“There are parts of this team that I’m really comfortable with and, when I look to the future and I’m projecting out four years time and we’re in a World Cup playing against tough opposition, top opposition, which of the players are going be able to cope with that level of competition?”

As CanPL moves toward its 2019 launch as this country’s division one, despite the presence of three Canadian sides in MLS, it will be interesting to see what the league takes away from MLS — and what it stays away from.

Zambrano, who was named the head coach of the national program in March, said he will be instituting some “major changes” (his words) into the way Canadian players are scouted, and that he plans to significantly increase the size of the men’s talent pool.

Atiba Hutchinson's time for thinking is over. Canada's veteran midfielder will make his return to the national side.

And, when it comes to Hutchinson’s unsure national-team future, speaking with him Friday gave we in the media no clearer indication of where he stands.

For interim Canadian men’s national-team coach Michael Findlay, the process of picking players for the Nov. 11 friendly in South Korea featured some logistical issues.

You don't have to really be an expert in reading between the lines to come to this conclusion: Michael Findlay wants to use his time as the interim coach of the Canadian men's national team to prove that he deserves to be the side's full-time boss going forward.

Atiba Hutchinson is anchoring the midfield for Besiktas, currently in first place in the Turkey’s top division. Before that, he spent years as the linchpin for PSV Eindhoven. Hutchinson, who was announced as Canada’s male soccer player of the year Friday, understands that he’s kind of gone where no Canadian has gone before. And, looking at rosters across Europe, we …

When asked if he’d consider talking to an MLS side in January, Hutchinson said “yes, especially if it was in Canada. I’m open to it if the interest comes, if things can work out and do what’s best for everybody.”

“We knew about it. It’s a little bit difficult but you just have to be focused on what you do on the pitch and let everything off the field take place,” said Hutchinson. “We couldn’t really do anything about it but just remain focused on what we had to do. In the end we didn’t get the chance to play in the Europa (League) but hopefully we’ll be able to get back there.”