Re: Canada v USA You should get to see plenty of Simeon Jackson next season in the Premier League with Norwich City. Simpson plays in Turkey. Apparently despite being a left winger he lead his team in goals last season.
Honestly, had we (speaking from a Canadian perspective) been playing more games on the FIFA dates that we have available, I think we could’ve won that game and here’s why. Familiarity with your teammates is key to any team’s success, club or country. Some will argue that because national teams don’t get to train together very often, they should just stick to a simple gameplan and stick to a vanilla 4-4-2. I don’t buy that. If each players know their role, I think any country can play any formation they want. Part of it is probably cultural but part of it comes from repetition. So looking at how Canada played against Ecuador and the U.S., it really does look like the team lacks familiarity with each other. For 65 minutes last night, nobody wanted to step up and take shots. Nobody wanted to make more than one move towards the goal. Nobody wanted to be a leader out on the field. Then after 65 minutes, it seemed like a light bulb went on. Gerba took two powerful strikes towards goal but were stopped but a world class keeper in Howard. Simpson started to make runs towards the goal. DeRo who took a great long shot, settled in behind the three forwards. Hutchinson even jumped into the fray but had shot attempts blocked twice. I can remember a few chances we had where Friend and I think Gerba could have been on clear breakaways had they not been offside by a toenail. Timing is something that can be worked on with more familiarity and more repetition. As the game went on, we stopped playing scared and we stopped playing like we were going to ask for autographs from the Americans after the game and started asserting ourselves on the field. If Stephen Hart has to yell “we’re down 2, we’re down 2” at the beginning of every game to fire up the team then so be it. But we are capable of beating the U.S. and hell yeah we better starting believing it.
But the same Holds true for the US. If the US had had more time to prepare, they would have played better as well. Bradley rarely plays his entire first 11 in friendlies (maybe 2 or 3 times a year) and the team suffers at the beginning of EVERY big tournament. Both teams suffered from and equal amount of discombobulation and unfamiliarity. The difference between the two squads was skill. The superior US 4-man midfield overwhelemed Canada, disrupted their attack, and created bundles of chances going forward. Of course Canada can beat the US. The US can beat Spain, but they probably won't 9 times out of 10.
Re: Canada v USA If Altidore finished all his chances and didn't make terrible decisions, it also would have been a very different game. I would have liked 5-2 USA over 2-0 USA. Tim Howard is not the difference between the US and Canada. Altidore got a lot of shots, and squandered them. Heck, Canada got lucky on one play with DeJong's head right in front of Dempsey's Scorpion Kick. The Yanks run roughshod over the Canadians all game long. It goes back to my post- Canada simply does not have what it takes to play a 4-3-3 effectively. It simply does not work.