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

[Admin]

What's the point of all this.

[CanadaFan123]

Just win. That’s all that matters. 

[grigorio]

On 9/29/2019 at 7:25 PM, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

This match is also RIGHT after Thanksgiving.

This makes it more difficult to get people to commute to this after they have had a busy long-weekend.

People know they will still be in the Turkey coma.

Also more difficult to get to if you are from out of town.

You forgot to mention that the average temperature on October 15th is 12.78 degrees Celsius, which is clearly 3.22 C below optimal for attending a sports event outdoors. Also, the earlier dark evenings means that people’s seasonal affective disorder will be just about kicking in so going out and being social is the last thing on peoples minds. Lastly, by this time in October students will have an idea if they are falling behind in class and parents will be pressuring them to stay home and get their school work on track! 

CSA dropping the ball as usual!!

Edited October 1, 2019 by grigorio

[SkuseisLoose]

3 hours ago, admin said:

There is no precedence for 20K games anywhere as a regular thing. 

When you search numbers for Vancouver, make sure you do a search for Burnaby too.

I think, Edmonton, Vancouver and Toronto have all cracked 20K three times. 




 

Big surprise we weren’t getting 20,000 into a 5000 seat stadium which doesn’t even have individual seats. The difference here is that Toronto has had 17 games since 2010 and has gotten over 20,000 in attendance once while Vancouver has had 3 of their 4 total since 2010 with over 20k in attendance.

[Admin]

1 minute ago, SkuseisLoose said:

Big surprise we weren’t getting 20,000 into a 5000 seat stadium which doesn’t even have individual seats. The difference here is that Toronto has had 17 games since 2010 and has gotten over 20,000 in attendance once while Vancouver has had 3 of their 4 total since 2010 with over 20k in attendance.

I was at many of those games, and they were not sold out.  I was surprised at the attendances of games in Toronto when looking at the past. I thought they would be closer to Swanguard numbers, they were not.  In either case, high or low the past does not matter. 

I just don't give a shit about this. If Vancouver wants games, get Kerfoot's stadium built with grass.   The players want to play in Toronto. Their words, and their opinion matters. 

I would like to not be spending money on airfare for this game I don't have. 

This whole thing is exhausting, and frankly almost none of this is fun anymore.  

[JamboAl]

Too much time between matches creates these types of Toronto vs Vancouver discussions.  I blame the CSA.  Goddamit, organize a friendly against Greenland so we have something else to talk about.  

Seriously, I don’t care where we play as long as the players want to play there and at least 24 people show up.

[Gian-Luca]

9 hours ago, Kent said:

Um, not in Toronto we don't. I guess you are only a couple thousand high based on the numbers from 2012. Here are WCQ in Toronto in reverse chronological order.

2015-09-04 against Belize. 10,412
2015-06-16 against Dominica. 9,749
2012-10-12 against Cuba. 17,712
2012-09-07 against Panama. 17,586
2012-06-12 against Honduras. 16,132
2011-11-15 against St. Kitts and Nevis. 10,235
2011-10-11 against Puerto Rico. 12,178
2011-09-02 against St. Lucia. 11,500
2008-08-20 against Jamaica. 21,978
2000-11-15 against Mexico. 6,465
1993-05-09 against Mexico. 19,185
1992-11-01 against Jamaica. 6,526
1985-08-17 against Costa Rica. 13,486
1980-10-18 against Mexico. 6,371
1972-08-24 against Mexico. 12,187
1968-10-17 against USA. 5,959
1968-10-06 against Bermuda. 4,131

Only over 18k 2 times in World Cup Qualifying history in Toronto.

I"m pretty sure that the 1993 game against Mexico the figure is paid attendance but actual attendance would have been 1500-2000 people higher. There were tons of Mexican fans who got into the stadium without having tickets, as security for that game was absolutely terrible. There were people (actual ticket holders) forced to sit in the aisles because big fat Mexican dudes were sitting in their seats and the security  (mainly milquetoast volunteers, not the professional types you see nowadays at BMO Field) wouldn't move them. And believe me, they were big and fat. I can recall two huge Mexican guys sitting in seats two rows in front of me and their arses were large enough collectively to take up the equivalent of three seats. (Remember, Varsity had benches in those days so two Mexican lard-arsed fat asses could easily take up three seats back then).

Part of the problem I think for the upcoming game is that not enough people understand what the hell the Nations League is or how crucial it might be for World Cup Qualifying as the qualifying system is bizarre and difficult for even pundits to understand or fully grasp, never mind the fans. As well, if the game is not on TSN, there's no network pushing the game in the "traditional" media, which would affect attendance anywhere in the country. I think what can help get the more casual fan out to this game is if the Rosters are released earlier enough, getting the local media to play up the "TFC Civil War" aspect of it as that's a good hook for the local media outlets to talk about - a far better hook than "This might be a must-win for Canada or it might not be - we don't really know because the FIFA rankings and Concacaf qualifying system is f*cked in the head, and what the hell is Nation's League anyway" is and has been (although if the TFC trio aren't called to the US team, then this goes out the window).

Edited October 1, 2019 by Gian-Luca

[kacbru]

1 hour ago, Gian-Luca said:

"This might be a must-win for Canada or it might not be - we don't really know because the FIFA rankings and Concacaf qualifying system is f*cked in the head, and what the hell is Nation's League anyway"

I've heard that the best marketing strategy is to tell the truth.  It might not work in this instance!

[king1010]

Looks like a bunch of tickets moved overnight judging by the ticketmaster map. It could be that some were taken off to be sold on groupon though, this happened for the Cuba game. I think there were around 600 groupons bought for the Cuba game. 

[Alex]

Roster is out!!!!!

[Alex]

K- Milan Borjan | SRB / FK Crvena zvezda (Red Star Belgrade)
GK- Maxime Crépeau | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
GK- Jayson Leutwiler | ENG / Blackburn Rovers
CB- Derek Cornelius | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
CB- Amer Didić | CAN / FC Edmonton
CB- Doneil Henry | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
CB- Steven Vitória | POR / Moreirense FC
FB- Samuel Adekugbe | NOR / Vålerenga Fotball
FB- Juan Córdova | CHI / CD Huachipato
FB- Richie Laryea | CAN / Toronto FC
FB- Kamal Miller | USA / Orlando City SC
M- Scott Arfield | SCO / Glasgow Rangers FC
M- Stephen Eustáquio | MEX / Cruz Azul FC
M- Will Johnson | USA / Orlando City SC
M- Mark-Anthony Kaye | USA / Los Angeles FC
M- Jonathan Osorio | CAN / Toronto FC
M- Samuel Piette | CAN / Impact de Montréal
M- Russell Teibert | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
F- Lucas Cavallini | MEX / Puebla FC
F- Jonathan David | BEL / KAA Gent
F- Alphonso Davies | GER / FC Bayern München
F- David Junior Hoilett | WAL / Cardiff City FC
F- Liam Millar | SCO / Kilmarnock FC

[Floortom]

Eustaquio  is a surprise but I dont think he plays - good for him to get integrated though.

Some other surprises (Didic?) but pretty consistent with expectations.

No larin or Atiba though

And isnt Doneil suspended??

Edited October 1, 2019 by Floortom

[dyslexic nam]

A few takeaways:

Eustaquio is in

Hutch is out.  He has been coming on for Besiktas, so does this mean is he out?

No Larin (at a time when he finally seems to be hitting stride (may have been left at club to focus on that).

[king1010]

Wow. No Larin. Eustaquio in. Henry in despite one game suspension. Didic in 

 

Edited October 1, 2019 by king1010

[dyslexic nam]

1 minute ago, Floortom said:

Eustaquio  is a surprise but I dont think he plays - good for him to get integrated though.

Some other surprises (Didic?) but pretty consistent with expectations.

No larin or Atiba though

And isnt Doneil suspended??

Lol.  Beat me by a second or two.

As for Henry, would this be the 23 man roster for both games?

[Alex]

It states in the article that Henry is suspended but will join for training camp

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

Larin is a surprise to me.  5 forwards for 6 slots and 7 midfielders for the same.

 

 

[king1010]

1 minute ago, dyslexic nam said:

Lol.  Beat me by a second or two.

As for Henry, would this be the 23 man roster for both games?

The next game is a month later? The Henry inclusion is an odd one. Maybe just bringing him in so he doesnt miss a beat come november. 

[king1010]

1 minute ago, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

Larin is a surprise to me.  5 forwards for 6 slots and 7 midfielders for the same.

 

 

Ya. Hopefully someone can ask Herdman about Larin. Seemed to be picking up in form. Does his team have games through the international break? 

[SpursFlu]

Wonder if Estaquio could possible draw right in?

[Obinna]

Didic is the obvious shock pick. Not a massive fan, but I am happy for him as I would be for any player picked from the CPL.

I think Hutchinson's absence gives Didic an opportunity.

Close second in terms of surprises is Larin. I wonder what is behind that? He's made several camps now, some would argue undeservingly, but now that he is scoring again for club he is dropped?

Looks like I may have been wrong about Cordova being behind Brault-guillard. He must be disappointed to miss out on a second camp in a row, but the flipside is that Herdman rates Cordova enough to recall him, which is a good sign.

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

4 minutes ago, king1010 said:

Ya. Hopefully someone can ask Herdman about Larin. Seemed to be picking up in form. Does his team have games through the international break? 

No, this Saturday and then the 19th.  
 

[Mikmacdo]

I like it, i bet zator was left out to focus on the cpl Championship and i saw some ranking that had didic as the best defender in the cpl. 

[BFBF]

Didic is the best CB in the league. Glad he got a call up. Having watched him a lot, I think he is a lot better than people think. Very good one on one and always wins in the air. Has been paired with Temguia, who is always out of position, so Didic sometimes look off, but usually not his play. 

Only real worry with him is players who go over easily. He puts in strong tackles which sometimes look bad, even if they aren't a foul. Hondurans would be "dying" all game. Didic just needs to work on being a bit more subtle in the challenge.

[Corazon]

The season is over for Whitecaps after this weekend, so Henry will have no club commitment and likely to stay with Canada for training purposes.  Not that anyone probably had a doubt but this clearly shows that Henry is considered an integral part of this program going forward for the near future.

Goalies: Borjan & Crepeau are clear #1 & 2 and the 3rd is up for grabs every camp.

CenterBacks: Henry, Cornelius & Vitoria clear top 3 right now.  4th position is up for grabs every camp.  I personally still like James but agree he isn't playing enough and hasn't done enough to warrant automatic call up like Hoilett or Davies for example.

Outside Backs:  Adekugbe & Miller at LB & Cordova & Laryea at RB.  This is spot on for me.  I think ZBG is slightly on the outside right now although he could slot in and Cordova could move left.  Also love Miller's capability to play centrally as well.

Midfield - Spot on again.  Unsure about Atiba's future but I would have him over WJ at this point if he's still part of the program.  Excited that Eustaquio is in camp.

Attackers - Larin the only surprise omission given his form but I am okay with him staying back this camp to continue to progress with his club.  Tesho unfortunately has slowed as the season ends.

In an ideal world: Tomori, Atiba & Larin are the only 3 I would include on my squad.  Yes I'm still hoping for Tomori.