Friendly: Japan vs Canada - Friday, October 13th - 6:35am Eastern / 3:35am Pacific - Niigata, Japan

[nolando]

42 minutes ago, Borjans Sweatpants said:

Think it’s 7. Would agree with that change of keeper and logic, but also would love to just see Max get it. Thanks to Borjan, but Max deserves his spot.

Personally, with only one game this window, I’d like to see us make a big lineup change at half. Maybe 6 subs, save one for emergencies? Get guys who came to the camp as much game time as possible, and subbing someone on late for minimal minutes seems silly. 

Not a bad idea, really. Japan quite likely to do the same, I'd say.

[Kadenge]

9 hours ago, costarg said:

Marinaro's interview with Biello says Piette will be playing a much bigger role for CANMNT.  It's possible.

Biello going full retro. 

[Ruud]

35 minutes ago, nolando said:

Not a bad idea, really. Japan quite likely to do the same, I'd say.

I was thinking Dayne followed by Max. 
Dayne is our last keeper of record for gold cup.  

[InglewoodJack]

10 hours ago, gigi riva said:

Bombito is the future  Iwould like go see him play in that rumoured friendly against the UAE on January 6

Is he though? Nothing about his time at Colorado has said that. I really want to see what others see with him. I'd understand the vision better if he was 19, but he's nearly 24 and still very raw. I hope I'm the one missing something with him.

11 hours ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Just swap Millar to the left and replace Hoilett with Laryea. Or give Choiniere a start - he’s raw but I trust him and he’ll thrive in an athletic game. 

I think using Laryea as a winger makes us weaker, and I don't think playing Choiniere out of position helps us in the long run. I do want to see Choiniere play big minutes though. Maybe a 3 man midfield with MC, and then you have Millar and JD as CFs behind Larin?

[Borjans Sweatpants]

1 hour ago, nolando said:

Not a bad idea, really. Japan quite likely to do the same, I'd say.

Difference between us and Japan being that Japan has a second game this window (if I’m not mistaken). They can afford to not be as drastic as we might be given we only have one. 

[InglewoodJack]

https://x.com/canadasocceren/status/1712106413449957631?s=46&t=spIaqlQfufAO3HreB1455Q
Mathieu Choiniere, YOU are a CANMNT starter 

[Bigandy]

16 hours ago, Kadenge said:

We have played a 4 2 2 2 box midfield but it was back in 2019 in the 2-0 NL win vs the US at BMO.

We played played a back 4 in WCQ as well. Against the usa at home, both jamaica games and mexico away comes to mind. We could play with a back 4 just as easily as a back 3 from our players tactical understanding of JH demands.  The biggest issue is the player selection. We can debate which formation is best, but our squad profile supports a 3-5-2 

[Kadenge]

8 minutes ago, Bigandy said:

We played played a back 4 in WCQ as well. Against the usa at home, both jamaica games and mexico away comes to mind. We could play with a back 4 just as easily as a back 3 from our players tactical understanding of JH demands.  The biggest issue is the player selection. We can debate which formation is best, but our squad profile supports a 3-5-2 

yes we did play a back 4 in WCQ, but the 2019 game vs the US was one in which we didn't deploy wingers/wide mids. I brought that up as we only have Millar and Hoilett on the squad.

[Kadenge]

14 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

https://x.com/canadasocceren/status/1712106413449957631?s=46&t=spIaqlQfufAO3HreB1455Q
Mathieu Choiniere, YOU are a CANMNT starter 

would love to see Choiniere start but Staq's injury is a huge loss. 

[BearcatSA]

3 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

You meant Laryea I think.

My bad, thanks.

Hopefully, the injury withdrawal count remains at Eustaquio.  Big loss there.

[Bigandy]

Japan had 6 of the same starters against us in our preworld cup friendly as they did against spain at the WC. We had 7 WC starters against japan. Its reasonable to assume that with our guys in form, we are around the same quality as japan. 

GK: arguably us? 
Ito vs davies: us 
tomiyasu vs miller: them
itakura vs cornelius: them
Sugawara vs johnston: Tie with a hint of bias
staq vs morita: tie 
endo vs kone: Them
Ito vs buchanan: tie 
Kamada vs osorio/MC: Them
Mitoma vs david: us 
Ueda vs larin: us

CMNT: 4
Japan: 4 
Tie: 3 

This assesment is bias to begin with and doesnt account for how big a quality jump it is from player to player or take into account form. However, its not a clear cut case where they dominate us completely except for davies. 

[trc2014]

25 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

https://x.com/canadasocceren/status/1712106413449957631?s=46&t=spIaqlQfufAO3HreB1455Q
Mathieu Choiniere, YOU are a CANMNT starter 

Do you think Staq made the trip?  Didn’t seem him in the photos or the intro video.

Edited October 11, 2023 by trc2014

[Bigandy]

Interesting line up choices without staq.

Kone should start. Biello seems to like piette? MC could fill in as a double 8 next to kone with a more defensive piette as a 6 or invert the midfield and have oso as the 10. Does paton get a start? 

[InglewoodJack]

17 minutes ago, trc2014 said:

Do you think Staq made the trip?  Didn’t seem him in the photos or the intro video.

No clue, it would be strange to announce this after the camp started if he didn’t travel, though I hope he didn’t get injured *at* the camp, and it’s just something he picked up at Porto where he’s not 100%. Wasn’t he supposed to be at the gold cup too and dropped last minute due to an injury?

Funny enough, we might actually see Kone-Piette-Choiniere as a midfield. IMFC baby

[Obinna]

Brutal news to see this morning. Eustaquio was one player in particular I was very excited to see. Massive loss and leaves a gigantic hole in midfield. 

[Obinna]

Anyone else concerned about Eustaquio's committment level right now? Feels eerily similar to the Gold Cup "injury". 

[BearcatSA]

2 minutes ago, Obinna said:

Anyone else concerned about Eustaquio's committment level right now? Feels eerily similar to the Gold Cup "injury". 

I hear ya.

[pod818]

pretty sure I saw him in one of the hype videos, I think he made the trip..maybe its something nagging

[Bigandy]

2 minutes ago, Obinna said:

Anyone else concerned about Eustaquio's committment level right now? Feels eerily similar to the Gold Cup "injury". 

Not even the slightest concerned. He's been very vocal about what CMNT means to him. He shouldnt have been on the gold cup squad to begin with. None of our other stars and/or the usa stars were there. I dont see any issue with him not playing this friendly even if its an "injury". 

[costarg]

26 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

Funny enough, we might actually see Kone-Piette-Choiniere as a midfield. IMFC baby

The horror! 

Biello would instantly and permanently turn off a large part of the fan base in one match.

[InglewoodJack]

13 minutes ago, costarg said:

The horror! 

Biello would instantly and permanently turn off a large part of the fan base in one match.

“Why is Piette starting, we LITERALLY need to get more dual nationals bro why isn’t Biello getting dual nationals bro literally demand Stefan Mitrovic plays for the team bro can’t Tomori change allegiance? Why aren’t we looking into this? Bro we really need a premier league player it would make us so much better”

/typical Voyageurs Facebook group post from the fan we’ll lose

[Obinna]

22 minutes ago, costarg said:

The horror! 

Biello would instantly and permanently turn off a large part of the fan base in one match.

I for one think a midfield 3 of Kone-Piette-Choniere makes a lot of sense. The only true defensive midfielder with the best 8 remaining in the team, alongside the most in-form 8 in the team. And bonus they all previously played together. It's an MLS calibre midfield, so that's not a bad thing. 

Not sure Choniere starts in his first cap, but I would like to see it over Osorio. I do think Kone and Piette need to start this one though especially with Staq out and regardless of whether or not Choniere starts. 

[Obinna]

11 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

“Why is Piette starting, we LITERALLY need to get more dual nationals bro why isn’t Biello getting dual nationals bro literally demand Stefan Mitrovic plays for the team bro can’t Tomori change allegiance? Why aren’t we looking into this? Bro we really need a premier league player it would make us so much better”

/typical Voyageurs Facebook group post from the fan we’ll lose

Anyone who takes issue with Piette here doesn't follow the squad, nor do they give a rats ass about positional balance. You need a player like Piette to break things up now that Eustaquio is out. With Steph we could have afforded not to play Piette. 

[Obinna]

27 minutes ago, Bigandy said:

Not even the slightest concerned. He's been very vocal about what CMNT means to him. He shouldnt have been on the gold cup squad to begin with. None of our other stars and/or the usa stars were there. I dont see any issue with him not playing this friendly even if its an "injury". 

This makes me feel better, especially if we can confirm he was actually in Japan.

[The Beaver 2.0]

4 minutes ago, Obinna said:

This makes me feel better, especially if we can confirm he was actually in Japan.

I expect Staq to be our captain before too long. From what I know from the inside of the last run of WCQ, Staq was very serious about this team and his role within it. Serious dude.