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Yallop discusses camp in a CP piece


Jeremy Loome

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Canadian men’s soccer coach likes what he sees up front at English camp

By Neil Davidson

Canadian Press

Paul Peschisolido's return to the team will give Canada some much needed firepower.

The Canadian men's soccer team is not known for goals, but new coach Frank Yallop was heartened by what he saw up front at a training camp for European-based players that wrapped up Wednesday in Manchester, England.

Yallop, who officially took over the national team on Jan. 1, had Everton's Tomasz Radzinski and Derby County's Paul Peschisolido in camp. They will be bolstered by Dwayne DeRosario of the San Jose Earthquakes, the MLS team Yallop used to coach.

Yallop says he may play all three strikers at the same time.

"Put it this way, we've got some firepower and I like it," Yallop said Wednesday from Ipswich, England.

Canada has lacked teeth up front in the past.

In the 30 games since Canada opened its qualifying campaign for the last World Cup, the Canadian men have managed just 24 goals while conceding 51. Canada has been blanked 14 times during that stretch, although to be fair the Canadians held the opposition scoreless 10 times over the same period.

The good news is Canada scored 12 of those goals in the last 10 games against a tough list of opponents that included the Czech Republic, the U.S., Costa Rica, Ireland and Finland.

Add up the world rankings of those five and you get 61 -- some 30 less that Canada's current post of No. 91.

The bad news is the Canadians gave up 28 goals over that 10-game period.

Injuries and absences have hurt the Canadian attack in the past.

Politics kept Peschisolido, at loggerheads with former coach Holger Osieck, out of the national team set-up while Radzinski, once he elected to return to the fold, was hampered by injury.

The Manchester camp was the second for Yallop, who brought his North American-based players to Florida in January in advance of a 1-0 exhibition win over Barbados.

The only player to miss the English camp was St. Gallen midfielder Daniel Imhof, who was injured in a club game in Switzerland last weekend.

Yallop only had three training sessions -- he elected for quality time not quantity -- but also met with the players individually and had a team meeting.

"It would have been nice to have a game, like an international game, but for what I wanted to get out of it it was perfect," he said. "I wanted to get them a little familiar with me . . . like the Florida (camp) where I wanted to make sure that they see how I work, that I see them close-up.

"I felt it went really well. The attitude was great. The standard was high in training and I was pleased."

Next up for Canada is a camp and an exhibition game May 30 against Wales in Wrexham. The team will then fly to North America for a June 5 friendly against the Earthquakes in San Jose.

After that, it's off to Ottawa for another camp in advance of World Cup qualifying games June 13 and 16 against Belize in Kingston, Ont.

Yallop expects to have all his players available.

The question of who will captain Canada under Yallop is not a burning issue for the coach.

"I haven't really thought about it to be honest. To me it's not a big issue. Really the captain is the guy that flips the coin."

Veteran defender Jason deVos served as captain under Osieck and will "probably" retain the armband, according to Yallop.

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Could you point out the 'great news' please for the myopic viewers like myself? Three training sessions? The team meeting? What??

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quote:Originally posted by Ed

Could you point out the 'great news' please for the myopic viewers like myself? Three training sessions? The team meeting? What??

Dammit, man, you are such a sour dude. Let me guess: You think Global National with Kevin Newman is excellent news coverage, too. Yes, I believe myopia is half your problem.

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quote:Originally posted by Ed

Could you point out the 'great news' please for the myopic viewers like myself? Three training sessions? The team meeting? What??

I think he means the camp before the Wales game, and the camp before WCQ. I don't think you're sour Ed. Grumpy old man perhaps, but too cheerful to qualify as sour ;)

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Thanks for your concern boys. But actually life is pretty good in sunny Alberta. Real footy just around the corner. Rick Titus is in the house. But I hardly find a 3 day camp 'GREAT NEWS' for our national team when ALL our opponents are getting in solid preparation games. Perhaps you could share with me what medication you fellows are enjoying. Cheers.

PS. I don't watch Global news. I've been HYPMOTIZED these past few weeks by Peter Mansbridge's wonky left eye.

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quote:Originally posted by Ed

Thanks for your concern boys. But actually life is pretty good in sunny Alberta. Real footy just around the corner. Rick Titus is in the house. But I hardly find a 3 day camp 'GREAT NEWS' for our national team when ALL our opponents are getting in solid preparation games. Perhaps you could share with me what medication you fellows are enjoying. Cheers.

PS. I don't watch Global news. I've been HYPMOTIZED these past few weeks by Peter Mansbridge's wonky left eye.

Ed, my apologies if I've missed the gist of your post. Yes, Mansbridge probably needs corrective lenses. I noticed the wonky eye last night. I thought maybe he reads from a teleprompter with one eye and looks directly at the camera with the other. I thought "Man, is he talented. No wonder the yanks offered him so much money to fly south."

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quote:Originally posted by canadiankick97

I think it's an amazing idea. I've thought so even before Yallop quoted it.

It wouldn't be a bad idea if one of them had some height.All 3 are very quick and have an instinct for scoring.I could see De Rosario playing out wide and one of Radzinksi or Pesch pressing the backline but a 3rd all out striker would have to be a tall target man who is good in the air.

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quote:Originally posted by loyola

Vancouver Fan: that 3rd striker could be Olivier Occean, if he proves to be the forward he was at La Manga Cup.

I know very little of him but I assume he is big.I try not to get too excited about new players mentioned here until I actually see them play.I've always been high on the Whitecaps Johnny Sulentic(not as a big target man)as a future national team player only because I see him play regularly here in Vancouver.

I hope your'e right though.

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I think the three striker idea may be in relation to the Belize series where they will certainly be playing 11 men at the back and hoping for a lucky counter. We will need to score early to open up the game in order to run up the score and avoid the possibility of a freak result. Whether a three striker tactic will be advantageous when we face stronger less defensive minded opposition is debateable.

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I think the three striker idea may be in relation to the Belize series where they will certainly be playing 11 men at the back and hoping for a lucky counter. We will need to score early to open up the game in order to run up the score and avoid the possibility of a freak result. Whether a three striker tactic will be advantageous when we face stronger less defensive minded opposition is debateable.

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I think teams like Costa Rica, though perhaps more talented than us, can be victimized at the back. Especially at home, why not try to take the game to them?

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I think teams like Costa Rica, though perhaps more talented than us, can be victimized at the back. Especially at home, why not try to take the game to them?

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