The Road to Qatar.

[Shway]

52 minutes ago, Addona said:

Pretty good ... maybe Millar for Brym? Maybe Fraser for Okello?

Those are literally the four guys who I was trying to work in. But I liked what I saw from Brym in the last camp - he stood out to me, and he's also getting minutes at a higher level at the moment. I think Okello is better than Fraser, and we'll see that this coming season.  Fraser also has Priso to worry about too, and I also left out Patton which was even harder for me to leave out.

Like I said before things can change, especially if guys get the needed move to first teams or if they start their seasons good. I just think long are the days of guys being in the senior team and they play youth ball or NCAA. Levels. We have a lot of guys playing meaningful minutes at adequate levels.

[Nate3322]

15 hours ago, Shway said:

 There won’t be 23 man squads anymore as they have evolved to 30 man rosters due to the 3 game windows (at least for this WC) Maybe we’ll see them back solely for the Gold Cup.

I just hope we have the budget to send the allocated amount of guys for WCQs. As rosters will be heavily rotated, reason why if the January camp happens it’ll be a last opportunity for some guys to show there worth. 

With that in mind, I’ll expand on @TFC2017 roster:

 

• GK: Borjan, Crepeau, St. Clair, Leutwiler
   
• RB: Laryea, Brault-Guillard, Johnston 
• CB: Vitoria, Cornelius, Henry, James, Miller,
• LB: Adekugbe, Kennedy
   
• CM: Hutchinson, Arfield, Eustaquio, Kaye, Osorio, Piette, Wootherspoon, Okello
• LM: Hoilett, Brym
• RM: Davies, Buchanan
   
• ST: David, Cavallini, Larin, Akindele

—————

Everything could change if some guys get needed moves to first teams or if they start their seasons good. 

I'd definitely would find a way to get Elva into the squad, I'd also take Waterman or Zator ahead of Miller. And maybe Paton instead of Okello.

Edited December 10, 2020 by Nate3322

[Shway]

19 minutes ago, Nate3322 said:

I'd definitely would find a way to get Elva into the squad, I'd also take Waterman or Zator ahead of Miller.

Waterman, maybe...but it'll leaves us with 1 left footed CB.
I would also pick Kennedy before both those guys for me, just based on the strong foot. It makes a difference.

Elva I want to see too, but it's tough. At who's expense do you replace him with?

Edited December 10, 2020 by Shway

[CanadaFan123]

Is Elva for sure eligible for Canada? I thought that was up in the air. If he is eligible I replace Wotherspoon who was awful against Cuba last time he played for us.

[Nate3322]

48 minutes ago, Shway said:

Elva I want to see too, but it's tough. At who's expense do you replace him with?

I'd replace either Wotherspoon, or Brym with Elva.

[wulei]

On 12/5/2020 at 2:58 AM, SthMelbRed said:

Vancouver - Seattle - Vancouver would be fucking brilliant, if we could trust the Yanks not to fuck it up. They'll probably stick us in Miami or Denver. Actually, Denver wouldn't preclude a BC Place double-header.

Do we have a good enough relationship with USA to request something like this?

[SthMelbRed]

2 minutes ago, wulei said:

Do we have a good enough relationship with USA to request something like this?

I guess their openness to the request would greatly depend on how much of an advantage they can get out of playing us in a different location. They might want to use Denver's altitude or the heat/humidity of Florida or Texas against us. Otherwise, you can't get better football conditions, for players or spectators, than a typical September evening in Vancouver/Seattle.

 

[SkuseisLoose]

6 hours ago, SthMelbRed said:

I guess their openness to the request would greatly depend on how much of an advantage they can get out of playing us in a different location. They might want to use Denver's altitude or the heat/humidity of Florida or Texas against us. Otherwise, you can't get better football conditions, for players or spectators, than a typical September evening in Vancouver/Seattle.

 

I think there will also be the problem that the USMNT rarely choses to play on Turf fields especially in important matches like WCQ. Likely the best we could get would be a game down in LA.

[TGAA_Star]

Considering just how long I've been gone...needing my time and my space away to deal with my personal tragedies one after another I have been paying attention to Canadian soccer. Maybe not the entire product obviously or not been watching a lot of soccer in general but kept up with it, but do I think Canada have what it takes to qualify for Qatar 2022 next year?

 

Take it in...we are less than a year away from Qatar 2022. Qualifiers are set to start pretty soon. However, what I will say is yes Canada do obviously have the talent to qualify but what matters at least in my opinion is putting it all together. If Herdman and company can do that, Canada is definitely a dark horse to qualify out of the CONCACAF region.

[toontownman]

Welcome back @TGAA_Star sorry to hear of your struggles. Hope things are in a progressively better place for you. 

There is definitely hope. It's always those last few hurdles with CMNT. Hopefully this is the time. We are due, if only it worked that way!

[TGAA_Star]

On 1/3/2021 at 10:27 AM, toontownman said:

Welcome back @TGAA_Star sorry to hear of your struggles. Hope things are in a progressively better place for you. 

There is definitely hope. It's always those last few hurdles with CMNT. Hopefully this is the time. We are due, if only it worked that way!

Thanks I appreciate you man and given all the hell I've gone through it is definitely great and feels great to be back. But yeah Canada obviously has the talent coming into a golden generation not just at senior level but coming up through the ranks at youth level too. I would say CSA development has come a long way like in the past decade and a half and it is only going to get better. It definitely has to get better especially considering 2026 the World Cup is going to be in our backyard.

 

2022 if we qualify, it is more or less a precursor or how do I phrase this showing the rest of the world what we can be capable of, especially when we become one of the 3 hosts in 2026.

[Alex]

Another thing mentioned last night by Wheeler was where we play game 1 versus Bermuda. At this point it’s hard to see us playing in Canada. I can see us playing in Florida again. He went on to mention the world juniors were played in Edmonton and Petrillo said Calgary will be a sort of winter hub for sports (skiing,etc) this year meaning there’s no reason for us not to be able to play at home. 

[CanadaFan123]

6 minutes ago, Alex said:

Another thing mentioned last night by Wheeler was where we play game 1 versus Bermuda. At this point it’s hard to see us playing in Canada. I can see us playing in Florida again. He went on to mention the world juniors were played in Edmonton and Petrillo said Calgary will be a sort of winter hub for sports (skiing,etc) this year meaning there’s no reason for us not to be able to play at home. 

How's that? The government has been granting loads of exemptions for sports. 

[Alex]

28 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

How's that? The government has been granting loads of exemptions for sports. 

The difference here is the international travel and quick turnaround. The raptors can’t play at home because of border travel, the NHL can’t cross the border either. We dont have enough time to quarantine either. Unless there’s an exemption for quick testing or something I’m not aware of. 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

On 12/9/2020 at 5:38 PM, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

I was skeptical but it looks like you are right and Canadian Heritage (Sport Canada), PHAC and the relevant municipal and provincial authorities are capable of moving quickly if they want to.

Despite the growing number of COVID cases in Calgary, Curling Canada have been given the metaphorical green light to host the Men's World Championship in April 2021 along with some other non-international events.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/curling/canada-curling-calgary-hub-1.5793623
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/curling/canada-curling-calgary-hub-punishment-heroux-1.5832584
http://worldcurling.org/events/wmcc2021/

Their thing is a 13-team, 9 day tournament.

It makes me think that the CSA should get approval to host a single match in March if they wish to.

Even without a crowd, it's better to freeze those Bermuda players at BMO Field in March instead of playing them on neutral ground in the States.

EDIT: Plus imagine the bad press for the Government of Canada would get if a bunch of curlers from around the world are allowed to come to Canada and play but Canada's Lou Marsh winner isn't allowed to play one match in March on home soil.

@Alex ↑

[MtlMario]

40 minutes ago, Alex said:

Another thing mentioned last night by Wheeler was where we play game 1 versus Bermuda. At this point it’s hard to see us playing in Canada. I can see us playing in Florida again. He went on to mention the world juniors were played in Edmonton and Petrillo said Calgary will be a sort of winter hub for sports (skiing,etc) this year meaning there’s no reason for us not to be able to play at home. 

Or we could play in Mtl. Only 5k showed up last time, lots of space for social distancing. I don't know if I should laugh or cry!😞

[Alex]

Let me be clear because I think I contradicted myself a bit. Wheeler used the world junior example to say we should be allowed to play at home, while I agree with him and I think we should play at home, the lack of chatter about it from the csa is worrisome.  

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

10 minutes ago, Alex said:

Let me be clear because I think I contradicted myself a bit. Wheeler used the world junior example to say we should be allowed to play at home, while I agree with him and I think we should play at home, the lack of chatter about it from the csa is worrisome.  

No it isn't. They never chatter about anything!

[CanadaFan123]

Looks like we have brought on former Curacao manager Remko Bicentini (just replaced by Hiddink) as assistant manager. Unexpected great edition IMO as he has significant experience in the Caribbean. 

https://www.gelderlander.nl/voetbal-nijmegen/remko-bicentini-assistent-bondscoach-van-canada~a5cde78a/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FgNkTw2gHpX%3Famp%3D1&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2F

 

Edited January 8, 2021 by CanadaFan123

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

4 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Looks like we have brought on former Curacao manager Remko Bicentini (just replaced by Hiddink) as assistant manager. Unexpected great edition IMO as he has significant experience in the Caribbean. 

https://www.gelderlander.nl/voetbal-nijmegen/remko-bicentini-assistent-bondscoach-van-canada~a5cde78a/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FgNkTw2gHpX%3Famp%3D1&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2F

 

Interesting indeed! Why do I feel like old Robert would have approved of this move?

[jtpc]

With the news of Remko Bicentini being added to our staff, that could make for a really interesting finish to the Octagonal, supposing we're in it and Curacao is there too. Looking way too far ahead (but that's half the fun), if we're there and our final match had the potential to be a difference maker somehow (maybe for the intercontinental playoff spot or the 3rd automatic spot), it's away at the C vs. D winner (potentially Curacao).

Before adding Bicentini, I was actually preferring Curacao to potentially come out of the C vs. D matchup over Panama, even if they have a very strong team, because it would probably be a less intimidating away atmosphere. Should we get to the Octagonal and something was on the line in the final match, even though it would be nice to slay some away dragons in Central America, I'd rather play an all or nothing match in Curacao than Panama. Anyway, that's a long way off and a lot would have to go right between now and then, but it's fun to speculate about potential matchups that could happen down the road.

[Addona]

33 minutes ago, jtpc said:

With the news of Remko Bicentini being added to our staff, that could make for a really interesting finish to the Octagonal, supposing we're in it and Curacao is there too. Looking way too far ahead (but that's half the fun), if we're there and our final match had the potential to be a difference maker somehow (maybe for the intercontinental playoff spot or the 3rd automatic spot), it's away at the C vs. D winner (potentially Curacao).

Before adding Bicentini, I was actually preferring Curacao to potentially come out of the C vs. D matchup over Panama, even if they have a very strong team, because it would probably be a less intimidating away atmosphere. Should we get to the Octagonal and something was on the line in the final match, even though it would be nice to slay some away dragons in Central America, I'd rather play an all or nothing match in Curacao than Panama. Anyway, that's a long way off and a lot would have to go right between now and then, but it's fun to speculate about potential matchups that could happen down the road.

Lol!  Jesus, why stop there!  Suppose we’re both in the WC semis, and we have inside info on them to get into a WC final!  😉

[One American]

This is a Jamaica Recruiting Report from Athlone on BigSoccer:

Capped

Daniel Johnson MF Preston North End Terrific year last year with 12 goals and 6 or 7 assists. 

Ravel Morrison MF ADO Den Haag Former EPL enigma. New league, same enigma. 

Greg Leigh - D -Aberdeen Seems to have had a significant career in British leagues. 

 

Various stages of agreement (allegedly) and paperwork processing: 

Kemar Roofe AM/W Glasgow Rangers #6 WhoScored ranking for Scottish Premiership this year

Chey Dunkley CB Would be around #130 on WS for the Championship 

Liam Moore CB Reading #149 WS. Team captain.

Djavan Anderson RB Lazio What to make of a veteran spare part in Serie A? 

Amari'i Bell LB Blackburn Starter for the past few seasons. Somewhere in the 140s on WS. Or so. 

Rolando Aarons MF Newcastle What to make of a veteran spare part in the EPL? 

Andre Gray F Was really good at one time. Not so much anymore. Dropping a level doesn't seem to be helping the goal totals. 

 

These 2 "in talks" with JFF (and would seem like big catches)

Isaac Hayden DM Newcastle 80+ EPL starts

Ivan Toney F Brentford 16 goals in the Championship so far this year. 

 

Other than Roofe, the first two groups don't have much "wow" - more in the "helps in small ways" category. The two in talks would be a bigger deal.

I don't know. That's a lot of new players to bring into a successful team. And it doesn't seem like it's a bunch of way better players. OTOH, it increases the depth, which could be big with three-game rounds. 

 

Edited January 9, 2021 by One American

[SthMelbRed]

Look, I'm not averse to the odd Scottie Arfield or Tony Menezes situation, where we get a decent player with fairly tenuous connections to Canada. However, if half, or more, of the team were such players, I'd quickly lose interest in international football. I don't get why any fan of the Reggae Boys would want to cheer for an English 'D' team running around in yellow shirts, even if their grandfathers were born on Jamaica.

[SoccMan]

1 hour ago, SthMelbRed said:

Look, I'm not averse to the odd Scottie Arfield or Tony Menezes situation, where we get a decent player with fairly tenuous connections to Canada. However, if half, or more, of the team were such players, I'd quickly lose interest in international football. I don't get why any fan of the Reggae Boys would want to cheer for an English 'D' team running around in yellow shirts, even if their grandfathers were born on Jamaica.

Yup I feel the same way, a few of these type of players who’s only connection to a country is a parent or a grandparent being born there is ok.  However, stack a national team with players who basically in some cases never see foot there to me takes something away of what a national team is all about.  There is something about knowing a national team player played at least some of his youth soccer growing up here in Canada and that  whatever youth clubs a certain player might have played for can  feel they played a certain part in the development of that player. I’m not against have a few players like an Arfield on a national team but stacking your team with players like this just takes away from what a national team should really be all about .