Friendly match: Canada vs Panama - Tuesday, October 15th - 7:30pm Eastern / 4:30pm Pacific - Toronto

[InglewoodJack]

Just now, GasPed said:

Have to agree - but on a per minute basis, Millar had as much impact as anyone.  A great shift by him too.

He looked awesome. If I wanted to jump the gun, I’d say he made a convincing argument to regain his starting spot. 

[dyslexic nam]

3 minutes ago, frmr said:

Off topic but Jordan Wilson is a great broadcaster.

He has gotten better and better since he started.  Definitely enjoy him.  

[InglewoodJack]

5 minutes ago, jonovision said:

I didn't think Bombito was a huge stand-out in the air, but what I was really impressed by was his ability to defend physically without fouling.

Really? Seemed like every ball in the air seemed to come down off his head.

Agreed on his clean game though. Running at a guy who has you beat like a steam train and then finding a way to get in front of him, win the ball, and not foul is seriously impressive. 

[The Beaver 2.0]

sloppy game. guys were not as connected as I'd hoped. there were good moments, two good finishes, and some solid defending from Bombito and Cornelius. panama played a smart game. not massively talented, but tough, well-coached, smart. these are tough games to watch, but our guys showed real character in finding the win.

[shorty]

9 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

Bombito, David, Davies probably my 3 stars. 

Bombito for me hands down. David’s goal was sublime but he had a couple of square giveaways in the first half, and Davies was out of position for the goal, and many times besides, and like David gave the ball away a few times. 

[kacbru]

Lots of blame to go around for the Panama goal, but Millar and David gave the ball away in midfield and the rest of the team got caught going forward.  So it was nice to seem them combine for the winner.

[EJsens1]

Jon Conway sounds like Ben Affleck

[jonovision]

5 minutes ago, shorty said:

Bombito for me hands down. David’s goal was sublime but he had a couple of square giveaways in the first half, and Davies was out of position for the goal, and many times besides, and like David gave the ball away a few times. 

There were a few giveaway but also several chances created.  Especially the cross that Bair nearly finished. Even some good tracking back. At this point David is the team's best striker and their best central attacking midfielder. A lot on his shoulders, and I think he handled it just fine tonight.

[costarg]

1 hour ago, Borjans Sweatpants said:

Bombito makes defending look so god damn cool, like who has speed like that and then jumps to do a backheel out the sidelines to save it from being a corner?

Very Van Dyke like.

[kingvikingstad]

Bombito is a player destined for bigger things. I've said it on here before he got his move, he's a guy teams take big risks on and overpay for because he has every skill available, and on his day, much like today, is a total gamebreaking talent. He's going to be playing for a team that is a perennial final stages of the champions league club.

Also, wanted to agree that Jordan Wilson is awesome. He blends entertainment with knowledge so well.

[GasPed]

33 minutes ago, shorty said:

Bombito for me hands down. David’s goal was sublime but he had a couple of square giveaways in the first half, and Davies was out of position for the goal, and many times besides, and like David gave the ball away a few times. 

That wasn't Davies' man on that goal - it was Cornelius'.  The blame on that goal was Millar (poor pass to David), David (tried to one-time chip the defender, though it was Millar's pass that made it difficult), Oso (who probably should've fouled the Panama player to stop the attack) and then Cornelius (who was caught flatfooted going the wrong way).

[Bigandy]

3 hours ago, costarg said:

The wheels fell off well before the WC.  It was evident even in the matches following qualification still in WCQ phases and even more so in the WC warm up matches.

That’s just dramatic hyperbole. Herdman and the squad hit the ceiling and punched above their weight. When they failed to maintain that against world class opposition, we as fans were brought back down to earth.  
 

it wasn’t going as well as before but it wasn’t a dumpster fire. Although I agree with your concept, it’s hard to agree when it’s dramatic for no reason. 

[FC_Hali]

43 minutes ago, The Beaver 2.0 said:

sloppy game. guys were not as connected as I'd hoped. there were good moments, two good finishes, and some solid defending from Bombito and Cornelius. panama played a smart game. not massively talented, but tough, well-coached, smart. these are tough games to watch, but our guys showed real character in finding the win.

Agree with all of this. I feel if this was a more meaningful match, Panama would have leaned more into the Concacaf dark arts and grinded the game out. Similar to how Mexico made it an ugly stalemate in the last match. Sloppy but our talent did just enough to connect on a few plays. 

[nolando]

1 hour ago, Gian-Luca said:

Post match huddle

 

It's not a pregame sword anymore, it's a post match icepick now.

[SthMelbRed]

1 hour ago, EJsens1 said:

Jon Conway sounds like Ben Affleck

Wasn't he Knickie in Grease?

[Shway]

1 hour ago, dyslexic nam said:

Love Bair getting in front of their angry players.  

I hated seeing a certain player watch his goal keeper get man handled by 2-3 Panamanian players. 

[Shway]

12 games in... what is our identity? Press machines?

I'm super confident about our backline.  However our 2-man midfield is vulnerable when it's not Staq and Kone. I like Laryea, and Ahmed being options outside for Buchanan. However on the other side we have two super subs who  alternate starting games.

I liked seeing David in the 10 or behind the striker like he was during his Gent days, however it's redundant if both strikers are doing it. I saw Larin way too many times in wide positions.

I want to see more of Bair with David.

[clamlinguine]

1 hour ago, shermanator said:

Pretty dreadful game, but a win is a win. Pitch was atrocious and hopefully will be in better shape in November, but Canada can't make any excuses about poor pitches when they are the standard elsewhere in the region.

Bombito was the only outfield starter who I thought had a good game. Larin and David had great finishes in otherwise off nights. Thought Eustaquio, Ahmed and Choiniere in particular struggled, although Ahmed had a great ball into Larin for his goal. Don't recall Crepeau doing much other than picking the ball out after a good shot. Millar and Bair looked good in their short cameos. 

Can't complain about a win in a friendly but not the greatest 2 hours of watching Canada this year.

I didn't think the game was dreadful or that we played dreadful. I thought Panama played hard, glad we got the deserved win. Good effort😊.

Edited 8 hours ago by clamlinguine

[Kent]

6 hours ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Herdman lost the team at some point during the nations league finals in Vegas. They then all went from talking about winning the gold Cup to not even showing up. I ran into Herdman in Vegas and something was up with him. I think the team didn’t like his media comments personally. 

Didn't his sister die or something before the World Cup? Does anyone remember if that was before or after the Nations League finals?

[Corazon]

Just getting back in from watching the game.  Gutsy performance and pulled off the win.  It wasn’t pretty but the conditions weren’t great and field only slightly better than last week at the TFC game.  Nice turnout for a cold Tuesday night.

It can be a bit tricky to watch the full field from the south end so I’ll do my best to give my best ratings of what I was able to see.

Crepeau - wasn’t forced into too many saves but looked a bit off with his decision making.  Lucky to get away with getting caught out the box in the first half and a few poor passes.  Not his best performance but conditions weren’t great for him either.

Laryea - I thought he did fairly well.  His passes were a bit off but overall solid play.  Better game than what I’ve seen from him at TFC all season and I really didn’t feel a drop off from Johnston at all.

Bombito - A couple poor passes and giveaways but what an absolute rock he is becoming.  Was one of the man of the matches for me as well tonight.  Had a great pass through to Larin that was laid off for a lm early David chance.  Just pure quality defensively.  He’s quietly becoming a top class player.  

Cornelius - Same sentiments as Bombito but maybe not quite as strong defensively.  Just as strong in the air though.  Not as good of a passing game as we’re used to from him and was somewhat caught out on the Panama goal.  But there were a few other errors on the build up to that goal as well.

Davies - I thought he was fantastic and could have been man of the match today.  He dribbled and weaved his way in and out of Panamanians all night.  He’s our left back and he looks more and more like the Davies we know from Bayern.  Got caught once or twice on the ball and still able to contribute  occasionally up the pitch.

Ahmed - Aside from his incredible assist, I thought his first half was okay.  He had a nice ball over the top for an early Larin chance as well.  I thought he struggled to get going early on but he continued to grow into the game.  Overall solid game with some key moments for us.

Eustaquio - Had one poor giveaway that lead to a break against us.  But other than that I thought he was fantastic.  He had some incredible through balls today and was everywhere tackling and breaking up play.  Had a nice  through ball that lead to an Ahmed shot over the net after some great play by David.  Had a nice steal that lead to a first half Larin chance.  And was also instrumental in creating the Larin goal with his pressing and forced turnover.

Choiniere - Not his best game today.  Really struggled to get involved going forward and had several poor passes and giveaways.  Took some fouls in dangerous areas in front of our net as well.  He did have a nice shot in the 2nd half but far from his best tonight.

Shaffelburg - Perhaps the only one as poor as Choiniere for me tonight.  His touch and passing were off all night and he got pushed around far too easily.  Has had a good run with Canada but club form may have crept up with him.  I think he deserved to start given his recent performances for Canada but I’d be considering Liam next month.

Larin - Great strength and hold up play as usual. It’s the small things that he does so well.  He had a beautiful lay off to David for his early chance.  And he won the header on the long throw that ended up with another David shot at the keeper. He finally got the goal he deserved and had an overall good game.  His final decision making could have been better today on a few chances including that opportunity late in the first half.  Another overall good performance and well taken goal as well.

David - Another rock solid performance from David.  He was everywhere once again.  Perhaps could have done a bit better on a couple shots but was one of the man of the match for me along with Davies, Bombito and Eustaquio.  Great turn and build up play with Millar on his goal and great finish on it as well.

Osorio - I thought he was okay.  Decent link up play but did get turned easily on the goal against but momentum had him completely the other way.

Millar - Had a couple poor touches early on but he was fantastic for the rest of the game.  Left his mark in a short time he was on the field.  Did exceptionally well creating chances and had a great shot that forced a save and lead to a corner kick.  He had an exceptional assist to David on the late winner.  Excellent performance.  Club form carrying over to country for him.

Saliba - I thought he okay, much like Osorio.  Neither got into the game particularly well but didn’t look out of place at all.  Especially for someone who had played only one minute for Canada coming into this game.

Bair - Very happy to see him get a run out tonight.  Hard to tell how difficult his header was but thought he may have done better with it.  Wasn’t the only Canadian to hit a shot right at Panama’s keeper today (Larin, David, Eustaquio, Osorio).

Waterman - Only had a few minutes to play but was needed on a couple of occasions and did very well defensively.  Took a nice cross/shot to the chest late.  Happy with his performance despite it being only a few minutes.

Poku - Welcome to Canada!

Edited 7 hours ago by Corazon

[ahmedou]

The players really wanted to win. And the players got the win for us. A win is a win.

The players knew that they can do better than that.

The players are a real family. The players fight for each others. The players doing their post-match caucus. The players celebrating with the fans.

I didn't regret at all my travel. They made my year in Montreal (practice) and Toronto (game).

[clamlinguine]

25 minutes ago, Shway said:

12 games in... what is our identity? Press machines?

I'm super confident about our backline.  However our 2-man midfield is vulnerable when it's not Staq and Kone. I like Laryea, and Ahmed being options outside for Buchanan. However on the other side we have two super subs who  alternate starting games.

I liked seeing David in the 10 or behind the striker like he was during his Gent days, however it's redundant if both strikers are doing it. I saw Larin way too many times in wide positions.

I want to see more of Bair with David.

I'm not a fan of Larin but strangely I wasn't hating his play today, back where most think David's should be. Maybe David should move up.  

Edited 8 hours ago by clamlinguine

[narduch]

Attendance was 23,315

[Joe MacCarthy]

 

 

[Kent]

4 hours ago, ahmedou said:

The Zombie Nation song give me always goosebumps. That's my favorite goal horn off all time. AINEC. Nice to hear it live at the stadium.

And it's nice to see the fireworks in front of me.

I think you mean the Lazy Jones song