USA vs Canada - Friday Nov 15th, Orlando FL

[SpursFlu]

So the strategy again will be clog the midfield and giveaway widespaces. I ask the question..  who is better at clogging up the midfield than Aruba Hutchinson. The guy is literally nicknamed the Octopus 

Edited October 30, 2019 by SpursFlu

[Club Linesman]

Kaye coming in now.

[king1010]

36 minutes ago, SpursFlu said:

So the strategy again will be clog the midfield and giveaway widespaces. I ask the question..  who is better at clogging up the midfield than Aruba Hutchinson. The guy is literally nicknamed the Octopus 

Piette had one of the best performances ive ever seen in a Canada jersey clogging up the midfield against the states. The guy is literally nicknamed the Bulldog.

As other have stated, hutch mak and piette are all essentially level. Tough to choose btw them, but need to trust herdman to get it right. 

Edited October 30, 2019 by king1010

[hamiltonfan]

Kaye was quite in LA’s final game. 

I did not watch Hutch’s most recent match but if he’s called in camp, I suspect he will start

Edited October 30, 2019 by hamiltonfan

[SpursFlu]

1 hour ago, king1010 said:

Piette had one of the best performances ive ever seen in a Canada jersey clogging up the midfield against the states. The guy is literally nicknamed the Bulldog.

As other have stated, hutch mak and piette are all essentially level. Tough to choose btw them, but need to trust herdman to get it right. 

Yah i like Piette. The original question was does Atiba replace MAK or Liam Fraser or however you want to look at it

So I guess the un conventional 2 2 midfield

Piette Atiba

Osorio Arfield

Edited October 30, 2019 by SpursFlu

[Floortom]

We caught them off guard with our tactics last match. US will be much better prepared for our midfield strategy this time.

to me the big upside of going with MAK in a match like this is that he covers more ground (than atiba or Pierre) while also being able to advance the ball quickly. 

Pierre was amazing last match for sure. But he hasn’t played since that. Personally if we go with the exact same formation (which isn’t a guarantee IMO) I would go with Oso-Arf-Atiba-MAK and preserve Piette as an option for the second half if we’re in position to protect a result.

i also wouldn’t be at all surprised if Herdman goes with the exact same midfield and it would be perfectly reasonable to do so.

[dyslexic nam]

Yeah, I agree that Pierre and Aruba are our best combo.

Wait a sec...

[Ruud]

8 hours ago, hamiltonfan said:

Kaye was quite in LA’s final game. 

I did not watch Hutch’s most recent match but if he’s called in camp, I suspect he will start

he did what was needed offensively I think - but the damage was done.  I was surprised how good he looked all things considered.  Still, Seattle was very compact defensively which made it hard to find openings.  To be fair, one of his passes to Rossi should have led to a goal.

[apbsmith]

9 hours ago, king1010 said:

Piette had one of the best performances ive ever seen in a Canada jersey clogging up the midfield against the states. The guy is literally nicknamed the Bulldog.

As other have stated, hutch mak and piette are all essentially level. Tough to choose btw them, but need to trust herdman to get it right. 

Thank you for this post. Let's not forget this.

Piette also did not see the field in the Haiti game. 

I don't see the bulldog not starting, especially based on his last performance vs USA and the fact it is a road game.  

Herdman has lots of options and decisions but I don't see how Piette does not get the start.

Edited October 30, 2019 by apbsmith
Typo

[dyslexic nam]

Yeah, I can't see Piette sitting.  He may not be the most elegant passer, but he is a destroyer - and I don't think anyone on our team does that job better (even Atiba).  Given that our top priority 1 in the US will be defensive discipline, it would be crazy to bench him.  When he sits in the pocket  in front of our D, he adds a layer or protection that I just don't see from others.  It sure does create a selection issue though.  If Atiba comes back, and with the need for strong defensive shape, I wonder if we see Davies or Kaye pushed to LB.  If not, we are trying to accommodate Piette, Kaye, Hucth, Oso, Arfield, Cav, Hoilett, Davies and David among the mid and forward positions. 

 

[apbsmith]

10 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

Yeah, I can't see Piette sitting.  He may not be the most elegant passer, but he is a destroyer - and I don't think anyone on our team does that job better (even Atiba).  Given that our top priority 1 in the US will be defensive discipline, it would be crazy to bench him.  When he sits in the pocket  in front of our D, he adds a layer or protection that I just don't see from others.  It sure does create a selection issue though.  If Atiba comes back, and with the need for strong defensive shape, I wonder if we see Davies or Kaye pushed to LB.  If not, we are trying to accommodate Piette, Kaye, Hucth, Oso, Arfield, Cav, Hoilett, Davies and David among the mid and forward positions. 

 

Exactly, always easier to play Defence at home then on the road. I'm fairly certain the Americans will likely come out of the gate with a much higher level of intensity in what we saw at BMO. Having a guy like Piette to help match that intensity and help support the backline, to me is invaluable. 

Hopefully he has not loss that much match fitness, but knowing Piette I am sure he is beyond fired up for the rematch and is still putting in work like a boss.

After watching Liam Fraser come in dry with a 6+ week layoff, I'm confident based on Piette experience he will do fine.

[baulderdash77]

Based on last game it would stun me if Piette isn’t playing DM for us next game.  As others have stated he is unique and the best in our player pool in his ability to screen our defense and break up attacks.  For an away game this is essential.

Arfield remains our best CM player and the way Osorio has been playing I don’t see him being displaced either.  Arfield and Osorio dominated the US midfield last game and have the skills to do it again next game.

The question is the overall tactics.  If we come out in a midfield diamond again we won’t be surprising them like last time but the US will obviously have to make adjustments to their gameplan to counter this.  I don’t see a large talent difference in the midfield between their side and ours at the moment.

Our gameplan has to be neutralize Pulisic and win the midfield again though.  I wonder what Herdman is planning on for this game.

[baulderdash77]

The other thing the US will be looking to change is their defensive posture given how Davies and David played supported by Osorio, Arfield and Laryea last game.

At this point Davies is the best player on either team it looks like and the US will be working on a plan to try and limit the havoc he creates on their defence.

The game could easily have been a 4-1 thrashing if we had converted better.  I wonder if they will play a tighter defensive posture- like a 4-5-1 to counter us.  That would also clog the midfield quite a bit.

[dyslexic nam]

Given how much we agonize over who might sit, who plays, and what formation, I can only imagine how much Herdman stays awake at night thinking about this stuff. 

[JuicyHam]

22 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

Given how much we agonize over who might sit, who plays, and what formation, I can only imagine how much Herdman stays awake at night thinking about this stuff. 

I think the odds of herdman keeping the same formation in my opinion are close to zero. We're going to play different. On the road against a team who will probably have a lot more fire it just doesn't seem like we'll play the same style as we did in Toronto 

[CanadaFan123]

 

The greatest Canadian footballer in one of the biggest derbies in the world.  Do we still have questions?

FWIW Piette has been on the Amalfi coast crushing limoncellos and won't have played in 1 month.  I too thought he was outstanding against the USA and maybe he can somehow pair with Atiba, but if it's one or the other it's Atiba for me.

[El Hombre]

Its funny that everyone is talking about Piette and Hutch and MAK when the real selection issue is between Cornelius, Vitoria and Henry.

[Stouffvillain]

It was great that Canada beat the US two weeks ago but if Canada comes out and plays the same eleven and the same tactics they will get pummeled.  Herdman is smarter than that and it won't be the case this time around.  I know it is hard for people to sit someone after a great performance but to Herdman that match was a month ago.  Just because you played well on October 15 doesn't guarantee you a starting spot for November 15.  Hoilett scored a hat-trick against Cuba and then didn't start against the US.

This back to back match wasn't a surprise, I'm sure Herdman had drawn up a few strategies.  Something new will be unveiled and he will pick the squad based on that plan. 

 

[SpursFlu]

Why is it so hard for people to give Piette credit? Yet MAK has really not done much ever playing for Canada. I thought he was bad in the Gold Cup out of position and playing midfield. I know he was coming back from injury but I can only go by what I see. I'm not trying to slag MAK but I'm using it as an example compared to Piette who does nothing but play unreal and can't get no love. Why is he so hated on? I dont get it 

[Kadenge]

4 minutes ago, SpursFlu said:

Why is it so hard for people to give Piette credit? Yet MAK has really not done much ever playing for Canada. I thought he was bad in the Gold Cup out of position and playing midfield. I know he was coming back from injury but I can only go by what I see. I'm not trying to slag MAK but I'm using it as an example compared to Piette who does nothing but play unreal and can't get no love. Why is he so hated on? I dont get it 

Piette got loads of praise as he should have after the last game many calling him MOTM. He had a monster game. Many are just speculating on lineups. Keep in mind that nobody got that right last game not to mention the first sub!

[SpursFlu]

3 minutes ago, Kadenge said:

Piette got loads of praise as he should have after the last game many calling him MOTM. He had a monster game. Many are just speculating on lineups. Keep in mind that nobody got that right last game not to mention the first sub!

Here's something to get right. Based on what we have seen. Piette is our best defensive midfielder. Maybe the best in Concacaf

[Floortom]

25 minutes ago, SpursFlu said:

Here's something to get right. Based on what we have seen. Piette is our best defensive midfielder. Maybe the best in Concacaf

Lol. Slow down 

[BFBF]

30 minutes ago, SpursFlu said:

Here's something to get right. Based on what we have seen. Piette is our best defensive midfielder. Maybe the best in Concacaf

I love Piette, but it is easy to look really good in defence in a 4 man midfield. Piette often had US players with nowhere to go because they were being tracked already by multiple other Canadian midfielders. Piette is good, was MOTM last game, and probably should start the next game, but the reality is that game still flattered him. The US, and Canada's structure played right into his strengths. I think in that system, he is probably one of the best in CONCACAF, but in other systems probably not. If we play that same system, Piette is our guy, if we change, he might loose his spot.

[king1010]

When is the roster release? Saw the womens roster released today and for a split second thought it was the mens. 

[apbsmith]

8 hours ago, CanadaFan123 said:

 

The greatest Canadian footballer in one of the biggest derbies in the world.  Do we still have questions?

FWIW Piette has been on the Amalfi coast crushing limoncellos and won't have played in 1 month.  I too thought he was outstanding against the USA and maybe he can somehow pair with Atiba, but if it's one or the other it's Atiba for me.

Just for the record on my opinion, I think it's MAK or HUTCH (who take the spot of where Fraser/MAK played), not replace Hutch with Piette.

Although as mentioned above by JuciyHam, we likely will see an entire different formation set up anyway, so who knows.