In the lead-up to the men's national team's upcoming World Cup qualifiers, we'll be taking a look at who should be getting the start for Canada in each area of the field. Agree? Disagree? Join the conversation in the comments section below. We've already pondered who Canada's #1 goalkeeper is, attempted to establish our best backline and waded through the muddy midfield. Today, in the final installment of the series, we go right up top.
My colleague Grant wrote earlier this week about the 17 (or 18, depending on how you count) goals Honduras has scored in its last 15 games. He analyzed them in such a way that it seemed like good news for Canada. In the same time frame, Canada has played 12 times and scored 24 goals. Holy smokes, Canada is an offensive force! Well, sort of -- consider that 11 of those 24 goals came in thrashings of St. Lucia, a tiny island of 175,000 people currently ranked #188 in the world by FIFA.
There are no St. Lucias this time around -- but Canada's goals will still need to come from somewhere. So, when it's all on the line, who gets the call?
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Iain Hume: Humey's made a remarkable recovery from a near-fatal (seriously) on-field incident in 2008, and has been scoring at a decent clip for Preston North End since last year. The 28-year-old is a long-time servant of the Canadian program, and certainly has motivation to perform at this stage in his career.
Tosaint Ricketts: The 24-year-old Edmontonian has speed to spare (if you don't believe me,
Simeon Jackson: Eight years ago, he was flipping burgers. These days, he's a striker in the English Premier League. Not a bad progression. Along the way, he's scored promotion-clinching goals twice (for Gillingham in 2009, and for Norwich City in 2011) and earned plenty of goodwill from Canaries fans. Will this be the year when the 25-year-old brings it all together for the national team?
Olivier Occean: Speaking of earning promotions, Occean is in the hottest of form. The 30-year-old was tied atop the scoring chart in the 2.Bundesliga this season with 17 goals for Greuther Furth, who also finished atop the table and earned promotion to the 1.Bundesliga. The performance has led to rumours that Occean could catch hold with a new club -- but for now, the focus will be on finding the back of the net for Canada.
Dwayne DeRosario? Though listed as a midfielder, we'd be remiss not to address DeRo's role as a de facto striker. If and when Canada finds itself in need of a goal, you know he'll be part of the effort to get one. His next goal for Canada will be his 20th, and put him alone atop the all-time leaderboard for the men's national team.
What will Hart do?
As discussed yesterday, his usual formation has been thrown off by the injury to Josh Simpson. Occean has to be a starter, given his form, and we could see DeRosario used as an out-and-out striker as well. Much will depend on how he decides to adjust to the Simpson situation.
Squizz says:
Given my proposed four-man midfield, that leaves two spots for strikers. One, of course, must be Occean. And the other -- it's got to be Jackson. While he hasn't totally pulled it together yet for Canada, perhaps utilizing him as a second striker (playing off of the big man, Occean, similar to what he sometimes does vis-a-vis Grant Holt at NCFC) is the answer. DeRo is still on the pitch, mind you, in an attacking midfield role. Ricketts has shown the potential to be a big difference-maker as a super-sub.
What do you think? Have I gotten it totally wrong? Let me know. That's it for this series. All that's left, if you're able to get to the games, is to buy your damn tickets!