Bits n' Bites for January 27

Your weekly mix of CanSoc news.

This is a free preview of a feature that will be for Patreon supporters, or subscribers through Substack. In Bits n’ Bites, I will touch on the top news stories for every professional team in Canada, as well as any other areas of interest that you might have missed. In your inbox, or posted to Patreon, every Friday.

This bonus feature will also be the home of the Canadian Contextual Top 10 – a ranking of the top 10 teams in Canada, put in context to the level they are playing at (i.e. 2022 TFC would not have ranked well, despite having better talent than other teams. It’s a pound-for-pound ranking)

Here we go for Jan 27, 2023

CanMNT

The biggest news this week on the men’s national team front is the confirmation that Concacaf will be invited to the 2024 Copa America.

This was vital to the preparation plans for the 2026 World Cup. Without that as a target, it’s unclear what would have kept Canada motivated for the next couple years. Now, they need to perform in the Nations League as it’s a qualifier for the Copa. They will need at least one win in March to stay up in League A and then they will need to win their group in the 2023-24 edition.

They should win their group now, too, but that’s a conversation for March.

CanWNT

The women also benefit from the new CONMEBOL/Concacaf partnership, as the Women’s Gold Cup will now include four South American teams.

This is great news for Canada as Concacaf tournaments are a bit of a slog until you get to the US game. Without being tested prior, it’s hard to get up for that single game and the entertainment factor of those tournaments is often dreadful.

Adding Brazil and other improving CONMEBOL teams is exactly what was needed.  

CanPL

They’ve got a new (secondary) logo! It’s to celebrate 5 years of survival of the league. A bit of a low bar, but, in fairness, it is a struggle in Canada and, you know, there was that whole COVID thing.

So, I’ll be a tad bit more generous today and just congratulate them on making it to five. I hope I can make fun of their 25 year anniversary logo one day.

MLS

It might have passed by people’s attention last week that the league got rid of the allocation order. It also might have slipped by some of you what the allocation order was. It was one of those infuriating MLS rules designed to ensure parity and cost controls.

It was a reverse finish list that gave the teams that finished at the bottom of the standings first crack at signing players that were returning to the league after being sold, or were part of the USMNT player pool. Yeah, I know…silly.

Anyway, this was the latest in MLS’ slow crawl to just letting the teams act independently. It’s about time.

There is even a suggestion that they are going to start to allow internal transfers as soon as the summer – none of this allocation stuff, just straight up Colorado selling a player to LAFC. That, would be monumental.

Canadians abroad

It’s been a quiet window for Jonatan David, which has got to be a bit of a disappointment. After 18 months of speculation about him going to a bigger club – and some of the clubs linked to him were as big as they get – it seems that interest in his services has dried up. It’s an odd development since he’s playing pretty well for Lille, with 13 goals in 19 appearances.

The fear is that he is in that price range where Champions League teams in the tier 2 leagues can’t afford him, but at 23 years old the bigger clubs might not be looking at him as the hot, new thing now.

Regardless, it seems unlikely that he’s going anywhere this window. He needs to tear it up in the second half, otherwise I fear we might be getting close to having a should-he-take-that-DP-money conversation.   

Toronto FC

I will be writing a separate post on the Sean Johnson signing, but quickly: this might be the most important signing that TFC has made since Drew Moor.

More later.

Montreal –

Should he stay or should he go? That’s the question with Kei Kamara, who did show up to training camp this week for the Team That Used To Be Called The Impact.

Montreal is a very hard team to peg in 2023. They’ve lost a lot, so you can understand why they aren’t bending over backwards to meet Kamara’s trade request. Do you want to go into a season with a player who doesn’t want to be there though? It seems like Montreal just might.

Vancouver Whitecaps

Thomas Hasal had a great MLS Is Back tournament. It was a nice story. Nice stories don’t always last very long though, which the ‘Caps learned when Max Crepeau asked to be moved last season, thus forcing the starters role on to Hasal.

Hasel was statistically the worst keeper in MLS last season, with a -10 xGA – that means that he allowed 10 more goals than he was expected to allow based on the quality of shots he faced.

That’s a big reason why the Caps went in for Sean Johnson in free agencyin and have been linked to other keeping additions. So far there’s not been any movement, however.

Can they afford another year of Hasel? It’s hard to get a good handle on him because, as a young Canadian kid, everyone is cheering for him. That makes people look for the positives, without necessarily being appropriately critical.    

Forge –

Speaking of keepers, defending CanPL champions Forge has re-signed Triston Henry. He’s been the keeper for Forge since day 1.

He’s also been held up as the team’s weakness since day 1. Is that fair? Perhaps not, as all he ever does is win big games.  

Having players entering a fifth year in the league is a positive development overall, of course. You want that lifer class to develop.

Ottawa –

There hasn’t been a lot of news out of Ottawa – I suspect they will tap into the Atletico pipeline closer to the season – but there was a bit of news going the other way.

The redemption project, Ballou, is off to Turkey to play in the second division. It’s not the glamour move that Ballou once had, but it’s still a positive development for Ottawa in that they can be seen as a place where Canadians can go to revitalize their career.

He’s going to be tough to replace, though.  

Vancouver & Pacific –

The CanPL announced the week 1 match-ups this week and, to no one’s surprise, the first BC Derby will kick off the season.

Owned by the same people and fighting for the same BC players, this one could end up being legitimately fun and hot.

Don’t know about you, but I’m excited to see what VFC will look like. This will be a great way to start the year.

Halifax –

HFX is not exactly burning down the house with the transfers in. It looks like another challenging season in Nova Scotia.

One interesting move is bringing journeyman goalkeeper Yann Fillion back from Finland. I know Finland is in Europe, but from a football standard there’s being in Europe and being in Europe. You kind of want the former “being in Europe” guys to play here. Hopefully, Fillion can find a home in Halifax.

York –

I really like York for 2023. One of the reasons I think they can make a breakthrough is the addition of former Halifax midfielder Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé.

JGL has been one of the best midfielders in the league since it launched. He’s exactly what York needs. They are a top 4 team right now, in my opinion.  

Valour –

Valour brought in Jordan international (5 caps, but still) Jaime Siaj. It’s a good gamble in that he’s a guy that did score 17 in the Kuwaiti League in 20-21.

It’s a stretch, I get it, but…

Look, Valour needs something to hope for. Why not Siaj?  

Cavalry –

Meanwhile in Calgary, they are going with the keep-the-gang-together strategy. I don’t blame them, honestly, as they have been consistently at the top over four years. Yes, they have failed in the playoffs, but we put too much stock in playoff losses in North America. Luck, as much as anything, drives playoff success, especially in a one-off games.

It’s going to come together for Tommy’s crew one year, I suspect. Maybe even this one.

League1 –

The latest rumour is that Alberta is looking to add a team to the League1 pyramid. There would be four teams to start, with an open invitation to Saskatchewan to add some teams down the line.

Let’s hope this rumour is true. We need this level everywhere.

News-round up done, let’s end with the Canadian Contextual Top 10

1.     Whitecaps – They are the team with the least amount of questions heading into the season. They don’t have a lot of room for growth beyond this uninspired No 1 ranking, but so far..

2.     Forge – Trust the beard. They are the CanPL favourites until they are proven not to be

3.     Montreal – They’ve lost a lot, but there is still some good pieces there. If they can keep the drama away they could build into something good again

4.     Ottawa – Lots of room to go up when they start adding pieces, but for now this is where they land  

5.     York – I love the additions and see them as the breakthrough team of the year in CanPL

6.     Toronto FC – The addition of Sean Johnson puts them back in the picture, but too many questions from last year to rank higher until we see them play

7.     Cavalry – Team Consistency is consistent

8.     Pacific – This is an important year for Pacific. Can they keep their place as a Top half CanPL team with competition in BC?

9.     Valour – It’s a gap from 8 to 9 here

10.  Vancouver FC – Yes I have them above Halifax right now. It’s going to be a long year in Halifax (I also think VFC will be decent).

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