Bahrain vs Canada - Friday, November 11th - 10:30am EST / 7:30am Pacific - Isa Town, Bahrain

[Floortom]

Just now, frmr said:

Vlahovic over David is highly debatable. I think they would be a wash at least.

I would say they're in the same tier although very different players.

Serbia is clearly a tier, at least above, Canada though. 

Serbia is a Tier 2 team while Canada is Tier 3/4

[Sal333]

1 hour ago, Floortom said:

I would say they're in the same tier although very different players.

Serbia is clearly a tier, at least above, Canada though. 

Serbia is a Tier 2 team while Canada is Tier 3/4

I guess this WC will rectify the public's perception that Canada is tier 2.

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

1 hour ago, Floortom said:

I would say they're in the same tier although very different players.

Serbia is clearly a tier, at least above, Canada though. 

Serbia is a Tier 2 team while Canada is Tier 3/4

Serbia will go farther than Belgium in this tournament, my prediction.  The midfield will grind a lot of people to dust. 

[SpursFlu]

I think the difference between us and the "next tier" is definitely depth. I don't mean player 11 - 26 but player 5 - 16. We have a couple Eustaquio types after Davies David where is these teams starting 11 is basically all Eustaquio level 

[Bigandy]

4 hours ago, frmr said:

Vlahovic over David is highly debatable. I think they would be a wash at least.

Youre not wrong. It is debatable.  Vlahovic has a slightly better goal ratio in a slightly better league on a slightly better team. Would david produce equal or better numbers in the same environment, probably... The margins of lille to juve are fairly tight this year. The margins of league quality are fairly tight too.  

I think David has really developed recently. Hes much more capable of playing as a 9 alone, better movement and creativity. I would say that prior to the start of the year Vlahovic would be slightly better than David.... now its debatable like you say.  youre right tho... close call

[InglewoodJack]

When I say that Canada and Serbia are in the same tier, I'm talking about a group of teams that is regionally competitive, has some elite top end players and can threaten other solid teams, but is a step behind any nation who has an actual chance to go deep into the World Cup or really threaten the world's best. Within that tier, I would have Serbia towards the top half, and Canada towards the bottom half. For most of our WC qualifying cycle, our ELO scores were fairly comparable. I would expect a Canada-Serbia game to be pretty competitive and we'd have a great shot at winning, despite being underdogs.

I also think that Vlahovic is overrated for the same reason Jonathan David is underrated which is the emblem on the front of their passport.

[Stoppage Time]

Starters versus Bahrain?

St. Clair

Johnston, Miller, Waterman, Laryea

Kone, Piette, Fraser, Choiniere

Schaffelburg, Cavallini

 

Subs who need minutes:

Osorio (will start if fit)

Henry (needs minutes see if he can contribute on the field)

Akinola for Cavallini (second half)

Kaye for Piette

Edwards for Laryea

Perhaps there will be more subs allowed.  

Your thoughts?

 

[trc2014]

7 minutes ago, Stoppage Time said:

Starters versus Bahrain?

St. Clair

Johnston, Miller, Waterman, Laryea

Kone, Piette, Fraser, Choiniere

Schaffelburg, Cavallini

 

Subs who need minutes:

Osorio (will start if fit)

Henry (needs minutes see if he can contribute on the field)

Akinola for Cavallini (second half)

Kaye for Piette

Edwards for Laryea

Perhaps there will be more subs allowed.  

Your thoughts?

 

I’d be pretty surprised if Henry doesn’t start

[Bigandy]

11 minutes ago, Stoppage Time said:

Starters versus Bahrain?

St. Clair

Johnston, Miller, Waterman, Laryea

Kone, Piette, Fraser, Choiniere

Schaffelburg, Cavallini

 

Subs who need minutes:

Osorio (will start if fit)

Henry (needs minutes see if he can contribute on the field)

Akinola for Cavallini (second half)

Kaye for Piette

Edwards for Laryea

Perhaps there will be more subs allowed.  

Your thoughts?

 

Ive said this a few times but i believe we start in the formation we will likely use at WC  3-5-2 

Johnston henry miller
Laryea piette kaye kone (maybe oso) edwards
Shaf, cav 

Oso, cornelius, fraser and waterman are the only subs who have a shot of going to qatar

[DeRo_Is_King]

I'm glad to see others predicting Shaf in the starting 11 tomorrow. I feel like he's a wildcard and could really impress. ZBG should get some time as well from the bench.

[DeRo_Is_King]

15 minutes ago, trc2014 said:

I’d be pretty surprised if Henry doesn’t start

It truly makes me cringe to see Henry start, but you are probably right and he really should be able to manage playing against Bahrain. 

[trc2014]

1 minute ago, DeRo_Is_King said:

It truly makes me cringe to see Henry start, but you are probably right and he really should be able to manage playing against Bahrain. 

Do you really believe that Waterman would be able to deal with the pressure of a WC game over Henry?  I think people are too quick to discount his experience over form.  That being said, his risk is card/PK based on the gravity of the game vs. Waterman being a complete deer in the headlights for a game that would be the biggest of his career 100 times over.

[DeRo_Is_King]

4 minutes ago, trc2014 said:

Do you really believe that Waterman would be able to deal with the pressure of a WC game over Henry?  I think people are too quick to discount his experience over form.  That being said, his risk is card/PK based on the gravity of the game vs. Waterman being a complete deer in the headlights for a game that would be the biggest of his career 100 times over.

I agree Waterman is an unknown for Canada, but maybe he would have been better prepared if he was actually given some minutes during the September friendlies. Same with Cornelius. 

[TGAA_Star]

47 minutes ago, Stoppage Time said:

Starters versus Bahrain?

St. Clair

Johnston, Miller, Waterman, Laryea

Kone, Piette, Fraser, Choiniere

Schaffelburg, Cavallini

 

Subs who need minutes:

Osorio (will start if fit)

Henry (needs minutes see if he can contribute on the field)

Akinola for Cavallini (second half)

Kaye for Piette

Edwards for Laryea

Perhaps there will be more subs allowed.  

Your thoughts?

 

I can agree

[cornerkick]

almost game time!

incoming hype video

 

 

[Shway]

Brothers!

 Let’s goooo. Let’s make it rain in Bahrain!

[CanadaFan123]

I know it’s just a friendly with most of our guys missing but we need to be looking for a result here having lost 4 of the last 7. 

Also really excited to see some of these MLS guys get a shot tomorrow. This is an amazing opportunity to make the World Cup team. There’s a lot of talk as if the team is settled but we can’t rule out someone (some guys) going off tomorrow and winning a spot. 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

4 hours ago, Stoppage Time said:

Starters versus Bahrain?

St. Clair

Johnston, Miller, Waterman, Laryea

Kone, Piette, Fraser, Choiniere

Schaffelburg, Cavallini

- Miller and Waterman switch sides. 

But in fact Herdman loves Henry too much and needs to see his level of fitness because he has had too little playing time so I don't think it will be Waterman.

- I am not sure about Koné on the wing. More central I think.

- Shaffelburg is more of a left-winger but you have him on the right of a two striker system. That's not going to happen.

With those players (minus the switch to Henry) I get:

                   St. Clair

Johnston, Henry, Miller, Laryea

                    Piette

Choinière, Koné, Fraser, Shaffelburg

                   Cavallini

[CanadaFan123]

——-——-Cavallini————

—————Osorio————

———-Kaye—Kone———

Edwards—-Piette——Laryea

——Miller-Henry-Johnston—

—————St. Clair—————

 

Can see this one being frustrating for us and bringing us back to Canada of old. We just don’t have the attacking personnel we’ve been spoiled with. We’re going to be relying on fluid play from midfield/wide to get things going.

 

Edited November 11, 2022 by CanadaFan123

[Lansdude]

Curious to see how Osorio and Kone work together. Shouldn't have any trouble getting the ball into dangerous areas. Might not be pretty. No idea what to expect from Bahrain. How good can their premier league be?

[CanadaFan123]

5 minutes ago, Lansdude said:

Curious to see how Osorio and Kone work together. Shouldn't have any trouble getting the ball into dangerous areas. Might not be pretty. No idea what to expect from Bahrain. How good can their premier league be?

Expect Bahrain to be around Qatar/El Salvador level. 

[SpursFlu]

I think considering his question marks Osorio needs to start. No?

[El Hombre]

10 hours ago, CanadaFan123 said:

I know it’s just a friendly with most of our guys missing but we need to be looking for a result here having lost 4 of the last 7. 

I couldn't care less about the scoreline.  I just want Osorio, Laryea, Kone, Piette, Cavallini and a few others to play hard for 80 to 90 minutes.  Hell, I'd prefer them to be losing or the game being tight compared to walking all over Bahrain.

[dyslexic nam]

I think some folks are underestimating the lads we have available for this one.  I get that we don’t have the Double D’s, the Stache, or Tajon, but this is still a pretty damn capable squad.   Cav, Oso, Kone, Laryea - those are guys who can do some damage.  And every one on the field will be hugely motivated to prove something.   Aside from missing Vitoria, we are close to a full strength back end - protected by an always capable Piette.  This may not be a goal scoring masterclass but I still think we win by a comfortable 2+ goal margin.   We got this.  

[Ally McCoist]

11 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said:

I think some folks are underestimating the lads we have available for this one.  I get that we don’t have the Double D’s, the Stache, or Tajon, but this is still a pretty damn capable squad.   Cav, Oso, Kone, Laryea - those are guys who can do some damage.  And every one on the field will be hugely motivated to prove something.   Aside from missing Vitoria, we are close to a full strength back end - protected by an always capable Piette.  This may not be a goal scoring masterclass but I still think we win by a comfortable 2+ goal margin.   We got this.  

Yep I agree. I personally placed a fat bet on this one. The odds were too good to pass on. Bahrain is comparable to the likes of Curacao, Guatemala.