Canada vs New Zealand - March 24, 2018 - Friendly - PRE-match thread

[Guest]

12 hours ago, Keegan said:

Yes he is.. played at RB against Hibs it was on SNWorld 

Was wondering what somebody found confusing about this post until I saw it was @HugoDirtySanchez who seems to find almost every post confusing!

[Guest]

9 hours ago, SpecialK said:

Yes he does ? Have you even seen him play?  Ya Piette played well in GC and his game as improved a lot but there are better  defensive midfielders out there. 

For Canada? Only Hutch.

Piette has really upped his game recently. Great to see.

[Gian-Luca]

I wonder if Ricketts has picked up another injury and will need to be replaced as Hamilton was on the bench for TFC tonight instead of him tonight in Mexico, and I didn't see any sign of him in the pics and video of the team training ahead of the game (whereas Chapman and Morgan were there even though they didn't dress).

[Shortdutchcanuck]

19 hours ago, SpecialK said:

I love how everyone over hypes Piette. 

 

I don't think anyone overhypes him.  We just value the unique skillset he brings.  A destroyer in the midfield who increasingly displays an impressive talent for linkup play and distribution. By far one of our steadiest and most dependable players at just 23. Played great throughout Gold Cup and in September win over Jamaica.

 Previously earned a prominent role at Cd Izarra in Spain (are you not always hyping up young players in lower-level European leagues?  Sam was one who was actually successful enough there to move up).   Was rumoured to be garnering interest from teams in LaLiga 2, got a great offer to go home and play in Montreal.  Walked into Impact squad and became an instant starter.  Not many of our prospects have ever been able to do that at such a young age.

Should Eustaquio give up on his PORTUGUESE dream, I see no need to throw Piette to the curb like yesterday's news.  In fact I find it insulting that this is how you think of our players.  One or the other may start depending on form or opponent or they may be on the pitch together.  Hutch is unfortunately nearing the end of a fantastic career as a DM.  But where did he play in both the Gold Cup and against Jamaica?  In an advanced role, with either Arfield or Osorio, and Piette behind them.  Eustaquio (again, if he earns the spot when the time comes) might replace Hutch in that advanced role.  

I welcome competition for Sam (and every starter) but either way he's going to be an important contributor to the CMNT for a long time.

[apbsmith]

20 hours ago, SpecialK said:

I love how everyone over hypes Piette. Yes he’s game has really improved but he’s got 30 caps for the simple reason we don’t have another DM and our midfield depth was pretty weak but that’s changing. Hutch doesn’t really play friendlies anymore. If Stephen Eustáquio comes on board, Piette will be an after thought. 

 

I don't think it's an overhype, but I do agree we do lack some DM depth (w MaK and eustaquio, it only make us stronger). We can agree to disagree, I still rate piette as a better #6.

He has been a very solid DM the last 18 months for Canada....... maybe you haven't been around a while but for years he was the pecking boy. Many on here said we should never call him again, he was 19-20 yrs old at that time.....some of those call up were because a lack of depth, but it has helped him develop, that's for sure.

I like him as our DM in concacaf play, fluent in Spanish, brilliant at stepping up, reading, and breaking up plays, fearless but not reckless. 

At his current age, I only hope he continues to improve, I see him as a very valuable piece moving forward.

[Shortdutchcanuck]

On 13/03/2018 at 1:52 AM, Jahinho Guerro said:

Someone please give me a reason to be excited for what's to come. 

Just for fun I went back and watched the friendly with Jamaica (the 2017 Gold Cup runners up).  

I didn't get the feeling from that game or the Gold Cup that our limited success but inarguably stronger offensive play was the result of some masterful tactical plan by Zambrano.  

I think he instilled confidence in our players and let our best players play.  In that Jamaica game we were missing Cavallini and Arfield, and Davies played 6 minutes in the 2nd half before getting red-carded.  Nevertheless outside of a shaky openingvten minutes we controlled the game no matter who was on the field.  Hutch, Osorio, and Piette were outstanding and will probably form the core of our MF in March.  We will miss Jackson-Hamel and Hoilett, who were both equally outstanding.  But having Arfield back will be big.  

I don't love Herdman but I see no reason to expect some sudden regression.  Put our best players out there, show some confidence in them, have a balanced tactical plan.  Throw in a little tactical periodization and we'll be just fine.

On a side note, I think Arfield pots one to show up his teammate Woods, Larin finally breaks through with a goal not off his backside, and Osorio (who scored in that Jamaica game to go along with 2 huge recent CCL goals) finds the 3rd.  For a 3-1 victory.

[apbsmith]

12 minutes ago, Shortdutchcanuck said:

On a side note, I think Arfield pots one to show up his teammate Woods, Larin finally breaks through with a goal not off his backside, and Osorio (who scored in that Jamaica game to go along with 2 huge recent CCL goals) finds the 3rd.  For a 3-1 victory.

Can we add Liam Millar makes his Canadian debut by getting subbed in at the 70-80th min for Larin, & either gets a goal or assist? .... Tweet below from youth champion league QF vs mancity on right now.

 

[SpecialK]

51 minutes ago, apbsmith said:

I don't think it's an overhype, but I do agree we do lack some DM depth (w MaK and eustaquio, it only make us stronger). We can agree to disagree, I still rate piette as a better #6.

He has been a very solid DM the last 18 months for Canada....... maybe you haven't been around a while but for years he was the pecking boy. Many on here said we should never call him again, he was 19-20 yrs old at that time.....some of those call up were because a lack of depth, but it has helped him develop, that's for sure.

I like him as our DM in concacaf play, fluent in Spanish, brilliant at stepping up, reading, and breaking up plays, fearless but not reckless. 

At his current age, I only hope he continues to improve, I see him as a very valuable piece moving forward.

You guys make some good points. I do think his game has really improved and he played really well in the GC.  We can agree to disagree on who’s better between eustaquio and Piette. Just my personally feeling, Canada needs a more skilled Piette type player,  specially on the offence of side. The one thing I love about Hutch is that he can break up plays and be solid  defensively and really get that ball up quick up the field. Guzman in his prime also a great example. Canada has always been a good  defensive team but we can’t score. Now I hope with Larin, Cavallini , Hoilett , Davies , Arfield and now Millar can bring that scoring punch. I hope Piette can keep getting better but I do think there is a upgrade out there. 

Love your points though guys and really made me think and  appreciate him more

[Kent]

17 hours ago, canta15 said:

Cavallini held the ball up amazingly in that tournament (something Larin has struggled with in the past), allowing for great set up plays and key passes. He also had an excellent work rate when tracking back and blocked some crucial shots when we already had the lead. Some people overlook his contribution at the Gold Cup just because they look at the stat sheet and see that he didn't score a goal.

I might be one of the people you are referring to, so I'll give my two cents. I agree with everything you said about him holding up the ball very well, having a high work rate, and overall playing very well. I'm just not so sure I agree that he was playing sooo well that it was scandalous to try out someone else. If a striker is scoring every game, it's scandalous to bench him. If a striker isn't scoring, no matter how well they are doing the other parts of their job, I don't think it's scandalous to try a different player. Especially since Larin didn't have a very long leash. Larin was subbed out for Cavallini in the 56th minute.

[mpg_29]

Here's the thing. We argue over who is the better striker when it's sort of irrelevant because neither gets the service they need...

[Vince193]

The issue with Larin is that multiple times he has had the chance to score and he'd shockingly fail.

[Kadenge]

17 minutes ago, Kent said:

I might be one of the people you are referring to, so I'll give my two cents. I agree with everything you said about him holding up the ball very well, having a high work rate, and overall playing very well. I'm just not so sure I agree that he was playing sooo well that it was scandalous to try out someone else. If a striker is scoring every game, it's scandalous to bench him. If a striker isn't scoring, no matter how well they are doing the other parts of their job, I don't think it's scandalous to try a different player. Especially since Larin didn't have a very long leash. Larin was subbed out for Cavallini in the 56th minute.

It was a small sample of games (GC), however Cavallini made a huge difference in his ability to come back to the ball and give our defenders an outlet pass. Hold up play was one, but he was also able to turn quickly after receiving the ball and induced many fouls by the other team as a result. His work rate was excellent putting  a lot of pressure on the opposing defenders/mids . He has an edge to his game. I am a big fan of Larin and hope that he develops further with Besiktas. He is going to be a big part of the CMNT, but to date he has struggled with the CMNT and it may have to do with him playing as a lone striker, where you have to create opportunities for yourself. I was a big fan of Oz but I do think he made a mistake not to start Cav against Jamaica, especially since it was Larin's first game at the GC after a long hiatus at Orlando. Onwards and upwards to NZ!

[aloyol]

43 minutes ago, mpg_29 said:

Here's the thing. We argue over who is the better striker when it's sort of irrelevant because neither gets the service they need...

Speaking of that Gold Cup QF against Jamaica, if I remember correctly both Larinand Cavallini had terrible miss. They received good service in that game.

 

I would also argue that during the OZ era we did as a team created a lot of chances and that the excuse of our CF not receiving the service they need doesn't apply.

 

[SpecialK]

New Zealand roster on wikiapedia for Canada game. Wood and Reid didn’t get called up.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_national_football_team

[Gian-Luca]

21 minutes ago, SpecialK said:

New Zealand roster on wikiapedia for Canada game. Wood and Reid didn’t get called up.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_national_football_team

Edit again - there is a Whitecap player on the roster, albeit one that I don't think has been used yet

[jpg75]

On paper that NZ team looks pretty crappy, especially at the back.

[SpecialK]

14 minutes ago, jpg75 said:

On paper that NZ team looks pretty crappy, especially at the back.

If Wikipedia is right, I hope they are wrong because I want a  competitive game. I understand Herdman and the CSA want a dominating win so it would shut up the fans who want Herdman’s head but come on that NZ team is basically the U 23 team/ C team vs Canada’s B+ team 

[Obinna]

We probably don't know a lot about their domestic and Australian players, so I think jury is out on how good their squad will be. They are missing a lot of their big-name players though.

I thought wood was initially included -what happened?

[dyslexic nam]

It wouldn't be that surprising if the powers that be were trying to manufacture a win to kick off the new era.  A bit cynical perhaps, but it isn't implausible.  I will be suffering through my last day in the Dominican Republic, so I will have to watch the game on replay (hopefully it gets archived somewhere) but the main thing I want to see is our attacking intent and some insight into Herdman's approach.

[SpecialK]

I’ll bet that New Zealand was not pick by random and I’ll bet Herdman/CSA called in some favours at the New Zealand  Soccer association,  specially with their roster pick. Hutch, Arfield and Larin vs New Zealand C team haha 

Now it makes sense why Cavallini is not there.

[Keegan]

19 minutes ago, SpecialK said:

I’ll bet that New Zealand was not pick by random and I’ll bet Herdman/CSA called in some favours at the New Zealand  Soccer association,  specially with their roster pick. Hutch, Arfield and Larin vs New Zealand C team haha 

Now it makes sense why Cavallini is not there.

Are you suggesting they asked New Zealand not to call certain guys? Maybe Herdmans old connections at their FA helped arrange the friendly but I can almost guarantee neither team has any say on their selections. We wish they had Wood and Reid.. 

[jpg75]

No one would ever outright ask another Fed. to not call so-and-so players or to ask them to field a weak team - it's usually the opposite. Sometimes a contract will indicate certain players must play because the host is paying a large appearance fee. Other times feds will come to agreement that one or both may use the game to test out new/young players. If one fed. decided that they felt like bringing some of their better players knowing their opponent was not, well then....

[Club Linesman]

If The Sizzle has/had that much power, then maybe this CMNT hiring will work out after all.

[Kent]

Yeah, this is next level speculation/conspiracy theory. He probably also told them to give up a penalty in the first half. Give me a break.

[El Hombre]

So Canada, with all it's mighty soccer clout, was able to convince another country, who has actually been to the World Cup in the last quarter century, to fly half it's team from literally the other side of the world from Murcia, Spain (look it up on any Antipodes Map) at their own expense just so some former women's team soccer coach can feel good about his first game and placate the four dozen odd soccer fans in this country that actually know that the game is happening and will be paying attention?

Is that it in a nutshell?