Watching the match I would also say there's an element of the former. It also may provide an argument to support the decision to go with a mostly European based lineup, seeing as we were playing a European team. That said, our team's style is probably far too European in any regard (even with our N.A. based players). Jamaica is the only other country in North America that plays a largely European style, and they're the only country in CONCACAF (of any real strength) that we manage to play competitively with. We need to move our style closer to the rest of the continent if we're going to compete with them. Being able to compete with countries such Scotland is nice, but it's not them we have to face in the WC qualifiers and Gold Cup.
I'm curious why you think we need to adapt our playing style in order to beat CONCACAF opponents. Or, I guess, how changing our playing style to match that of our opponents might help us be more successful. Brazil and Argentina haven't been successful against their European peers by playing more European but by playing their own style well. And vice versa. So, if Canada is going to play a more European style, why would it not be better to stick to that style and play better as opposed to trying a style change?
For higher level teams playing one's own style can be done, even when playing other higher level teams. Usually in that case, the winner is the one who ultimately manages to dictate the flow of the game. In our case though, we don't really seem to have what it takes to do that. I think it's fair to say that against Central American teams, they play their style and our game plan always goes out the window, and we get the results that go with it. If we can have our own style, and force our opponents off their game then sure let's go for it. But we don't seem to have the confidence as a team to take control that way.
All in all that is a fine draw on the road against a decent Scottish team. Better than playing Moldova.
Interesting point for number nerds like me: Combined 2016 and 2017 we have an equal number of wins and losses and a total goal differential of 0, all against an average opponent ranking of 82. Read from that whatever you will.
That made me want to look at Canada's FIFA Ranking points for each of the four years in the current rankings. "2017" refers to the last 12 months, with some in 2016 and some in 2017, and the same goes for the other years. The oldest games still in the rankings were in March or April 2013. I did Canada's rank within CONCACAF, which has 35 teams, because it would be time-consuming to do this for all 211 teams. Overall: 14th 2014: 14th 2015: 17th 2016: 8th 2017: 19th
This certainly provides a strong argument that we should have to qualify for the Gold Cup rather than just getting a free ride into it. We've got a long way to go before we're a real contender in this conference.
Canada is up 8 spots to 109th in the FIFA Rankings. That's Canada's best rank since September 2016. Because of Nicaragua's gain, Canada fell from 14th to 15th in CONCACAF.
CANADA GK- Milan Borjan | POL / MKS Korona Kielce GK- Maxime Crépeau | CAN / Impact Montréal FC GK- James Pantemis CB- Dejan Jaković | USA / New York Cosmos CB- Manjrekar James | HUN / Vasas Budapest CB- Wandrille Lefèvre | CAN / Impact Montréal FC CB/M- Adam Straith | CAN / FC Edmonton FB- Fraser Aird FB- Kwame Awuah | CAN / New York City FC FB- Juan Córdova | CHI / CD Huachipato FB- Marcel de Jong | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC FB- Andrés Fresenga | URU / Cerro Largo FC FB- Tyler Pasher | USA / Sporting Kansas City M- Tesho Akindele | USA / FC Dallas M- Patrice Bernier | CAN / Impact Montréal FC M- Raheem Edwards | CAN / Toronto FC M- Kianz Froese | GER / Fortuna Düsseldorf M- David Junior Hoilett | WAL / Cardiff City FC M- Will Johnson | USA / Orlando City SC M- Mark-Anthony Kaye | USA / Louisville City FC M- Jonathan Osorio | CAN / Toronto FC M- Samuel Piette | ESP / CD Izarra M- Russell Teibert | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC F- Marcus Haber | SCO / Dundee FC M/F- Anthony Jackson-Hamel | CAN / Impact Montréal F- Cyle Larin | USA / Orlando City SC F- Tosaint Ricketts | CAN / Toronto FC
^ This is the invited list for camp of which 18 to 20 will actually be on the game day roster. I'm expecting this is also a good look at our Gold Cup team. This is by no means a roster to dominate CONCACAF but it is a roster than continues to improve. The strike force up front is starting to look fairly impressive which is not something we've seen in Canada in a while.
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/octavio+zambrano+names+27man+canada+squad/13411577/story.html "Highly touted Vancouver Whitecaps teenage Alphonso Davies is waiting on his Canadian passport with Zambrano saying the 16-year-old Liberian-born midfielder will be invited to camp as soon as it arrives." This kid is so promising, a difference maker at such a young age!
Also good to hear that he's wanting to suit up for Canada. Not too many years ago anyone like him would have picked his other country instead.
Canada vs England friendly in the Fall? Awesome if true. https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/6ehkkq/duane_rollins_has_mentioned_that_there_will_be_a/
Has there been any talk of Ousted for Canada? We don't have a ton of options between the sticks. I am assuming he was not capped by the Danes but I don't know that.
The final roster for the game against Curacao appears to be: Goalkeepers (2): Maxime Crepeau, Montreal Impact; Milan Borjan, MKS Korona Kielce (Poland) Defenders (7): Fraser Aird, unattached; Manjrekar James, Vasas Budapest (Hungary); Dejan Jakovic, New York Cosmos; Marcel de Jong, Vancouver Whitecaps; Juan Cordova, CD Huachipato (Chile); Andres Fresenga, Cerro Largo FC (Uruguay); Tyler Pasher, Sporting Kansas City Midfielders (11): Kianz Froese, Fortuna Duesseldorf (Germany); Samuel Piette, CD Izarra (Spain); Russell Teibert, Vancouver Whitecaps; Will Johnson, Orlando City; David (Junior) Hoilett, Cardiff City; Alphonso Davies, Vancouver Whitecaps; Jonathan Osorio, Toronto FC; Mark-Anthony Kaye, Louisville City FC; Adam Straith, FC Edmonton; Raheem Edwards, Toronto FC; Patrice Bernier, Montreal Impact. Forwards (3): Cyle Larin, Orlando City; Marcus Haber, Dundee FC (Scotland); Anthony Jackson-Hamel, Montreal Impact. Curacao's team is made up almost exclusively of players with clubs in different European leagues. We can put together a pretty solid starting eleven from that squad. Interestingly for Canada we look like we're entering an era where we're stronger up front than in the back. My prediction is that we ride the home town crowd to a 2-0 victory.
My hopes (in addition to a win): A large, pro-Canada crowd. Jamaica in Toronto has been a problem in this regard in the past. We play our strongest team, not a patchwork of youngsters. It's time to start moving up the FIFA rankings so we're better positioned for the next round of WCQ. That's still a ways off but we can't move up overnight.
With our seeding. We've been drifting down the CONCACAF ranking lately. I'd rather get a better draw when pots and pools are allocated, especially as there's more talk of rejigging the qualifying process.