costarg

Pretty accurate assessment.  "Ok" is a bit of a stretch for me.  More minutes and less touches than everyone else on the pitch (again), that's just not good enough for me.  Even Larin alone up top had 24 in 77' to Osorio's 25 in 90.  He's just not closing things down or cutting the lanes.
 
We can compare him to who ever we want and it won't change the fact, he just doesn't have the stamina or the quickness for our midfield.  Our midfield had everything under control while Stache and Choiniere were bossing it, the minute Osorio dropped back to replace Choiniere the battle was lost.  The entire field slanted towards DSC.
It hurts, we all love the guy, but we gotta call it like it is.  He can still contribute to a slow game where we need to control things, but things are moving too fast for him vs high level opponents. 

Well that's the thing, stats and eye test show he wasn't really that involved.  Choiniere and Stache were doing the heavy lifting.  Even with David doing his usual octopus thing when he came on, there was still a massive gap behind him.  We were awfully leaky toward the end there.  Osorio is a safer bet if you keep him forward, also like JH does.

Ya I dunno, stats show 6.3 vs 6.5 what ever that is worth.  The stats don't show quickness, hustle, stamina, if the guy is making runs or if the guy is even where he's supposed to be. 
Eye test it wasn't really close.  The only obvious conclusion the eye test and stats show are that Osorio was not very involved, the little he was involved, he managed to deliver the ball correctly.

Certainly would have been a good option off the bench vs Mexico to provide a spark. 

If he can get back in form then he should be in the squad in October. I think we’ve missed him the past 8 games. Such a great player to bring on - so smart, versatile and always makes a difference for Canada. Certainly one of the best to ever wear the shirt. 
 

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Didn't hear it post-game on the weekend, but listening to the AFTN podcast yesterday - apparently the reason the Whitecaps weren't more active for a CB in the last transfer window is that they think Halbouni can do the job.  Sounds like he'll be given more opportunities over the remainder of this season.  Vanni sounded very high on him.

That’s really good to hear. If he gets iced out of the lineup, I wouldn’t mind him ending up in Montreal next season. Syrian/Lebanese Canadian player? That’s an instant fan favourite.

Where are his additional minutes coming from lately? I see his game time is ticking upwards which is nice. I have a soft spot for this guy given the path he’s been on with his injuries. If he becomes an MLS starting quality CB, I think that’s a massive W.

He is getting a raise 
 
 

That is a huge caveat about the game for me.  That tactic simply doesn't get applied in a competitive match - and thus we would have been able to make more of the momentum we maintained for the first half.  It is pretty pathetic that the ref let that much BS go unpunished as he essentially allowed the game to be ruined.  A couple early (and deserved) cards would have allowed for a proper footy match instead of what we saw.  
I agree with most of @Corazon's analysis above.  One additional thing that jumped out at me last night was Choiniere's  IQ for CONCACAF shithousery.  He hit the floor a fair bit once he realized that the ref was calling lots but punishing little, and it was effective in either disrupting Mexican pressure or getting a FK out of a possession that wasn't going anywhere.  While I don't want us to go full on "De Paul", I think we are finally past the days of playing nobly and the "Canadian way" while consistently losing.  The sort of legit footy tactics that Choiniere utilized were nice to see from someone with pretty limited experience outside of MLS. 

His presence in this side goes against the general template of what Marsch is looking for in his central midielders (big engine, big range, quick terriers for the pressing game) because his close control under pressure is still really good and he keeps the possession rolling with quick passes as part of the linking play (that's not CAM to me, just good linking support play).  However, you never know what the future holds.  Maybe he stays in the mix for '26, who knows.
I think for the others trying to crack this midfield you need those athletic traits described above.  If you lack that quickness or range, you will likely be on the outside looking in.
 

I get the sense Liam feels too much pressure, at least in a Canada shirt. Not sure whether that's internal, external, or both, but regardless he's got all the tools, it's often just the final action which let's him down.
But he's not alone, the same criticism exits for Buchanan and Ali Ahmed seems to be trending that way also. By contrast, Shaffelburg has been relatively clinical for Canada, which has been a pleasant surprise. 
Either way, all of these wing options are young, athletic, and impactful, so the future looks bright.

Ahmed was pretty darn good, I feel. Fearless, too. 

His first camp.
I think he did ok. I liked his attitude. He's not here to mess around. He'll learn fast about Concacaf. And he'll become a important piece for us. His touches with the ball showed me that he's a baller.
Coming back from an injury. Playing a total of 30 minutes with Hajduk Split on August 2024 during Season 24/25. His last game during Season 23/24 with Hadjuk Split was on May 2024. 

Hope we see him as a DM in his next game, which he apparently prefers. With AJ and Laryea at RB its not a position of weakness. 

Unlike JH when he was appointed coach and had a string of games vs minnows to get his methodology cemented, Marsch has had 10 games vs the Netherlands, France, Argentina x2, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, Uruguay, USA and Mexico....all away games. The fact that we have generated a lot of scoring chances vs all those teams (other than Mexico) says a lot. We just have to be more clinical.

No expert, but you might wanna give the upper body workouts a rest when trying to recover from an ACL injury.

After this game I had to stop and consider what it means about our program that I'm disappointed we didn't beat Mexico in an away game.
That thought alone made up for the disappointment.

I would love to have him. He’s the type of player we don’t produce a lot of and having that 10 to connect everything we do have up front, on the wings, the 8s in the midfield and the marauding full backs would be awesome. I was hoping that could be Gauld but he’s gone. 

That was a football match. We spend months getting excited for the next CMNT matchup and then we get that CONCACAF game. Ewww
Mexico's plan seem to have worked. They neutralize Canada's speed by the most boring means possible. Only one shot on target for Canada. Not a whole much to say about this one.
Sigur - Happy to actually see Sigur get actual minutes and not just a Kolescho camp. Wanted to see him in the midfield but Laryea played alot of minutes.
St.Clair - nice to see him have a good game. He never turned down a call even as a 3rd goalie. He deserved a game in this window.
Ahmed, Shaff and Choinière - 3 MLS guys have won playing time with their fantastic work. These three will definitely be a fixture for a while. All have been on the fringe in the last couple years and now I would be shocked if they don't get playing time.
Choinière was fantastic, be interesting to see where Grasshopper plays him.
Ahmed might be the starting winger moving forward, he was dangerous everytime he touched the ball. I just don't know if Ahmed, Millar and Oluwaseyi have the finishing touch to become stars for the national team.
A win and a tie versus Mexico and USA is a great window. 3 years ago, we were praying to beat Suriname and Haiti. The team has come a long way

We were clearly targeting Ream with a selective press.  The rest of the backline had time on the ball, we'd close down the second the ball went to Ream.  
Must feel like shit to be the targeted player!

No expert, but you might wanna give the upper body workouts a rest when trying to recover from an ACL injury.

We lost control of the midfield when Choiniere came off.  

We lost control of the midfield when Choiniere came off.