at the time.  It was something along the lines of "national team on tour" nationwide.

But I think that tour will be more likely to happen in 2023 and thereafter because the prep for this tourney is very important so the logistics still need to be at their optimum.  And I question the composition/selection of the team depending on the time of year and where they are playing.

 

I watched the TSN post-draw coverage and Herdman again alluded to games outside of southern Ontario, but he did make it sound like minimizing travel will still be a factor in where the game is played. I got the sense from him that our home game, and the expected friendly in June, will be played elsewhere, so long as it doesn't hamper the team too much. There seems to be a genuine desire from him to spread the games elsewhere, all things being equal. 

So I think we need to wait to see who we'll play first...

This should probably be in a nations league thread, but alas:

• Longest possible away trips: Suriname, Curacao, Grenada, Panama
• Shortest possible away trips: Jamaica, Martinique, Honduras, El Salvador

(This is assuming CR, Mexico and USA won't be in our group, and thus won't be possibilities)

Herdman mentioned we'll likely play 3 friendlies before departing for Qatar, one being in June (Nations League preventing us from playing two - at least that's what I understood), and the other 2 in the Sept window, ideally to be played in Europe. From this perspective, I think any so called national team tour will indeed be after the world cup.

I still think they'll try to get that sole June friendly, assuming it happens, out west, or perhaps in Montreal if they want to bring the team outside of the GTA. They are just as starved for games as the West Coast, but unlike Vancouver Montreal could make for a shorter flight to those far-flung locations like Suriname and Curacao. 

The good news for Toronto folk is that Montreal would be very drivable, so that could make a fun little road trip.  

Edited April 1, 2022 by Obinna

[Approve My Account Pls]

38 minutes ago, Obinna said:

Herdman mentioned we'll likely play 3 friendlies before departing for Qatar, one being in June (Nations League preventing us from playing two - at least that's what I understood), and the other 2 in the Sept window, ideally to be played in Europe. From this perspective, I think any so called national team tour will indeed be after the world cup.

I still think they'll try to get that sole June friendly, assuming it happens, out west, or perhaps in Montreal if they want to bring the team outside of the GTA. They are just as starved for games as the West Coast, but unlike Vancouver Montreal could make for a shorter flight to those far-flung locations like Suriname and Curacao. 

The good news for Toronto folk is that Montreal would be very drivable, so that could make a fun little road trip.  

I think it was touched on yesterday, but I can't see a big nation agreeing to play on turf which limits the June friendly to Toronto. 

I agree with your take otherwise that the Nations League site will be dependent on travel. If we're unable to play out West, and assuming the Big O is still unusable, I would expect the game to be in Ottawa because TD has higher capacity than Saputo.

[BearcatSA]

39 minutes ago, Obinna said:

I watched the TSN post-draw coverage and Herdman again alluded to games outside of southern Ontario, but he did make it sound like minimizing travel will still be a factor in where the game is played. I got the sense from him that our home game, and the expected friendly in June, will be played elsewhere, so long as it doesn't hamper the team too much. There seems to be a genuine desire from him to spread the games elsewhere, all things being equal. 

So I think we need to wait to see who we'll play first...

This should probably be in a nations league thread, but alas:

• Longest possible away trips: Suriname, Curacao, Grenada, Panama
• Shortest possible away trips: Jamaica, Martinique, Honduras, El Salvador

(This is assuming CR, Mexico and USA won't be in our group, and thus won't be possibilities)

Herdman mentioned we'll likely play 3 friendlies before departing for Qatar, one being in June (Nations League preventing us from playing two - at least that's what I understood), and the other 2 in the Sept window, ideally to be played in Europe. From this perspective, I think any so called national team tour will indeed be after the world cup.

I still think they'll try to get that sole June friendly, assuming it happens, out west, or perhaps in Montreal if they want to bring the team outside of the GTA. They are just as starved for games as the West Coast, but unlike Vancouver Montreal could make for a shorter flight to those far-flung locations like Suriname and Curacao.  

I think that is a good bet of June for Montreal.  I am also thinking our final home fixture will be a send off match, of sorts, from Toronto.  The remaining friendlies will be in Europe. 

Now...if Vancouver is made official as a host city for '26, then maybe that June match goes to them.  Otherwise, I think it's 2023.

[Obinna]

@Approve My Account Pls@BearcatSA 

I agree with you both. A friendly won't likely be on turf, and the final home fixture will probably be a send off match, probably from Toronto. The question for me is where the Nations League home game will be played. I am now leaning towards this match being played in Montreal, before finishing things off in Toronto to send the team off. 

It will be interesting to see how things shake out. 

Herdman was also talking how Davies could miss NL if Bayern make a deep UCL run. This suggests we'll be bringing a very top squad. If we have most of the core for NL in June the idea @Cblake was talking about where we play where "the team" wants (i.e. Toronto) could be a bigger factor for this window than I originally thought.

 

[VinceA]

Osorio getting the hard questions