CNL Play-In for Copa America: Canada vs Trinidad & Tobago - Saturday, March 23, 2024 - Frisco (greater Dallas), Texas

[Joe MacCarthy]

4 hours ago, blueseeka said:

Junior Hoilett (Aberdeen)

I didn't know Hoilett was at Aberdeen, I missed that one.

[Aird25]

Sometimes I feel crazy routing for Amer Didic. He's just such a rock

[Ansem]

23 minutes ago, Obinna said:

I know it's tongue in cheek, but there is also Thiago Almada, who has gotten his 1 goal and 4 caps while with Atlanta United. Not to mention Velasco earning a call up as an FC Dallas player. Didn't Barrel get a call up while at FC Cincinnati as well?

There's 4 players right now from MLS in the Argentina pool, compared to 0 players from the Swiss league.

Maybe the Swiss just have to triple the number of clubs. Yeah, that should do it.

I was quick to clarify "season form". I'd play Pos with Cornelius against Trinidad. 

If you want to have a broader discussion about the depth chart for Copa America if we make it - I'm all for it. For me Miller peaked, he could always have a better season this year but I'm not convinced based on last year. Maybe Bombito in MLS step up, I'm unconvinced by McGraw and the former CPL guys with regards to Copa America, all interchangeable to me.  

If we do end up there, I'd rather we slowly start integrating our other younger promising CBs building up to 2026 instead

[Soro17]

1 hour ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Maybe a Cuba switch is in order? Wouldn’t blame him honestly.

I cringe to even ask - can he switch back to Cuba after he switched to us? Someone on here must surely have made a flow-chart for a player that switched at U17, post-2004 but pre-2020, has been capped fewer than 3 times before they were 21 and only appeared in friendlies?  

[phresh]

31 minutes ago, Soro17 said:

I cringe to even ask - can he switch back to Cuba after he switched to us? Someone on here must surely have made a flow-chart for a player that switched at U17, post-2004 but pre-2020, has been capped fewer than 3 times before they were 21 and only appeared in friendlies?  

No, he already filed his one-time switch

[costarg]

16 hours ago, Obinna said:

Also, curious we stopped at 57. Why not just name 60? I don't get that.

Saving ink - Did you forget about CSA's financial issues?  Toner is expensive, man.

Edited February 27 by costarg

[costarg]

15 hours ago, Obinna said:

I don't know what's more persistent, your anti-MLS agenda or @Bigandy's Bombito at CDM agenda.

You definitely have more history on your side, but Big Andy probably has more commitment, and that's saying something 😜

Hey!  How about my "Vitoria is not our top 4 CB anymore" & "need to stop with the back 3"?  I was sure I was one of the top 2 most annoying repetitive post guys. 

Kinda relieved actually, thanks for that!

[Bigandy]

15 hours ago, Obinna said:

I don't know what's more persistent, your anti-MLS agenda or @Bigandy's Bombito at CDM agenda.

You definitely have more history on your side, but Big Andy probably has more commitment, and that's saying something 😜

Thats good banter and I can see why. But I genuinely dont want bombito to be playing as a CDM for canada in any meaningful way. 

However, if youre looking at very specific situations, such as the last 5 minutes where we are pegged back and T and T is humping balls into our our box, then we need to look at a specific solution. I would say a logical move would be to go from 4-4-2 to 4-1-4-1. Who goes into that 1? Choiniere? Piette? Kaye? Fraser? What value do they bring? If bombito comes on for the last 5 minutes in this scenario, we dont unsettle our defense but get the value of another big body to defend the high balls. 

To say he is going to have turnovers really ignores the reality of this situation. We are going to be making clearances and countering. Theres very little passing sequences when we are pegged back. So if bombito can be semi trusted at CB to defend, why cant he do the exact same thing in midfield. Whether hes cdm or CB, his heading in the box is the same. His clearances are the same. He wouldnt be asked to do a traditional CDM role in this scenario. 

But I get it, its not the national teams job to develop players. However, which option from the bench provides the same level of quality at CDM in this type of scenario. Other than piette, theres an argument that bombito with pretty much zero experience at CDM is our best CDM out there. 

I dont get why people call bombito out of position "development" but when we play shaf at lwb, davies striker, david at cam, miller at lb, millar all over the pitch, etc its not development. 

You put your best options in the best spots. For me, bombito is arguably the best option at shut down CDM off the bench. (piette is preferred if we have any sort of possession)

[Aird25]

31 minutes ago, Bigandy said:

I dont get why people call bombito out of position "development" but when we play shaf at lwb, davies striker, david at cam, miller at lb, millar all over the pitch, etc its not development. 

Because he hasn't locked down a role at club or country yet 

[CanadaFan123]

27 minutes ago, Aird25 said:

Because he hasn't locked down a role at club or country yet 

At club I’d say he’s pretty close, if not already. Has started 7 of their last 10 matches dating back to last season. The ones he didn’t play were presumably due to fixture congestion.

[Aird25]

7 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

At club I’d say he’s pretty close, if not already. Has started 7 of their last 10 matches dating back to last season. The ones he didn’t play were presumably due to fixture congestion.

Fantastic! But he's 23 and he has 19 professional appearances in 5 different positions (none of them DM). He has a lot of tools and he's trending in the right direction, but I don't think it's a mystery why people might still consider his minutes as development compared to established pros like Davies and David

Edited February 27 by Aird25

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

40 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

At club I’d say he’s pretty close, if not already. Has started 7 of their last 10 matches dating back to last season. The ones he didn’t play were presumably due to fixture congestion.

I have a question for people who have seen Bombito a decent amount.  

We certainly could use his physicality in our midfield, but we have also had an issue with giving the ball away/getting caught on it in key moments.

 Has he show the ball skills needed, beyond what we saw in the Gold Cup?  

Edited February 27 by WestHamCanadianinOxford

[CanadaFan123]

4 minutes ago, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

I have a question for people who have seen Bombito a decent amount.  

We certainly could use his physicality in our midfield, but we have also had an issue with given the ball away/getting caught on it in key moments.

 Has he show the ball skills needed, beyond what we saw in the Gold Cup?  

My understanding is that ball skills are what had everyone excited about him and is the reason people see him as a viable option. I haven’t watched him much but I do recall him having an impressive dribbling highlight with Colorado last year. 

[gkhs]

I understand the tendency to not call CPL players. It is a deep and impressive squad, and, in most positions, there is not a CPL player I would advocate for over anyone who was named.

Personally, I prefer Daniel Nimick to several of the defenders who were named. More precisely, I think he is more likely to contribute at a high level in 2026 than several other players.

If I was a betting person, I would wager that he surpasses some of the MLS contingent before 2026.

It seems pretty clear that the CMNT sees a call up as a carrot to dangle to encourage players to move on from CPL; just not sure how I feel about that.

[CanadaFan123]

Just looking at the list again and one name that isn’t there that’s surprising is Marcus Godinho. 

So guys left off the 60 man who are surprises for me: Froese, Godinho, JMR. 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

39 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Just looking at the list again and one name that isn’t there that’s surprising is Marcus Godinho. 

He isn't getting the same amount of minutes at Korona Kielce as Zator is.

41 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Froese

Agreed, and I think @Unnamed Trialist agrees as well. Froese should have been listed.

[Unnamed Trialist]

11 minutes ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

He isn't getting the same amount of minutes at Korona Kielce as Zator is.

Agreed, and I think @Unnamed Trialist agrees as well. Froese should have been listed.

If Abzi getting no minutes for Leganés is listed, Froese getting regular minutes has to be there, in a top 2nd tier. And worse when apparently Abzi was saying he was unsure about Canada. As for Godinho, I agree, he is missing minutes. 

In the end I really don't care too much about the lineup, I am so teed off about the Jamaica match still I am down to this: maul those m-f-ers. Just go out and do what the equivalent, metaphorically, of a major b-tch slap to be heard round the world. If Biello is getting it wrong, then I hope our premiere guys just ignore him and get it done. And ad infinitum until we get a decent manager who knows more than the players. 

Edited February 27 by Unnamed Trialist

[Obinna]

Is there a case for calling Abzi over Adekugbe?

Sam is not playing yet. Abzi is fit but not playing, although he's part of a squad seemingly headed for La Liga promotion.

Clearly Abzi is interested to some degree, unlike Farsi by the looks of it. 

Is Abzi good enough, or has he done enough, to drop Adekugbe for this match, just to get him into the program?

I would personally welcome it. He's on loan from Pau FC in Ligue 2, not the highest level, but he did well in his time there, then went out on loan to a higher level, so although he hasn't played much I can't help but feel he's going to a higher level sooner than later, whether that's at a lower Ligue 1 side, a better Ligue 2 side, or maybe even a strong La Liga 2 side.

What do you guys think?

[MtlMario]

If Farsi isn't accepting call ups with a chance to play in home world cup then I think we can forget about him.

[Bigandy]

6 hours ago, Aird25 said:

Because he hasn't locked down a role at club or country yet 

Perhaps I misunderstood the sentiment then. If saying bombito isnt a fully established player, then I fully get that and agree. 

If we are saying that playing out of position is why hes underdeveloped then surely we can say the same thing about the others I mentioned? Yes theres a case for some of my examples that they played there in youth so not entirely fair. 

I guess I just dont like the argument that bombito cant be our CDM because of a lack of experience. I think the best option plays there and if thats bombito, then why does it matter how much experience he has. The other option is worse.
 

Obviously I dont believe our best option is to start bombito in midfield but there is a case hes better than loturi, fraser, kaye as a depth option. 

[narduch]

....

Edited February 27 by narduch

[Aird25]

4 hours ago, Bigandy said:

Perhaps I misunderstood the sentiment then. If saying bombito isnt a fully established player, then I fully get that and agree. 

If we are saying that playing out of position is why hes underdeveloped then surely we can say the same thing about the others I mentioned? Yes theres a case for some of my examples that they played there in youth so not entirely fair. 

I guess I just dont like the argument that bombito cant be our CDM because of a lack of experience. I think the best option plays there and if thats bombito, then why does it matter how much experience he has. The other option is worse.
 

Obviously I dont believe our best option is to start bombito in midfield but there is a case hes better than loturi, fraser, kaye as a depth option. 

I was just answering your question about the difference between Bombito being used in a 'new' position vs more established players being used in a new position and its very much about not having solidified a position in his career yet. Regardless of all that, I don't think Bombito has done nearly enough to displace some of our more established DMs. I hope he gets there though

[Ian Kennett]

*

Edited February 28 by Ian Kennett
Wrong place

[nolando]

So, I am struggling to remember the last time our full MNT played Trinidad. Was it this 2-0 victory?

https://canadasoccer.com/national/matches/national-team-match-past/?matchId=1097

[nolando]

And was this T&T's last big match?

https://youtu.be/OkC-kPqA4Hg?si=pKem9OuRZl93_bxu

The States took 81 minutes to break down Trinidad, who had ten men for nearly the entire hour before that.