Love the debate and I agree Laryea has earned a start for CMNT but as KJ said, it's dependant on the opponent. That being said this is what I have for Game 1 of the World Cup:
LB: Laryea CB: Bombito ( dependant on latest injury that occurred today) CB: Cornelius RB: Johnson LW: Davies MF: Kone MF: Eustaquio RW: Buchanan F: David F: Oluwaseyi GK: Crepeau
What a problem (or set of problems) for a team to have. This team is far deeper than 2022. Maybe the magic mix hasn’t been found yet, but it is much deeper.
Add in injury-returning Davies and Johnston and that sure looks A LOT LIKE the 26 man roster that will be named for the World Cup. There are only a few on the fringe that could be switched out: Adekugbe or Marshall-Rutty for Bassong (Adekugbe not likely based on severity of injury), Jebbison for Larin (not likely nor earned unless Jebbison catches fire), Hoilett for one of Millar, Nelson or Shaffelburg (tough call on this one), and possibly Tom McGill for Pantemas. Long shots would include Corbeanu, Miller and Piette only if we see injuries to the first 26.
Question for OneSoccer: what are Ugbo, Brym, Fraser and Kennedy doing these days? Could any of them resurface with strong 25/26 seasons?
The simplest answer regarding the Laryea question is that Davies doesn't start EVERY game. Because yes, Davies, Laryea and Ahmed cannot all start if everyone's healthy. Laryea and Davies offer something dramatically different at LB. Laryea is almost guaranteed to draw a PK at some point in the tourney – that alone means he must play significant minutes when a PK will be the difference (which may well be quite often). But Laryea is never going to score a goal like Davies scored against Croatia in '22. In my book, Laryea is every bit as valuable as Davies, despite the dramatic hype discrepency. And I'd be happy to put Laryea at LB and Davies at LW if it didn't require dropping Ahmed. Ahmed is so dangerous on the wing and he will be far, FAR better at providing service to J. David than Davies would be. I think it will be a mistake to drop Ahmed at LW in favour of Davies, as crazy as the world will think that is. I consider Davies to be, by far, the single biggest problem for Marsch right now.
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Love the debate and I agree Laryea has earned a start for CMNT but as KJ said, it's dependant on the opponent. That being said this is what I have for Game 1 of the World Cup:
LB: Laryea
CB: Bombito ( dependant on latest injury that occurred today)
CB: Cornelius
RB: Johnson
LW: Davies
MF: Kone
MF: Eustaquio
RW: Buchanan
F: David
F: Oluwaseyi
GK: Crepeau
What a problem (or set of problems) for a team to have. This team is far deeper than 2022. Maybe the magic mix hasn’t been found yet, but it is much deeper.
Add in injury-returning Davies and Johnston and that sure looks A LOT LIKE the 26 man roster that will be named for the World Cup. There are only a few on the fringe that could be switched out: Adekugbe or Marshall-Rutty for Bassong (Adekugbe not likely based on severity of injury), Jebbison for Larin (not likely nor earned unless Jebbison catches fire), Hoilett for one of Millar, Nelson or Shaffelburg (tough call on this one), and possibly Tom McGill for Pantemas. Long shots would include Corbeanu, Miller and Piette only if we see injuries to the first 26.
Question for OneSoccer: what are Ugbo, Brym, Fraser and Kennedy doing these days? Could any of them resurface with strong 25/26 seasons?
No 🚫
The simplest answer regarding the Laryea question is that Davies doesn't start EVERY game. Because yes, Davies, Laryea and Ahmed cannot all start if everyone's healthy. Laryea and Davies offer something dramatically different at LB. Laryea is almost guaranteed to draw a PK at some point in the tourney – that alone means he must play significant minutes when a PK will be the difference (which may well be quite often). But Laryea is never going to score a goal like Davies scored against Croatia in '22. In my book, Laryea is every bit as valuable as Davies, despite the dramatic hype discrepency. And I'd be happy to put Laryea at LB and Davies at LW if it didn't require dropping Ahmed. Ahmed is so dangerous on the wing and he will be far, FAR better at providing service to J. David than Davies would be. I think it will be a mistake to drop Ahmed at LW in favour of Davies, as crazy as the world will think that is. I consider Davies to be, by far, the single biggest problem for Marsch right now.
Poor bombito, what horrible luck 🙁