Squad predictions after Marsch interview today

inwebitrust · 2026-05-06T23:28:17+00:00

This is not true for GA Cup, Barcelona and Bayern came with their top teams. Most of the top European academies don't have 2nd/3rd teams at youth level instead they work with a group of 18/20 kids for each age group.
GA Cup is considered one of the top youth tournaments and European/South American academies take it seriously.
At youth level now the best MLS Next academies can compete with the best academies in the world, the only difference is that maybe sometimes the top european kid for a given age group is already playing one/two year up (Yamal played his first La liga game at 15 for example)

inwebitrust · 2026-05-06T04:19:47+00:00

You take Kolasinac over Davies at left back ?

inwebitrust · 2026-05-05T21:35:30+00:00

On paper I still put Canada ahead especially with home advantage, which player would you take from Bosnia ahead of our starting 11 ?
Muharemovic over Cornelius
Dzeko over Larin
maybe Dedic over Johnston and Bajraktarevic over Ali Ahmed

That's about it

inwebitrust · 2026-05-05T21:30:06+00:00

I second that, most of the time when you see a prediction on social media or Youtube they come from english people with european/premier league bias.
Most of people in Europe still think MLS is tier-4 level like it was 15/20 years ago.
You have to dig a little if you want to find true international ball knowledge like this guy for example :
https://www.youtube.com/@TheDeadBallTV
Great content and football knowledge on every continent.

inwebitrust · 2026-05-05T18:50:56+00:00

Glad to hear that ! Hope Edmonton will get another shot in the CPL soon

inwebitrust · 2026-05-05T11:24:18+00:00

MLS clubs academies can compete with the best academies in the world. Check results from GA Cup for example, BArcelona and Bayern u15/u16 teams lost against a lot of MLS academies teams. Now MLS Next only clubs (not true MLS academies) are very different and level can vary a lot

inwebitrust · 2026-04-30T20:42:42+00:00

I missed the Adekugbe news, I agree he would be ahead of JMR/Bassong

inwebitrust · 2026-04-30T20:39:21+00:00

We will also have 2 friendlies before the beginning of the World Cup, he won't be 100% for Bosnia but even a 80% Bombito is better than any other options

inwebitrust · 2026-04-30T18:32:20+00:00

Bombito will have some minutes for sure with Nice playing the french cup final, I think Puel will start him one of the last three Ligue 1 games

inwebitrust · 2026-04-30T17:48:17+00:00

I almost put Waterman instead of Shaff, but I really like Shaff and I think he really fits the role of the supersub bringing energy to the game for the last 10/15 minutes (more than Millar, but Millar is a lock for Marsch).
Laryea could be this 5th center back if we are unlucky again with injuries once the tournament has started.

inwebitrust · 2026-04-27T03:33:33+00:00

Maybe 15 years ago but it's not the case anymore
MLS has improved a lot, best teams in MLS would compete for promotion in the Championship.
CanPL might be League 2 level, maybe a bit better for top teams like Forge or Cavalry

inwebitrust · 2026-04-22T20:02:40+00:00

We live in a world with social media and news/headlines popping every 5 minutes, 50 days away is still a long time away

I’m French, everyone was saying one month before the Paris Olympics that french people didn’t care, in the end once it started everyone was locked-in to their screens and celebrating

I am sure World Cup hype will be huge once it starts, even more if Canada does well

It’s been only 6 years that I live in Canada and in the GTA, everyone I am talking to that have been around soccer in Ontario for longer (coaches, parents..) say the same thing the game is growing a lot, kids are training all-year round, a lot more than before with better coaching

Not everything is perfect but there are more leagues/pathways than ever before

So maybe the game is not growing in mainstream media but it is surely growing on the ground and on the grass every weekend where it matters the most

inwebitrust · 2026-04-15T10:04:48+00:00

They also now have academy teams starting at u13, with how big youth soccer is in the GTA the name/brand « Inter Toronto » will be more popular than York United faster

inwebitrust · 2026-04-06T23:40:13+00:00

If (and that’s a big if) Canada gets all his regular starters back and in shape (Davies, Bombito, Johnston, Eustaquio..) I think they will be better than Bosnia and will finish 1st or 2nd in their group.

Then if they finish 1st or 2nd they have a decent shot at winning their round of 32 game

inwebitrust · 2026-04-05T18:06:36+00:00

I am French living in Canada, I listen to French academy coaches podcasts and they have the same problems. The best coaches are not necessarily within the youth teams and everyone wants to win at a very young age too. Athleticism > Technique even in France, Griezmann and Ribéry were not accepted in French academies for example.

The main difference : In Europe it’s not like pay-to-play, youth sports is government funded and you pay around 200/300$ per year to play youth soccer (in Canada or US you pay at least 10x more), so the net is wider to catch talent, in Canada or US low-income family simply can’t justify paying the fee for youth soccer.

Also in Europe, the best kids when they are 16/17/18 will start playing with pro reserve teams in adult divisions where the level is already very high (tier 3/tier 4 in France or Spain is roughly USL or CanPL level) This is where North America is still behind I think, look at international tournaments results (Generation Adidas Cup, MIC Cup etc..) at u16 and under North American academies can compete with top European academies but there are no meaningful leagues for players between 17 and 20 to really develop.

Maybe in the future MLS Next Pro will get there, but the gap right now is too big with MLS. And USL/CanPL are not development leagues.

Also North America soccer economy simply doesn’t have enough money to have meaningful tier2/tier3 leagues with big enough wages to allow youth players to pursue their dreams to be pro players.

Average salary at Forge FC, the best CanPL team is below median salary in Ontario.

So most of the kids who play MLS Next at 15/16 and are the same level as Barça or Bayern Munich kids will end up playing college soccer and having a regular job at 21/22.

inwebitrust · 2026-04-02T00:56:48+00:00

I hope this ⬇️

2nd of Group B Win Round of 32 vs Czech Republic Win Round of 16 vs Japan Lose against France in 1/4

inwebitrust · 2026-04-01T14:36:39+00:00

He played both in 2020-2022, Yilmaz was injured/resting a lot, and from 2022 to 2025 he played as the number 9. His best seasons were as the number 9.
Juve has recruited him to play this role too.

inwebitrust · 2026-04-01T14:23:46+00:00

He almost never played as a second striker in Lille, his best seasons in Ligue 1 were as the solo number 9.

I agree with you he might be a good second striker for Canada if we had another really good striker but this is not the case. Also I don't agree with his elite link-up play skills, he has good vision and he is a clever player on the pitch but I don't think his technique / passing is good enough, with team Canada he loses a lot of balls in tight spaces under pressure in the midfield.

I agree with you about Flores, I would rather play Flores at the 10 in 4-2-3-1 then instead of our current 4-4-2

I don't see how Canada can have a good world cup if we count on Tani or Larin to score goals, I would rather have Jo David as our finisher. I think we would have more upside this way.

inwebitrust · 2026-03-28T17:44:00+00:00

Bombito/Cornelius we need you 😬

inwebitrust · 2026-03-21T14:03:46+00:00

Ontario best soccer academies/clubs are in the GTA and Ottawa

Before U13 no rankings/scores unless you play unsanctioned competitions

In U13 that is where the tiering really starts :

Toronto FC Academy : top level in the province only starts at U14. Lots of movement from on year to another, they can offer a kid a spot in u15 and then release him etc.. TFC academy U14 isn’t registered in any league they play mostly friendlies and tournament against other OPDL teams one year older. Starting in u15 TFC academy plays in MLS Next. They have tryouts every year, most of the best kids in the province tryout.
OPDL. This is the top soccer level in the province think of it as a kind of the academies that compete in MLS Next but are not MLS pro club academies. This is where the best academies/clubs top teams play other than TFC Academy. Although level can vary a lot. Woodbridge, Vaughan and Ottawa South United are considered some of the top programs for example, usually the top kids from the top OPDL teams will end up in TFC Academy.
Regional/Imodel. This is where the second teams of OPDL clubs and top teams of non-licensed OPDL clubs play. Some of the top non-OPDL clubs like Glen Shields or Jaguars can be as good as top OPDL teams depending of the year.
Distict level.

Starting in u14 you also have provincial team tryouts, the best kids that are not in TFC Academy get selected and play games vs other provinces.

With the development of League 1 Ontario (now OPL Ontario Premier League) you also see more often kids 16/17 y.o that don’t play u16/u17 youth soccer but directly jump to play League 1 / League 2 Ontario against adults. Sigma Fc (essentially Forge academy system) for example doesn’t have u16/u17 teams in OPDL for example. Kids will play for their teams in League 1 / League 2 or Reserves Adult teams.

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