Your Canada XI for Belgium, Croatia and Morocco

[Borjans Pants]

Lots of formations we haven't seen them really play/players playing positions we haven't seen them play for Canada in these reply's. Don't think we'll see anything vastly different than what we saw most of qualifying.

Borjan

    Johnston.   Vitoria.      Kennedy

Laryea.  Osorio.  Eustaqiuo.  Atiba.  Davies

               David.         Larin

I think we'll see something along these lines all three matches.  Maybe 3-4-3 with Tajon in for one of Atiba or Osorio.  Have laryea tuck inside a bit to help the midfield.

Vitoria is a must start if fit for me, guy is class, and has the experience in Europe to not be overwhelmed by the moment.  Only other players who have played in the middle of a 3, or a as the rcb of a 2 are Atiba and Henry.  Not sure I want any part of Henry in the world cup, and Atiba is needed in the midfield, and looked uneasy at Cb.

Edited April 7, 2022 by Borjans Pants

[ghostknownunknown]

Edit

Edited April 7, 2022 by ghostknownunknown

[ted]

On 4/5/2022 at 12:03 PM, TGAA_Star said:

What would be your starting XI for the 3 group games in Qatar against Belgium, Croatia and Morocco? If you're the CANMNT manager, who is in your XI and what formation do you go with in Qatar?

OMG, I have seen some eager beavers before but this takes the cake.

How about we wait and see who is available, fit and in good form in September? Until then this conversation is pointless.

[Ansem]

 

 

[Kadenge]

Lukaku is such a physical presence for Belgium. I'm not sure we have a CB (outside of Henry who could match up physically with him), so this news, while sad for Lukaku, could be a massive plus for us, even if Belgium has other options at striker

[P-O]

[jhoops__]

^ I like it.

[Stryker911]

Lukaku being gone is actually a huge loss for them. If David was Belgium he would likely be starting for them with Lukaku out.

[Stryker911]

7 minutes ago, P-O said:

Same lineup I have. Except maybe Osorio if he is back to full fitness. 

Have we ever seen a front 3 of Davies-david-Tajon?

[P-O]

1 hour ago, Stryker911 said:

Same lineup I have. Except maybe Osorio if he is back to full fitness. 

Have we ever seen a front 3 of Davies-david-Tajon?

Versus Panama when we scored 4.

Edited October 31, 2022 by P-O

[Bigandy]

15 minutes ago, P-O said:

Versus El Salvador when we scored 4.

Which game was this? I don't remember us scoring 4 vs el salvador? 

[Stryker911]

I had to look as well. It was actually against Panama.

[Shway]

Against Belgium.
We should deploy some Conte ball and look to hit them on the counter attack with our speed

[Ansem]

38 minutes ago, P-O said:

Against Belgium based on form as there's no MLS for those players

• Hoilett for Johnston
• Cornelius for Miller

[Shway]

2 minutes ago, Ansem said:

Against Belgium based on form as there's no MLS for those players

• Hoilett for Johnston
• Cornelius for Miller

Sounds good in theory, but in reality those changes are not going to happen. I would be surprised to see if those two guys were dropped. 

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

30 minutes ago, Shway said:

Against Belgium.
We should deploy some Conte ball and look to hit them on the counter attack with our speed

You could even pull Davies back to more of an attacking midfielder, allow him to help out if the midfield gets in trouble and be there to feed David when he successfully presses.  Generally, that is what I have though best at least in the first game.   The worry is whether Atiba is ready to go and whether Piette provides enough physicality to battle there. 

30 minutes ago, Ansem said:

Against Belgium based on form as there's no MLS for those players

• Hoilett for Johnston
• Cornelius for Miller

Hoilett has been playing wingback but I can't see that translating into a centre back spot even in a three. He is almost 3 inches shorter than Johnston for one thing. 

[VinceA]

Watching Davies playing in the middle against Uruguay was infuriating after a while. He shouldn't be used as an attacking midfielder.

[Shway]

9 minutes ago, VinceA said:

Watching Davies playing in the middle against Uruguay was infuriating after a while. He shouldn't be used as an attacking midfielder.

100000%....this is how I feel as well. And I didn't entertain the convo when it was happening. 

He needs to play the classic Messi role where he's lineup up on the outside but has the liberty to roam wherever he needs. His skillset is best utilized running and fronting guys.

If he's in the middle, it will be so easy for him to be stifled vs the isolation situations he has on the wing.

Maybe if we had another Buchanan, I wouldn't mind Davies there.

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

24 minutes ago, Shway said:

100000%....this is how I feel as well. And I didn't entertain the convo when it was happening. 

He needs to play the classic Messi role where he's lineup up on the outside but has the liberty to roam wherever he needs. His skillset is best utilized running and fronting guys.

If he's in the middle, it will be so easy for him to be stifled vs the isolation situations he has on the wing.

Maybe if we had another Buchanan, I wouldn't mind Davies there.

That's a kind of attacking midfielder, for me at least.  It is what what the 3-5-2 (1-1) was actually invented for, with Maradona.  Remember against Uruguay we had three attackers and therefore 2 in the midfield against a good central midfield. We lost that battle repeatedly and then Davies tried to do too much.  That change in him needs to come from something other than formation. In my opinion, it was the frustration not neccesarily the placement. 

You said you want to give him the freedom to roam wherever, that is a midfielder not a forward to me. (a bit of semantics). Set up him in the pocket, he can go to the wing if he wants, he but he can run at  Belgium's slow central defenders a lot more easily.   He is also better placed to pick off passes from the back, he is one of the quick players in the world and we probably look for a cheap goal like a turnover if we want to win or even draw with them . 

 

Edit: As far as another Tajon, one of the reason I think we used this formation is to get Adekugbe up the field with the cover that three at the back should provide

 

Edited October 31, 2022 by WestHamCanadianinOxford

[Bigandy]

1 hour ago, Shway said:

Against Belgium.
We should deploy some Conte ball and look to hit them on the counter attack with our speed

I would love to see a counter attack strategy but I cant see belguim being naive enough to allow us to do that. They know they have a slow back line and will know how fast our transitions can be. I would imagine they play a low block to nullify us. 

[A_Gagne]

4 hours ago, Ansem said:

 

 

[Bigandy]

4 hours ago, P-O said:

Versus Panama when we scored 4.

You could make the case that we didnt play with those 3 guys up top. If i remember correctly, it was a 3-5-2 with buchanan at wing back and davies/david up top. 

It would be interesting to see those 3 up top in a 3-4-3 or 4-3-3. It may not be the best choice to go with those formations at a WC but I would love to see what davies, david, and buchanan can do together further up the pitch with a bit less responsibility. 

[costarg]

21 minutes ago, Bigandy said:

You could make the case that we didnt play with those 3 guys up top. If i remember correctly, it was a 3-5-2 with buchanan at wing back and davies/david up top. 

It would be interesting to see those 3 up top in a 3-4-3 or 4-3-3. It may not be the best choice to go with those formations at a WC but I would love to see what davies, david, and buchanan can do together further up the pitch with a bit less responsibility. 

Thing is, they're all fast enough to play in a 4-5-1 and still act like 3 up top, while also fulfilling their defensive duties.

I really hope we get this as an early xmas present, it'll be so entertaining, even if we lose.  I'll be gutted if we lineup with David&Larin vs the heavyweights.  

[Bigandy]

20 minutes ago, costarg said:

Thing is, they're all fast enough to play in a 4-5-1 and still act like 3 up top, while also fulfilling their defensive duties.

I really hope we get this as an early xmas present, it'll be so entertaining, even if we lose.  I'll be gutted if we lineup with David&Larin vs the heavyweights.  

Good point with the 4-5-1. A 4-5-1 can easily become a 4-3-3 in game based on the movement of the two wingers.  I was referring more to the defensive duties of a wing back. When we play davies and david up top and buchanan as wingback, the natural position of buchanan is lower than if it was a 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 or 3-4-3(assuming buchanan is in the front 3).
Having buchanan and davies on opposite sides creates more balance in our attack, rather than having our opponent heavily focus on shutting down davies. Buchanan can of course create the same opportunities from wing back, but i get excited at unleashing those front 3. If we had a proper number 10 who could link these three and find them in space, ouir attack would be unbelievable. 

[BrennanFan]

I think we need Hoilett and Hutchinson's cool veteran presences to calm the nerves and slow the game down against Belgium. Just gotta keep that score respectable or grind out a 0-0 if at all possible.

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

Davies---Eustaquio---Piette---Hoilett

----------------Hutchinson

Adekugbe---Miller---Vitoria---Johnson

----------------Borjan

 

Gloves have to come off against Croatia and Morocco.

-----Davies---David---Buchanan

----------Osorio---Eustaquio

----------------Piette

Adekugbe---Miller---Vitoria---Laryea

----------------Borjan