Good game by the Canadians today. They owned the second half and Hoilett really took control of the game. I'm not going to lie, having him singlehandedly take the game back and win it for Canada would have been especially painful considering the fact that he turned Jamaica down a few years back to commit to Canada. I'm glad that didn't happen, but he also showed us today why so many Jamaica fans (including myself) had hoped he would commit to Jamaica for all that time. Canada has some nice young talent in the team and they performed well enough today to be really optimistic going forward. It's going to be an interesting rematch in a month.
Just because I'm a numbers nerd, I thought I'd rate this year's performance against our Gold Cup performances since the current format came into place (2005). First criteria was the round we made it to, second was points in the group round, the final being goal difference in all matches including elimination (which ended up not being relevant) Based on this, 2017 was our 3rd best showing YearRndPTSGD 2007SF62 2009QF72 2017QF51 2011GRP4-1 2005GRP3-2 2015GRP2-1 2013GRP1-3
Non-mathematically, I view our performance as adequate. We met but did not exceed the minimum standard for this tournament. We beat FG as expected. We tied CR which was above expectations but also tied Honduras which was (for me, anyway) below expectations. Had we made the semis and lost to Mexico I would have felt we'd maximized our potential for now. As it is, we weren't quite as good as I was hoping but, like I said, we met the expectations.
I was very disappointed to not get the win but I am taking a couple positives out of this. WE finally got to see the Junior Hoilett that used to rip it up for Blackburn and was in the England conversation. Blackburn used to give him license to roam about the filed, popping up on either wing or playing behind the striker and ripping shots off either foot. We need to give him that rope. Piette was also really good - he needs to get out of the Spanish 3rd division and play in a better league to keep improving. We are still painfully slow in the CB positions - James probably should have started and it was surprising he did not seeing as though we went to Teibert over Bernier due to pace. Davies struggled but we need to give him a pass - overall positive showing for the team. Canada needs to focus on central defense and goalkeeping in the short term. Borjan is ok but there is little behind him. Blake essentially made the save that Borjan could not and that was the difference.
Was really rooting for you guys yesterday. I know the investments being made in the program and think it would be great to see Canada step up a level or two in their on-field pedigree. Definitely some exciting younger players on the team and they showed moments where they're prepared to take the game to their opponents. All in I think I'm seeing progress. My big lament from yesterday was how late in the game the effort to get the ball into the box was really poor. So many crosses and corners were nowhere near where they needed to be and it killed so many of your attacking plays. So frustrating. I think defensively, as well, there's a dire need to work on retaining shape and occupying space. First half especially saw Jamaica with far too much room to be creative and poised in attack. Not sure how much of that is the speed aspect zola mentioned above or if any of it it focus, training, etc., but that was truly an Achilles heel yesterday. Still, much to build upon going forward.
At least when the next FIFA rankings come out, we can be pretty confident of finding ourselves back in double digits. Next competitive action will be the 2019 Gold Cup, which will give us a look at our chances to make it to the 2022 World Cup. Much of our team is very young, so cross our fingers that they'll be that much stronger with another 2 years of experience under their belts.
Good and bad in this tournament for me. The good is the much more positive, composed, professional nature of the performances. The bad is that over 4 matches only ended up beating one team.....French Guiana. Results, hopefully, will come as this wave goes forward and improves.....but we can't lose site of the results.
A draw against Costa Rica is as good as a win against most other teams. The loss to Jamaica is a disappointment, but the fact is that we're on the same level as them and we were at least in the game the whole way. The only real disappointment is the draw against Honduras. We really should be expecting wins against them. In terms of quality they've fallen a long way from the team that smashed us in 2012. The big positive that I see is that Zambrano has turned us into an attacking minded team.
Yeah, agreed there. Our team was so much fun to watch. Under Hart and Floro, at 2-0 we would be completely out of the game, but we created plenty of chances to come back against Jamaica. In the group stages too, it was nice to see plenty of scoring changes in each game. I don't know how much credit to attribute to Zambrano and how much to attribute to the talent pool. Hart and Floro didn't have wingers anywhere as dangerous as Davies and Hoilett.
Davies is still in the running for the Golden Shoe, or at least tied with a French Guianan. Davies has better goals per minute and I think they're tied on assists? Mattocks or Romario Williams could join or even pass them in the final (or Omar Gonzalez of all people)
If the other teams remain the same then Canada will move up 4 spots. Remember that French Guiana doesn't count in the FIFA Rankings. Jamaica beating Mexico makes your loss to Jamaica not look bad.
Mexico doesn't take this tourney all too seriously and usually sends their B team, but I'll gladly embrace the idea of being on par with Mexico's B team. The Reggae Boyz are certainly making their presence known in CONCACAF lately. The US is the favourite for the final by far but they'd do well to take Jamaica very seriously.
Here are the probabilities according to the Intertops odds, which give odds for a draw even when one team must win: USA win: 62.2% Draw: 24.9% Jamaica win: 12.9%
I think that draw implies that it will come down to penalty kicks, whereas win/loss means game decided in active play (including extra time). Assuming that penalty kicks can go either way, basically it's 75% chance US win, 25% chance Jamaica win.
And the US gets the much expected win, but kudos to Jamaica for putting in another strong fight. And kudos to Alphonso Davies who get 3 honours: Golden boot, Young Player award and Makes the best starting XI. Canada takes 6th place in the tournament rankings. Bodes well for our future hopes of making the hex.
I notice that in the most recent FIFA rankings, which take the Gold Cup games into account, we are now ranked 95th overall and 10th in CONCACAF. Too bad we had non-FIFA member French Guiana as our group minnow (where our win was worth zero ranking points) or we would be even higher.
I'm wondering why Haiti is ranking so high. They didn't play in the Gold Cup and weren't spectacular in WC qualification. They only came in fifth in the most recent Caribbean Cup.
I calculated Haiti's points per game for each of the four years in the FIFA Rankings excluding areas that are not members of FIFA. Then I applied the same year weighting as FIFA does. For the 34 games, Haiti averaged 1.24 points, but because Haiti has done better in the most recent year it goes up to 1.54 points when it is weighted. I realize that isn't how FIFA does it, but I was just trying to do quick calculations.