CONCACAF Nations League 2022/2023 - General Thread - Group Stage

[dyslexic nam]

So they booked a friendly with the #1 team in the world and sent out their second stringers?   That is… bold.   

(I am assuming they used their best players for the clinching NL game) 
 

[Alex]

1 hour ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Good catch from @Alex, Panama really did play with virtually a different team vs. Argentina to not let it affect their Costa Rica game.

Panama vs. Costa Rica, starters:

Mosquera

Andrade - Escobar - Cummings

Blackman - Carrasquilla - Martínez - Murillo

Dias  - Waterman - Quintero

Welch, Bárcenas, Fajardo, Davis and Córdoba sub on.

Against Argentina:

Only Córdoba, Quintero and Murillo started of the former line-up, and none of the subs vs. Argentina figured in the Costa Rica game. 

Yeah it’s impressive they could put two different teams out and not get slaughtered.

[Obinna]

Mexico also split their squad for their trip down to Suriname. Interesting other teams did this and we didn't.

Good arguments on both sides being had on Futbol Americas (in regards to Mexico). On one hand, you keep the squad fresh. On the other hand, you miss an opportunity to build comradery within the group when you split it. This is more a problem for Mexico as their coach is new and their program is under pressure. They chose to split the squad and they still could only muster a draw at home, plus their away win wasn't convincing. Nothing good came from squad-splitting in this case insofar as results. By flying the "B" guys down to Suriname, these fringe guys lost opportunities to rub shoulders with the stars in the team, who were saved for the Jamaica match at Azteca. 

What we are doing is working for us, so I don't think we need to resort to splitting our team, but it's worth a thought. We do have more travel than the average team in this region. It always comes up when the topic of where to host games crops up. 

[CanadaFan123]

Splitting squads makes sense in certain circumstances. In Panama’s case it makes sense. In Mexico’s case it’s probably cost them a spot in the nations league final. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

3 hours ago, dyslexic nam said:

So they booked a friendly with the #1 team in the world and sent out their second stringers?   That is… bold.   

(I am assuming they used their best players for the clinching NL game) 
 

Really it is impressive. Panama had a pretty qualifying run and had to be disappointed. I would have preferred them to Costa Rica, because CR was so negative. Then played so horribly in the WC, representing Concacaf badly. I admit I also like Christiansen as I saw him play for Barça, get that, he was always a good guy. 

Btw, @Obinna I am not suggesting we should have done that, I agree it was better to stay together and build the team that way. We don't have the depth, couldn't risk a bad result in Curaçao, needed the time as a full roster, and it would have been a headache to have extra guys flying around for one or another fixture. Panama took a starter playing in Peru, another in Bulgaria and the guy at Anderlecht to Buenos Aires, the rest of the core stayed home to train.

[CanadaFan123]

How did Costa Rica play ”horribly” at the World Cup? They beat Japan and were even qualified for the knockout rounds for a brief moment on match day 3. 

[Alex]

25 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

How did Costa Rica play ”horribly” at the World Cup? They beat Japan and were even qualified for the knockout rounds for a brief moment on match day 3. 

I would assume he watched Spain run over them 7-0

Edited March 30, 2023 by Alex

[RS]

Not a single Mexican

 

[Obinna]

3 minutes ago, RS said:

Not a single Mexican

 

Seems like it's heavily skewed to this window. Trusty made his debut against Grenada. Bobby Reid scored a worldie against El Tri, but what else has he done in the group stage (not being facetious, I literally don't know)? Ricardo Pepi had a good USMNT camp, but was he even on the roster for the first 2 games? What about Ferriera scoring 4 goals? Are either more deserving than David, who scored 3 goals in the 4 group stage games? I love me some Oso and Kone, but both strike me as getting rewarded for the last game in particular. 

Meh, either way good to get some representation. Not complaining here. 

[RS]

Just now, Obinna said:

Seems like it's heavily skewed to this window.

I think it is for this window, but Concacaf's graphic designer and social media admin didn't think to specify.

Either way, no Mexicans.

[Gian-Luca]

Although there is a Canada goal up for voting, I'm tempted to vote for the Grenada one instead given who it was scored against:

 

[ahmedou]

7 hours ago, RS said:

Not a single Mexican

 

Concacaf account has been hacked. I've no other explanations for this.

[Joe MacCarthy]

 

[Kent]

On 3/30/2023 at 6:12 PM, Gian-Luca said:

Although there is a Canada goal up for voting, I'm tempted to vote for the Grenada one instead given who it was scored against:

 

There are a bunch of legit great goals in there.

[Unnamed Trialist]

On 3/31/2023 at 12:12 AM, Gian-Luca said:

Although there is a Canada goal up for voting, I'm tempted to vote for the Grenada one instead given who it was scored against:

 

I thought Michael Findlay was still coaching them, so you'd have a Canadian angle, but I see he was replaced by his assistant last June.