The Road to Qatar.

[Shortdutchcanuck]

8 minutes ago, Obinna said:

He was born in England. 

I also don't understand why these guys wait so long. He's 30 years old already. He'll basically be done after this cycle.

They were interested in him in 2016 but he wanted to play for England.  He was called up twice for England, was an unused sub in 2016 and left camp with an injury in 2017.  Guessing he feels Jamaica has a legit shot to make 2022 and wants to get on board.

Edited February 25, 2021 by Shortdutchcanuck

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

55 minutes ago, Floortom said:

David isn’t a classic striker so I don’t even compare him to Jimenez and Antonio

also, are you saying Lille are a level too high for Antonio?? I’m not sure I would agree with that at all.

Antonio is fairly new to being an actual striker as well but you are right, they are all different players.  Antonio is better playing back to goal than any of the other two, he is stronger and gets off the ground quicker.  So if you are looking to steal a point or three from the US or Mexico I would rather have him as the pivot on the break.  If am looking to build a club team for the future I would take David.  Jimenez is the best all round right now.  

Micky Antonio's problems are age and susceptible to injuries but against what we have currently at centre back - it is a concern.  He made some of the England ones look suspect recently.  

Edit:

Will be tough if this ends up happening.  One of my favourite players - great to watch as he just gives so much - will be hard to cheer against him. 

Edited February 25, 2021 by WestHamCanadianinOxford

[Obinna]

1 minute ago, Shortdutchcanuck said:

They were interested in him in 2016 but he wanted to play for England.  He was called up twice for England later that year and was an unused sub in one and left camp with an injury in the other.  Guessing he feels Jamaica has a legit shot to make 2022 and wants to get on board.

Thanks. Didn't know he was actually that close. I guess that's fair then. This is his best chance at getting to the big dance, and getting to play alongside Baily and Reid and others will probably be fun for him. 

He obviously makes Jamaica a lot stronger, which is bad news for everyone, ourselves included. At least it makes for a real tantalizing final round if they can take points from Mexico and the USA. For entertainment sake we don't want those two running away with it. 

[SthMelbRed]

2 hours ago, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

Antonio is fairly new to being an actual striker as well but you are right, they are all different players.  Antonio is better playing back to goal than any of the other two, he is stronger and gets off the ground quicker.  So if you are looking to steal a point or three from the US or Mexico I would rather have him as the pivot on the break.  If am looking to build a club team for the future I would take David.  Jimenez is the best all round right now.  

Micky Antonio's problems are age and susceptible to injuries but against what we have currently at centre back - it is a concern.  He made some of the England ones look suspect recently.  

Edit:

Will be tough if this ends up happening.  One of my favourite players - great to watch as he just gives so much - will be hard to cheer against him. 

I suspect that West Ham are none too pleased with this development. MA is a very important player for them, but has an atrocious record with injuries. I can see the club pressuring him to miss call ups to Jamaica for the flimsiest of reasons.

[red card]

27 mins OneSoccer interview with Herdman today.

Looks like he is leaning towards Euro-based players for March window due to being more in form. Players condition in Jan camp was worst he had seen for January window. Best players will be called up. Noted Eustaquio, Kennedy, Johnston & Millar. Ferreira, Hutch & Arfield TBD. Buchanan & Prisio noted for Olympic team.

Thinks Suriname is a top 5 Concacaf team with Euro-based players.

 

[CanadianSoccerFan]

25 minutes ago, red card said:

Thinks Suriname is a top 5 Concacaf team with Euro-based players.

 

 

Live shot of me driving home from the grocery store

[Alex]

I do like the fact that he seems very serious about what threat Suriname may pose. It’s better to be over prepared than to be cocky and laid back. 

[Dominic94]

Is Suriname really better than Jamaica ?

 

I mean I see it like this:

mexico

usa 

costa rica

canada 

jamaica 

Honduras/El Salvador/Panama/Suriname/Haiti

 

big homer here. Also I do know Jamaica has gotten better of late.

 

[An Observer]

17 minutes ago, Dominic94 said:

Is Suriname really better than Jamaica ?

 

I mean I see it like this:

mexico

usa 

costa rica

canada 

jamaica 

Honduras/El Salvador/Panama/Suriname/Haiti

 

big homer here. Also I do know Jamaica has gotten better of late.

 

Others are better a dissecting some of the sides than me, but not sure Costa Rica is #3 anymore (at least on paper).  I probably put them 5 but they have in their favour that they have a much stronger pedigree that us or Jamaica.

[Dominic94]

13 minutes ago, An Observer said:

Others are better a dissecting some of the sides than me, but not sure Costa Rica is #3 anymore (at least on paper).  I probably put them 5 but they have in their favour that they have a much stronger pedigree that us or Jamaica.

It’s fair, I put them ahead of based on pedigree also. I think in reality we are 3, but we have to prove it. Jamaica with Bailey and the new striker looks to be 4th imo.

the region getting stronger isn’t a bad thing either.

[One American]

Really, are Panama that much better than Canada? 

 

I'll go with a wash between Bailey and Davies. Davies is the bigger talent, Bailey having the better year. So that's close

 

Given that West Ham is looking at possibly taking Larin to replace Antonio, I would assume the next three are Canada. But Antonio and Reid are close.  Probably a wash. 

 

Kemar Roofe over Scott Arfield. 

Hector and C-ship level partner over Vitoria and Question Mark. 

Morrison and Johnson and vs. Hutch and Piette or Kaye? I would say wash, maybe slight advantage to Canada, especially with Johnson down this year. 

Keeper is a wash. 

Laryea and Johnston vs. Lawrence and ?.  Well they have a bit player for Lazio or a bit player for Aberdeen right now. Slight advantage Canada. 

 

It's not that big of a gap. On paper. 

Edited February 26, 2021 by One American

[Obinna]

41 minutes ago, One American said:

Really, are Panama that much better than Canada? 

 

I'll go with a wash between Bailey and Davies. Davies is the bigger talent, Bailey having the better year. So that's close

 

Given that West Ham is looking at possibly taking Larin to replace Antonio, I would assume the next three are Canada. But Antonio and Reid are close.  Probably a wash. 

 

Kemar Roofe over Scott Arfield. 

Hector and C-ship level partner over Vitoria and Question Mark. 

Morrison and Johnson and vs. Hutch and Piette or Kaye? I would say wash, maybe slight advantage to Canada, especially with Johnson down this year. 

Keeper is a wash. 

Laryea and Johnston vs. Lawrence and ?.  Well they have a bit player for Lazio or a bit player for Aberdeen right now. Slight advantage Canada. 

 

It's not that big of a gap. On paper. 

Why are you comparing a forward and a midfielder? Lazy comparison.

[Shway]

14 hours ago, Dominic94 said:

Is Suriname really better than Jamaica ?

 

I mean I see it like this:

mexico

usa 

costa rica

canada 

jamaica 

Honduras/El Salvador/Panama/Suriname/Haiti

 

big homer here. Also I do know Jamaica has gotten better of late.

 

Right now it’s...

1. Mexico
2. USA
3. Jamaica
3. Canada
3. Costa Rica 
4. Honduras 
4. Suriname
5. Curacao 
5. El Salvador 
5. Panama 
6. Haiti 

This is a better way to view it, because right now it’s a toss up and just paper talk.

1-2 is undisputed
3 to 6 are all capable of beating each other.
3’s are capable of beating 1 & 2.

Edited February 26, 2021 by Shway
added Curacao from "An Observer" point.

[Gian-Luca]

1 hour ago, One American said:

Really, are Panama that much better than Canada? 

 

I'll go with a wash between Bailey and Davies. Davies is the bigger talent, Bailey having the better year. So that's close

 

Given that West Ham is looking at possibly taking Larin to replace Antonio, I would assume the next three are Canada. But Antonio and Reid are close.  Probably a wash. 

 

Kemar Roofe over Scott Arfield. 

Hector and C-ship level partner over Vitoria and Question Mark. 

Morrison and Johnson and vs. Hutch and Piette or Kaye? I would say wash, maybe slight advantage to Canada, especially with Johnson down this year. 

Keeper is a wash. 

Laryea and Johnston vs. Lawrence and ?.  Well they have a bit player for Lazio or a bit player for Aberdeen right now. Slight advantage Canada. 

 

It's not that big of a gap. On paper. 

Sounds like you are answering a different question to the one you are asking, unless Panama has had a sudden influx of players with very British-sounding last names.

To avoid answering either question, right now I'm mainly interested in whether Canada will be better than either Bermuda or Surinam. On paper we should be but in reality difficult to say since we haven't played any matches in over a year and many of the players that Herdman hopes to call haven't played for Canada since some time in 2019....

[An Observer]

5 minutes ago, Shway said:

Right now it’s...

1. Mexico
2. USA
3. Jamaica
3. Canada
3. Costa Rica 
4. Honduras 
4. Suriname 
5. El Salvador 
5. Panama 
6. Haiti 

This is a better way to view it, because right now it’s a toss up and just paper talk.

1-2 is undisputed
3 to 6 are all capable of beating each other.
3’s are capable of beating 1 & 2.

I think Curacao is in the 5. bucket (if not the 4.)

[archer21]

8 hours ago, Dominic94 said:

Is Suriname really better than Jamaica ?

 

I mean I see it like this:

mexico

usa 

costa rica

canada 

jamaica 

Honduras/El Salvador/Panama/Suriname/Haiti

 

big homer here. Also I do know Jamaica has gotten better of late.

 

I’d guess he has Jamaica and Canada ahead of Costa Rica. They have a good pedigree and have been good in the past but I don’t think are going to be strong going forward. Hard to see Suriname ahead of them already, but on paper they probably do have better players.

[jtpc]

According to this list from FIFA, all but 2 locations have been determined for the March WCQ matches. One of the 2 locations still TBD is our match with the Cayman Islands.

https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/update-on-upcoming-concacaf-qualifiers-in-march-2021

It looks like out of the 30 matches, 13 countries will actually play at home. For the other matches in our group, Suriname is playing the Cayman Islands in Suriname, Aruba is playing Suriname at IMG Academy in Bradenton, and Bermuda is playing Aruba in Bermuda.

[CanadaFan123]

Concerning that we don’t really have any “ideal” midfielders ready to go in March. With Hutchinson and Arfield out (supposedly) we are left with Eustaquio in form, who is a stud but has never started a match for Canada. 
 

Piette, Kaye, Osorio are all out of season. 
 

Trafford, Wotherspoon and Paton are all in season but would be risks as well. Wotherspoon seems to be having a decent season but was poor for us vs Cuba. 

[dyslexic nam]

56 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Concerning that we don’t really have any “ideal” midfielders ready to go in March. With Hutchinson and Arfield out (supposedly) we are left with Eustaquio in form, who is a stud but has never started a match for Canada. 
 

Piette, Kaye, Osorio are all out of season. 
 

Trafford, Wotherspoon and Paton are all in season but would be risks as well. Wotherspoon seems to be having a decent season but was poor for us vs Cuba. 

I have no concerns about Eustaquio’s lack of CMNT games.  He is quality and will be able to integrate well.  

[narduch]

12 hours ago, jtpc said:

According to this list from FIFA, all but 2 locations have been determined for the March WCQ matches. One of the 2 locations still TBD is our match with the Cayman Islands.

https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/update-on-upcoming-concacaf-qualifiers-in-march-2021

It looks like out of the 30 matches, 13 countries will actually play at home. For the other matches in our group, Suriname is playing the Cayman Islands in Suriname, Aruba is playing Suriname at IMG Academy in Bradenton, and Bermuda is playing Aruba in Bermuda.

Based on that we will play Cayman Islands in Florida or Dominican Republic. They seem to be the 2 most popular neutral locations.

[Floortom]

On 2/25/2021 at 2:44 PM, CanadaFan123 said:

The best strikers in CONCACAF are 1. Jimenez 2. David

Antonio would never be a starter on Lille. 

Antonio scored again today against City and now has 23 goals and assists in his last 33 Prem League starts. Not sure why he’s not good enough for Lille but concacaf CBs should be very worried 

[Dominic94]

Esta

19 hours ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Concerning that we don’t really have any “ideal” midfielders ready to go in March. With Hutchinson and Arfield out (supposedly) we are left with Eustaquio in form, who is a stud but has never started a match for Canada. 
 

Piette, Kaye, Osorio are all out of season. 
 

Trafford, Wotherspoon and Paton are all in season but would be risks as well. Wotherspoon seems to be having a decent season but was poor for us vs Cuba. 

Estaquio is the midfield, Hutch is there if we need him. Give us both and we’re set no CB’s needed.

[Alex]

This would be great for us if this happens. 

[narduch]

The Cayman Compass and Bermuda's Royal Gazette. The 2 best sources for info on our WCQ campaign.

Edited March 1, 2021 by narduch

[narduch]

7 minutes ago, Alex said:

This would be great for us if this happens. 

That article is 9 days old.

And not to get all hipster but I posted it in this forum 9 days ago.