Canada vs Cuba - Sat Sept 7th - game thread

[Macksam]

55 minutes ago, RJB said:

Sure it's possible, but we have to be realistic.  If we can get a single point against the USA over two games that would be a success in my opinion.  Nothing has happened under Herdman to suggest we can punch at their weight.  In fact, the opposite has happened: we failed miserably in our one test against Haiti. 

Of course we can beat them, but we are not at their level - even during this slump they are in. 

When was the last time we beat them?  1985, which means it would take a generational result.

https://www.11v11.com/teams/usa/tab/opposingTeams/opposition/Canada/

History doesn’t mean anything.

A single point would be a success? Not making it to the next round would be a success in your opinion? 

Sure, we’re not at their level but we’re not far off either.

[costarg]

3 hours ago, BrennanFan said:

After a second watch, I really don't think it's fair to say Kaye outplayed Osorio and won the position. 

Basing this on just the one game?  Cause i don't see where or how someone in 2019 says Osorio wins a position from Kaye.

[costarg]

9 hours ago, Macksam said:

Osorio over Arfield but that's my Brampton bias coming into play.

I've only been on this site for 4 months or so, however this is by far the craziest comment i've read on here.  Did i miss the joke or sarcasm?

[Macksam]

My Brampton bias coming into play? 

Brampton bias...

Osorio is from Brampton

I’m from Brampton

The implication being I am choosing Osorio over Arfield because I’m going to back my fellow brother from Brampton even if it doesn’t seem logical.

It was more or less me being playful.

What the F*CK is wrong with all of you?

Edited September 9, 2019 by Macksam

[Bison44]

You can even tell by Macksams pic....throw some curly black hair on it and a thin goatee...he looks like a cousin of Osorios.  😀 

[JuicyHam]

41 minutes ago, Macksam said:

History doesn’t mean anything.

A single point would be a success? Not making it to the next round would be a success in your opinion? 

Sure, we’re not at their level but we’re not far off either.

I'd say we're closer to the quality of the USA than the USA is to Mexico. I still think when it comes to depth and especially defensively we have a long way to go but we can beat them. Especially at home. These games also mean so much more for Canada than they do for the USA 

[SpursFlu]

Im not sure anyone else did but i watched the entire US Mexico game and outside of Pulisic on a few zigs and zags the US was painfully bad. Trying to play football and getting nowhere. Zardes is terrible. They're trying to bring in youth but nothing special at this point. I think we're in a good spot Because there is pressure to turn over the squad it their younger players arent there yet

[Big_M]

The USA situation is all on berhalter..he should be gone..with same players a good coach can do much better..trying to force them to pass around at the back against mexico even with pressure and when steffen cant make a proper pass most of the time..so dumb

[BrennanFan]

1 hour ago, costarg said:

Basing this on just the one game?  Cause i don't see where or how someone in 2019 says Osorio wins a position from Kaye.

I'm basing it off their entire trajectories as players.  In general, I see the two players basically at the same level, but I have more trust in Osorio based on his experience. 

[BrennanFan]

3 minutes ago, Big_M said:

The USA situation is all on berhalter..he should be gone..with same players a good coach can do much better..trying to force them to pass around at the back against mexico even with pressure and when steffen cant make a proper pass most of the time..so dumb

It was a friendly.  Trying to beat Mexico's press for 90 minutes is excellent training and will serve them well against our press in October.

[CanadaFan123]

22 hours ago, SkuseisLoose said:

Just thought I’d point out with David’s goal tonight he now holds the record for most goals scored by one player for Canada in one year with 8.

Who scored 7 in a year?  I've looked into this a bit today and I can't figure it out.. it wasn't any of the players in the top 10 scoring.

[SkuseisLoose]

15 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Who scored 7 in a year?  I've looked into this a bit today and I can't figure it out.. it wasn't any of the players in the top 10 scoring.

Igor Vrablic in 1985. His 7 goals were scored against Trinidad and Tobago(1), Jamaica(1), USA(2), Haiti(2(Seperate games)), Honduras(1).

[Bdog]

4 hours ago, nolando said:

I think both would be very disappointed to not get some minutes during this window. I would even go as far as to say a guy like Sam might consider his future participation if he is expected to regularly attend and never get PT.

Out of all pure LBs we have, Adekugbe is getting the most play time in a comparable to MLS league. I probably would be pissed if I were him. 

For Cordova I just want to see him finally play. Cuba won’t be a great team to evaluate defenders against but let’s see what we have. 

[spitfire]

It will be a different game in the Caymans the temperature is really high with high humidity 29 degrees at night.. just a note...

[RJB]

9 hours ago, Macksam said:

A single point would be a success? Not making it to the next round would be a success in your opinion?

Yes it would.  That would be progress as far as I'm concerned.  Anything can happen, and I'm quite hopeful, but we have to be honest with ourselves and say it will be quite tough to get more than one point against them in the pair of matches - which makes one point a great result.

[Macksam]

1 hour ago, RJB said:

Yes it would.  That would be progress as far as I'm concerned.  Anything can happen, and I'm quite hopeful, but we have to be honest with ourselves and say it will be quite tough to get more than one point against them in the pair of matches - which makes one point a great result.

I disagree completely. Anything less than a home win will be a dissapointment and that’s my honest assessment.

Edited September 9, 2019 by Macksam

[Obinna]

14 hours ago, Kadenge said:

True, but he is scoring for Gent at a good clip while playing behind the strikers. What Larin was lacking yesterday was someone to deliver that quick breaking pass. He was making some great runs and all he needed was a player like David to release the ball quickly into  space. I saw him getting frustrated a couple of times cause the mid was changing the play while he was breaking clear.Oso can be a little slow in doing that. I think David can do both ...score and create at CAM. 

I saw that with Larin too, but that's a matter of Osorio just picking up his head quicker and playing that ball. Same goes for Millar, who I think was guilty of that on one occasion too. 

The way Gent plays, David has room to roam and find himself in the box, but we are not set up like that, though you could make the argument we should, I guess.

I wouldn't change anything, personally. The team is playing well with David is leading the line. I would keep it that way and when Cavallini returns, maybe push david to the wing, maybe sit lucas, maybe sit junior, maybe play Alphonso at LB - these are going to be the options at this point, I think.

I really can't see us sacrificing numbers in the midfield so that David can roam in behind as a CAM. I think the balance in midfield is right for now.

Edited September 9, 2019 by Obinna

[Obinna]

15 hours ago, JuicyHam said:

He's also, in my opinion, our best playmaker. CAM puts him in the best position to excel at both and let's us also have Cavallini up top. 

He's been our best playmaker while playing at forward. That's the other side of the coin. The playmaking doesn't need to come from the CAM and like I say in the above post, our balance in midfield now is right. I wouldn't tinker with that. Kaye (in particular) has been doing a fine job advancing the ball to the forwards, just like at LAFC. That's all we need, to get the ball to our forwards and let them work, we don't need our best forward to play further back, nor do we need to sacrifice a man in midfield so he can play cam. 

[Obinna]

15 hours ago, BrennanFan said:

Its a good question.  David is on record saying his favoured position is striker, and Cavallini is not quite as clinical as David.  I really think it depends on who we are playing.  If we are not going to be seeing a lot of the ball, we will need Cavallini's presence to bring down long balls and hold up the play.  Otherwise David is our 9. 

This is precisely right in my opinion and this is what Herdman will do if I had to guess. Well said.

It means Cavallini may start on the bench, on occasion, but what a player to bring on. 

Same goes for Hoilett, yes he scored a hat-trick, but that means we can have a player capable of scoring a hat-trick off the bench.

For me, David and Davies are the only two players in the squad that will start no matter what.

[costarg]

12 hours ago, Macksam said:

My Brampton bias coming into play? 

Brampton bias...

Osorio is from Brampton

I’m from Brampton

The implication being I am choosing Osorio over Arfield because I’m going to back my fellow brother from Brampton even if it doesn’t seem logical.

It was more or less me being playful.

What the F*CK is wrong with all of you?

Ok i get it, you're from Brampton.  But you need to understand, bias aside, that just ain't gonna happen.  The only way you come anywhere close to seeing your bias play out is if CSA hires a head coach from Brampton, who is also blinded by a self-serving bias and love for all that is Brampton.  

The untouchables, in a competetive match right now are: David, Davies, Cavallini, Arfield, Kaye, Borjan, Henry and maybe Hoilett.

Dunno, but for me, country comes above all.  I'm an Impact fan, but regularly cheer for TFC, the Whitecaps and any other team playing Canadians (Orlando rules!) just to see our national team succeed and get one step closer to playing in the World Cup again. 

[Obinna]

14 hours ago, dyslexic nam said:

I consider this a mini version of the Davies-at-LB issue, though easier to resolve.   

David may be optimally played as a striker, but barring a downturn in form, I don’t envision a situation where Cav doesn’t get the start in a tough competitive game.  David at CAM and Cav up top is better than David up top and Cav riding the pine IMO.  

If push came to shove, it would be either hoilett riding the pine or Davies playing left back. Either of those is going to occur (and be better imo) than David as a cam in our system.

[Obinna]

My final word on the David to cam subject (for now) is to remind you all that David hasn't exclusively played at cam this season. If you look at the line ups, he's also played up front in a 2 and out wide in a 3 and perhaps this is why he's started out red hot.

Last season when he was moved to cam his assists went up but his goals went down.

I have only caught bits and pieces of Gent this season, so someone more in the know can correct me if I am wrong, but this is what I see from the line ups every time Gent plays... a lot of david as a forward in a 2 or (more often) in a 3.

[apbsmith]

11 hours ago, SpursFlu said:

Im not sure anyone else did but i watched the entire US Mexico game and outside of Pulisic on a few zigs and zags the US was painfully bad. Trying to play football and getting nowhere. Zardes is terrible. They're trying to bring in youth but nothing special at this point. I think we're in a good spot Because there is pressure to turn over the squad it their younger players arent there yet

100%.

Honestly, I'd be more worried if they decided to call in someone like Bobby Wood to play up top. He hasn't been called in a while and for me he's miles ahead of Zardes. 

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

35 minutes ago, Obinna said:

I have only caught bits and pieces of Gent this season, so someone more in the know can correct me if I am wrong, but this is what I see from the line ups every time Gent plays... a lot of david as a forward in a 2 or (more often) in a 3.

He normally starts behind two out and out strikers. Yaremchuck and Depoitre lately, Kubo earlier.  He roams a bit but is normally central.

Yaremchuck did not play last game and he was more a traditional CF.  

Later in games one of the forwards tends to be withdrawn, he moves up and he ends up scoring a number of his goals then, if I recall.  We all know he is great on the break and when other teams are chasing a game, he is often up front and dangerous. 

I would say he definitely scores more when he is actually playing forward but that is to be expected. 

Edit added : But he does not start or play there in  most of their 11 games so far and they have determined that is best for their team.  We have a similar decision to make, I would say.  

Edited September 9, 2019 by WestHamCanadianinOxford

[damaaster]

Just saw the post about Hoillett heading back to Cardiff...any update on Davies?

Just curious what kind of lineup to expect for tomorrow.