General Discussion on CMNT

[costarg]

31 minutes ago, gkhs said:

Is calling Henry "injured" just code for not in good form?

Maybe it's his ego that's hurt?

[BearcatSA]

44 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said:

Thought we might see Fraser or Nelson called to bolster the midfield ranks - looking pretty thin at the moment 

They are definitely thin in midfield, featuring guys with varying degrees of health issue.  Fraser's exclusion is one I wonder about because he has shown that he can do a job out there for us.  Not sure what his MLS offers were after his loan spell at Columbus but maybe if he was able to stay and feature on this side of the pond, his stock would have been higher, who knows?

[gkhs]

Re. Fraser and the midfield, maybe feedback is good enough on Hutchinson/Wotherspoon that they're assuming one or both will be up and running by November and trump any other fringe options.

[SoCalTransport]

11 minutes ago, BearcatSA said:

They are definitely thin in midfield, featuring guys with varying degrees of health issue.  Fraser's exclusion is one I wonder about because he has shown that he can do a job out there for us.  Not sure what his MLS offers were after his loan spell at Columbus but maybe if he was able to stay and feature on this side of the pond, his stock would have been higher, who knows?

It kind of looks like now that Piette or MAK will be starting at the World Cup.

Edited September 16, 2022 by SoCalTransport

[RS]

45 minutes ago, gkhs said:

Is calling Henry "injured" just code for not in good form?

Unless TFC is playing along, Henry's actually injured.

[Califax]

I’d hope Henry’s injured. Cause if not then all of that stuff about taking everyone who’s part of the “brotherhood” would just be a talking point. 

👀

I guess we will know for sure come Qatar

[Kent]

3 minutes ago, Califax said:

I’d hope Henry’s injured. Cause if not then all of that stuff about taking everyone who’s part of the “brotherhood” would just be a talking point. 

Has Herdman ever actually said or hinted at this? I've always taken the "brotherhood" to essentially mean anyone who is playing for Canada are brothers, all in it together, fighting for the badge/flag kind of talk. Not "this is our exclusive club and we won't let others in because these specific people have a sacred bond now."

[Pottsy3]

My biggest roster takeaway is that Akinola and Fraser are out of the Qatar conversation.

[dyslexic nam]

So we missed out on the chance to bring in one or two guys (Mitrovic is gone, Jebbo is still unknown), and another one we had hoped for (Holmes) turned out to be ineligible.   

On the bright side, we make major inroads with a huge prospect in Koleosho, Waterman gets his first cap in a position of need, and Cornelius comes back into the tent to get a look (at a time when we need to really think about the future of our central defence).  Plus Kone and Corbeanu - both very talented young players with seemingly high ceilings - get another chance to stake a claim for one or two of the Qatar squad spots that may not be 100% decided.

Brym is still a bit of an odd one to me as I just don’t see a CMNT player there.  

Hutch’s situation is depressing.  It really sounds like his chance to play in a WC is in jeopardy.  I am 1000% certain he will be in Qatar regardless as I know Canadian soccer would at least bring him along for locker room impact but making a match day squad for sentimental reasons if you are still not 100% and not match for us still a question mark.   

The absence of Henry is one of the more noteworthy things since he seems like he was available for TFC.  Despite talk of the brotherhood this may have been a case where Herdman couldn’t choose a guy getting very little playing time (behind CBs who themselves aren’t playing great) over a guy putting in solid performances for 90 minutes at the same level every week.  Will be interesting to see how this shakes down for Qatar.  

All in all, this seems like a good selection given the conditions.   Part of me would like to see ZBG get a shot as I really do think he is quality but we do have good coverage with both Johnston and Laryea able to play his positions(s).  Overall there isn’t a lot more we could do given the fact that some are unavailable and some chose to ply their trade elsewhere.

 

 

[Califax]

8 minutes ago, Kent said:

Has Herdman ever actually said or hinted at this? I've always taken the "brotherhood" to essentially mean anyone who is playing for Canada are brothers, all in it together, fighting for the badge/flag kind of talk. Not "this is our exclusive club and we won't let others in because these specific people have a sacred bond now."

Yeah you got it. Not everyone did. 

[BearcatSA]

5 minutes ago, Pottsy3 said:

My biggest roster takeaway is that Akinola and Fraser are out of the Qatar conversation.

I was not surprised at all with regards to Akinola

[Ally McCoist]

6 minutes ago, Pottsy3 said:

My biggest roster takeaway is that Akinola and Fraser are out of the Qatar conversation.

I never wanna see Akinola anywhere near a CanMNT jersey until he gets back to his old self.

[dyslexic nam]

16 minutes ago, Califax said:

I’d hope Henry’s injured. Cause if not then all of that stuff about taking everyone who’s part of the “brotherhood” would just be a talking point. 

👀

I guess we will know for sure come Qatar

I think it can be generally true, an obvious talking point, and something that is subject to a bit of adjustment when circumstances warrant.  Fraternity aside, I don’t think Herdman has pretended that there is no flexibility re the squad regardless of form or others staking a strong claim.  To me it isn’t quite that categorical.  

[Kent]

For me Osorio and Buchanan are surprises. Maybe I'm not up to date on their statuses, but I am pretty sure I saw on TSN's ticker yesterday that Osorio had some sort of "Neurological dysfunction". Odd that we finally get a diagnosis and the next day he is named to the squad. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't end up in the camp, but would be VERY happy to see him playing again (for TFC or Canada).

[dyslexic nam]

1 minute ago, Kent said:

For me Osorio and Buchanan are surprises. Maybe I'm not up to date on their statuses, but I am pretty sure I saw on TSN's ticker yesterday that Osorio had some sort of "Neurological dysfunction". Odd that we finally get a diagnosis and the next day he is named to the squad. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't end up in the camp, but would be VERY happy to see him playing again (for TFC or Canada).

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6584379

[Pottsy3]

9 minutes ago, BearcatSA said:

I was not surprised at all with regards to Akinola

I wouldn't say I'm surprised, but I think some people would expect him over Brym. Akinola is definitely not deserving of a call atm, if any young TFC guy were to be added to the fold I would've expected it to be Nelson on merit.

[Joe MacCarthy]

 

[Mattd97]

28 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

I think it can be generally true, an obvious talking point, and something that is subject to a bit of adjustment when circumstances warrant.  Fraternity aside, I don’t think Herdman has pretended that there is no flexibility re the squad regardless of form or others staking a strong claim.  To me it isn’t quite that categorical.  

stop being sensible.  it means theyll never bring in a new face until players retire.

[YorkRegionFan]

47 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

The absence of Henry is one of the more noteworthy things since he seems like he was available for TFC.  Despite talk of the brotherhood this may have been a case where Herdman couldn’t choose a guy getting very little playing time (behind CBs who themselves aren’t playing great) over a guy putting in solid performances for 90 minutes at the same level every week.  Will be interesting to see how this shakes down for Qatar.  

Steve Buffery mentioned that  "CB Doneil Henry left training with some tightness in his lower leg"

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, Shway said:

Brym has skill…. I like what I’ve seen of him in his highlight reels.

We don’t need one sided speedersters. Especially on the left side which is locked down with multiple options. 

I would typically agree with this. I like Brym for that reason too, and the skillset of JS is not really needed, but Brym just went back down to the 2nd Dutch division from a not-so-strong Eredivisie club, and Shaff has become a regular for a playoff bound MLS team, scoring twice. On the balance of that, I call Shaff a snub here. 

The more I think of it though, I feel Nelson was the bigger snub. The midfield is really thin right now. It's really just Piette, Kone and Eustaquio in form right now. I know the result is not really important though, so not a big deal in a sense.

[Fullback]

Can I just ask why all the hate for Doneil? Guy played 370 minutes in the Octo and was on the pitch for only one goal against. I'm not suggesting he be in the starting XI but he's been more than serviceable for us as a depth guy at CB.

Yeah I understand he should be playing more than he is right now and I wouldn't blame Herdman for not taking him at this point. But I genuinely don't understand why everyone acts as though he's a complete anchor to our team's chances in Qatar if he gets on the plane. Is it because he lost his man on a goal against in Honduras 6 years ago? Or is it because he gave up a pen in a game that otherwise the defence played great in, in last year's Gold Cup?

Edited September 16, 2022 by Fullback

[narduch]

Shaffelburg is a left sided player and I think Brym is right-sided.

Which might explain things more.

I think that's right.

[canuckgbp]

5 minutes ago, Fullback said:

Can I just ask why all the hatred for Doneil? Guy played 370 minutes in the Octo and was on the pitch for only one goal against. I'm not suggesting he be in the starting XI but he's been more than serviceable for us as a depth guy at CB.

Yeah I understand he should be playing more than he is right now and I wouldn't blame Herdman for not taking him at this point. But I genuinely don't understand why everyone acts as though he's a complete anchor to our team's chances in Qatar if he gets on the plane. Is it because he lost his man on a goal against in Honduras 6 years ago? Or is it because he gave up a pen in a game that otherwise the defence played great in, in last year's Gold Cup?

I am personally disappointed he hasn't been able to win a starting job at TFC. Position of weakness for them where they are looking for answers. Thought he would confront a problem head-on and establish himself ahead of the World Cup. No hatred here, just disappointment. 

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

5 minutes ago, Fullback said:

Can I just ask why all the hatred for Doneil? Guy played 370 minutes in the Octo and was on the pitch for only one goal against. I'm not suggesting he be in the starting XI but he's been more than serviceable for us as a depth guy at CB.

Yeah I understand he should be playing more than he is right now and I wouldn't blame Herdman for not taking him at this point. But I genuinely don't understand why everyone acts as though he's a complete anchor to our team's chances in Qatar if he gets on the plane. Is it because he lost his man on a goal against in Honduras 6 years ago? Or is it because he gave up a pen in a game that otherwise the defence played great in, in last year's Gold Cup?

I am biased because of his history.  But along with Vitoria, he is one guy that I am almost 100% certain will deal with aerial crosses into our box. I worry about that if Vitoria went down.

[MauditYvon]

28 minutes ago, Obinna said:

I would typically agree with this. I like Brym for that reason too, and the skillset of JS is not really needed, but Brym just went back down to the 2nd Dutch division from a not-so-strong Eredivisie club, and Shaff has become a regular for a playoff bound MLS team, scoring twice. On the balance of that, I call Shaff a snub here. 

The more I think of it though, I feel Nelson was the bigger snub. The midfield is really thin right now. It's really just Piette, Kone and Eustaquio in form right now. I know the result is not really important though, so not a big deal in a sense.

He left a bad squad of D1 for a good squad he knows in D2. He’ll be 27 for WC 2026 and 31 for WC 2030. Might be an established Eredivisie player at these points.