The Road to Qatar.

[gigi riva]

I know for one thing Canada v El Salvador we would kick there behinds home and away  I still think that loss to Haiti really screwed things up

[Obinna]

1 minute ago, gigi riva said:

I know for one thing Canada v El Salvador we would kick there behinds home and away  I still think that loss to Haiti really screwed things up

Another game with Davies at left back, another loss.

Just like the game in Orlando.

[costarg]

28 minutes ago, DavemTFC said:

Would be cool if there was anyone in mainstream Canadian media who would call them out on this, but then they probably wouldn't be invited onto Herdman's bench

Too busy discussing which road Connor McDavid will take to the arena for practice.  Everything goes to Hockey here, its just about the hockey.  And they've all received too many concussions to realize how insane it is.

Ya, i'm bitter.

[Obinna]

10 minutes ago, costarg said:

Too busy discussing which road Connor McDavid will take to the arena for practice.  Everything goes to Hockey here, its just about the hockey.  And they've all received too many concussions to realize how insane it is.

Ya, i'm bitter.

With the PL going to DAZN, the mainstream sports media (tsn/sportsnet) is left with MLS and the Bundesliga respectively. That's it.

So the good news TFC, Impact and the Whitecaps are getting more mainstream media coverage than they would otherwise.

But it's a larger slice of a shrinking pie. 

So no worries about their obsession with hockey. Their platform is not the be-all, end-all it was a decade ago.

Edited November 29, 2019 by Obinna

[Bertuzzi44]

4 hours ago, Ove said:

2019 record for CONCACAF top-10

 

	Total	Gold Cup	Nations League	Friendlies
Mexico	17	6	4	7
USA	18	6	4	8
Costa Rica	13	4	4	5
Jamaica	14	5	7	2
Honduras	12	3	4	5
El Salvador	14	3	7	4
Canada	9	4	5	0
Curacao	11	4	5	2
Panama	12	4	4	4
Haiti	14	5	5	4

 

 

Pathetic. And now we have a coach who won't push the federation for more games, which is the one person who usually would.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

5 hours ago, Obinna said:

How is it that Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, can afford 4 friendlies, but we cannot afford to play any.

Riddle me that, CSA apologiests.

As I sit in Port-au-Prince, Haiti writing this comment, remember that the federation is willing to take up all offers from other countries regardless of the travel involved and NEVER EVER EVER plays a friendly at home.

Haiti will not hesitate to impose crazy travel schedules upon their players for friendlies like before the Gold Cup when they played in D.C. before flying down to Chile before flying back up to North America.

Do we want to impose this level of travel on our players?

[Obinna]

20 minutes ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

As I sit in Port-au-Prince, Haiti writing this comment, remember that the federation is willing to take up all offers from other countries regardless of the travel involved and NEVER EVER EVER plays a friendly at home.

Haiti will not hesitate to impose crazy travel schedules upon their players for friendlies like before the Gold Cup when they played in D.C. before flying down to Chile before flying back up to North America.

Do we want to impose this level of travel on our players?

Well, Haiti did knock us out in the Gold Cup, so all that traveling didn't adversely affect them, apparently. Perhaps playing against Chile pre-Gold Cup may have helped them in some way.....

I wonder if our players would have a problem with crazy travel if it meant playing extra games?

Edited November 29, 2019 by Obinna

[Ansem]

1 hour ago, Bertuzzi44 said:

Pathetic. And now we have a coach who won't push the federation for more games, which is the one person who usually would.

We dont want to piss of Sinclair by making sure we aren't spending more than the women side?

Too soon?

[Obinna]

Ultimately this team, program and association will be judged on the results. If the team fails to qualify, there is no excuse that will be acceptable. No other cycle have we had this much talent.

We have one teenager who may win the golden boot and/or player of the year in Belgium, and we have another who is playing regularly for Bayern Munich. Even without those teenagers we have a supporting cast with more talent than we have seen since 07, if not ever. 

We can make excuses as to why we don't play friendlies, or don't get into the Hex, or don't have the money because of xyz, but if we don't make the world cup (or at least come damn close) with this group of players, it will be a big failure.

[Obinna]

4 minutes ago, Ansem said:

We dont want to piss of Sinclair by making sure we aren't spending more than the women side?

Too soon?

Nope.

[Obinna]

Maybe the Hex strategy should be to play 4 friendly games against top countries.

Brazil, Argentina, France, England. 

If those aren't available, move on to Belgium, Italy, Holland, Uruguay. If those aren't available, keep going down the list...It doesn't really matter who, but the bigger the name and higher the ranking, the better.

Play them all at home, either Toronto or Vancouver, and sell a gang of tickets and make a ton of cash off these big names. Why not? We could probably sell out BMO with an opponent like Brazil, or come damn near close to a sell out at BC Place.

Anyway, we would likely lose all 4, but we may as well go for it, right? Even if we win 1 we would get a bunch of points and if we lose we wouldn't lose much anyways. We have nearly 15 points to make up, so no need to play it safe by arranging games against teams of our calibre.

Edited November 29, 2019 by Obinna

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

1 hour ago, Ansem said:

We dont want to piss of Sinclair by making sure we aren't spending more than the women side?

Too soon?

Really? This isn't about the women's side. This is about other countries wanting to play against us (or not) and how much the CSA and the players are willing to bend over backwards to make that happen.

Look at the Haiti squad...

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti_national_football_team

...then look at the clubs they play at. If it's a big club, look at how much playing time they get. International matches allow many of these guys to be in the "shop window" so to speak and give them exposure that frankly Borjan, Davies, David etc don't need because those guys really want to make sure that they get enough rest and can continue to perform at a top level for their clubs.

Also, FHF boss Dr. Yves Jean Bart and the rest of the federation regular complain to the media and the government itself about the lack of funding and the press will play along in this "shame the government" game because football is culturally important to the national psyche.

The country and government are dirt poor but the FHF will get funding from them because even the poorest on the street want the government to fund the federation adequately. No other sport will get any kind of serious funding - breadcrumbs or nothing at all. Haiti could rival Jamaica in track and field but ..no money is ever invested...NONE.

The CSA can't bitch to The Sun/CTV/CBC/Radio-Canada/LaPresse/TVA or whoever that they want a few more millions from the Federal Government for friendlies and expect the public to pressure their MPs to include a raise for the CSA in their next budget. The general public doesn't care about the CSA, the #CanMNT and the #CanWNT.

As I am a writing this I can hear the kids finishing up a pickup game in the street; a little further down 4 hours earlier it was some late teens playing another game on the street. You can't blame the #CanWNT for the #CanMNT's funding problems. There is just a different culture down here. There is a public expectation for the Haitian team that doesn't exist for the #CanMNT despite the fact that Haiti has failed to qualify for the World Cup for longer then we have.

 

Edited November 29, 2019 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[Ansem]

27 minutes ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

Really? This isn't about the women's side. This is about other countries wanting to play against us (or not) and how much the CSA and the players are willing to bend over backwards to make that happen.

Look at the Haiti squad...

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti_national_football_team

...then look at the clubs they play at. If it's a big club, look at how much playing time they get. International matches allow many of these guys to be in the "shop window" so to speak and give them exposure that frankly Borjan, Davies, David etc don't need because those guys really want to make sure that they get enough rest and can continue to perform at a top level for their clubs.

Also, FHF boss Dr. Yves Jean Bart and the rest of the federation regular complain to the media and the government itself about the lack of funding and the press will play along in this "shame the government" game because football is culturally important to the national psyche.

The country and government are dirt poor but the FHF will get funding from them because even the poorest on the street want the government to fund the federation adequately. No other sport will get any kind of serious funding - breadcrumbs or nothing at all. Haiti could rival Jamaica in track and field but ..no money is ever invested...NONE.

The CSA can't ***** to The Sun/CTV/CBC/Radio-Canada/LaPresse/TVA or whoever that they want a few more millions from the Federal Government for friendlies and expect the public to pressure their MPs to include a raise for the CSA in their next budget. The general public doesn't care about the CSA, the #CanMNT and the #CanWNT.

As I am a writing this I can hear the kids finishing up a pickup game in the street; a little further down 4 hours earlier it was some late teens playing another game on the street. You can't blame the #CanWNT for the #CanMNT's funding problems. There is just a different culture down here. There is a public expectation for the Haitian team that doesn't exist for the #CanMNT despite the fact that Haiti has failed to qualify for the World Cup for longer then we have.

 

I was joking lol

[gator]

11 hours ago, Obinna said:

How is it that Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, can afford 4 friendlies, but we cannot afford to play any.

Riddle me that, CSA apologiests.

This is a hot potato that I really can't get into, it doesn't seem to make sense what other countries can afford and we can't! 

[Bison44]

Just to be a shit disturber, but if we go back a few more years...when Herdman was in charge of the women..did they still play more friendlies than the mens program??  I think I know the answer....so its not Herdman who is averse to playing friendlies.  

[SpursFlu]

All you have to is look at the data that was shared in another thread comparing revenue between Canada and Australia. There just isn't enough revenue being generated by the national team

[RS]

Haiti is another team that doesn't host friendlies. Therefore, it's not on the hook for those costs.

Based on the locations of the games (U.S., Chile, Costa Rica, Bolivia), all four of Haiti's 2019 friendlies were ostensibly paid for by another federation or promoter. It's not being a "CSA apologist" to point out this very obvious factor.

Canada needs to be a more attractive opponent if it wants more friendlies. Simple as that.

[dyslexic nam]

So we just need to whore ourselves out to whoever wants to get lucky. 

[SpursFlu]

48 minutes ago, RS said:

Haiti is another team that doesn't host friendlies. Therefore, it's not on the hook for those costs.

Based on the locations of the games (U.S., Chile, Costa Rica, Bolivia), all four of Haiti's 2019 friendlies were ostensibly paid for by another federation or promoter. It's not being a "CSA apologist" to point out this very obvious factor.

Canada needs to be a more attractive opponent if it wants more friendlies. Simple as that.

The reality is nobody in the football world thinks anything of us

[king1010]

7 hours ago, Ove said:

Another of today's CONCACAF realities is; that even if a country advances to the semi-final stage of the Gold Cup and/or Nations League, it will still have to play a minimum of two friendlies per year in order to qualify for the HEX.

	Total	Gold Cup	Nations League	Friendlies
Mexico	17	6	4	7
USA	18	6	4	8
Costa Rica	13	4	4	5
Jamaica	14	5	7	2
Honduras	12	3	4	5
El Salvador	14	3	7	4
Canada	9	4	5	0
Curacao	11	4	5	2
Panama	12	4	4	4
Haiti	14	5	5	4

 

It is also a fact that Canadians will turn out in large numbers to support the Men's national team when it competes against the world's elite:

The June 5, 1994 attendance for the Canada vs. Brazil (1-1) friendly, at Commonwealth Stadium, in Edmonton, was 51,936

 

Under the current World Cup qualifying format:  No Friendlies = No HEX

Canadians will turn up against the Worlds elite, but not necessarily to support the MNT. A lot of those who show up for marquee opponents are there to see in person the football elites, not cheer on the MNT. 

[king1010]

On 11/28/2019 at 8:35 PM, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

Oohhh boyyyy,

http://www.twitter.com/JeremyFilosa/status/1200219297676759040

Well it makes sense. In March they are spending money on the U23 team in Mexico + the #CanWNT in France.

Will they play friendlies in June simply for to prepare for September?

Wasnt Herdman on record saying they would be looking for friendlies in March? 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

17 minutes ago, king1010 said:

Wasnt Herdman on record saying they would be looking for friendlies in March? 

Yes. The higher ups at the CSA can always overule him.

[SerTwenty]

13 hours ago, RS said:

Canada needs to be a more attractive opponent if it wants more friendlies. Simple as that.

And yet we played more friendlies when we were a worse team.

[CANMNT_SUPERFAN]

Ridicolous!!!!!

[Blackdude]

2 hours ago, SerTwenty said:

And yet we played more friendlies when we were a worse team.

Because European teams were looking for teams to host.