archer21

I don’t particularly remember whether he stood out at the CONCACAF U15 or not. Says he played 4 matches and scored no goals but not sure how many minutes he got or whether he seemed to be a threat or not.

How did I not know there was a club called Middlefart?

It is not. I’ve been pretty pro-Larin and expect him to keep starting for the immediate future. He will eventually age out though, and JRR could come on as a sub for him if he doesn’t actually displace him from the starting lineup. Or if Larin misses a camp for whatever reason.

Any prediction on what the total points would be assuming Canada and USA both win all their October matches? Would be nice if we “controlled our own destiny”.

Yeah I do remember that now that you say it. They were used at LM and RM though, no? Makes more sense there than for Eustaquio where we’d essentially have 1 CM left. I’m not disagreeing that he could play as a second striker/AM/10. I just think it’s behind a lone striker. That’s basically how we’ve played anyways, whether it’s with David a little deeper when Larin is up top, or with Oso playing under the striker. If he surpasses Larin we could see David leading the line with JRR behind.

FYI don’t listen to me on this stuff, I basically just eyeballed based on the ES and GUA match. I don’t have a model, I was just guessing because I didn’t know someone had actually done the work to build a model. Not pretending to be an expert here lol

Pretty surprised by the bolded part. You’d have him as well as 2 strikers? Under a different system you mean? I can’t see how with the current Marsch system we could run 2 strikers plus JRR. Not with a back 4 anyways.

What’s the reserve system look like in Brazil? I’d be shocked if he’s with the first team to start. They have U21 or a B team or what?

I guessed we’d gain about 18.5 from the USA match but that was before factoring in home field advantage. I still think I probably underestimated anyways though. Maybe we got around 21 or 22 from USA then 3 or 4 from the Mexico draw. -31 is a lot for USA to lose though so unless they’re giving NZ a ridiculously low chance of beating USA, maybe our game was worth even more (23?). My best guess is beating Panama give us about 15 points. USA winning both would get around 35. Which would put us tied in total points. Basically what I’m saying is, it’s too close to really know who would be 2nd and who would be 3rd in this scenario without knowing the formula for “expected result”.

I know, but I'm selfish and live within driving distance of Toronto.

Shame we couldn't get some matches in Toronto as well. I'd love to make the trip to Vancouver but I'm saving that for the World Cup in case I'm able to get tickets in Vancouver but not Toronto in 2026. Tough sell to the wife to go west 2 years in a row.

https://scvistula.soccer/oliver-scott-and-zachary-zalewski-getting-called-up-for-polish-national-u16-team-after-talent-pro-camp-in-garfield/ Zachary Zalewski called up to Polish U16 team match against Germany. From Windsor, ON, played for Vardar Michigan and now Columbus Crew Academy.

I don't think my opinion of it has really changed. It's a fine league for a developing player but obviously it's better if he can move to a higher level. It's hard to compare when we're talking about Bayern because they could do that to a lot of teams. I don't think MLS teams would be able to keep it competitive against them and we're mostly fine with our players being there. Sometimes when a goal or 2 is scored early it just gets out of hand. I'm sure if Zagreb played Bayern again there wouldn't be a repeat, at least to that extent.

That's a pretty broad statement. It could be true but I don't see much reason to believe that. Herdman and his staff certainly didn't value him as much as many of us thought he deserved. That could be for a number of reasons though, whether that's chemistry related or a personality clash with the staff, who knows. Could easily be that they just didn't think he was ready or didn't give enough effort defensively or something. Which I think at some points was probably true. I haven't seen him in a while so maybe he's improved that aspect of his game, which it sounds like from comments here he has. Hopefully he can get back into the squad and we can see how he fits in Marsch's system. He seems like the type of player who could excel with his ability to play direct.

I can't imagine that would be the case. They'd have a slight positive gain from that result, but not as much as our gain would be from a 1 win with no loss or draw window.