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

[Obinna]

1 minute ago, The Beaver 2.0 said:

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. 

Yeah I could see that and I want him to be our captain before too long as well. If this was the first time it happened I wouldn't be phased at all. Hopefully we chalk it up to coincidence instead of a trend. 

[BearcatSA]

6 minutes ago, Obinna said:

Yeah I could see that and I want him to be our captain before too long as well. If this was the first time it happened I wouldn't be phased at all. Hopefully we chalk it up to coincidence instead of a trend. 

If he is in Japan already but picked up a knock while there, then it's nothing-to-see-here.  

[trc2014]

Similar to people thinking Borjan and Vitoria wouldn’t be part of this camp, seems like a lot of people are setting themselves up for disappointment with those two not starting this game.  The real question is whether they are brought out of half for this friendly.  This is just the reality.

[Borjans Sweatpants]

Looked back at the pics and vids Canada Soccer has released and couldn’t spot him in them.

Not really concerned about his commitment level though… it’s a one game friendly across the world, I wouldn’t blame him if he’s not 100% to want to stay in Portugal to be healthy moving forward. 

I am bummed however that if this had been known about, why include him in the squad when that spot could’ve been used for someone else who deserves to come like Saliba (if looking at the same position) or Corbeanu (if looking for another position we’re a little short on in Japan)?

[toontownman]

Damn. Ahmed could have made the trip after all!

 

Makes sense why there is all the talk of Piette starting all of a sudden.

[JBR]

Anytime Staq has been rumoured to be injured in the last 2 years...hes been injured. It seems like they try to conceal his injuries more than anyone else. 

[Shway]

15 minutes ago, toontownman said:

Makes sense why there is all the talk of Piette starting all of a sudden.

I rather see Bombito start...

Seems like Biello wants to put his Quebec footprint on this team.

[GasPed]

2 hours ago, Bigandy said:

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. 

Agree with most of this, but without Staq playing, MF goes to them easily.  If Mitoma was playing, he's just as good as David (albeit at a slightly different position).  But he's not playing, so David shades Asano.

Also not clear whether Ueda or Minamino will start "up top".  If it's Minamino, on current form I'd have to say he's better than Larin.  

So while the assessment is basically correct, I have to also agree that it doesn't take into account the gaps in quality.  We have only one position (LWB) where we're clearly better.  On the other hand they probably have at least four positions (both midfielders, both CB's) where they're clearly better than us.  It's going to a interesting to say the least...

[Obinna]

27 minutes ago, toontownman said:

Damn. Ahmed could have made the trip after all!

 

Makes sense why there is all the talk of Piette starting all of a sudden.

Choniere got screwed this summer, now it's Ahmed's turn I guess 

[Obinna]

13 minutes ago, Shway said:

I rather see Bombito start...

Seems like Biello wants to put his Quebec footprint on this team.

Bombito would be an investment in the future and he has a great upside, but I don't think he's ready to start in midfield against a team like Japan. 

Also, Bombito is from Quebec, so him starting instead of Piette doesn't reduce the Quebec footprint 

[InglewoodJack]

AGF is suggesting De Fougerolles as a potential midfield option, and honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if a selling point in bringing him into camp was playing him farther up the pitch. I think he can play DM too.

[costarg]

58 minutes ago, Shway said:

I rather see Bombito start...

Seems like Biello wants to put his Quebec footprint on this team.

I think i can see your TFC underwear from here.

Who else would you play?  The only options left on the squad are Paton or Osorio.  And if you think either of them should be ahead of Piette, Kone and Choiniere you haven't been watching.

[toontownman]

49 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

AGF is suggesting De Fougerolles as a potential midfield option, and honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if a selling point in bringing him into camp was playing him farther up the pitch. I think he can play DM too.

Stop playing our best two CB options in DM 😆

Would be interesting for De Fougerolles to see him there. He looked too good in pre season at CB not to have him play there though. 

CB future might not look as bleak if we have De Fougerolles commit and Stefanovic/Bombito both continuing their growth in the game. 

[Shway]

Just now, costarg said:

I think i can see your TFC underwear from here.

Who else would you play?  The only options left on the squad are Paton or Osorio.  And if you think either of them should be ahead of Piette, Kone and Choiniere you haven't been watching.

Brym over Corbeanu, Bombito over Ahmed, Piette over Kaye. 

It was a brief comment for a loaded thought with me ultimately talking shit about the Quebec footprint. But the latter part about Bombito was separate. More in reference to the news about Piette having a greater role@Obinna

I prefer to see how Bombito does in the holding, rather than see Choiniere there as he's more offensive. But we could see a middle three of Kone, Piette, and Choiniere - probably would be the first time we would see a middle of all Québécois players.

 

[InglewoodJack]

21 minutes ago, toontownman said:

Stop playing our best two CB options in DM 😆

Would be interesting for De Fougerolles to see him there. He looked too good in pre season at CB not to have him play there though. 

CB future might not look as bleak if we have De Fougerolles commit and Stefanovic/Bombito both continuing their growth in the game. 

I'd like to see him at CB- we don't need another star playing out of position, and him breaking into Fullham as a CB and then growing into a DM would probably take years to happen. I just assume that players want to play as high up the pitch as they can, and if Canada tells him that they'll mould him as a DM just like they did Bombito and help him grow his career that way, maybe that encouraged him to come give our Sr. team a shot.

Stefanovic is a guy I'm super high on though- I think he can be really good. Reading about him on twitter, some USMNT prospects pages are calling his repping Canada a "disaster" and a lesson to not discount Americans at Canadian academies. He's also 2 inches taller than LDF- not a giant by any means, but once Vitoria retires, our CB depth chart is gonna be pretty short, so having some players over 6' is big. I think LDF is 5'11, not sure if he's got any more growth left in him.

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, Shway said:

Brym over Corbeanu, Bombito over Ahmed, Piette over Kaye. 

It was a brief comment for a loaded thought with me ultimately talking shit about the Quebec footprint. But the latter part about Bombito was separate. More in reference to the news about Piette having a greater role@Obinna

I prefer to see how Bombito does in the holding, rather than see Choiniere there as he's more offensive. But we could see a middle three of Kone, Piette, and Choiniere - probably would be the first time we would see a middle of all Québécois players.

 

A double pivot of Bombito and Kone could be awesome in the future, especially if we are playing a very physical opponent.

I am not sure how Bombito deals with the Japanese though. I think he'll get exposed. He is more mobile than Piette for sure and probably more agile too, but Piette is more experienced and I trust him to position himself right defensively and shuttle the ball along quickly and efficently. Bombito is more raw and we saw in Gold Cup he can be hit and miss in that regard.

Wrong opponent to try it out from the start in my opinon. Wouldn't be opposed to him coming off the bench for the final 15 to relieve Piette though. Even better would be a start as a RCB.

[Borjans Sweatpants]

54 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

I'd like to see him at CB- we don't need another star playing out of position, and him breaking into Fullham as a CB and then growing into a DM would probably take years to happen. I just assume that players want to play as high up the pitch as they can, and if Canada tells him that they'll mould him as a DM just like they did Bombito and help him grow his career that way, maybe that encouraged him to come give our Sr. team a shot.

Stefanovic is a guy I'm super high on though- I think he can be really good. Reading about him on twitter, some USMNT prospects pages are calling his repping Canada a "disaster" and a lesson to not discount Americans at Canadian academies. He's also 2 inches taller than LDF- not a giant by any means, but once Vitoria retires, our CB depth chart is gonna be pretty short, so having some players over 6' is big. I think LDF is 5'11, not sure if he's got any more growth left in him.

Agreed, I love Stefanovic. Our CB depth chart might turn out to be ok, though lets actually get De Fougerolles before we start counting our chickens. Maybe Chisholm can turn into something there too.

McGraw being the main exception to your lack of height issue (6'4"), Cornelius isnt too short either (6'2"?). But you'd think Stefanovic and De Fougerolles could have a few more inches in them given their age. 

[InglewoodJack]

11 minutes ago, Borjans Sweatpants said:

Agreed, I love Stefanovic. Our CB depth chart might turn out to be ok, though lets actually get De Fougerolles before we start counting our chickens. Maybe Chisholm can turn into something there too.

McGraw being the main exception to your lack of height issue (6'4"), Cornelius isnt too short either (6'2"?). But you'd think Stefanovic and De Fougerolles could have a few more inches in them given their age. 

Yeah, McGraw’s height is an advantage, but he doesn’t factor in to future plans for me as someone who can lift our team. Cornelius isn’t small at all, I guess I’m looking for someone to come in and replace vitoria’s height, but then again, 6’5 players aren’t the easiest to come buy.

 

Would Stefanovic and LDF still have room to grow? Honestly have no clue- I always thought boys stopped growing at 16, but maybe they’ve got a bit left. If Stefanovic is 6’1 and can push up to 6’3 by the time he’s 18… we better cap that boy quick. 

[PiedPilko]

39 minutes ago, Obinna said:

A double pivot of Bombito and Kone could be awesome in the future, especially if we are playing a very physical opponent.

I am not sure how Bombito deals with the Japanese though. I think he'll get exposed. He is more mobile than Piette for sure and probably more agile too, but Piette is more experienced and I trust him to position himself right defensively and shuttle the ball along quickly and efficently. Bombito is more raw and we saw in Gold Cup he can be hit and miss in that regard.

Wrong opponent to try it out from the start in my opinon. Wouldn't be opposed to him coming off the bench for the final 15 to relieve Piette though. Even better would be a start as a RCB.

Bombito got exposed by Cuba and he hasn't played midfield under anyone but Herdman. Don't see why we're even entertaining this.

[Obinna]

6 minutes ago, PiedPilko said:

Bombito got exposed by Cuba and he hasn't played midfield under anyone but Herdman. Don't see why we're even entertaining this.

He had a much better game against the USA to be fair, but that USA team are nowhere near this Japanese selection, nor are Cuba obviously. 

[Kadenge]

43 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

Yeah, McGraw’s height is an advantage, but he doesn’t factor in to future plans for me as someone who can lift our team. Cornelius isn’t small at all, I guess I’m looking for someone to come in and replace vitoria’s height, but then again, 6’5 players aren’t the easiest to come buy.

 

Would Stefanovic and LDF still have room to grow? Honestly have no clue- I always thought boys stopped growing at 16, but maybe they’ve got a bit left. If Stefanovic is 6’1 and can push up to 6’3 by the time he’s 18… we better cap that boy quick. 

It's usually 18 for boys and 16 for girls re height max,  but it's not uncommon for boys in particular to keep on growing past 18. Sometimes the growth spurt accelerates over the last yr or two, especially if they are below average at 16....unless both parents are "short"

[trc2014]

AGR mentioned “Cornelius supposed to start” on the podcast, wonder if that is some kind of inside knowledge slip.

[trc2014]

https://twitter.com/joshuakloke/status/1712459071356350876
 

what a surprise! Haha

[narduch]

I'm not surprised at all.

DSC hasn't really done enough and Crepeau has only recently returned from injury.

Edited October 12, 2023 by narduch

[costarg]

6 minutes ago, trc2014 said:

https://twitter.com/joshuakloke/status/1712459071356350876
 

what a surprise! Haha

I rather Borjan than Vitoria given the alternatives at the moment.  It would be incredibly disappointing if both start .