apbsmith

Biello told by Concacaf media officer to answer question in English rather than French. Concacaf later apologized. 
 

Agreed it is probably the easiest group, though Colombia is up and coming and has real stars. We also get to play the weakest team first, and stay in St Étienne and not move for the first two games. That is an easy, low-key area to visit, with many smaller city options nearby, in case anyone is going. Then it is also cool to play the home team, it will have an exciting atmosphere.
Our schedule:
Thu, Jul. 25 11 a.m. Canada vs. New Zealand Stade Geoffroy-Guichard
(Saint-Etienne, France)         Sun, Jul. 28 3 p.m. France vs. Canada Stade Geoffroy-Guichard
(Saint-Etienne, France)         Wed, Jul. 31 3 p.m. Colombia vs. Canada Allianz Riviera
(Nice, France)

Now that those new rankings are out...
https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/women
The pots for Wednesday's draw should be
Pot 1
France, Spain, USA
Pot 2
Germany, Japan, Canada
Pot 3
Brazil, Australia, Colombia
Pot 4
New Zealand, CAF 1, CAF 2
 
If the geographic restrictions from the last edition hold, then the USA must face Germany and we have a 50% chance of facing France and a 50% chance of facing Spain. We have a 50% chance of facing Australia, a 25% chance of facing Colombia and a 25% chance of facing Brazil. The last Pot odds are the usual ⅓ for every team.
Edit:
It looks like they are I indeed using the same format as last time.
https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/43d63090e659c8e8/original/Draw-Procedures-for-the-Women-s-Olympic-Football-Tournament-Paris-2024.pdf
 
The draw will be at 8pm local so 3pm Eastern and noon Pacific and broadcast here:
https://www.plus.fifa.com/en/content/draw-olympic-football-tournaments-paris-2024-2024/dc12abbf-33de-491e-920c-563e73b93545?gl=ca
 

Hayes on Buchanan in Champions League Leg 1 vs Ajax: "Amazing performance. I told her that at the end... The last two games I think she’s shown her best level in a Chelsea shirt." 
Watch for Buchanan doing a Cruyff turn in the Johan Cruyff Arena as a pre-assist for Chelsea's second goal.
 

Kevin Blue — Letter to Canada Soccer Family
canadasoccer.com February 29, 2024
Canada Soccer General Secretary Kevin Blue
Hello Canada Soccer Family:
My name is Kevin Blue, and I’m honoured to be serving you as Canada Soccer’s new CEO and General Secretary. Look forward to meeting as many of you as possible in the weeks and months ahead.
As you all know, there are a number of opportunities for soccer in Canada on the horizon — both on the pitch and for the general trajectory of Canada in global football.  
There are also several challenges to be addressed that will require urgent and skillful work.
To that end, today I can make the following three commitments:
As a newcomer to the soccer community in Canada, I will work diligently to earn your trust. I will do this by listening to you and learning from you, by seeking out excellent people with world-class football technical expertise, and by communicating with you regularly in a straightforward and transparent fashion.
At Canada Soccer, we will look in the mirror and make the reforms necessary to get our house in order. Our federation will be governed and will operate with the exemplary professionalism required to address current challenges and leverage upcoming opportunities for soccer in our country.
We will work with determination to unite all stakeholders behind the common objective of making sure soccer in Canada is successful and growing — from grassroots up through the National Teams. This work includes collaborating across stakeholders to build a stronger commercial and philanthropic structure to support our sport nationally.
The work ahead is substantial and we will resolutely focus on making progress, one day at a time. Rebuilding trust in Canada Soccer and ensuring that the association is healthy — competitively, financially, and operationally — is critical if Canada is to take advantage of its upcoming opportunities domestically and on the world’s biggest stages.
And broadly, as a soccer community from coast-to-coast-to-coast, our success in the next few years is pivotal if we are to solidify the importance of our sport in the overall Canadian economic, cultural, and sporting landscape. Our Women’s National Team have long been trailblazers for gender equity in Canadian sport and will defend Olympic gold in a few months. And our Men’s National Team will compete at home in the world’s largest-ever sporting event when the men’s FIFA World Cup comes to Canada, USA, and Mexico in 2026. We have an opportunity and a tremendous responsibility to be both stewards of soccer and leaders in Canadian sport during such an important time.
There are 146 days until the Olympic Games and 833 days until the World Cup, and many other important milestones along the way. We have urgent work to do — and everyone who shares the passion of our game needs to come together as partners.
I look forward to speaking and meeting with many of you as I get started. In the meantime, please feel free to send me an email at ceo@canadasoccer.com. I look forward to learning from your perspectives and will do my best to reply.
All the best,
Kevin

A little perhaps, but up 3-1 in aggregate going into the 2nd half and playing at home that collapse was a tactical failure. There should have been an adjustment for the start of the 2nd. Jamaica has quality up front but that still doesn't excuse how Biello approached the 2nd half.

No real surprises. I know games aren't won on paper, but we really should be winning and advancing here. Otherwise, it's a massive overachieving for the trinis and and makes us massive underachievers, just based on paper. 

Largely agree, but it is bold to leave out Vitoria and Hoilett. These guys could still theoretically make the team on merit and Biello is sending a message to the younger players to step up. I personally think more changes could have been made, but that's a testament to just how good the young guys coming up are. 

What can I say? Dream squad, basically.
I lauded the benefit of Vitoria, but happy to see him left off. Very happy to live and die with our youth. Same goes for Cavallini, Borjan and even Hoilett, who I still value but not complaining about his omission. Next oldest guys are Oso and Piette, don't mind either here.
Obviously over the moon about Bair and Ugbo. Love how they played their way on. Congrats to them both.
LDF is clearly committed. I hope he can earn some minutes. Choniere, Schaffelburg and SIROIS! Massive.
Speaking of Massive (Columbus pun) I see JRR there. The fact he seems to be in the mix for starts in 2024 makes it feel like his call is more justified as opposed to coming as injury cover.
Finally, I really like the Waterman recall, but a bit disappointed for MacNaughton and (to a lesser extent) McGraw. In reality we are only calling 1 of those 3 for any given selection, so I am fine that Waterman was who they went with. Hopefully the others get a look as they continute to shine in MLS. 

Ah crap, just as I was about to actually dig into my workday...
Gonna have to push that out a solid hour now

Calling players based on form and not history. What a concept!

lol anyone else find it strange how Javier manages to consistently mispell Schaffelburg's name, yet he hasn't once fell into the Miller/Millar trap?

My starting XI against Trinidad 🇹🇹 & Tobago would look like this:
 
(4-4-2)
- GK- Milan Borjan 
- LB- Alphonso Davies 
- CB- Kamal Miller 
- CB- Derek Cornelius
- RB- Alistair Johnston 
- LM- Liam Millar
- CM- Ismail Kone
- CDM- Stephen Eustaquio 
- RM- Tajon Buchanan 
- ST- Jonathan David
- ST- Cyle Larin 

Expect it to be on OneSoccer. 
TSN will most likely have darts, curling, shuffleboard, or Stihl Timbersports pick one.

This is shaping up to be a massive game for the players and the program. I would go so far as to say it's the biggest game for the CMNT since the WC. A win not only gets us into COPA, but significantly increases the likelihood of snagging a top notch coach with COPA and WC26 at home. Then there is the friendly with the Netherlands and possibly more on the horizon. Certainly an appealing opportunity for a highly rated coach. Could be the turning point for us.
 

So, scoring this week (with TFC still to play):
Bair, Ugbo, Corbeanu, David, Colyn, Nelson, Vilsaint, Oluwaseyi, Raposo, Shaffelburg...
Am I missing anyone?

It's incredible IMO.  This is La Liga lol, the 2nd best league in the world.  Relegation team or not, the level is extremely high, the players he competes with day in and out is of a higher level than most of our boys.  It's probably the league that's been most resistant to American and Canadian players over the years.  How many La Liga teams are coming in for our players? 
It was a goal against Villarreal, away in their stadium as well.  Besides the goal, he looked confident in his 30 minutes and was attempting things and that's super positive to see.  Hopefully he's earned increased minutes or a start next game.

For me, you play Davies at LB and use Miller on the wing.  An attack of Liam and Tajon out wide with Larin and JD up front (or JD just behind) should be enough to get the job done.  In a one-off must-win match I would argue that playing one of the best LBs in the world at LB (with orders to not go walkabout too much) is probably the right approach.  We already have enough firepower to bang in a couple of goals without Phonzie up there. 
I don't want to overgeneralize, but Caribbean teams often have solid pace in attack as one of their best features.   Let Davies help out our otherwise slow defensive core and let the others put the ball in the net.   

Had to watch this with Youtube's auto translated subtitles, but a great interview. What lovely humble young man he is.
 

This will be a Euro heavy squad and starting lineup as the Euro guys are in mid season form. 
I'm sure some ppl will be upset here. But Borjan has been playing for half a season. The other guys have not. 
This is a one game tournament. There should be no time to experiment. 
If we qualify bring lots of new guys and a new goalie for the Copa tune-ups.

I'm glad you didn't round

Really great Herdman interview on CBC, really terrible for all things CANMNT:
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/podcasts/players-own-voice/john-herdman-world-cup-shouldn-t-have-went-1.7055347
 
His sister died from suicide in May- I had no idea, but he’s now saying he regrets going to the World Cup and wishes he had stepped down prior because he wasn’t what the team needed and his heart wasn’t in it. Says organizationally, Canada was not ready to compete in a World Cup. Also says that in working for TFC, he “finally” gets to work for an organization that has the proper resources to support players and staff which is obviously a shot at Canada soccer which we can all agree with, but still.
None of this is stuff we didn’t know, but still feels some type of way to hear it from the horse’s mouth that the organization wasn’t ready for the World Cup, the players were selfish, and the coach’s heart wasn’t in it. Issues so clearly stated should be the first step in avoiding all of these for 2026, but my sense is that won’t be the case. 

Canada too cocky, not professional enough, and now underperforming considering the talent on the team.
We neeeeeeeeeed a new manager. Someone who knows how to win, and can instill some discipline and corral some of the immaturity in the side.
Herdman built up their ego, and that was correct at the time. Now they seem to be resting on their laurels. The next step is consistency and professionalism. 

Wikipedia says he has already opted to play for Canada internationally. 
 
Wikipedia is never wrong.... Right!??? 

Turns out I was wrong- it’s Ahmed!
https://x.com/canadasocceren/status/1722282929479438572?s=46&t=spIaqlQfufAO3HreB1455Q