September and October 2024 friendly matches (plans, speculation, rumours etc.)

[ahmedou]

12 hours ago, RS said:

Your memory of the 2016 Impact is a lot better than what the 2016 Impact actually were.

The one thing you’re right about is that they probably would’ve beaten the 2016 MNT.

Les vainqueurs écrivent l'histoire. Les vaincus racontent l'histoire.

😉

[costarg]

9 hours ago, Obinna said:

Respectfully agree with the Montreal guys and disagree with the Canadian guys.

Johnson - was a core player for TFC and solid MLS midfielder, two years removed from being an MLS All-star with Portland. You can't big up guys like Bernier and Donadel but then say Johnson was washed up when he was the same level of player.

De Guzman - yes he was past his prime for sure and the weakest of the 3 midfielders, because the other guy was .....

Hutchinson - 2016 Canadian player of the year, 2016 CONCACAF best XI, Key player on back-to-back Turkish Super Lig champion Besiktas. Inarguably the best player that would have been on the field in a hypothetical Canada-Impact friendly.

The backline - All in all I would have considered it a mid-to-low level MLS backline. De Jong and Edgar were definitely not All Stars, but they were starting level players for Vancouver in their positions and De Jong wasn't far removed from being a backup Bundesliga left back. Edgar wasn't far removed from being a rotational Championship defender, who dropped down to the top League One side to be a starter. Ledgerwood played at a low club level but always put in a respectable shift as an out of position right back, although I don't think he would have started for anyone in MLS unless it was as a rotational starter. Henry was probably the highest ceiling player back there, just couldn't stay healthy. Did very well for Vancouver shortly after 2016.

Ricketts - say what you want about his limitations on the ball but the guy scored goals and had 3 goals in 11 games for Toronto in 2016.

Larin - was a killer for Orlando City and arguably was on par with Drogba in his twilight.

Hoilett - I think Piatti vs Hoilett would have been close to equal, but I would accept an argument that Piatti was the better player.

In summary:

Backline 

Canada < Montreal

Midfield 

Canada = Montreal 

Attack

Canada < Montreal

Keeper

Canada > Montreal (Borjan was better than Bush)

Anyway, that is my rationale that Montreal was superior to Canada at the time, but was it a massive gulf? Absolutely not.

Would have been a fair match for sure.

Totally agree CANMNT had some strong pieces in Hutch, Hoilett, Arfield and Larin at that point, coming from a fan all I can say about the rest at that point in time is they were fillers it was between them and unattached players.  There weren't 11 players that could give the team balance.

Piatti had more goals as a winger than Larin as a striker that year.  Piatti 21 goals, Drogba 11 and Oduro at 8 in 2016, and there was strong balance and experience behind them, a few of them at the top of their game.  It's just way too unbalanced for CANMNT, no way that defence could hold off that attack.

[ahmedou]

10 hours ago, Obinna said:

Respectfully agree with the Montreal guys and disagree with the Canadian guys.

Johnson - was a core player for TFC and solid MLS midfielder, two years removed from being an MLS All-star with Portland. You can't big up guys like Bernier and Donadel but then say Johnson was washed up when he was the same level of player.

De Guzman - yes he was past his prime for sure and the weakest of the 3 midfielders, because the other guy was .....

Hutchinson - 2016 Canadian player of the year, 2016 CONCACAF best XI, Key player on back-to-back Turkish Super Lig champion Besiktas. Inarguably the best player that would have been on the field in a hypothetical Canada-Impact friendly.

The backline - All in all I would have considered it a mid-to-low level MLS backline. De Jong and Edgar were definitely not All Stars, but they were starting level players for Vancouver in their positions and De Jong wasn't far removed from being a backup Bundesliga left back. Edgar wasn't far removed from being a rotational Championship defender, who dropped down to the top League One side to be a starter. Ledgerwood played at a low club level but always put in a respectable shift as an out of position right back, although I don't think he would have started for anyone in MLS unless it was as a rotational starter. Henry was probably the highest ceiling player back there, just couldn't stay healthy. Did very well for Vancouver shortly after 2016.

Ricketts - say what you want about his limitations on the ball but the guy scored goals and had 3 goals in 11 games for Toronto in 2016.

Larin - was a killer for Orlando City and arguably was on par with Drogba in his twilight.

Hoilett - I think Piatti vs Hoilett would have been close to equal, but I would accept an argument that Piatti was the better player.

In summary:

Backline 

Canada < Montreal

Midfield 

Canada = Montreal 

Attack

Canada < Montreal

Keeper

Canada > Montreal (Borjan was better than Bush)

Anyway, that is my rationale that Montreal was superior to Canada at the time, but was it a massive gulf? Absolutely not.

Would have been a fair match for sure.

Canada 2016 was ranked between 85 to 110 in FIFA rankings. Canada 2016 Stats (3-6-1). Canada 2016 was struggling against Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, etc.

Canada 2016 International Friendlies (2-3-1):

Canada (0-1) USA

Canada (1-1) Azerbaijan 

Canada (2-1) Uzbekistan

Canada (4-0) Mauritania

Canada (0-4) Morocco

Canada (0-2) South Korea

Canada 2016 World Cup Qualifications (1-3-0):

Canada (0-3) Mexico  

Canada (0-2) Mexico

Canada (1-2) Honduras

Canada (3-1) El Salvador 

Impact 2016 was ranked 5th in the MLS.

Impact 2016 won (4-2) DC United 2016 (4th in MLS Eastern Conference) at the Eastern Conference Knockout round.

Impact 2016 won (1-0 and 2-1) against NY Red Bulls 2016 (#1 in MLS Eastern Conference) at the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Impact was eliminated (3-2 and 2-5) against Toronto FC (#3 in MLS Eastern Conference) at the Eastern Conference finals.

Impact 2016 (MLS Eastern Conference):

1)NY Red Bulls (16-9-9): 57 pts

2)New York City (15-9-10): 54 pts

3) Toronto FC (14-11-9): 53 pts

4) DC United (11-13-10): 46 pts

5) Impact (11-12-11): 45 pts

6) Philadelphia Union (11-9-14): 42 pts

7) New England Revolution (11-9-14): 42 pts

😎 Orlando City (9-14-11): 41 pts

9) Columbus Crew (8-12-14): 36 pts

10) Chicago Fire (7-10-17): 31 pts

[Mihairokov]

7 minutes ago, ahmedou said:

Canada 2016 International Friendlies (2-3-1):

Canada (0-1) USA

Canada (1-1) Azerbaijan 

Canada (2-1) Uzbekistan

Canada (4-0) Mauritania

Canada (0-4) Morocco

Canada (0-2) South Korea

It's funny because if you transplanted these fixtures onto 2024 they could all be the same aside from Azerbaijan. It's just more likely now that we would beat the US/Korea and play Morocco tighter. 

[RS]

1 hour ago, ahmedou said:

Les vainqueurs écrivent l'histoire. Les vaincus racontent l'histoire.

😉

[RS]

51 minutes ago, ahmedou said:

Impact 2016 was ranked 5th in the MLS.

11th, actually.

[ahmedou]

4 minutes ago, RS said:

11th, actually.

5th (MLS Eastern Conference)

MLS Eastern Conference finals

[Obinna]

2 hours ago, Mihairokov said:

It's funny because if you transplanted these fixtures onto 2024 they could all be the same aside from Azerbaijan. It's just more likely now that we would beat the US/Korea and play Morocco tighter. 

Also those Mexico results. They stick out like a sore thumb. I won't say a multi goal loss is impossible, but back-to-back multi goal losses would be very unrealistic nowadays. That's probably equal parts our improvement and their regression.