Hopefully the crowd is there in full voice and end up pushing our guys to get 1-2 goals . Would be great even if we don't go through
It's not Floro's fault that he doesn't have many strikers to work with. That said, bringing on a defender as your final sub, when you need a goal, merits questions about his sanity.
No goal came unfortunately. How that sitter was knocked around without going in is crazy but sums up Canada's tournament Big improvement over last two games though imo
Last Canadian Gold Cup goal was 4 year ago 14 July 2011 -- PK by DeRosario in the 62' vs. Panama. = 568 minutes without a goal Last one in run of play was 10 July 2009 -- de Jong in the 28' against Costa Rica in the group stage.
A disappointing end to the tournament. The silver lining is that they were close in all matches. No goals, however, is terrible. I was hoping for more in our first full out effort since Floro took over. Instead, he still seemed to be trying lineup combinations instead of putting the best team out there. Things will have to be better on the offensive front if we hope to make the hex in qualifying this time 'round.
Our midfield and forwards are in serious need of development in creativity. It didn't take the opposition much in the way of marking to keep us from setting up any nice plays. We relied on long balls way too much. Ironically, we have the best defensive record in the whole tournament, aside from Mexico and Trinidad, both of whom have a match to play today. El Salvador could be eliminated today if either Cuba or Guatemala win. ES will need that match to finish as a draw to survive. And if there's any consolation, Honduras had a worse tournament than we did.
If I recall, I don't think the Canadian men scored a goal at the U21 WC we hosted 7-8 years ago. I wish us all the best for 2018WC qualifying, but I think a more optimistic tourney will be the 2022 qualifying when we should start reaping the benefits of Canada's 3 MLS academies. As it stands, we're a poor squad. I know a poor squad when I see one...I've been a TFC season ticket holder from day one, lol.
A few thoughts; * Floro - I question whether he is really trying to win. The whole defensive structure thing seems weak. His evaluation on talent seems marginal at best. He talked about players playing out of season yet he sits among his best players who are in form from playing in MLS (Teibert, Osorio, Akindele, Larin). He decides to go with Piette, Bekker. He also poorly managed his bench during the 3 games (with extensive travel and heat). He should of used his strongest players in games 1 and 3. If they would of got a result, more meaningful games would of been played which would of helped the team gel. Where is Will Johnson? If he is healthy enough for Portland he could of played some in Gold Cup. I guess he could of kept him away to evaluate the others but I don't think that's why. Floro out. *CSA - Can't just blame Floro. The CSA is doing a horrible job. If they were in the private sector they would be out of business. How do they not have a TV deal? I see no effort in spending the money they do have, or maybe its just on themselves. Where is the bridge to Corporate support like Hockey Canada, MLS clubs, the CFL etc? Nobody needs to hear about their half baked ideas. CSA figureheads and associates out. *Development - You have to give it time. The MLS clubs alone are setting up academies, many just in their first couple of years. As you can see by the youth the players are coming (Teibert, Osorio, Morgan, Adekugbe, Akindele, Larin, Froese, Bokai to name a few.) The one thing that everyone agrees on is Canada needs its own domestic league, something that should be kept out of the hands of the CSA. Here is an idea; play friendlies against odd better team (England, France, Netherlands etc.) and watch the rise in play. I hear Fabio Capello is available.
If Uraguay can have its own league... Logistics would be an issue as would financial sustainability. Something needs to happen for player opportunities.
Floro - Not really sure why he was still playing "let's try this out" instead of going with the best possible line up. I don't support firing the coach for a bad tournament, however. The team is progressing and, unless you want to be TFC, you can't fire the coach every time you have a bad moment. Every coach reset costs the team two years. CSA - Easy to criticise and they have done some silly things. That said, it's also very difficult to come up with specifics about what they can do. "Go out and get a TV deal and corporate sponsorship" is easy to say but hard to do. Development - Yes, it will take time but it is already bearing fruit. No to everyone agreeing we need our own league. We need even more player development. I, for one, am not convinced that an all Canadian league is the best way to do this. Friendlies - Again, easy to say, but teams like those you mention (and other good teams) aren't exactly lining up to play the likes of Canada.
I would have liked to see Floro go for the best possible result in this tournament, but at the same time there's something to be said for thinking long term as well. If we can take one positive out of this, with Mexico/Trinidad finishing 4-4 last night, we go out with the best defensive record in the tournament. So much for the old adage that defense wins games though. Also bear in mind that Honduras, a country with a strong chance to make the hex did worse than us (granted, they faced tougher competition than we did). We're still going to struggle to make the hex in WCQ, but I think that our state of affairs is better than the record in this tournament would indicate. It's just not as good as we thought it was going into it.
Well, given that the national sport is hockey, which is nothing like rugby or soccer I don't see how Australia is a better example What would an exclusive Canadian league offer that the MLS doesn't?
The talk of a Canadian league is not to replace MLS, nobody's that foolish. The plan is to see the three MLS clubs stay in that league. The plan is to have a pro-league at the NASL/USL-Pro level. Soccer is also not the top sport in Australia. Aussie football, Rugby and Cricket are all more popular down there than is soccer (which is why the Aussies also use the term soccer instead of football). That's one reason why I feel that Australia is a good comparison with us, along with the fact they they to are a large sparse country with a small population, and similar economy. The only significant difference is climate, but since the soccer is also played in countries with a climate similar to ours (Sweden, Russia etc.) and the fact that we already have a pro-club at the proposed level in our coldest major city to says that climate is not a significant issue. This topic is discussed in another thread in more detail.
Pardon, gentlemen, mind if a Yank chimes in? The fact that I'm seeing this conversation here and elsewhere implies the lack of a plan or strategy, which seems the most disconcerting thing. US Soccer is in the middle of their plans with an eye toward 2020-2022. It's the second or third go round of building the teams and the player development programs in roughly 10-year cycles, whereby they routinely assess their current state and outline what needs to be done to get better. Much of this dovetails with the pro leagues but it's also been much about facilities, business partnerships, exposure, etc. Sounds like CSA needs to do the same. See my comments below. Something I've often pondered, not only due to the comparable populations and geographic spreads but also in dealing with soccer not being THE main sport and the ease with which fans can glom onto leagues in other nations. The biggest difference is that you lot have us noisy neighbors immediately next door, while Australia is forced into doing things independently. The result is your major markets have the chance to align themselves with a bigger, wealthier league in the US, leaving your smaller cities with more meager options domestically. This relationship with the US has its benefits, though, and more importantly isn't going away, rendering the comparison to Australia essentially invalid. So the question becomes how can you best work that relationship for the development of Canadian talent? To wit: Put simply, you need more Canadians playing the game, playing the game full time, and playing at the highest level possible. All to develop the deepest talent pool that you can muster. To do this you need more domestic teams, so it's a matter of will those teams come about with a true national league or is there some other alternative that will yield comparable results? Given my theory just above I think you'll be forced to work within the existing USL/NASL structures. It's simply more economically viable to work through a larger league if possible. However, one can easily design something that couches all-Canadian divisions within those lower levels, so that the local fans have the semblance of a national league around which they can rally, foster rivalries and such. If that proves viable enough then they could consider breaking away, but you'll need something that ensures about 5k per team in attendance in order to make the business model work. Then, hopefully, you'll get more Canadians playing the game at higher levels. - - - - One thing I think you should do is make a pitch to host the Gold Cup in the near future, and to plan to do so regularly. Build on the success of the WWC and drive local support for the national team and the pro game by placing the event front and center. Even if it's not as big as the WWC I guarantee it will have a positive impact on the men's team.
And to think that with a simple win there was a great chance to partecipate to next Copa America............ Complinents for this disaster !!!
I agree with what you are saying. Right now we have five pro teams but only four (three MLS plus Ottawa) are drawing the requisite number of fans. Edmonton is trying but, so far, failing. Placing further teams in cross-border leagues is going to be far more sustainable than trying to create our own league since it's very unlikely we can find eight to ten cities with sufficient fan support.