Last night leaves us in second place after two games. I would like to have seen a higher score just to be sure, but aside from a major collapse we're looking pretty solid to make group A. The team looked great and it's fantastic to see so much young talent. The only thing I didn't like is that the attacks were basically the same, run it up on the left and cross in. Dominica got wise to this and played to it. We're going to need some better versatility in our attacking game.
Hoilett and Osorio looked fantastic, to nobody's surprise. The guy that left me very impressed was Tiebert. I've never seen him that good. He was all over the field, making passes, winning balls and disrupting Dominica's passing game. He passed up a pretty good shooting opportunity about 75-80 minutes in, but that is literally the only critique I have of him last night. Glad we got all of our dual-national teenagers cap tied.
Disagree on Tiebert. I thought he couldn't keep and was late on many plays. He was easy to be pushed off the ball. He's technically strong but that won't help if the game's going too fast or your physically outmatched. Osorio was alright, he can do better than this at midfield that lacked creativity at times. Agreed on Hoilett. I'm not saying Osorio and Teibert were terrible, but in the context of WCQ, Gold Cup and Nation League, Osorio needs to do better and Teibert should be a sub at best but certainly not starting. It's not good enough to beat the likes of Costa Rica, USA and Panama.
Which is exactly what we should be doing. Great to see. Nice that the scoring was spread around. Gets everyone more confidence.
He has games like that usually when he is not playing a DM role. He lacks the physicality to be a DM but a box to box passer playmaker sure. That and he pesters players with his back checking endlessly. He has had games for the Whitecaps where he would pass in the 90+% range so not unheard of to see him do that against a very weak team. Here's hoping he can keep it going on a consistent basis.
I know the teams we're playing are mostly amateur but man, it feels good to able to sit back and watch us attack for 90 minutes.
^ It also makes me feel sorry for many of the CONCACAF nations. We complain about Canada going out of qualifying early and not really having a shot at the WC over the past number of years. Imagine being a fan of one of the 25 or so CONCACAF nations that really don't have a shot.
This is one of the good things about the new League of Nations. It gives those countries a real competitive tournament to play in, against other teams at their own level. C level countries can aspire to make it to B, and B level teams can aspire to make it to A. Not the same as WC or GC but gives them something to play for.
You what is another good thing is the fact that because these are official matches, each team can only make three subs. It's helps both the development of the game and the fans because the intensity is not lost due to the amount substitutions.
my match report from the October 16, 2018 Canada vs Dominica game: http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports18/18cana03.htm Also I have the audio of the post game press conference with John Herdman and Atiba Hutchinson and quite a few hall interviews with players at: http://www.rocketrobinsoccerintoronto.com/reports18/18cana04.htm
Canada is up 3 spots to 76th in the October 2018 FIFA Rankings, which is their best since they were 68th in March 2013.
Assuming other CONCACAF teams stay pretty much where they are overall, 50th in FIFA would have us 4th in CONCACAF.
In terms of pure talent, 4th in CONCACAF is probably where we should be anyways. Perhaps even pushing Costa Rica for third. But we underperform so much we might as well the playoff Raptors.
Canada Soccer announces Men’s National Team squad for important away match on Road to Qatar 2022STORY 🍁 https://t.co/hwz1uJgpHm SQUAD & PROFILES 🍁 https://t.co/kymIrfUTHe 🆚: St. Kitts & Nevis on 18 November#️⃣: 🇨🇦🇰🇳 #CANMNT #CNL #TheDreamStartsNow pic.twitter.com/aPkLgljKDw— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) November 8, 2018 CANADA 1- GK- Simon Thomas | NOR / Kongsvinger IL 2- FB- Zachary Brault-Guillard | FRA / Olympique Lyonnais 3- CB- Manjrekar James | DEN / FC Fredericia (on loan) 4- CB- Derek Cornelius | SRB / FK Javor Ivanjica 5- CB- David Edgar | CAN / Ottawa Fury FC 6- M- Samuel Piette | CAN / Impact de Montréal 7- M- Russell Teibert | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC 8- M- David Wotherspoon | SCO / St. Johnstone FC 9- F- Cyle Larin | TUR / Beşiktaş JK 10- M- David Junior Hoilett | WAL / Cardiff City FC 11- FB- Samuel Adekugbe | NOR / Vålerenga Fotball 12- W- Alphonso Davies | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC 13- M- Atiba Hutchinson | TUR / Beşiktaş JK 14- W- Liam Millar | ENG / Liverpool FC U-23 15- CB- Doneil Henry | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC 16- FB- Marcus Godinho | SCO / Heart of Midlothian FC 17- M- Liam Fraser | CAN / Toronto FC 18- GK- Milan Borjan | SRB / FK Crvena zvezda (Red Star Belgrade) 19- F- Lucas Cavallini | MEX / Puebla FC 20- F- Jonathan David | BEL / KAA Gent 21- M- Jay Chapman | CAN / Toronto FC 22- GK- Maxime Crépeau | CAN / Ottawa Fury FC 23- AM / F- Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla | ESP / FC Barcelona B
A warning shot to the CSA: St. Kitts and Nevis just beat Canada in the u-20 championship. Yes, apples and oranges with what we can expect from the senior MNTs - the warning is that SKN have enjoyed a remarkable level of stability for a Caribbean side, with Mexican coach Jacques Passy having been in charge for three years now. Frankly, this is the first organized opponent that Canada will face in this CNL qualifying round.
Years of disappointment being a CNT fan have trained you to be suspicious of success? I think this is the time when we finally get to throw that baggage away. We aren't a CONCACAF power yet but we will no longer drop stupid points to minnows or fall just short against teams like Honduras.
I like having a manager that leaves nothing to luck. Herdman strength is how detail oriented he is.Canada preps to play on a poor pitch by training on an even poorer one https://t.co/N3rGn56w0J— Steven Sandor (@stevensandor) November 16, 2018
LMAO. Yea we've all been there. Conditioned for a letdown is a real problem I have as well. We need a string of wins to shake the cobwebs off our unfortunate legacy of not getting it done. I am really looking forward to the next Gold Cup. Now that will be a true test of progress.