General Discussion on CMNT

[El Diego]

On 3/11/2020 at 8:21 AM, costarg said:

At the same time, would Zambrano go out on that ledge if all it takes is a tweet from Cristante to deny the whole thing to make him look like a liar?

Yes, I believe he would. People like to rip Herdman for the way he talks, but OZ strikes me as unprofessional and a bit of a snake oil salesman.

[Lol444ts]

Hi first time poster i have been follwing Canada soccer ever since 2004, Radzinski Stalteri De guzman Hannover days. We need a coach or system who will give us a chance to compete like i.e. Sheffield United play to our strengths which currently are attack and midfield. Hutchinso being 37 years old would be better used in the middle of our defense which leads me tot his lineup conclusion. Our own version of a total passing possession style team High press. 

 

Borjan Goalie Crepeau backup

Piette- Hutchinson-Kaye back three

..all physical enough Capable of pushing up, gritty decent in the air, most of our opponents will not beat us with physicality which if they can i.e. Curacao, U.S. Henry is physical enough to put in for Piette..and whoever else.

Hoilett- Davies as wingbacks

..As we have read and seen Hoilett in good enough to defend and provides great offense going forward and is speedy enough to recover Davies can play his free role similar to Bayern and not worry about fumbly bumbly mistakes which seem to do us in ever game game again playing to our strenghts. Brault Guillard, Laryea,Millar,adekugbe, cordova if we want to get more defensive. Same idea

 

Eustaquio holding midfield

.. Good tackler, great passer spraying passes winning balls inside support. Piette Hutchinson can be put here and we use our centrebacks who are are all similar level as late game subs they are all pretty much dsame level so pick your poison..

 

Osorio, Arfield central midfield

.. two pitbulls pressing the game with our athletic back three we can play a highline and play sort of an interchanging passing game with with everybody getting involved players recovering for each other etc..again our  central midfielders after this of equal quality can be plugged in and play to a system where they do exactly what the other does

 

David, Larin up front, David withdrawn

..David can play a free role in attack and Larin with his new found creating ability able to potentially interchange.. Both can finish..Cavallini bulldog off the bench to pressure the tired defense.

 

Again my friends Herdman will not do this and it's a pie in the sky but this lineup extends Hutch who potentially could play CPL as he ages still showing good instincts until atleast 2022.

 

Lineup:

 

                                                           Borjan 

 

                      Piette                       Hutchinson                           Kaye

 

Hoilett                                            Eustaquio                                                          Davies

 

                              Arfield                                               Osorio                

 

                                                              David

 

                                                              Larin

 

That is the Sheffield united Lineup that will make us the most competitive in any game. Again depending on opponent we can use our pawns Teibert, Fraser, Laryea, Brault Guillard, Cornelius, Millar, Adekugbe, Crepeau..This should be our lineup if we want to do anything. Davies and David are a cut above and this lineup will prevent them from potentially playing down to whats around them as opposed bringing every body with them as they improve. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Corazon]

20 minutes ago, Lol444ts said:

Lineup:

 

                                                           Borjan 

 

                      Piette                       Hutchinson                           Kaye

 

Hoilett                                            Eustaquio                                                          Davies

 

                              Arfield                                               Osorio                

 

                                                              David

 

                                                              Larin

 

That is the Sheffield united Lineup that will make us the most competitive in any game. Again depending on opponent we can use our pawns Teibert, Fraser, Laryea, Brault Guillard, Cornelius, Millar, Adekugbe, Crepeau..This should be our lineup if we want to do anything. Davies and David are a cut above and this lineup will prevent them from potentially playing down to whats around them as opposed bringing every body with them as they improve. 

Love the player selection except potentially the back 3.  Not sure I would make any changes to the lineup outside of the back 3.  Playing 3 natural midfielders who play midfield week in week out with club could be risky.  Wouldn't mind Atiba back there except for his age and Kaye doesn't bother me as much either.  Interesting perspective though.

Edited March 13, 2020 by Corazon

[Lol444ts]

For player comparison I was thinking Piette as a Conor Coady type and keeping him out of the middle where he makes a Henry type mistake. He is still a capable passer tough tackler somebody you want on the field but Henry can easily be plugged here. Piette being a destroyer to shutdown the game later on. I chose Larin as a starter because it seems it takes him time to get into games, whereas Cavallini Is a bulldog who will go after people for 20-30 minutes. Hoilett for me would be iffy on the right but he is used to defending, i wouldn't mind Brault Guillard though he reminds me of a poor mans Davies. Playing a highline enforcing ourselves on our opponents Talent wise that is the third most talented team on paper in Concacaf and would dare say more tactical talent than all our potential Central American opponents. 

[Corazon]

28 minutes ago, Lol444ts said:

For player comparison I was thinking Piette as a Conor Coady type and keeping him out of the middle where he makes a Henry type mistake. He is still a capable passer tough tackler somebody you want on the field but Henry can easily be plugged here. Piette being a destroyer to shutdown the game later on. I chose Larin as a starter because it seems it takes him time to get into games, whereas Cavallini Is a bulldog who will go after people for 20-30 minutes. Hoilett for me would be iffy on the right but he is used to defending, i wouldn't mind Brault Guillard though he reminds me of a poor mans Davies. Playing a highline enforcing ourselves on our opponents Talent wise that is the third most talented team on paper in Concacaf and would dare say more tactical talent than all our potential Central American opponents. 

I would rather have a Cornelius or Henry over Piette back there even if both are prone to mistakes.

Personally, I believe Larin to be the more long term striker for Canada over Cavallini especially given his recent form.

Hoilett is iffy to me as well.  Not based on talent because I still think he is one of our best players but based solely on the fact I am not sure he can keep up the defensive responsibilities in that role.  Would be okay with Laryea or ZBG at that position.

[Aird25]

@Lol444ts Are you aware that the only defender (club or national team) in your lineup is Davies?

[Lol444ts]

yes i did as I as I said it"a pie in the sky lineup..Kaye, Hutchinson, Piette are all physical players. This lineup in my opinion gets all our best players on the field for 2022. I believe in Concacaf we can dominate possession as our talent continues to develop at a higher trajectory against everybody outside Mexico..  who would bully this lineup in our region and I think those three back there are physical and technical enough and given Davies and lets say ZBG instead of Hoilett able to track back and push up. The idea is getting the talent on the field..Not everybody is gonna agree but that team on paper can play free flowing football.  Kaye  and Hutchinson are both 6'2 and swiss army knives..Piette is short agreed but a bulldog and a competitor was comparing him to a Conor Coady type who also was a central midfielder. If we have to take the long route through qualifying i wouldnt mind seeing something like this..Just my opinion of our strengths and our weakness..lack of standout CB's. 

[Guest]

Glad TSN is doing CMNT showpiece but Piette over Kaye?

[Ivan]

MLS website take on our NT for the 2022 WC.

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/05/04/armchair-analyst-blue-sky-daydreaming-about-canada-2022-fifa-world-cup

[maplebanana]

2 hours ago, Ivan said:

MLS website take on our NT for the 2022 WC.

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/05/04/armchair-analyst-blue-sky-daydreaming-about-canada-2022-fifa-world-cup

I always appreciate Matt Doyle's support for Canada (even though he jinxes us every Gold Cup). And this lengthy article is giving us starving fans something to discuss, so that's great. But if we trot out a 3-5-2 with Miller/Fraser/Cornelius in the back line and leave Arfield and Hoilett on the bench, we are in deep, deep trouble.

[Blackdude]

3 minutes ago, maplebanana said:

I always appreciate Matt Doyle's support for Canada (even though he jinxes us every Gold Cup). And this lengthy article is giving us starving fans something to discuss, so that's great. But if we trot out a 3-5-2 with Miller/Fraser/Cornelius in the back line and leave Arfield and Hoilett on the bench, we are in deep, deep trouble.

Well, that's the hard part about predicting who will be hot in 2 years. And I do think it's way too much MLS-centric. 

[Bison44]

Doyle didnt like the CB so he just moves someone he does like to CB, plays whichever formation he needs to to get his favs on the pitch.  I like it better when MLS.com sticks to the multitude of "who would be a good fit for xyz" or "Wilshere, Mata, Rodriguez and Bale interested in coming to MLS".  

[SkuseisLoose]

I really don't think Crepeau is nearly as good as some people on this board and MLS.com seem to think. I watch him week in week out and the amount of shocking mistakes he makes is horrendous. Obviously our defense hasn't helped him to much but so many times he'll spill the ball to the centre of the box or fail to make a save he should. I want him to be our keeper of the future but unless Borjan has a big drop in form over the next two years I can't see him not starting for us if we qualify. He makes a lot of saves and makes some great ones but he still makes way to many mistakes to be our number 1.

[SpursFlu]

MLS gonna MLS. Fraser at CB? The pro MLS propaganda is embarrassing 

[kacbru]

Quote from the article about Davies: "...getting Davies into open space and use his endline-to-endline dynamism without suffering because of his periodic lack of defensive awareness."

WTF?  Just trotting out cliches or does he really think that Davies is going to be a defensive liability in two years time (let alone now)?  I think there are all kinds of arguments you could make about why it is important to play Davies further up the pitch for CMNT, but this is not one of them.

 

[jordan]

40 minutes ago, SpursFlu said:

MLS gonna MLS. Fraser at CB? The pro MLS propaganda is embarrassing 

Still probably not as bad as the CanPL propaganda

1 hour ago, SkuseisLoose said:

I really don't think Crepeau is nearly as good as some people on this board and MLS.com seem to think. I watch him week in week out and the amount of shocking mistakes he makes is horrendous. Obviously our defense hasn't helped him to much but so many times he'll spill the ball to the centre of the box or fail to make a save he should. I want him to be our keeper of the future but unless Borjan has a big drop in form over the next two years I can't see him not starting for us if we qualify. He makes a lot of saves and makes some great ones but he still makes way to many mistakes to be our number 1.

I think he needs to play for a good team and eventually he will be what people are saying now. But he needs games to progress so what better place than an unambitious team use to losing

[El Diego]

Fraser at center back could work, and is extremely progressive. We've seen Busquets and De Rossi play there. The skill set works for a side that dominates the ball. I don't think it's as crazy as y'all make it out to be, but I don't think it would work unless we're the favourites in the match.

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, SkuseisLoose said:

I really don't think Crepeau is nearly as good as some people on this board and MLS.com seem to think. I watch him week in week out and the amount of shocking mistakes he makes is horrendous. Obviously our defense hasn't helped him to much but so many times he'll spill the ball to the centre of the box or fail to make a save he should. I want him to be our keeper of the future but unless Borjan has a big drop in form over the next two years I can't see him not starting for us if we qualify. He makes a lot of saves and makes some great ones but he still makes way to many mistakes to be our number 1.

I would be relatively comfortable if we had to start a match with Crepeau, but I do agree with this. I very much doubt that Milan won't be the number 1, despite his flaws and aside from injury, of course.

Crepeau is a very capable backup, but he is a backup nonetheless, as long as Borjan is around.

[Obinna]

4 hours ago, maplebanana said:

I always appreciate Matt Doyle's support for Canada (even though he jinxes us every Gold Cup). And this lengthy article is giving us starving fans something to discuss, so that's great. But if we trot out a 3-5-2 with Miller/Fraser/Cornelius in the back line and leave Arfield and Hoilett on the bench, we are in deep, deep trouble.

I do agree overall, but I would say that Hoilett would at least be a very good substitute in that second forward role that David is in. Ditto for Arfield coming on for Osorio, but as of today I think you need to find a way to get Arfield on the field. Two years from now? I am not as sure, we'll have to see.

Great player but a lot of miles on him already. If you look at his total number of club games across all competitions, he only trails Hutchinson by about 100 games, despite being 5 years younger (And Hutchinson has played A LOT of club football)

To put it another way, Arfield has played nearly 100 more club matches than Michael Bradley and is 1 year younger.

Of course though, Hutchinson and Bradley both have played many more internationals, especially Bradley. 

Edited May 5, 2020 by Obinna

[Big_M]

Mls is indeed a step too high for Crepeau to be a starter..when you make a significant amount of mistakes like balls spilled, wrong decisions, bad clearances..it shows that the level is too high and not about being on a stronger team as those mistakes would still be made there and anyway on a stronger team there would be stronger keeper so he would be a backup

That back line from Doyle looks awful but at the same time shows the need for quality cb's and goalkeeper..but there are always some who step up..Waterman has looked good..at gk thing is even Borjan makes a lot of mistakes..so does he get better or worse with time..but one of the best things about cpl is 6-8 Canadian gk's playing pro games every week..and surely thats a good pool to call a number 2 or 3 for now and maybe even a number 1 in the future..and some of them could move up to a higher league..Ingham was great

[TGAA_Star]

On 3/13/2020 at 2:28 PM, Lol444ts said:

Hi first time poster i have been follwing Canada soccer ever since 2004, Radzinski Stalteri De guzman Hannover days. We need a coach or system who will give us a chance to compete like i.e. Sheffield United play to our strengths which currently are attack and midfield. Hutchinso being 37 years old would be better used in the middle of our defense which leads me tot his lineup conclusion. Our own version of a total passing possession style team High press. 

 

Borjan Goalie Crepeau backup

Piette- Hutchinson-Kaye back three

..all physical enough Capable of pushing up, gritty decent in the air, most of our opponents will not beat us with physicality which if they can i.e. Curacao, U.S. Henry is physical enough to put in for Piette..and whoever else.

Hoilett- Davies as wingbacks

..As we have read and seen Hoilett in good enough to defend and provides great offense going forward and is speedy enough to recover Davies can play his free role similar to Bayern and not worry about fumbly bumbly mistakes which seem to do us in ever game game again playing to our strenghts. Brault Guillard, Laryea,Millar,adekugbe, cordova if we want to get more defensive. Same idea

 

Eustaquio holding midfield

.. Good tackler, great passer spraying passes winning balls inside support. Piette Hutchinson can be put here and we use our centrebacks who are are all similar level as late game subs they are all pretty much dsame level so pick your poison..

 

Osorio, Arfield central midfield

.. two pitbulls pressing the game with our athletic back three we can play a highline and play sort of an interchanging passing game with with everybody getting involved players recovering for each other etc..again our  central midfielders after this of equal quality can be plugged in and play to a system where they do exactly what the other does

 

David, Larin up front, David withdrawn

..David can play a free role in attack and Larin with his new found creating ability able to potentially interchange.. Both can finish..Cavallini bulldog off the bench to pressure the tired defense.

 

Again my friends Herdman will not do this and it's a pie in the sky but this lineup extends Hutch who potentially could play CPL as he ages still showing good instincts until atleast 2022.

 

Lineup:

 

                                                           Borjan 

 

                      Piette                       Hutchinson                           Kaye

 

Hoilett                                            Eustaquio                                                          Davies

 

                              Arfield                                               Osorio                

 

                                                              David

 

                                                              Larin

 

That is the Sheffield united Lineup that will make us the most competitive in any game. Again depending on opponent we can use our pawns Teibert, Fraser, Laryea, Brault Guillard, Cornelius, Millar, Adekugbe, Crepeau..This should be our lineup if we want to do anything. Davies and David are a cut above and this lineup will prevent them from potentially playing down to whats around them as opposed bringing every body with them as they improve. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is assuming we can even get to Qatar 2022 because by not making the Hex, we have an even harder path well a longer path to get to Qatar.

[El Hombre]

16 hours ago, Big_M said:

Mls is indeed a step too high for Crepeau to be a starter..when you make a significant amount of mistakes like balls spilled, wrong decisions, bad clearances..it shows that the level is too high and not about being on a stronger team as those mistakes would still be made there and anyway on a stronger team there would be stronger keeper so he would be a backup

That back line from Doyle looks awful but at the same time shows the need for quality cb's and goalkeeper..but there are always some who step up..Waterman has looked good..at gk thing is even Borjan makes a lot of mistakes..so does he get better or worse with time..but one of the best things about cpl is 6-8 Canadian gk's playing pro games every week..and surely thats a good pool to call a number 2 or 3 for now and maybe even a number 1 in the future..and some of them could move up to a higher league..Ingham was great

Just want to dissect this to see if I am reading this right:

1) "Mls is indeed a step too high for Crepeau to be a starter".

So, am I to understand that you are saying that Crepeau is out of his depth at MLS?  That he doesn't deserve to be there and would, in fact, not be a starter on any other team?  Interesting.  Because when you look at the stats, of the top 25 GKs in terms of minutes played, he has sixth highest save percentage (71.7% with 114 saves on 159 shots).  Only Minnesota, LAFC and Portland have better GKs statistically in Vancouver's conference.  So, he may make a lot of mistakes, but it doesn't look like any of those lead to goals.

Further to that, at the age of 25, there are only two other GKs younger than him (in the top 25 in terms of minutes played) which makes his save percentage all the more impressive.  The average age of those GKs is almost 32 years old, so getting someone seven years younger than the average to perform in the top 10 is pretty good.

And finally, his 71.7% is a better season performance than all but one of Ousted's years and Ousted played on a conceivably better Vancouver team.  Was he also not MLS level for the four seasons that Vancouver employed him?

2) "Waterman has looked good."

While I hope that Waterman finds a place on the Impact, I'm having a hard time reconciling the notion that Waterman is MLS ready after 180 minutes of action with the idea that MLS is a step above Crepeau.  I know that isn't what you were going for while bringing up Waterman, but I just can't reconcile those two ideas.

3) "but one of the best things about cpl is 6-8 Canadian gk's playing pro games every week..and surely thats a good pool to call a number 2 or 3 for now and maybe even a number 1 in the future"

Crepeau played almost as many games in MLS (26 in 2019) as any GK could in the CanPL (28 game season).  So even if playing time trumps quality of league, as you are stating here, they still aren't playing enough to be bumping him down the depth chart.  Personally, I would prefer my goalkeeper to be facing the best competition possible on a regular basis. 

[Obinna]

Found myself thinking some more about Doyle's hypothetical World Cup 2022 starting lineup....

Yes there is MLS bias and yes there is room for disagreement over players and/or formation, but here's one thing we can probably agree on: having a starting line up with 2 Bayern Munich regulars (with at least 1 of those being a significant contributor), surrounded by a supporting cast of mid-to-high level MLS players, is probably good enough to challenge for a round of 16 birth. That is exciting! 

Such a team, on paper at least, would likely be pegged for 3rd, depending on the draw. But hey, this is Canada! The fact we can reasonably see a scenario where a Canada team is good enough to maybe not finish bottom of the group shows how much things have improved!   

I think we could, possibly, even score few goals at the World Cup, should we get there!

Edited May 6, 2020 by Obinna

[TGAA_Star]

25 minutes ago, Obinna said:

Found myself thinking some more about Doyle's hypothetical World Cup 2022 starting lineup....

Yes there is MLS bias and yes there is room for disagreement over players and/or formation, but here's one thing we can probably agree on: having a starting line up with 2 Bayern Munich regulars (with at least 1 of those being a significant contributor), surrounded by a supporting cast of mid-to-high level MLS players, is probably good enough to challenge for a round of 16 birth. That is exciting! 

Such a team, on paper at least, would likely be pegged for 3rd, depending on the draw. But hey, this is Canada! The fact we can reasonably see a scenario where a Canada team is good enough to maybe not finish bottom of the group shows how much things have improved!   

I think we could, possibly, even score few goals at the World Cup, should we get there!

Assuming we get to Qatar and that is a big if because the Hex was our best chance if anything but since it isn't anymore I wonder if our qualifying chances are hinged upon CONCACAF Nations League and taking that path? I'm just curious...need clarification 

[Big_M]

Crepeau could be a starter on another non playoff team..you always have players who are starters over a season or few on weak teams but might not survive in the league after that or become backups..so when talking about ''good enough'' its really about would the player be a starter on a playoff team or even lets say a team very close to it..now for Crepeau time will tell but having seen his games in Vancouver its not looking good

Stats are good but when used to really prove a point..save % alone doesnt say much

28 minutes ago, El Hombre said:

So, he may make a lot of mistakes, but it doesn't look like any of those lead to goals.

 

How do you get to the conclusion that his mistakes dont lead to any goals based on save %??

Bring me a stat such as number of mistakes that led to goals or to scoring opportunities that shows hes in the top half of the league then we can say OK its not bad..but save % alone says very little

 

Concerning Waterman he started both mls games this season and looked good so just saying he could be an option if he continues..Doyle had Miller who hasnt played this year, Cornelius who played one and Fraser who subbed in one and isnt a cb and looks like he wont be more than a backup in Toronto

 

Concerning CPL and GK its not about playing time above league..just call the best based on different criteria..but how many Canadians keepers are starting at pro level outside of cpl..so thats one of the main places you look at for that..now if Borjan and Crepeau are still doing better than you still have them as number 1 and 2..pretty simple