Best XI

[Obinna]

21 hours ago, villus said:

I'm for getting the max strength in the U-20 squad over the Nations League, the vets should be able to get the job done and the U-20 tournament is a shitload of games in a short period of time so having a deep squad will be hugely beneficial since even though some of the teams are minnows you can't play players every other day.  Building a good team and qualifying for the world cup will get these guys playing and building together and getting to play top end competition, that development can really translate down the road and building cohesion through going through adversity together is really valuable.  

Aside from the vets taking care of business, which they would, there is something to be said for building chemistry with your best players.

I think I have seen enough of David and Tabla and Davies and Millar to say that right now they are amongst the best 18 players Canada has.

When the games get tough, we want those players to be seamlessly integrated with Larin, Cavallini, Osorio, Piette, Hoilett, Arfield etc. 

We only have a few more chances to bring them together before the Gold Cup. 

Maybe TFC gave me PTSD this season, but building chemistry is of the utmost importance.

[badname22]

How would this look for our best XI?

Cornelius can sub in for Hainault depending on who's playing better but I chose Andre cause He plays left side of a back three every week in Germany

[Blackdude]

1 hour ago, badname22 said:

How would this look for our best XI?

Cornelius can sub in for Hainault depending on who's playing better but I chose Andre cause He plays left side of a back three every week in Germany

You can pick Hutchinson or Eustaquio. Unless Atiba reconsiders, it's never going to happen.

[dyslexic nam]

10 hours ago, badname22 said:

How would this look for our best XI?

Cornelius can sub in for Hainault depending on who's playing better but I chose Andre cause He plays left side of a back three every week in Germany

That looks like a formation where we plan to win with a 6-5 scoreline.   We are already thin at the back - I am not sure the solution is to put Hutch in there and get rid of our outside backs. 

[BrennanFan]

1 hour ago, dyslexic nam said:

That looks like a formation where we plan to win with a 6-5 scoreline.   We are already thin at the back - I am not sure the solution is to put Hutch in there and get rid of our outside backs. 

3-4-3 can be a very defensive formation as well, this year Cardiff have played a 3-4-3 against the big teams in the EPL, with Hoilett wide right.  

[Mikmacdo]

My Best 11.

Borjan

Godinho-James-Cornelius-Adekugbe

Estequio-Hutch

Davies-David-Hoilet

Cavalinni

Piette fills in for Hutch when he retires. Maybe Arfield over David but at this moment David is playing amazing and will likely get a lot better. LB is the weakest position by far. 

[PopePouri]

                                       Borjan

              Hutch               Jakovic             Cornelius

Hoilett                       Eustaquio                           Davies

                          Arfield             Osorio

                        David                  Cavallini

[Obinna]

My 18 if everyone were fit and available today:

---------------------Borjan------------------

---------------Henry--Cornelius------------

Godinho-------------------------------Adekugbe

-----------Hutchinson--Eustaquio------------

Davies-------------David-----------Hoilett

---------------------Cavallini------------------

Subs: Millar, Tabla, Osorio, Arfield, Piette, James, Crepeau

Notable omissions: Larin, Kaye, Teibert, Morgan, ZBG

Larin - David and Millar are able to cover at centre forward. Larin out.

Kaye - Piette knocks him out.

Teibert - Eustaquio knocks him out.

Morgan - Davies can provide the left back cover. Morgan out.

ZBG - Millar can provide RB cover. ZBG or Godinho, flip a coin. Don't need both.

 

Edited February 26, 2019 by Obinna

[Mikmacdo]

2 hours ago, Obinna said:

My 18 if everyone were fit and available today:

---------------------Borjan------------------

---------------Henry--Cornelius------------

Godinho-------------------------------Adekugbe

-----------Hutchinson--Eustaquio------------

Davies-------------David-----------Hoilett

---------------------Cavallini------------------

Subs: Millar, Tabla, Osorio, Arfield, Piette, James, Crepeau

Notable omissions: Larin, Kaye, Teibert, Morgan, ZBG

Larin - David and Millar are able to cover at centre forward. Larin out.

Kaye - Piette knocks him out.

Teibert - Eustaquio knocks him out.

Morgan - Davies can provide the left back cover. Morgan out.

ZBG - Millar can provide RB cover. ZBG or Godinho, flip a coin. Don't need both.

 

Love it, I actually think Kaye might be better than piette, he had a huge impact at lafc. Hutch and estaquio won't play together by the sounds of it. Hutch is retiring after the gold cup and estaquio is out until September.

I'd put Kaye in estaquio then in for hutch after he retires and Larin in for tabla. 

[Obinna]

14 minutes ago, Mikmacdo said:

Love it, I actually think Kaye might be better than piette, he had a huge impact at lafc. Hutch and estaquio won't play together by the sounds of it. Hutch is retiring after the gold cup and estaquio is out until September.

I'd put Kaye in estaquio then in for hutch after he retires and Larin in for tabla. 

I was very tempted to put Kaye ahead of Piette. Kaye can also play multiple positions. Piette wins out on experience though. 

Larin in for Tabla, eh? Interesting. On one hand, we have wingers already, so we could drop Tabla - but due to our historical lack of creative players, my bias leans towards Ballou

[ghostknownunknown]

2 hours ago, Obinna said:

My 18 if everyone were fit and available today:

---------------------Borjan------------------

---------------Henry--Cornelius------------

Godinho-------------------------------Adekugbe

-----------Hutchinson--Eustaquio------------

Davies-------------David-----------Hoilett

---------------------Cavallini------------------

Subs: Millar, Tabla, Osorio, Arfield, Piette, James, Crepeau

Notable omissions: Larin, Kaye, Teibert, Morgan, ZBG

Larin - David and Millar are able to cover at centre forward. Larin out.

Kaye - Piette knocks him out.

Teibert - Eustaquio knocks him out.

Morgan - Davies can provide the left back cover. Morgan out.

ZBG - Millar can provide RB cover. ZBG or Godinho, flip a coin. Don't need both.

 

I'd drop Tabla for one of ZBG or Morgan. Going into a match with only one natural defender on the bench seems foolhardy.

[Bison44]

3 minutes ago, ghostknownunknown said:

I'd drop Tabla for one of ZBG or Morgan. Going into a match with only one natural defender on the bench seems foolhardy.

I would agree, against a minnow maybe, but you need another defender and cant expect Millar to play RB against anyone tough.  

[BleepBlap]

2 hours ago, Obinna said:

My 18 if everyone were fit and available today:

---------------------Borjan------------------

---------------Henry--Cornelius------------

Godinho-------------------------------Adekugbe

-----------Hutchinson--Eustaquio------------

Davies-------------David-----------Hoilett

---------------------Cavallini------------------

Subs: Millar, Tabla, Osorio, Arfield, Piette, James, Crepeau

Notable omissions: Larin, Kaye, Teibert, Morgan, ZBG

Larin - David and Millar are able to cover at centre forward. Larin out.

Kaye - Piette knocks him out.

Teibert - Eustaquio knocks him out.

Morgan - Davies can provide the left back cover. Morgan out.

ZBG - Millar can provide RB cover. ZBG or Godinho, flip a coin. Don't need both.

 

The only change I would suggest if we're truly trying to put the Best XI on the field is starting Hutchinson at CB instead of Cornelius and then putting Arfield at CM.

Does anyone actually think Hutch would not be a better CB than Cornelius?

[Ansem]

Arfield is a starter. I'd like starting XI reflecting that

[ghostknownunknown]

19 minutes ago, Ansem said:

Arfield is a starter. I'd like starting XI reflecting that

This is mine. For all the hype surrounding Eustaquio, Arfield provide the one thing this squad is sorely lacking; experience. 

Bench: Larin, Osorio, Piette, Kaye, Cornellius, Brault-Guillard, Crepeau.

Rest of the 23: Millar, Tabla, Teibert, Morgan, Eustaquio.

[BrennanFan]

12 minutes ago, ghostknownunknown said:

This is mine. For all the hype surrounding Eustaquio, Arfield provide the one thing this squad is sorely lacking; experience. 

Bench: Larin, Osorio, Piette, Kaye, Cornellius, Brault-Guillard, Crepeau.

Rest of the 23: Millar, Tabla, Teibert, Morgan, Eustaquio.

I see that back four getting absolutely shredded in an away qualifier.  James and Henry are very similar athletic CBs with track records of being error prone, you need to pair one up with a veteran presence who is comfortable on the ball, like Jakovic or Edgar who unfortunately are at the end of their careers.  Cornelius fits that mold but is green as grass.  Adekugbe is ok but is still behind deJong in my view, and Godinho is not playing regularly and stuggles defensively in Scotland.  This back four needs to start playing consistently against better opposition in order to make the massive improvements that are required to get us to the next level. 

[jpg75]

My best XI is the best combination of in-form players that at the time give us the best tactical and formational chance to achieve a desired result.

[ghostknownunknown]

31 minutes ago, BrennanFan said:

I see that back four getting absolutely shredded in an away qualifier.  James and Henry are very similar athletic CBs with track records of being error prone, you need to pair one up with a veteran presence who is comfortable on the ball, like Jakovic or Edgar who unfortunately are at the end of their careers.  Cornelius fits that mold but is green as grass.  Adekugbe is ok but is still behind deJong in my view, and Godinho is not playing regularly and stuggles defensively in Scotland.  This back four needs to start playing consistently against better opposition in order to make the massive improvements that are required to get us to the next level. 

All fair points, but I stand behind my belief that this our best back four currently. All four have been getting regular playing time over the past year(at similar levels), relative to the competition at their respective positions. I have no desire to have bench warmers or youth players in our first XI.

LB - Adekugbe minutes played in 2018 : 2,667'  vs. De Jong: 1,663' and Morgan: 1,690'

CB - Henry: 1,800'  and James: 2916' vs. Cornelius: 956'

and at RB, Godinho is the only one we have getting anything approaching top flight minutes. Hopefully Brault-Guillard can lock down a starting spot for the Impact this season and show what he can do at the senior level.

 

Edited February 26, 2019 by ghostknownunknown

[Corazon]

43 minutes ago, ghostknownunknown said:

This is mine. For all the hype surrounding Eustaquio, Arfield provide the one thing this squad is sorely lacking; experience. 

Bench: Larin, Osorio, Piette, Kaye, Cornellius, Brault-Guillard, Crepeau.

Rest of the 23: Millar, Tabla, Teibert, Morgan, Eustaquio.

This would probably be my current lineup as well, although the defense is really up for grabs.  Hopefully Tomori joins after the Euro U21 tournament.  There are opportunities if we see more from Cordova & ZBG.

Once Hutchinson retires, I could see Eustaquio sliding in right away though.

[Grandbloke]

17 minutes ago, ghostknownunknown said:

Hopefully Brault-Guillard can lock down a starting spot for the Impact this season and show what he can do at the senior level.

 

Would like to see him start regularly, but this season he’ll likely be the backup for Bacary Sagna. But ZBG should still get a fair amount of playing time, since at age 36 Sagna won’t be starting every game.

Edited February 26, 2019 by Grandbloke

[Ansem]

1-With Eustaquio injury, Gold Cup and Nation League Qualifiers will have Hutchinson as DM.

Once Hutch retires after the Gold Cup, this fall Nation League should have Eustaquio locked down as DM with Piette as his #2.

So Eustaquio and Hutchinson can't be on the same roster or we need to see a pre GC roster and post GC roster.

2-Cornelius is green, but he's been good in the qualifiers and I trust him more than Henry at CB. I'd have James with him ahead of Henry. Hoping Dos Santos build the Henry-Cornelius duo though, chemistry is priceless. 

Those 3 are a better choice than aging Vitoria and Jakovic. We have to rely on them until someone else emerges from CPL/MLS or we convince Tomori. (Tomori - Cornelius would be my duo)

3-De Jong is my LB ahead of Adekudbe ok, but experience is needed to compensate the limited talent at back

4-As of today, it's Godinho's spot. Zachary Brault-Guillard has a shot if Garde let's him play but I know MTL far too well. I think RB will be between Cordova and Godhino but Marcus has the edge, he's recovering well and his play has improved post injury.  Cordova will be one to watch in Chile

5-Midfield Corps. Arfield is too much quality to not start. There's no scenario where he isn't starting preferably CM. 

6-Up front, Cavallini and David duo. So much talent to choose from at the wings.

Formation... I'm not a manager. I think we need to trust our midfield more over our defense.

I'd like something like 3-5-2 or preferably 3-2-3-2 using 3 back (Cornelius + De Jong + Godhino), 2 DM (Eustaquio + Piette), 2 AM (Arfield + Osorio or Wotherspoon), forwards (Hoilett & Davies at wing + David or Cavallni up front)...working within that frame

 

Edited February 26, 2019 by Ansem

[ghostknownunknown]

5 minutes ago, Ansem said:

4-It will be very interesting to see what Cordova does in Vancouver at RB. There's a potential chemistry building opportunity if MDS starts Cordova-Cornelius-Henry trio and stick with it so they bring that chemistry to the NT. That's the best outcome if we don't get Tomori.

Cordova never ended up signing with the Whitecaps...

[Ansem]

1 minute ago, ghostknownunknown said:

Cordova never ended up signing with the Whitecaps...

Oh I missed that. Where is he now?

[ghostknownunknown]

1 minute ago, Ansem said:

Oh I missed that. Where is he now?

Still with Huachipato.

[mpg_29]