WCQ: Haiti vs Canada - Saturday, June 12th, 5pm Eastern / 2pm Pacific - Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince

[BigMo]

2 hours ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Wild. He's an important player for them.

 

Would you mind sharing the Reddit link?

 

Says he visited the team before their Nicaragua match and that there's a strong possibility he will be reintegrated into the squad.

[dyslexic nam]

10 minutes ago, BigMo said:

 

Says he visited the team before their Nicaragua match and that there's a strong possibility he will be reintegrated into the squad.

I find it hard to believe that they won’t be able to resolve this in a way that lets them be as competitive as possible in such a crucial pair of games.  

[SpecialK]

4 hours ago, Shway said:

I'm not against Arfield...but stop treating him like he's the messiah..."the team would be A LOT better with him in it".
The team would be better with a fully fit Osorio - let's start there.

We have quality, quality players in the midfield with each player bringing in individual skillsets. I don't think we would see a massive difference, as last night each of those guys played their role. 

Let's respect the guys who are here and committed to the job of getting us to the Ocho.

With 3 game windows, we'll need a big squad anyways.

He’s not a messiah but he’s one of the best CM we have. I’m sorry but a fully healthy Arfield vs a fully Osorio = Arfield wins every time. 
last night - was our midfield that good or did Suriname not show up and play? Or both. 
regardless we need our best players and without hutch and Arfield we don’t have our best Players. I don’t get old Canadian fans a guy leaves for real reasons and the old fan base say Fuck him. Just like Cavallini, he refused to play for a while and old fans said fuck him and now he’s back and boom we love him again. 
We need Arfield, he’s a very important player. But hey we got Fraser that breeds confidence hahaha.🤣

I hope  it’s just Family issues I know he has a young family or injuries or fatigue

same with hutch. We need them both.  

Edited June 9, 2021 by SpecialK

[Shway]

2 minutes ago, SpecialK said:

He’s not a messiah but he’s one of the best CM we have. I’m sorry but a fully healthy Arfield vs a fully Osorio = Arfield wins every time. 
last night - was our midfield that good or did Suriname not show up and play? Or both. 
regardless we need our best players and without hutch and Arfield we don’t have our best Players. I don’t get old Canadian fans a guy leaves for real reasons or doesn’t want to play during a time and the old fan base say Fuck him. Just like Cavallini, he refused to play for a while fuck him and now he’s back and boom we love him again. 
We need Arfield, he’s a very important player. But hey we got Fraser that breeds confidence hahaha.🤣

I hope  just Family issues I know he is a young family or injuries or fatigue

same with hutch. We need them both.  

Again I'll say we need all of our players. However, I don't believe Arfield is the game changer that you (and others) seem to believe. And it's easy to say he's on the of the best CM we have. That conversation is debatable with soo many quality names in the pot (Staq, Piette, Osorio, Kaye, Wotherspoon, & Hutch). Some are in their prime, some have peaked, and one doesn't age. So far as game changers I think we only have one in this the team and its Davies. That doesn't mean we don't have a lot of great players! We need all our players COMMITTED, as our depth will be tested. 

Arfield will have the door left open for him, doesn't mean he'll be a key piece. 

 

 

[costarg]

So, big question.... do we stick to the 3-5-2 or go back to the more familiar 4-3-3.  I was hoping for a 3-5-2 for well over a year given our roster and mainly Davies and Laryea.  However after last night, I feel it was Suriname that under-performed as opposed to Canada being soo good.  I don't think we looked nearly as good as we could have.  

Osorio is just not in form.

Henry never looks confident in red.  Bad passes and at least one brash unnecessary tackle that could've been a card.

I feel Suriname is stronger than Haiti from the little I've seen of both. I'm feeling more confident about this one, minus the covid and violence threat posed by a trip to Haiti.

[toontownman]

3 minutes ago, costarg said:

Henry never looks confident in red.  Bad passes and at least one brash unnecessary tackle that could've been a card.

 

Not sure about that. He was as shaky as the entire team in the first half an hour adjusting to a new system. He was very vocal and made some big plays and tackles. His error prone tag might not ever get fully shaken but he had a big game imo. Not least baring in mind his lack of game time in his legs and how long it's been since he played international football. 

I don't think I have ever seen anything but 100% confidence from Henry on the pitch. Judgement.... our confidence in him using better judgement... thats likely much different. If he is going to make a mistake he will do it full bloodied and with belief lol. 

[Razcal]

4 hours ago, Hawkguy said:

Stupid... why would you even want him here when he's fucking injured? 

He was out for over 2 months with a sprained ankle. Came back, played a couple weeks, sprained his ankle again and was out the rest of the season aside from coming on in the championship game when the game was over and jogged around leisurely. 

Why would we want someone who's not 100% to accept the call? And then get butthurt when he prefers to rest? Boggles my mind. 

Did you not read the reasons he wasn't coming back? He told Herdman he wasn't interested in playing the minnows in the region.

Seems pretty cut and dry to me.

[kacbru]

6 hours ago, narduch said:

I wonder if Rangers want to move him out.

Yeah, he only had 45 appearances with them this year, clearly no value...

[Hawkguy]

31 minutes ago, Razcal said:

Did you not read the reasons he wasn't coming back? He told Herdman he wasn't interested in playing the minnows in the region.

Seems pretty cut and dry to me.

Cav also said it was a huge mistake to play for Canada. And with the new rules wouldn't even be a Canadian National Team player. 

Regardless what he said - we have no idea if he'd actually accept or not if he was healthy. Being healthly changes a bunch of things. I wouldn't be surprised if it was more like "I'm not interested in playing against minnows when we can handle them and re-spraining my ankle again which has already sidelined me multiple times this season." 

You still ask him to play when the time comes. If he's heathly and refuses... then so be it. That's a lot different but still his decision. 

With this kind of attitude, I truly hope anyone telling Arfield to "gtfo" are not Team Canada hockey fans. 

 

Edited June 9, 2021 by Hawkguy

[canadasoccer20]

6 hours ago, Stryker911 said:

I dont really know where to go with this game. I would like to see a bit of squad rotation. Keep in mind that the field is going to be in horrible shape. 

May decide to keep Davies out in case he picks up another yellow and needs to sit out the return leg, also due to the head injury.

How do you keep put ZBG, Henry, Wotherspoon, Osorio, Piette, Hoilett, Buchanan, Larin? Crazy problem to have.

Looks solid to me. I want Kaye in BADLY. He looks so good right now. I would probably not give up on Larin yet. I expect he will rebound vs Haiti.

[king1010]

Seems the team is still in Chicago today as per Alphonso’s insta. Wonder if they fly out tomorrow. 

[Floortom]

3 minutes ago, king1010 said:

Seems the team is still in Chicago today as per Alphonso’s insta. Wonder if they fly out tomorrow. 

Based on the forecasts - it’s going to be nonstop rain and thunderstorms in Haiti through Saturday. Would they even be able to practice? Probably makes sense to have a good practice tomorrow in Chicago and fly out after that

[Addona]

One thing I was thinking… win or lose against Haiti, I’m so glad that this is our path to the WC instead of the idiocy of the original format where we were likely to need to beat out 20 teams for a chance at 0.25 of a spot!

[CanadianSoccerFan]

2 minutes ago, Addona said:

One thing I was thinking… win or lose against Haiti, I’m so glad that this is our path to the WC instead of the idiocy of the original format where we were likely to need to beat out 20 teams for a chance at 0.25 of a spot!

Having had 2 years to digest it, I actually see some benefits to a dual pathway format but the numbers were too lopsided.  If it was 10 teams in the tier 1 path then I could get on board with it.

[narduch]

5 minutes ago, Addona said:

One thing I was thinking… win or lose against Haiti, I’m so glad that this is our path to the WC instead of the idiocy of the original format where we were likely to need to beat out 20 teams for a chance at 0.25 of a spot!

Agreed. That format was the worst.

Even if I think this format blows too.

[Addona]

6 minutes ago, narduch said:

Agreed. That format was the worst.

Even if I think this format blows too.

I can’t recall all of the details, but I seem to remember liking the format for the 2014 WC. A first round of ultra minnows, then a round where 2nd tier teams enter and play a group stage, with winners advancing to top 12 broken into 3 groups; top 2 in each goes to the HEX.  There could be a version of that leading to an OCTO.

[Unnamed Trialist]

Seeing Miki Cantave is out of their squad for a red, I took a look: for a bit of a tussle late, after Nicaragua was already down 1-0. So foolish, he had another shot at playing against his former country.

He'd come on as a sub.

Also saw Cantave is still in Spain 3rd tier, just spent this season at Villarobledo, which is where José Galan of Valour FC fame has been this year. This is the level Piette was at before coming to MLS, I think we should be able to handle any player at this level. 

He basically chose Canada after we did the Spain camp and match vs NZ, and he was ignored.

[Kent]

The last time we played Haiti, Jonathan David had 1 pro season under his belt, with 14 goals for Gent, Cyle Larin was days away from being loaned from Besiktas to Zulte Waregem after scoring 1 league goal in 12 Super Lig appearances the season that had just finished, and Alphonso Davies had 74 minutes of Bundesliga experience in his career.

The game feels like it was yesterday, but there has been a lot of growth since then.

[BearcatSA]

33 minutes ago, Kent said:

The last time we played Haiti, Jonathan David had 1 pro season under his belt, with 14 goals for Gent, Cyle Larin was days away from being loaned from Besiktas to Zulte Waregem after scoring 1 league goal in 12 Super Lig appearances the season that had just finished, and Alphonso Davies had 74 minutes of Bundesliga experience in his career.

The game feels like it was yesterday, but there has been a lot of growth since then.

Amazing, right?

But with that, the level of expectation also gets cranked up massively and that's where Herdman will earn his $ in getting the team to handle the pressures of those expectations.  We aren't losing to Haiti over two legs but the Ocho will be a different story because this group, with the personnel available, will be expected to establish that it's in the top three along with USA and Mexico.

[SpecialK]

So if Canada loses to Haiti, does Herdman get fired or resigns or says it’s part of the pathway of growth ( some ted talk BS).

[SthMelbRed]

5 hours ago, narduch said:

Agreed. That format was the worst.

Even if I think this format blows too.

Any non-linear qualification process is bullshit. 

[JasonDias]

50 minutes ago, BearcatSA said:

because this group, with the personnel available, will be expected to establish that it's in the top three along with USA and Mexico.

The expectation at this time should solely be to make the Octo to play 14 competitive games. Regardless of results it is the experience the group and coaching staff gains that will be most valuable.

Over the course of the decade, I'll agree, that the expectation of this current gen should be in the 3/4 spot in CONCACAF and contending for a spot in WC every cycle, making semis in nations league/gold cup regularly. 

As for Saturday/Tuesday, Haiti won't be a problem. I fully believe Canada will post the largest aggregate result among all the teams playing this round. 

[Macksam]

15 hours ago, trc2014 said:

Was there ever any mention again about Davies head injury?  It looked brutal and his reaction freaked me out, but it seemed all forgotten by the second half/post-game.

It was a cheap shot no doubt but the fact he played without any issues after indicates it was nothing serious. 

15 hours ago, Hawkguy said:

Cavallini said far worse and he's one of our most important players.

Allegedly.

 

[The Beaver 2.0]

So, what happens if we don't arrive in Haiti. I mean, literally don't show up. Are we automatically disqualified? Or do we take a 1-0 loss? Or something similar?  Yes, leaving the tie to the second leg, where you'll have to score at least two goals, maybe more, is a gambit for sure.  But I must admit I am struggling with the idea of sending our guys into Haiti at the moment.  Can we send the Canadian military too? And Dr. Bonnie? And full body condoms? (Extra thick for El Tanque, who MUST start this game, by the way.  This is the very sort of game you want Cava playing in.)

Just want the lads to be safe. We can't get to Qatar if we lose any of these guys. Am I overreacting? Probably. Please tell me I am overthinking this. (Herdman did not look happy about having to bring the guys to Haiti. I feel he is legit worried for them, as well as he should be.)

[The Beaver 2.0]

37 minutes ago, JasonDias said:

The expectation at this time should solely be to make the Octo to play 14 competitive games. Regardless of results it is the experience the group and coaching staff gains that will be most valuable.

Over the course of the decade, I'll agree, that the expectation of this current gen should be in the 3/4 spot in CONCACAF and contending for a spot in WC every cycle, making semis in nations league/gold cup regularly. 

As for Saturday/Tuesday, Haiti won't be a problem. I fully believe Canada will post the largest aggregate result among all the teams playing this round. 

Yes, this is incredibly reasonable, and I would agree. But as a tactic for getting the most out of this team over the 14 competitive games, you've got to prepare as if you are indeed trying to get to Qatar. Otherwise you won't learn half of what you need to learn as a team and staff IF you do indeed fail to advance. 

Edited June 10, 2021 by The Beaver 2.0