Starting goalkeeper for Canada in two friendlies coming up?

[cuddles24]

Who will be the starting goalkeeper in the 2 friendlies coming up in Montreal and Kingston-Stamatopolous, Sutton, Waagenar, or a combination of two of those?

[simon99]

Well, I think it should be Sutton and Lars both stating one but I expect to see Sutton starting the first with Wagenaar backing him up and Lars starting the second with Sutton backing him up.

[jpg75]

Well, I think it should be Sutton and Lars both stating one but I expect to see Sutton starting the first with Wagenaar backing him up and Lars starting the second with Sutton backing him up.

I agree, time to get Lars back into the fold...give them each a look.

[cuddles24]

Well, I think it should be Sutton and Lars both stating one but I expect to see Sutton starting the first with Wagenaar backing him up and Lars starting the second with Sutton backing him up.

Why would they not even call a player to even backup for the first one(in your case Lars)and then call him to start the second one? That does not make any sense.

[Daniel from Montréal]

Why would they not even call a player to even backup for the first one(in your case Lars)and then call him to start the second one? That does not make any sense.
Because they don't want to fly him over if he's not going to play.

[simon99]

Why would they not even call a player to even backup for the first one(in your case Lars)and then call him to start the second one? That does not make any sense.

It is just to avoid having Lars spending the whole game on the bench and saying his primadona stuff in the Edmonton Journal.

When you have to deal with big egos like Lars you have to adjust to the situation considering it's a friendly and you don't want him to be frustrated by being on the bench.

[cuddles24]

It is just to avoid having Lars spending the whole game on the bench and saying his primadona stuff in the Edmonton Journal.

When you have to deal with big egos like Lars you have to adjust to the situation considering it's a friendly and you don't want him to be frustrated by being on the bench.

Ok thanks. That makes sense I guess. Still if he is not even a backup in the game in Montreal, there is no way he will be starting the game in Kingston, I gaurantee that. Thanks for your answer though.

[simon99]

Ok thanks. That makes sense I guess. Still if he is not even a backup in the game in Montreal, there is no way he will be starting the game in Kingston, I gaurantee that. Thanks for your answer though.

So who are your picks?

Do you think we could see Lars for both games?

[ecu_luis]

i think sutton for one and waagenar for the other

[CanuckFan]

It is just to avoid having Lars spending the whole game on the bench and saying his primadona stuff in the Edmonton Journal.

When you have to deal with big egos like Lars you have to adjust to the situation considering it's a friendly and you don't want him to be frustrated by being on the bench.

You and I don't see eye to eye on this. What exactly did Lars say that could be called 'prima dona[sic]' stuff.
As I recall, he said that he was number 1 under Osieck and Yallop NEVER gave him a chance to beat out Onstad in WCQ games in 2004, despite such promises from said Yallop. Not much to argue about there.
BTW, very reminiscent of the situation with the OTHER disgruntled former starter for Osieck from Edmonton.
Poor man management by Yallop is what should be on the table here, not whether Lars is a prima donna.

[cuddles24]

So who are your picks?

Do you think we could see Lars for both games?

I think that Sutton will start one with Stamatopolous as his backup. Stamatopolous will start the other with Sutton as his backup. Waagenar might be a backup for one though.

I honestly dont think Lars will ever end up playing a game for Canada ever again unless alot of guys are injured or turn down offers. He has been surpassed by a couple other Canadian keepers already, and there are other young ones coming up.

[cuddles24]

When do they pick the team for the friendly vs Jamaica anyway?

[simon99]

You and I don't see eye to eye on this. What exactly did Lars say that could be called 'prima dona[sic]' stuff.
As I recall, he said that he was number 1 under Osieck and Yallop NEVER gave him a chance to beat out Onstad in WCQ games in 2004, despite such promises from said Yallop. Not much to argue about there.
BTW, very reminiscent of the situation with the OTHER disgruntled former starter for Osieck from Edmonton.
Poor man management by Yallop is what should be on the table here, not whether Lars is a prima donna.

Well, the #1 position wasn't very clear under Osieck and I remember that at the end (GC 2003) Onstad was scheduled to start the first game but an injury prevented him of doing so. And between 2003 and 2004 Onstad was clearly having a the better club situation (he was playing a lot and well, Hirsch was release by Totenham and looking for a club and in 2004 had that bad spell with a scottish side, Dundee I think).

Explain to me when Yallop had a game to give Hirschfeld a try in 2004??? We played Wales, I think Onstad played the whole game, then we have Belize and I don't think you could judge a keeper by playing him against such weak opposition. After that WCQ start and we can't really switch keeper unless our starter he's playing poorly (Onstad gave only one soft goal and it was in his last game against CR, maybe someone could have an argument for the second Guatemala goal but that's still Ruiz all alone behind the defense).

At that time Lars wasn't exactly in a good club situation and Onstad was playing very well in the MLS so I don,t think Lars was right to criticize Yallop for that, the coach made a decision and it's an understandable one. I don't think it's poor man management it's more like a player who failed to understand a situation.

If Yallop would've some friendlies before the Guatemala game in BC I think it would've been normal to give a try to Lars but that wasn't the case so Lars has to live with this decision.

[Gordon]

Lars took advantage of the injury to Onstad and took the number 1 position - which Onstat actually never had under Holger as there is only one Craig Forrest. IIRC, Hirschfeld started every game after other than two he was unavailable for...and Osieck was so pleased with Onstad's performance that he singled him out for criticism after the Estonia game.

There is no question Lars was the clear, yes Zerou I am saying clear, Number 1 under Osieck after Forrest was forced into retirement. Yallop choose to go with his boy - its a manager's perogative - but there can be no doubt that Yallop did not give Lars a chance to retain his number one once he took over. Did we fizzle out of qualifying because of the choice of Onstad...no, Yallop made several dumbass decisions any one or two of which were survivable on their own, but the convergence of multiple blunders was simply too much and we crashed and burned.

Personally, I am of the opinion that Lars should be given the number 1 Jersey, and Sutton given every chance to take it away from him. A little competition never hurt anyone. Stamatopolous doesn't have the royal jelly. Perhaps one day one of the younger keepers will step up, with Fernandes out of the picture there are really only two contenders for the next year or two. I would have like to see Sutton move to a better league, quite disappointed he didn't.

[canada striker]

Okay Im gonna go out and say Sutton and Theo Zagar lol. Yep lets give the USL boys a shot at the matches.

[cuddles24]

Personally, I am of the opinion that Lars should be given the number 1 Jersey, and Sutton given every chance to take it away from him. A little competition never hurt anyone. Stamatopolous doesn't have the royal jelly. Perhaps one day one of the younger keepers will step up, with Fernandes out of the picture there are really only two contenders for the next year or two. I would have like to see Sutton move to a better league, quite disappointed he didn't.

Lars has not even played a game for Canada since March of 2005 unless I am mistaken. I am totally confused to why anybody talk about him as Canada's #1 goalkeeper when he might never be asked to play for Canada again and hasnt in so long.

[cuddles24]

I dont know how anybody would say Lars is the #1 Canadian keeper when he has not played for Canada since early last year sometime, and might never be chosen to play a game for Canada ever again. I would assume somebody who is the #1 Canadian keeper would be good enough to atleast sometimes get picked for their own Nationals team games. I guess peoples definition of what defines a #1 around here is different then mine, apparently somebody not good enough to ever get picked to play for their country, who hasnt in a year and a half, and isnt anytime soon, is the #1. There is a reason he was not even included in my poll.

[simon99]

Lars took advantage of the injury to Onstad and took the number 1 position - which Onstat actually never had under Holger as there is only one Craig Forrest. IIRC, Hirschfeld started every game after other than two he was unavailable for...and Osieck was so pleased with Onstad's performance that he singled him out for criticism after the Estonia game.

There is no question Lars was the clear, yes Zerou I am saying clear, Number 1 under Osieck after Forrest was forced into retirement. Yallop choose to go with his boy - its a manager's perogative - but there can be no doubt that Yallop did not give Lars a chance to retain his number one once he took over. Did we fizzle out of qualifying because of the choice of Onstad...no, Yallop made several dumbass decisions any one or two of which were survivable on their own, but the convergence of multiple blunders was simply too much and we crashed and burned.

Personally, I am of the opinion that Lars should be given the number 1 Jersey, and Sutton given every chance to take it away from him. A little competition never hurt anyone. Stamatopolous doesn't have the royal jelly. Perhaps one day one of the younger keepers will step up, with Fernandes out of the picture there are really only two contenders for the next year or two. I would have like to see Sutton move to a better league, quite disappointed he didn't.

What I'm saying is that at the end of Osieck era the # 1 position wasn't that clear with Lars lack of playing time and Onstad starting to play regularly. You're right about that Estonia game but wasn't Onstad fly 1 day prior to the game or something like that?

But if you report yourself in the 2004 season, when Yallop had a chance to give Lars a chance? Does Yallop has to play the exact same squad as Holger did in his last game? Yallop choose Onstad as his #1 and one of the reason was the fact that Onstad was playing at the club level and Lars wasn't and another one was familiarity (which can be understandable due to the fact that Yallop had 1 friendly to work with).

Lasrs didn't have a chance to showcase himself but did Yallop had a chance to evaluate his keepers except for one friendly? Blaming the inclusion of Onstad on the "old boy connection" is pure disrespect in his case considering that Lars and him were pretty equivalent keepers at that time (Onstad being the MLS keeper of the year at that time).

Of course I'm now waiting for the old argument that usely come up when discussing Onstad "he's never been good for Canada". I will say this, if I'm a manager I will evaluate them base on current form not what they've done 4 years earlier, I think the last year or last 6 months are what should come into play. Onstad was in season, Lars was searching himself and the manger took that into account. Maybe if we had more games to prepare Yallop could've switch his keepers like he did lately with Sutton and Kenny, but he didn't had that luxury....

BTW, I'm not defending other Yallop choices during the 2004 WCQ, the Onstad one is the only one I'm defending.

[Gordon]

But if you report yourself in the 2004 season, when Yallop had a chance to give Lars a chance? Does Yallop has to play the exact same squad as Holger did in his last game? Yallop choose Onstad as his #1 and one of the reason was the fact that Onstad was playing at the club level and Lars wasn't and another one was familiarity (which can be understandable due to the fact that Yallop had 1 friendly to work with).

Lasrs didn't have a chance to showcase himself but did Yallop had a chance to evaluate his keepers except for one friendly? Blaming the inclusion of Onstad on the "old boy connection" is pure disrespect in his case considering that Lars and him were pretty equivalent keepers at that time (Onstad being the MLS keeper of the year at that time).



I think you are giving Yallop far more credit than he deserves for thinking this one threw with all due respect, especially given the totality fo the decisions he made. I am comfortable with the opinion that Yallop was going to choose Onstad no matter the circumstances and would have even if the respective club situations of the two keepers were reversed. Pesch, Onstad and Watson...all starting? It was an 'old boy" selection, its just the easiest of the lot to rationalize. I know you are not arguing in support of all of Yallop's decisions, but when you look at them in totality, I think a pretty clear picture emerges.

[Gordon]

Lars has not even played a game for Canada since March of 2005 unless I am mistaken. I am totally confused to why anybody talk about him as Canada's #1 goalkeeper when he might never be asked to play for Canada again and hasnt in so long.

Lars Hirschfeld is playing the highest club level of any of the keepers in the canadian picture, and has played reasonably well for Canada when called. He was past number 1 under Holger Osieck, and in the continum of Canadian keepers, only Sutton is close in terms of club accomplishments and he has played reasonably well for Canada as well. Sutton is a keeper I can see able to play in a better league than USL so I won't hold that against him, although it does raise questions that he has yet to move on. Hirschfeld may not have played for Canada for more than a year, but that does not change the fact that he is very likely the best we have right now.