Canada vs. United States (Nations League A) Tuesday, Oct. 15th, 2019 - 7:30pm EST

[CanadaFan123]

22 minutes ago, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

They are worth so much less, and the US game is so important for getting those NL final points opportunities.  It is a bit of gamble not scheduling one, we certainly will need it if we lose.  But it will be so hard even with it, if we lose (and the States do the expected business again over Cuba), that it is worth focusing on the one game.  I think. 

But based on some calculations here if we draw the US and El Salvador wins out then we’ll be one or two points back.  In that case a friendly could be huge.  

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

2 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

But based on some calculations here if we draw the US and El Salvador wins out then we’ll be one or two points back.  In that case a friendly could be huge.  

I agree, there are pros and cons either way but..

Because they are in League B, if they win out, they will have nothing but friendlies in the two windows before the deadline.  We will have the semi final and final/third place game of this competition, with x25 co-efficients and decent ranked teams.

We would still have to schedule well for March and win the games, but I feel like it would be in our hands.  

[BrennanFan]

In June 2020 when the spots are finalized, 6th spot could literally come down to a 1 or 2 point difference.  Of course we should play a friendly in November after the US game, but only if the opponent makes sense.

Trinidad just lost 2-0 to Venezuela, and Haiti lost 3-1 to Bolivia.  We can't stumble on an optional friendly.  We can't play teams likely to beat us.  We can't play a direct rival.  I would not even want to play a team like Bermuda or Dominican Republic, who have the skill to possibly upset us. 

I would be comfortable playing teams like Guyana or Puerto Rico, pick up my 2 FIFA points and go home.  2 is better than nothing and with the March dates, that could be 6 or 7 valuable points in total from friendlies.  

The only issue is that not many teams will be available for friendlies in November.  It may not work out.   

Edited October 17, 2019 by BrennanFan

[Floortom]

19 minutes ago, BrennanFan said:

In June 2020 when the spots are finalized, 6th spot could literally come down to a 1 or 2 point difference.  Of course we should play a friendly in November after the US game, but only if the opponent makes sense.

Trinidad just lost 2-0 to Venezuela, and Haiti lost 3-1 to Bolivia.  We can't stumble on an optional friendly.  We can't play teams likely to beat us.  We can't play a direct rival.  I would not even want to play a team like Bermuda or Dominican Republic, who have the skill to possibly upset us. 

I would be comfortable playing teams like Guyana or Puerto Rico, pick up my 2 FIFA points and go home.  2 is better than nothing and with the March dates, that could be 6 or 7 valuable points in total from friendlies.  

The only issue is that not many teams will be available for friendlies in November.  It may not work out.   

Good post. Would be interesting to see potential points from friendlies by caliber of opponent. A part of me would say if we’re scared to lose to Bermuda with our Hex hopes on the line we don’t deserve anything.

[maplebanana]

16 minutes ago, Floortom said:

Good post. Would be interesting to see potential points from friendlies by caliber of opponent. A part of me would say if we’re scared to lose to Bermuda with our Hex hopes on the line we don’t deserve anything.

Updating and reuploading plot I made earlier. 

Examples:

Easy Win: Our friends Dominica would net us 1.83

Tough Win: Curacao would net us 4.98 (this would be risky as hell since they are basically tied with us)

Stretch Goal: Jamaica would net us 6.07

Given that we'd be in Florida, would a friendly at Bradenton make sense? T&T would net us 3.1...

[CanSuffer]

1 hour ago, red card said:

Herdman interview on TSN Overdrive today. 

https://www.tsn.ca/video/herdman-shares-how-he-s-preparing-canada-s-national-team-for-the-2022-world-cup~1807161

 

Brilliant !

[Floortom]

50 minutes ago, maplebanana said:

Updating and reuploading plot I made earlier. 

Examples:

Easy Win: Our friends Dominica would net us 1.83

Tough Win: Curacao would net us 4.98 (this would be risky as hell since they are basically tied with us)

Stretch Goal: Jamaica would net us 6.07

Given that we'd be in Florida, would a friendly at Bradenton make sense? T&T would net us 3.1...

Of those I would target T&T.

i wonder about a friendly with Jamaica though - they would have nothing to play for and possibly would send a B team?

[BrennanFan]

Regarding a friendly in the second half of the November window:

Curacao and Panama are available for friendlies, but that would be risking a lot to direct competition.  Nope.

All the other league A and B teams, including TnT and Jamaica, are not available. 

Martinique and Sint Maarten are available, but they're not FIFA members.

The British Virgin Islands are available = 2 points.  Guatemala is available = 3 points.

I don't think one more point is worth the risk of playing Guatemala, especially after an emotional return game against the states.  We need to play a team that our bench players can beat handily.  I'm fine with BVI.  Lets make them an offer they can't refuse.

Edited October 18, 2019 by BrennanFan

[hamiltonfan]

BVI for two please. A Jamaica match up for six, so long as there is no implication for Jamaica.

Edited October 18, 2019 by hamiltonfan

[CanadianSoccerFan]

6 minutes ago, BrennanFan said:

Regarding a friendly in the second half of the November window:

Curacao and Panama are available for friendlies, but that would be risking a lot to direct competition.  Nope.

All the other league A and B teams, including TnT and Jamaica, are not available. 

Martinique and Sint Maarten are available, but they're not FIFA members.

The British Virgin Islands are available = 2 points.  Guatemala is available = 3 points.

I don't think one more point is worth the risk of playing Guatemala, especially after an emotional return game against the states.  We need to play a team that our bench players can beat handily.  I'm fine with BVI.  Lets make them an offer they can't refuse.

Panama is not available.  They're hosting UAE after the Mexico game.

[BrennanFan]

11 minutes ago, CanadianSoccerFan said:

Panama is not available.  They're hosting UAE after the Mexico game.

Thanks.  I haven't been able to find a reliable list of scheduled friendlies.

The other Asian teams not playing an official match in the second half of the Nov. window are:

Iran (20)
South Korea (37)
Australia (43)
Saudi Arabia (69)
China (73)
Bangladesh (183)

Not sure which of these countries, if any, have already booked friendlies.  I'd be happy to play Bangladesh, they're ranked slightly higher than BVI.  Any other team is not worth risking our points.  Unless, of course, we can work out a deal where our opponent agrees to play subs or youth players, but I don't think the CSA has mastered the dark arts of FIFA ranking manipulation to that extent yet.  Gifts would need to be exchanged...

[youllneverwalkalone]

Looks like Bolivia are free for a second match. Should be able to take them on neutral ground. (Although they did beat Haiti at altitude recently).

[vancanman]

2 hours ago, red card said:

Herdman interview on TSN Overdrive today. 

https://www.tsn.ca/video/herdman-shares-how-he-s-preparing-canada-s-national-team-for-the-2022-world-cup~1807161

 

He should be interviewing them.   First question:  Why didn't you f***ers broadcast this game?

[gigi riva]

Now we have to concentrate  on the next leg in November  

[Rocket Robin]

How Gareth Wheeler has changed in just over a year! Listen to him cut me off at the Toronto FC Q & A on Oct 6/18 (with him as the MC) when I ask Bill Manning and Tim Bezbatchenko about Canadians being pushed down the roster. Starts at the 36 minute mark. "Do you want to win or do you want to see Canadians play?" and "I've played Cdn soccer in Uni against US and we weren't anywhere good enough!" So is Gareth Wheeler changing because he's now drawing a second paycheque with the CPL league? Bonus: Listen to Tim B praise Liam Fraser's development.

http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports18/18tfc045.htm

http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports18/MannBez02.mp3 or skip right to the sound file. 36 minute mark!   

[Blackjack15]

The most CanMNT call up from the CPL Amer Didic Talked about his experience at that game 

[Gian-Luca]

Not sure if this was posted yet - Herdman & Borjan:

 

[CanadaFan123]

That’s awesome.  You can tell that what Borjan said about Herdman really touched him. 

[vancanman]

17 hours ago, Gian-Luca said:

Not sure if this was posted yet - Herdman & Borjan:

 

With the important stuff like such a great result, great atmosphere from what I've heard and great answers from these two, I can look past the typical off the pitch things the CSA still does like providing one mic for two people.

Thank you for posting this.

Edited October 19, 2019 by vancanman

[Kent]

On 10/16/2019 at 10:24 PM, DeRo_Is_King said:

Like many have already said, this was an excellent performance by Canada. The win is exactly what the team needed to distinguish itself from squads of the last decade and to show it can compete as a top team in Concacaf. Canada's last win against the U.S. may have been in 1985, but we were robbed in 2007. For me, the win tonight was retribution for that Gold Cup loss, and we didn't need a ref to bail us out. Great job to the whole gang. 

The awesome thing is that Davies was called offside when he was going to goal completely alone even though he was onside. He hadn’t put the ball in the net yet, but he very well could have. The difference between this game and 2007 is that we dominated so much that we could have that chance taken away from us and still win by a couple goals.

[narduch]

 

[Guest]

Did Mckinnie actually have a good game against us?

[Floortom]

Just now, canta15 said:

Did Mckinnie actually have a good game against us?

He definitely didn’t. I don’t think these selections are done with any deep analysis.

[Kadenge]

4 minutes ago, canta15 said:

Did Mckinnie actually have a good game against us?

Probably on the team for his 3 goals vs Cuba

[SpecialK]

pretty good podcast about the game and the  American coverage  (  at the beginning of the cast) and Davies vs  pulisic.