Alistair Johnston

[InglewoodJack]

32 minutes ago, Obinna said:

With Eustaquio and Kone in the middle and David and Larin up top. Then as always, who are the CBs? Can Cornelius take a step up from here? Feels like Miller is near or at his peak, whereas Cornelius seems to have a higher ceiling. Maybe on the right we see LDF and JKL battle it out, or Holmes if he's indeed eligible?

If we're talking our future "peak" lineup, I think Cornelius is the highest ceiling CB we have outside of the young U20 guys. I want LDF and JKL in the mix asap, but their lack of pro experience would be concerning to me going into Concacaf or Copa games. Funny enough, I would trust throwing those guys into the fire at a world cup vs. our regular in-conference games. Feel like you need a bit of that hardened veteran experience to hold your own on a concacaf pitch and especially in front of the types of fans we'll see at Copa. I think a couple seasons in England will get them that experience though.Too early to get excited about it, but I can see a scenario in which by 2026, LDF and JKL are knocking on the door at their club as quasi starters, but we have Stefanovic who has much more experience given how easier it is to crack the TFC lineup vs. Bristol or Fullham, so he ends up higher on the depth chart. Very good problem to have. If we ignore cynical cap ties and we're looking at a roster specifically for T&T, I think Holmes' experience gives him the edge for me, as he could actually play in that game, but I have to admit, a Davies - LDF - Stefanovic - JKL - Buchanan back 5 in 2026 or even 2030 is pretty exciting to think about if each of those guys becomes as good as we think they could be.

[Bigandy]

I think our best and still somewhat realistic line up for 2026 is 

davies cornelius LDF buchanan
Millar kone staq corbeanu 
david 
larin

-With buchanan arguably taking corbeanu spot and sigur/johnston competing for the RB spot.
-If larin is out of form/we want 3 midfielders than sigur and ali fight it out in the midfield. 
-LDF, stefanovic and JKL can fight it out depending on their development in the next 2 years. I doubt 2 of 3 will surpass miller/cornelius in that time period. 

Pelligrino- ish, nelson, saliba, Colyn, JMR, franklin, bombito, zouhir are all the supplementary guys that should develop enough  to fight for a roster spot. 
 

[Shway]

You guys are crazy putting our best 1v1 attackers behind role players. 

I am a Corbeanu fan for his attacking flair....but no way am I putting him in a position that I know Tajon is wayyyy better at. He's an attacker who's been out at RB/RWB.

Millar there is an argument, but Theo...cut it out. He hasn't done enough at the professional level to warrant this.

 If we're talking 2028 okay cool.

Edited February 8 by Shway

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

4 hours ago, InglewoodJack said:

Bring in Corbeanu, play him and Millar as wingers, Davies and Buchanan as fullbacks… that’s the future. I think there’s realistically a way to also make room for Farsi if he wants to commit. 

I just can't see two in midfield working against decent teams.  So you are dropping Larin or David, or asking David to actually play as a midfielder with real defensive responsibilties not as a second striker or even an AMC. 

Either way or whatever formation we need to give a chance to/get to commit a right-sided centre back with okay pace.   

 

[Obinna]

8 minutes ago, Shway said:

You guys are crazy putting our best 1v1 attackers behind role players. 

I am a Corbeanu fan for his attacking flair....but no way am I putting him in a position that I know Tajon is wayyyy better at. He's an attacker who's been out at RB/RWB.

Millar there is an argument, but Theo...cut it out.

In defense of that, I will say that for me it's about getting as many players on the field as possible who can break teams down on the dribble. For a team like Canada, that's important, as we're not going to have the quality to play through teams at the World Cup level. 

For example, I love Johnston and he's a smart player, but he's a pass and move player. Nothing wrong with that, but his usefulness going forward can get nullified if our midfielders get shut down. He's be left with nobody to combine with. Conversely, Buchanan can advance the ball by carrying into the middle third and cause issues from there. Same as Davies on the left.

I am not married to this idea, but I do entertain it. Millar and Corbeanu playing inverted would give Davies and Buchanan that space out wide to attack. Allows those inverted wingers to make plays inside and shoot on target with their strong foot.

Then, if we start game this way, we can always push Davies and Buchanan forward to replace Millar and Corbeanu, then bring on Johnston and Adekugbe (or whoever) as more stay at home options.

[Bigandy]

24 minutes ago, Shway said:

You guys are crazy putting our best 1v1 attackers behind role players. 

I am a Corbeanu fan for his attacking flair....but no way am I putting him in a position that I know Tajon is wayyyy better at. He's an attacker who's been out at RB/RWB.

Millar there is an argument, but Theo...cut it out. He hasn't done enough at the professional level to warrant this.

 If we're talking 2028 okay cool.

Of course, theo hasnt done enough to warrant this. Its all dreaming atm. The general idea is that theo takes off in la liga where he cant not be a starter, millar moving to the prem and that buchanan develops his defensive game in italy to a crazy degree. Both are unknowns with theo unlikely to become that important, that quickly. 

It's also a bit crazy to have 2 super attacking fullbacks, 2 strikers and although millar works his ass off, im not sure theo and millar are considered defensive wingers by any means. The balance of the team is a bit off with that lineup. 

I personally wish buchanan was seen as an attacker and not a wingback or fullback but if hes a solid option at RB and we have 3 wingers playing in top 5 leagues, then its reasonable to shift buchanan back for theo and millar to come in as they are great 1v1 guys as well. 

Having said all this, if he can get minutes in la liga and then become a starter next year, he is 100% in the conversation for 2026. That is plausible but still unlikely. 

[Obinna]

40 minutes ago, Bigandy said:

Of course, theo hasnt done enough to warrant this. Its all dreaming atm. The general idea is that theo takes off in la liga where he cant not be a starter, millar moving to the prem and that buchanan develops his defensive game in italy to a crazy degree. Both are unknowns with theo unlikely to become that important, that quickly. 

It's also a bit crazy to have 2 super attacking fullbacks, 2 strikers and although millar works his ass off, im not sure theo and millar are considered defensive wingers by any means. The balance of the team is a bit off with that lineup. 

I personally wish buchanan was seen as an attacker and not a wingback or fullback but if hes a solid option at RB and we have 3 wingers playing in top 5 leagues, then its reasonable to shift buchanan back for theo and millar to come in as they are great 1v1 guys as well. 

Having said all this, if he can get minutes in la liga and then become a starter next year, he is 100% in the conversation for 2026. That is plausible but still unlikely. 

I know we want to get away from 3 at the back (at least I do), but how about this?

--------------David--------------

-----Millar-------------Corbeanu---

Davies---Eustaquio--Kone---Buchanan

-------LCB---MCB---RCB-----------

--------------Keeper---------------

The idea would be that Corbeanu and Millar play inverted and pinch inside, with Davies and Buchanan overlapping. Seems more balanced in that formation, no?

[Bigandy]

2 minutes ago, Obinna said:

I know we want to get away from 3 at the back (at least I do), but how about this?

--------------David--------------

-----Millar-------------Corbeanu---

Davies---Eustaquio--Kone---Buchanan

-------LCB---MCB---RCB-----------

--------------Keeper---------------

The idea would be that Corbeanu and Millar play inverted and pinch inside, with Davies and Buchanan overlapping. Seems more balanced in that formation, no?

Ideally we have cornelius/miller  JKL LDF  as our back 3 (maybe even stefanovic). Assuming LDF and JKL reach a minimum championship level, then your line up is incredible and probably the best quality CMNT squad ever. 

I think that your line up is the way to fit in our (prospective) best 11 players on the field. Obviously we may need to play with 3 mids and/or a back 4 but lots more balance than a 4-4-2 with 6 extremely attack minded players. 

[InglewoodJack]

54 minutes ago, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

I just can't see two in midfield working against decent teams.  So you are dropping Larin or David, or asking David to actually play as a midfielder with real defensive responsibilties not as a second striker or even an AMC. 

Either way or whatever formation we need to give a chance to/get to commit a right-sided centre back with okay pace.   

 

I hear you- I'm inclined to think we might want to eventually go to a single striker, but our two strikers are effectively our two best players, so not sure how to make that work. Can't say I've done my homework on Ali Ahmed's defensive capabilities, but a dream scenario might be a midfield of Eustaquio-Ahmed-Kone with Ahmed pushing forward on offence? This is for a few years down the line though. I think for this year's slate of games, we should probably stick of a bit more of a traditional CANMNT formation.

 

1 hour ago, Shway said:

 

 If we're talking 2028 okay cool.

Yeah, I'm talking about future- whenever most of our guys collectively hit their peak. I want to see TC get calls now, but I think to give him a starting spot, we're going to have to see him actually perform for Granada and likely stick around LaLiga next year or a similar level if his club gets relegated. By the time Millar and Corbeanu hit their peaks, at least one (And I think both) will be top 5 league players, we'll have the best LB in the world, and the RB for one of the best clubs in Europe. I feel like that's too much talent to not put in your starting lineup at once given our gaps elsewhere.

[dyslexic nam]

Sounds like this was pretty serious.

https://www.sportsmax.tv/football/international/item/140042-celtic-wait-for-news-on-injured-alistair-johnston

"Celtic are waiting on the full diagnosis of Alistair Johnston’s injury but fear he has suffered a fracture."

 

If that gets confirmed, it will have implications far beyond March (and I mean for AJ himself, not just us). 

 

Best of luck to him, and speedy recovery.  

[VinceA]

2 hours ago, dyslexic nam said:

Sounds like this was pretty serious.

https://www.sportsmax.tv/football/international/item/140042-celtic-wait-for-news-on-injured-alistair-johnston

"Celtic are waiting on the full diagnosis of Alistair Johnston’s injury but fear he has suffered a fracture."

 

If that gets confirmed, it will have implications far beyond March (and I mean for AJ himself, not just us). 

 

Best of luck to him, and speedy recovery.  

RB and defence immediately becomes a worry if AJ is out and Richie has no game time come March.

We'd have to use Tajon but unless it's 3atb that's not ideal.

He's also currently not playing for Inter but I expect that to change soon.

[K Edgar]

[RS]

2 hours ago, VinceA said:

RB and defence immediately becomes a worry if AJ is out and Richie has no game time come March.

We'd have to use Tajon but unless it's 3atb that's not ideal.

He's also currently not playing for Inter but I expect that to change soon.

I don't think "have to" is the right phrase, as Richie will still be available (barring injury).

It's not ideal but I think Richie will be fine starting against T&T.

[Borjans Sweatpants]

[InglewoodJack]

Would love to see him come out in one of those old timey helmets now. He’d rock that hard.

[Obinna]

18 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

Would love to see him come out in one of those old timey helmets now. He’d rock that hard.

He should just wear it regardless of whether he needs it. You know, like how Miller or Larin tape their wrist.

[narduch]

23 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

Would love to see him come out in one of those old timey helmets now. He’d rock that hard.

He broke his jaw?

We may get to see a Phantom of the Opera type mask instead 

[InglewoodJack]

3 minutes ago, Obinna said:

He should just wear it regardless of whether he needs it. You know, like how Miller or Larin tape their wrist.

Oh I 100% agree. The thought of AJ with a rugby helmet on running at an attacker would be terrifying.

[InglewoodJack]

1 minute ago, narduch said:

He broke his jaw?

We may get to see a Phantom of the Opera type mask instead 

Wouldn’t you need something that covers the side of your face for a fractured jaw? When I think of the phantom of the opera mask, I think of Gvardiol last season, and I think he had a busted eye socket or something. 

[El Diego]

Not a doctor, but fractured jaw is miles better than fractured skull isn't it?

[Obinna]

6 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

Oh I 100% agree. The thought of AJ with a rugby helmet on running at an attacker would be terrifying.

...In a black jersey, short sleeves and -18C weather.  

[Obinna]

10 minutes ago, narduch said:

We may get to see a Phantom of the Opera type mask instead 

This.

[dyslexic nam]

24 minutes ago, El Diego said:

Not a doctor, but fractured jaw is miles better than fractured skull isn't it?

That is 100% what I was thinking.   If someone says I am going to break a bone in my head, jaw would be choice #1.  Still sucks for sure but as soon as that scenario was floated, that was probably the best possible outcome.  

[MauditYvon]

Now Corbeanu is in the starting XI of each of you because he signed with a poor Liga side (they'll be relegated if you didn't knew)? Jesus. 

The best XI is clearly :

Crépeau

Johnston - ? - Cornelius - Davies
Buchanan - Koné - Eustaquio - Millar
David - Larin

Give me a break with Corbeanu (I want him in the squad tho).

 

Edited February 10 by MauditYvon

[GasPed]

6 hours ago, El Diego said:

Not a doctor, but fractured jaw is miles better than fractured skull isn't it?

Depends if you want to eat or you want to think.