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

[Guest]

Like everyone else, surprised Larin didn’t make it.

[BrennanFan]

Didic and Henry will certainly not play.  Wasted picks for me, and Eustaquio may be the same. 

I'm really not happy about Atiba not being there, although I acknowledge this could easily have been Atiba's decision.

Larin, Akindele, Straith, ZBG, Carducci all left out.

Overall this is a talented, deep squad, with plenty of experience supporting our young guns.

It's time to put up or shut up.  Let's do this.

[SkuseisLoose]

I haven’t seen enough Edmonton games to judge Didic standard of play but I can’t see how he is better than James.

[El Hombre]

Goddamn its going to be hard to pick a front 6.  Right now I have Davies, Cavallini and David with Arfield, Kaye and Piette behind them.  Tough to leave off Osorio and Hoilett.

[BrennanFan]

Regarding Osorio vs. Kaye, I think Osorio has had the more impressive Aug-Sept for his club, but more importantly I think it will come down to how aggressive Herdman wants to be out of the gate. Osorio is more attacking, while Kaye is much more balanced in his defending.  Kaye may be the better option to make sure we don't get caught on the counter. 

[dyslexic nam]

12 minutes ago, El Hombre said:

Goddamn its going to be hard to pick a front 6.  Right now I have Davies, Cavallini and David with Arfield, Kaye and Piette behind them.  Tough to leave off Osorio and Hoilett.

Your first three are undroppabe IMO.  Kaye also seems like he has to be in the starting 11.  You need a CDM - especially since CB is our weakest area - so Piette has to be in (with Hutch not called and assuming Eustaquio isn't tossed right into the thick of it).    That leaves one of Arfield, Oso, and Hoilett.  But Hoilett is a winger so probably doesn't start on the field.  That leaves you with Oso vs Arfield, and I think Super Scotty gets the nod.

The math holds up.

Edited October 1, 2019 by dyslexic nam

[Shway]

I still say this:

--------------------Cavallini---------------

Davies-----------David----------Hoilett 

------------Kaye-------------Arfield---------

People's affinity for what Piette does can be compensated with what Kaye does. Go check their opta stats and see to believe. 

I want to win.

Edited October 2, 2019 by Shway

[SpecialK]

The token CPL pick is just  amateur !!!! 

[SpursFlu]

Guys Davies is a left back.. deal with it

[Shway]

1 minute ago, SpursFlu said:

Guys Davies is a left back.. deal with it

Maybe at Bayern...but Canada hes our best LW. (he's just like Alaba) 

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

4 minutes ago, Shway said:

I still say this:

--------------------Cavallini---------------

Davies-----------David----------Hoilett 

------------Kaye-------------Arfield---------

People's infinity for what Piette does can be compensated with what Kaye does. Go check their opta stats and see to believe. 

I want to win.

I love David being there, my problem with that is you are essentially telling Arfield he can't get forward (part of his game) without opening up a huge hole to counter attack into.  

 

[Lansdude]

5 minutes ago, Shway said:

I still say this:

--------------------Cavallini---------------

Davies-----------David----------Hoilett 

------------Kaye-------------Arfield---------

People's infinity for what Piette does can be compensated with what Kaye does. Go check their opta stats and see to believe. 

I want to win.

I also think this is our best line up with good enough ball winning and composure in the midfield but a sturdy DM with a tougher style is going to go in there.

[Obinna]

3 minutes ago, Shway said:

I still say this:

--------------------Cavallini---------------

Davies-----------David----------Hoilett 

------------Kaye-------------Arfield---------

People's infinity for what Piette does can be compensated with what Kaye does. Go check their opta stats and see to believe. 

I want to win.

David as a CAM has been debated ad nauseam, with good points made on both sides. I will say though that such a change for such an important game would be a big surprise.

As for Piette, I think he plays. Whether we like it or not, it will almost certainly come down to him or Eustaquio, who will probably not play in a came of this magnitude. If he does, it will certainly be off the bench.

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

4 minutes ago, SpecialK said:

The token CPL pick is just  amateur !!!! 

...and is quite a surprising one. Tristan Borges would probably be the name mentioned by most people in that regard, but it will also no doubt be related to how much depth there is at each position.

[SpursFlu]

4 minutes ago, Shway said:

Maybe at Bayern...but Canada hes our best LW. (he's just like Alaba) 

I think Hoilett is a better LW than Davies

Davies is a better LB than Adekugbe

Its simple to me

Edited October 1, 2019 by SpursFlu

[BrennanFan]

1 minute ago, SpursFlu said:

I think Hoilett is a better LW than Davies

Davies' game is much better suited to bringing a spark off the bench against tired legs.

[Shway]

6 minutes ago, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

I love David being there, my problem with that is you are essentially telling Arfield he can't get forward (part of his game) without opening up a huge hole to counter attack into.  

 

I agree, I just think we should go for an early goal and then sit back/make adjustments like Piette in Kaye. 

 

6 minutes ago, Obinna said:

David as a CAM has been debated ad nauseam, with good points made on both sides. I will say though that such a change for such an important game would be a big surprise.

The thing is David is not really a 1v1 player, his skillset is finding/creating space for himself. So if he's not at striker or in the CAM position I think he gets lost - like he did against Cuba away. 

6 minutes ago, Obinna said:

As for Piette, I think he plays. Whether we like it or not, it will almost certainly come down to him or Eustaquio, who will probably not play in a came of this magnitude. If he does, it will certainly be off the bench.

This is true. I just think this is the best time to go for it. There's no point in playing conservative when we have nothing to lose but everything to gain if we grab the win. The USA are figuring things out, so this is the most opportunistic time to try a smash and grab. 

IIRC isn't a draw is as bad as a loss in regards to rankings. 

[SpursFlu]

8 minutes ago, BrennanFan said:

Davies' game is much better suited to bringing a spark off the bench against tired legs.

I don't know. Davies is a better defender, harder worker, better passer, better running with the ball at his feet in to space, better ball winner. I think it's a push them dribbling in tight spaces. They're both amazing at that. Hoilett is a better goal scorer. So make your choice 

[Obinna]

6 minutes ago, Shway said:

The thing is David is not really a 1v1 player, his skillset is finding/creating space for himself. So if he's not at striker or in the CAM position I think he gets lost - like he did against Cuba away. 

This is true. I just think this is the best time to go for it. There's no point in playing conservative when we have nothing to lose but everything to gain if we grab the win. The USA are figuring things out, so this is the most opportunistic time to try a smash and grab. 

IIRC isn't a draw is as bad as a loss in regards to rankings. 

Agreed that 1v1 is not David's strength, but it doesn't have to be. We have seen him play out wide and find pockets to operate in. He was isolated out wide against Cuba though, no doubt about it.

I have more faith in David as a wide forward if he's more narrow and not actually expected to provide the width. Ultimately though, I want him playing down the middle, whether that is CAM or CF.

As far as I know a draw is better than a loss in terms of FIFA points, but I could be wrong...

I don't see Piette as the conservative option by the way. I don't think we get more team offensive without him. If Kaye and Arfield split his defensive duties, I think we get less offensive from each, resulting in the same offensive potential overall, except with a much larger defensive risk for the reasons pointed out by@WestHamCanadianinOxford

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

10 minutes ago, SpursFlu said:

Hoilett is a better goal scorer. 

For club, Hoilett this year has scored one goal in 303 minutes while Davies has scored one goal in 122 in a better league but with a better team.  I would say Hoillet is the better crosser though. 

[SpursFlu]

4 minutes ago, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

For club, Hoilett this year has scored one goal in 303 minutes while Davies has scored one goal in 122 in a better league but with a better team.  I would say Hoillet is the better crosser 

Numbers

[Lansdude]

We'll see what happens on the field, but I'm a lot more optimistic about our back four situation now. Regardless of who gets called for the U.S., can we really think of this team as underdogs?

[deschamp86]

Herdman: Those (CPL players) who are playing regularly, they know they have more of a chance of getting called up than a guy sitting on the bench in a league somewhere in Europe

Also Herdman: Calls up Leutwiler over any of the Canadians starting for CPL teams

[SpecialK]

3 minutes ago, Lansdude said:

We'll see what happens on the field, but I'm a lot more optimistic about our back four situation now. Regardless of who gets called for the U.S., can we really think of this team as underdogs?

Really ? 

2 rookie MLS CB’s , 1  suspended veteran CB , 1 CB veteran who is getting his career back on track and 1 token CPL CB when there are better options out there. 

[Mikmacdo]

I would play a 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 with

Borjan

Laryea-Vitoria-cornelius-miller

Hoilet-piette-kaye-davies

David-cav