Friendly Roster, Netherlands (6/6) and France (9/6)

[Soccerpro2]

6 minutes ago, Shway said:

In no way is Heibert better than Kennedy, or even Waterman.

That's the shocker for me. 

Brym, and Bair are probably on auditions and because they are in Holland/Scotland made it easier for them to be called. 

I think JRR ultimately ends up in the Copa squad. 

I'd take Heibert over Waterman any day. Waterman has been terrible this year. He makes so many glaring mistakes every game.

Kennedy is alright, but I don't see any controversy in taking Heibert over him.

Edited May 27 by Soccerpro2

[costarg]

2 minutes ago, reggietfc said:

i really doubt they will add or change players for the copa.i rather have victoria than a herbert or a zator

Tell me you haven't followed or seen Vitoria play in months without telling me.

Here's a snapshot: Played 13 minutes in 3 months on the worst team in Portugal (got relegated), worst defense and the lowest rated player on the team.  

[gator]

5 minutes ago, Kadenge said:

But these are not just any friendlies. The opportunity to play the Netherlands & France is not something that may happen for a long time. We should have taken our strongest squad. A loss to those 2 teams is expected, but we have to be competitive and play well as it will influence the future ability for other games vs nations that are willing to pay all expenses. This is the only opportunity for Marsch to see players train/play under him before the Copa squad is picked. 

I hear what you are saying but I don't think any of the MLS guys left with their clubs would have been any more of an influence on the results than the players chosen before them, the main nucleus of our starting 11 and bench are there!

[Stryker911]

Has to be a bit of influence from Toronto to not lose Gavran since they are also losing Johnson. They are the same age. There is no reason to take McGill over him.

[youllneverwalkalone]

Players 19-26 aren't going to make significant contributions unless we get out of our group. I don't see any problem in adding Fraser and Ahmed (for example) for Brym and Zator (for example). It doesn't disrupt much.

[Kadenge]

6 minutes ago, gator said:

I hear what you are saying but I don't think any of the MLS guys left with their clubs would have been any more of an influence on the results than the players chosen before them, the main nucleus of our starting 11 and bench are there!

agree. It's the backup quality

[costarg]

11 minutes ago, Dominic94 said:

What has McGill shown in the u21 pl tho?

Ya, I get it, but he's the 3rd keeper.  I hope I don't regret the words, but what are the odds on him playing?  He's already in Europe.  CSA saved themselves a few BigMacs with this logical decision.

Pretty sure the same calculator was used for Zator and Brym.  Their seasons are done so might as well see them play while they're still in form.  I'm confident they won't be there for Copa.  If they are, I'm more convinced than ever that Brym has photos or dirt of highly placed CSA people. 

[Bigandy]

Positional break down
GK:  Crepeau Mcgill st clair - Argument that keeping sirios playing mls is better than bench minutes.....

RB: Johnston, Laryea - Obvious choice

LB: Davies, Hiebert- Hiebert is really our only option at LB with adekugbe out. (yes we can do some weird things. Laryea, miller etc but they are already on the squad). Although you could make a case for Ali to play LB? 

CB Bombito, LDF, Cornelius, Miller Zator - zator over waterman, ZMG, JKL. Im surprised by zator but they all feel interchangeable as I wouldnt want any to touch the field.

CM: Choiniere Staq Kone oso piette - Obvious. 

Winger: Buchanan, Hoilett, millar, shaf - obvious. Corbeanu makes a case but he was on the outside looking in.

St: Bair, Brym, David, Larin, Ugbo - Some debatable choice here - JRR makes a case vs brym. Tani is cool but I think it would be early to call him up over anyone else.

Probably the least exciting roster drop in a while. 

Putting my personal choices (JRR vs brym or getting corbeanu in) aside, I think the most surprising omission is ali. He's versatile, has a bit of the creative flair we are missing and you can argue that on paper, he would fill heiberts role as back up leftback. We also are unlikely to need 5 strikers so a guy like brym could be dropped. 

7 guys who can play CB. No true LB (assuming davies is seen as a wingback/winger). Wingers are more heavily wingback guys. Could this suggest a 3atb? 
 

[costarg]

6 minutes ago, Stryker911 said:

Has to be a bit of influence from Toronto to not lose Gavran since they are also losing Johnson. They are the same age. There is no reason to take McGill over him.

Do we know if he wants to commit?  Pretty sure that's still up in the air.

[Canuckia]

24 minutes ago, reggietfc said:

i really doubt they will add or change players for the copa.i rather have victoria than a herbert or a zator

I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of those guys are on "auditions".

[toontownman]

Marsch mentioned Heibert in interviews along with McGraw, so maybe its not a huge surprise as it feels. 

Glad Junior is back.

But when he sees Biello..

Not finished yet. 

[canadianbacons]

Have to say I'm disappointed to not see any dual nats in the roster - seemed like a good time to bring in at least one of Koleosho, Sigur, Jebbison, Tani, or Covil. Even just for the camp.

 

[Gian-Luca]

4 minutes ago, Bigandy said:

7 guys who can play CB. No true LB (assuming davies is seen as a wingback/winger). Wingers are more heavily wingback guys. Could this suggest a 3atb? 
 

Yes, I think so. 3 CB's, no proper fullbacks. You've got lots of winger and wingback options. There are also options to go to back four if needed, but this seems set up to be 3 CB's.

[gator]

Just now, canadianbacons said:

Have to say I'm disappointed to not see any dual nats in the roster - seemed like a good time to bring in at least one of Koleosho, Sigur, Jebbison, Tani, or Covil. Even just for the camp.

 

I am losing any hope I had for those you mention, I would think with these prestigious friendlies and Copa America coming up if they were to get on board this would be the time, we move on with what we have which is quite good!

[phresh]

35 minutes ago, costarg said:

Or a wake up call to the guys competing for the spot.  I'm totally fine for holding guys accountable for poor starts to seasons and not playing well enough.  It's enough with the automatic call ups based on the past.  We have enough depth to go purely on merit.  I'm soo done with the brotherhood bullshit.

Except it isn't a wake up call at all, it's not the first time McGill's been called, undeservedly. Gavran has showed some promise early on. You don't call guys just for the sake of new blood, there has to be some type of merit. Playing PL 2 as an over-ager against teens is not good enough, how many times has he even appeared on the bench as third GK?

Edited May 27 by phresh

[canadianbacons]

Maybe Marsch didn't want actually want the dual nats this time around, but if we did reach out it would be a surprise to think they wouldn't be excited about Netherlands, France, Argentina. 

[Bigandy]

2 minutes ago, costarg said:

Ya, I get it, but he's the 3rd keeper.  I hope I don't regret the words, but what are the odds on him playing?  He's already in Europe.  CSA saved themselves a few BigMacs with this logical decision.

Pretty sure the same calculator was used for Zator and Brym.  Their seasons are done so might as well see them play while they're still in form.  I'm confident they won't be there for Copa.  If they are, I'm more convinced than ever that Brym has photos or dirt of highly placed CSA people. 

For development, mcgill gets more from being a 3rd CMNT than sirios or gavram when they are getting mls minutes. 

There is a solid argument that we don't need 5 strikers but can any of us really say if bair, ugbo, brym, jrr or tani is the best option. Once you incorporate stylistic approaches as a 4th guy off the bench, it becomes a bit more difficult to simply say JRR is better than ugbo etc. 

Poacher/run in behind - ugbo. Not starting quality but could be the guy in a specific situation. Tani the same thing? 

JRR - similar style to david. I dont see him really changing the attack all that much as he's a bit like for like with david? Not saying that's bad though. 

Bair - Hold up guy to replace larin. Has a role as larin is less likely than david to go the 90.

Brym - Not sure what role he has coming off the bench.... obvious choice for non soccer reasons as hes in holland. 

I was a firm believer that this roster drop would be our copa squad, but I do consider the selections of zator/heibert, mcgill over mls keepers, no ali and 5 strikers as a bit of an audition for copa.... With the potential to keep some guys playing mls as long as possible..... not sure what to think. 

 

[costarg]

8 minutes ago, Bigandy said:

Positional break down
GK:  Crepeau Mcgill st clair - Argument that keeping sirios playing mls is better than bench minutes.....

RB: Johnston, Laryea - Obvious choice

LB: Davies, Hiebert- Hiebert is really our only option at LB with adekugbe out. (yes we can do some weird things. Laryea, miller etc but they are already on the squad). Although you could make a case for Ali to play LB? 

CB Bombito, LDF, Cornelius, Miller Zator - zator over waterman, ZMG, JKL. Im surprised by zator but they all feel interchangeable as I wouldnt want any to touch the field.

CM: Choiniere Staq Kone oso piette - Obvious. 

Winger: Buchanan, Hoilett, millar, shaf - obvious. Corbeanu makes a case but he was on the outside looking in.

St: Bair, Brym, David, Larin, Ugbo - Some debatable choice here - JRR makes a case vs brym. Tani is cool but I think it would be early to call him up over anyone else.

Probably the least exciting roster drop in a while. 

Putting my personal choices (JRR vs brym or getting corbeanu in) aside, I think the most surprising omission is ali. He's versatile, has a bit of the creative flair we are missing and you can argue that on paper, he would fill heiberts role as back up leftback. We also are unlikely to need 5 strikers so a guy like brym could be dropped. 

7 guys who can play CB. No true LB (assuming davies is seen as a wingback/winger). Wingers are more heavily wingback guys. Could this suggest a 3atb? 
 

Yup, going by numbers, I'm thinking he's going a back 3. 

Very light in the midfield as well.  5 CM and 5 strikers feels off balance considering the opponents.  Add 3 wingers to that who are very attack-minded.  1 injury to the midfield and we don't have much flexibility. 

I'm really scratching my head at Fraser and Ahmed being left off.

[narduch]

2 minutes ago, phresh said:

Except it isn't a wake up call at all, it's not the first time McGill's been called, undeservedly. Gavran has showed some promise early on. You don't call guys just for the sake of new blood, there has to be some type of merit. Playing PL 2 as an over-ager against teens is not good enough, how many times has he even appeared on the bench as third GK?

You can basically make this argument for LDF too.

/ducks

[Obinna]

33 minutes ago, Shway said:

In no way is Heibert better than Kennedy, or even Waterman.

That's the shocker for me. 

Brym, and Bair are probably on auditions and because they are in Holland/Scotland made it easier for them to be called. 

I think JRR ultimately ends up in the Copa squad. 

Have you watched Heibert this season? I personally havent, but perhaps he's grown since his first (and only) cap?

Still has his limitations, I am sure, but like Zator he seems to play within his abilities, trying to just make the right decision and not overplay. That's a good foundation to have. 

I do rate Waterman and Kennedy over Zator and Heibert, but let's see what they got. 

Agreed on JRR. I think he'll be on the Copa squad as well.

[MauditYvon]

We were laughing at Javier for his spelling of Shaffelburg, but please guys, learn to write Sirois properly... (also apply to Choinière)

[Bigandy]

Just now, narduch said:

You can basically make this argument for LDF too.

/ducks

True, but LDF is way younger and imo a better player than zator or heibert. Sure, he's not playing regularly but I will 100% play LDF before any of our non regular CB's. His call up is on merit of him being a better player than the alternatives, not minutes. 

[Mihairokov]

Isn't McGill's inherent advantage that plane tickets from Brighton are a lot cheaper than tickets from Montreal? Hell, he could take the train! 😆

[Bigandy]

1 minute ago, Obinna said:

Have you watched Heibert this season? I personally havent, but perhaps he's grown since his first (and only) cap?

Still has his limitations, I am sure, but like Zator he seems to play within his abilities, trying to just make the right decision and not overplay. That's a good foundation to have. 

I do rate Waterman and Kennedy over Zator and Heibert, but let's see what they got. 

Agreed on JRR. I think he'll be on the Copa squad as well.

Isn't heibert getting minutes at LB. I am pretty convinced heibert was chosen based on LB depth and it wasnt that heibert was chosen over kennedy or waterman..... 

[Obinna]

34 minutes ago, Dominic94 said:

What has McGill shown in the u21 pl tho?

Maybe it's more about letting Sirois continue playing with Montreal rather than flying across the Atlantic to ride the pine?

And maybe that's just as much to do with helping Sirois than doing MTL a favour....

McGill perhaps just the next man up...