hey guys- i thought i would start a separate thread of all 4NT game results/discussion/analysis. i renamed the other thread slightly as 'pre-tourney'. here's the schedule that kicks off tonight (or tomorrow morning ... however you're looking at it) 2004 FOUR NATIONS TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE Friday, Jan. 30 China vs. Canada 2:15 p.m. local (1:15 a.m. ET) USA vs. Sweden 4:30 p.m. local (3:30 a.m. ET) Sunday, Feb. 1 China vs. USA 2:15 p.m. local (1:15 a.m. ET) Sweden vs. Canada 4:30 p.m. local (3:30 a.m. ET) Tuesday, Feb. 3 USA vs. Canada 2:15 p.m. local (1:15 a.m. ET) China vs. Sweden 4:30 p.m. local (3:30 a.m. ET) you know who my allegience will be with ... WAR CANADA! looking forward to seeing the results and what the lineups will look like. elaine
Swedish starting eleven Swedish starting eleven according to http://www.svenskfotboll.se/t2vm.asp?p=7177&x=1&a=102791
Holy cow! I missed Hedvig being sent to Linkoping. Well, that sounds good. Seems like she didn't get much playing time with MFF. I'm glad to see her being used for the 4NT. I suspect there's no TV for this, though. *hoping to be told I'm wrong*
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/01/30/sports0454EST0296.DTL China 2 (Bai Lili, Teng Wei), Canada 1 (Veronique Maranda, one of just 2 shots on goal) Paul
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/01/30/sports0620EST0310.DTL US 3, Sweden 0 (Boxx, 2 from Tarpley) Paul Mod Edit: fixed the score, you had posted sweden with 1 goal
Canada seems to have really missed their "Terrible Twosome" up front. I wonder where Pellerud had Hooper playing?
pics from china-canada game (and a few from usa/swe)... http://sports.sohu.com/1/1203/86/subject217378609.shtml you'll need a broswer that supports chinese characters to see the writing, but at the bottom there's a link that you can see 'more' ... it's at the bottom right in a blue bar thingie ... the words look like 'ÏÂÒ»Ò³' if you don't have a chinese supported browser ... click on that to see more pics etc. elaine
CSA's game report with canadian lineup/subs http://canadasoccer.com/eng/media/viewArtical.asp?Press_ID=1594 elaine
You know what really bugs me is this so called four nations cup. When in reality is just seems to be a one nation cup. Part of soccer attraction nowadays is that it can be seen by millions on television. But not in this case, so where is the attraction? when not even the periodicals have write-ups or results. Don't know if games are televised to other participating countries like US and Sweden. Maybe the Chinese people get to go and see, but what good does that do for the rest of the soccer world, nothing. Might as well called it the 'closed doors cup'. The Algarve cup in Portugal is not much better either. In the old days I remember you could buy video tapes of games. I don't see those advertized anymore.
February 1st Canada-Sweden 1-3 0-1 Malin Moström, 0-2 Victoria Svensson, 0-3 Therese Sjögran Sweden: Hedvig Lindahl - Sara Thunebro, Karolina Westberg, Anna Maria Eriksson, Kristin Bengtsson - Malin Moström, Frida Östberg, Linda Fagerström - Josefine Öqvist, Salina Olsson, Victoria Svensson http://www.svenskfotboll.se/t1.asp?p=7141&x=1&a=102937 Not sure, but seems like the game between China and the USA ended with a scoreless draw on www.teamchina.org
Give Woody 99 a cee-gar http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=52656&itype=113&iCategoryID=0 Indeed scoreless, which means that in the last 2 games the US and China have played, still nobody has scored on the other ('99 WWC final and today). Paul
CSA report on the Canada-Sweden game. http://www.canadasoccer.com/eng/media/viewArtical.asp?Press_ID=1597 Sounds like Canada played a better game in the m/f and created a good number of scoring opportunities but failed to finish. Any improvement in the m/f bodes well for the future. Looking at GF and GA it's clear that while Canada's offense may be lacking the Lang/Latham punch, the big problem in this tournament is defense. Can't expect to do well while allowing 2.5 GA per game.
it's very interesting the two VERY DIFFERENT lineups coach pellerud put out in both games ... he definitely is placing players in various spots and seeing how they respond and i am curious to know what he "sees" ... wished i could've seen these games!! now i wonder what the starting 11 will be vs. the united states! the only roster comment i have is the fact that sasha andrews hasn't appeared in any games thus far ... in the standpoint that she's usually one of the first off the bench and her game has definitely improved leaps and bounds the last year ... i'm just curious why she hasn't gotten any time in any game yet ... perhaps there's more to it ... elaine
Here is what I read from Pellerud's line-up choices & comments: GK So far he likes all 3 alternatives. He's already played McLeod and Swiatek, so I suspect he'll play Karina against the USA. If he doesn't, it's not a good sign for Karina. Defense Hooper and Nonen are starters. Hermus will be a starter until Boyd and Chapman come back from injury (assuming they do come back). He's giving Nault a good looking at. Dennis has been used sparingly, so she may not be fully recovered from her concussion. Andrews has not been used, either she's hurt or she's on the bubble. Overall he can't be happy with his defensive performance so far in the 4NT. Midfield Timko is a starter. Neil is also a starter for now. He's having a good look at Jamani, Maranda and Moscato. He may not have been happy with Matheson vs. China. Pellerud's definitely looking for better 2-way players and playmakers in this position. Neil and Matheson may share 90 minutes in a defensive midfielder position, leaving room for Timko and a couple more 2-way players. Forward Sinclair is a starter. He also has Lang and Latham, so it will depend on tactics as to where he plays them on the field. Wilkinson will continue to come off the bench unless someone is injured or not game-fit. Hooper is always an option. Maranda and Jamani might be other options. Other Morneau can play defense or midfield. She's been in the mix for both games which is a good sign for her. Sinclair, Lang and Latham are all starters somewhere on the field as long as one of them is better in m/f than Pellerud's other alternatives.
Great assessment CAFAN, I really don't disagree with your points and I am further interested if you can give your opionion on the following. It seems that you class your top players as being "starters". Now, which of these starters you consider to be at an equal footing or better than the top players from Sweden, China, Germany, USA? I thought that we had a few that measured up to the top in the world, but judging from these latest results, I am not so sure right now. At least our players can't seem to maintain consistency in the game. I am interested to hear your opinion. Tks.
sweden not at their best Look like many of the Swedish players are ill... http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/sport/story/0,2789,427115,00.html
Toepunt, I wouldn't read too much into Canada's results at the 4NT other than the team can only be missing so many top players before it shows on the scoreboard. As to your question, it's difficult to say which players measure up to the top teams in the world because Canada's style is so direct (many would say crude). Our better players can't properly showcase all their skills in that style. Also there are a number of players that have come through for Canada against top competition (eg. Neil, Kiss, Morneau, Hermus etc.) who aren't on my list but are still great assets to the team. And there are a number of youngsters like Matheson, Moscato, Dennis etc. who show lots of promise. With those qualifications in mind, I think (and I'm certainly not the final authority) the following play at a world class level in their positions: GK: Le Blanc, Swiatek D/F: Nonen, Boyd, Hooper* F/W Hooper, Sinclair, Lang, Latham* * Not quite as strong in the position (my opinion). Hooper* is learning the defensive role but she already has all the tools. Latham* is a powerhouse but I'm not as confident in her ability to score against top teams. Chapman and Timko are close to making my list. They're certainly starters in Pellerud's view. I just don't think they're quite as far along in terms of the difficulty they pose to world class teams. It's all a matter of where you draw the line. Also, I know Pellerud has said he's equally confident in all 3 GK's. I just haven't personally seen McLeod play at the senior level in the same pressure situations as the other 2, so I'm not sure about her. As you can see I think Pellerud's biggest challenge is in the midfield (plus getting his team healthy again). Canada has shown in WWC play it can be successful kicking, chasing and defending for 45 minutes but they can't expect to beat the best teams over 90 minutes that way. Too much energy is wasted and fatigue in the 2'nd half becomes the deciding factor. Pellerud really needs to develop his midfield in order to get more control of the play and move beyond the totally direct kick and chase style.
Ian Bridge on kick and chase: "That style is probably the most important thing we have in the program. It's consistent; all the teams adhere to it, and all the players are taught the same tactics," says Bridge. "It maximizes the qualities of our players and helps us deal with the geographic challenges. It also makes possible a smooth upward transition, as in the case of Tanya Dennis, a former Under-19 player who just made her World Cup debut. "Even when she was playing for the Under-17s, she was playing that style, so it's not a major adjustment, tactically or in playing style, to move up to my team and then to the World Cup team," says Bridge. as Hooper says, "I'd rather win looking ugly than lose looking pretty." MF: I'd add Timko to that list btw, IMO. She's one of the most consistent players on the team. DF: Same with Chapman, esp since we seem to constantly lose defenders. And I'd put a * beside Kara Lang.
I don't see Pellerud or Bridge going away from a direct style but I think we'll see it evolve to a more sophisticated version with more possession and m/f involvement in the offense. It seemed Pellerud was happy with Canada's direct style execution in Algarve last year and also against Brazil. Injuries to Boyd and Chapman set progress back a bit and he's still looking for better playmakers in the midfield. I can't argue too strongly on your assessments of Timko and Chapman. They're both starters in my view and it's obvious that Canada's a much weaker team with them off the field. I just don't think they play their positions at quite the same impact level as players on top teams like Germany, the USA, Sweden etc. It's a judgement call. Also I'm not current on Timko. Would have loved to see what she did to impress Pellerud at the 4NT. I can see your position on Lang. She still makes a lot of mental errors, but she has a rocket shot, her crosses are so dangerous and she's a great opportunist around the net. I just think her raw talents make her a serious scoring threat to world class defenders, mental errors or not. Sweden felt her sting in the WWC and as I recall she was inches from scoring against the USA.
I am not so sure the problem is in midfield. I know Pellerud thinks the midfield needs work and I hate to disagree with the master. I see the problem being more of the defense not being able to control, clear and initiate with consistency and aplomb. This causes the midfielders to act as defenders deep in the field. Front runners have to come back to midfield even defense at times. Hence our midfield looks weak or missing altogether. I agree with you about the fatigue part. It is a result of what I say. We need to risk more and let our defenders fend for themselves a bit more.