Post Game Analysis - Guat Vs Canada

[matthew]

I'm really drunk, but I don't think it will cloud my views.

The CSA's prep was crap.

Our tactics were crap.

Our squad selection was pretty crap

And our play was pretty crap.

Admittedly injuries kinda forced our hand, but we're not a get it down the line, knock it in team. Our best forwards are not target forwards. Guatemala however was playing us like we were going to do taht. And we did do that, despite the fact rthat DeRo isn't a winger (he's decent at coming off the wing and cutting in, but he;s not a great crosser, of course he's not supposed to be). Simpson didn't have a great night on the other wing.

Occean got better as the game went on, but the whole first 15 mins or whatever we aimed balls at him and he did very little with them. That's a sight more than Pesch did. Pesch was verty quiet and I think he didn't have a good [partnership[ with Occean.

DeGuzman was playing too deep early, he'd win the ball lay it off, we'd hump it down field and occean would half-win it to about where we'd wnat DeGuzm,an. He staterd to get his game going and he pulled up lame. It's been that kind of week.

I thoguth Imhof was our best player tonight aftually, but it wasn't like anyone basked in glory. He made some very, very important tackles and had some bite.

I actually thoguht the central defenders weren't bad. They werne't great, but Watson was all right and I think the second goal was half Pizzolitto and half Onstad, but was far more just quality from Ruiz. The first goal was offside, but Stalteri was badly burned and generally I thought Paul had a poor game (sorry Christina ( ). He's our best player, but he wasn't that tonight. I know people argue all the time with me on thsi, but to me he's not a rightback. he needs to be in the midfield. He's looked good as a RB for Weder Bremen, but for us he hasn't looked great there against any kind of decent international competition.

Onstad was unlucky on the second goal (just a great finish) and had little else to do. I thought Jazic was pretty good too. Serioux was pretty ggood and added something and Peters is going to one for the future for sure. Loads of skill. Can't decide ithe's ready or not./

What I really thoguht we missed was a leader. The Guatmelans wanted it more. That's what's so painful. No Bircham or Dasvocic type player to add a spark and get stcuk in. No Hume running like a maniac. No DeVos or Forrest to give us a boot in the arse. No offence to Onstad, but I don't think your keeper should be yr captain and we needed someone to grab the game and inspire the guys and it wasn't there.

The sad part was that while some Guatema;lans had good games by their standard (Ramirez, Thompson), other were subpar (Pezzarossi was very quiet, props to the central D for that and really asside from the goals and one near miss what did Ruiz do? But that's his game. Martinez also didn't get forward in dangerous positions as I thought he would). We were flat and we played into their hands.

All that being said, I think Frank is still the man for the job. We'll see how he learns from this. We still have a good team. We need to become a team and be hungrier next game.

We can't give up now. We need to win our home games and we need a win on the road now. I thought we were capable of that before and I still think we're capable. I'm behind these guys all the way, but tonight was a tough one.

cheers,

matthew

[nolando]

I feel like I went out on a date that was a sure thing and went home with not even a kiss, but two kicks square in the balls.

[RS]

I posted this in the match thread, but it's probably more appropriate here.

Player ratings (with grades in brackets):

Onstad © - Really wasn't pressed into duty too much, and couldn't be faulted for either of the goals, as one was offside and the other was a terrible blunder by the defence in front of him. That said, when the ball was played back to him he either hoofed it straight into the air or straight into the stands. Poor distribution, although he was good on a couple of crosses.

Stalteri (D) - Perhaps the worst match I've seen him play since he was the Voyageurs' Favourite Whipping Boy. Looked completely disoriented, and appeared as if he just couldn't do anything ith the ease and grace we are so used to seeing. The good news is that I know he will bounce back.

Watson (D+) - Watson is clearly past it at tis level. I know he was put in the lineup for experience, but he was urned around and beaten on too many occassions to count. Is stoill effective on headers, buts that's about it. Thanks for the many good meories Mark, but it's time to hang them up. Needs to go. Now.

Pizzolitto (D) - Inexperience at the international level was exposed in a big way tonight. Was the main reason for the second Ruiz goal, which basically knocked any possible wind out of Canada's sails. Hoofed the ball up field too much.

Jazic (C+) - The best of a terrible back four today, actually had a couple of decent runs up the left side, and didn't really get burned by his man as the others did. As Ed said, had to cover for Simpson a lot, which led to him being caught out of position a few times, although he did well to get back.

De Rosario (C+) - Now I know what the San Jose fans on BigSoccer are always talking about when they say DeRo is frustrating to watch. He couldn't decide whether to shoot or pass on a half a dozen occassions, and ended up in no man's land because of his lack of decisiveness. Still managed to get a couple of good passes in, but he really should have shot that one chance after getting into the 18 yard box.

Imhof © - I don't agree with a lot of the sentiment here, as I thought Imhof got stuck in and was really our best defensive player on the night. looked to pass the ball at all times, and spent all of his energy trying to cover up for the mistakes of the defenders behind him.

DeGuzman ( - Ran at players, went after them defensively, and really started to become a thorn in the Guat's side by the time he pulled his hamstring. Hopefully his injury isn't too serious, as DeGuzman really is the glue that binds the midfield together.

Simpson (D) - I'll chalk this up to inexperience, but boy did he look lost out there? Perhaps he is burnt out from the incredible whirlwind his life has been the past few weeks, but he didn't have the energy or pace that are Simpson trademarks (from what little I've seen of him). Brennan should have been starting in his place. Simpson is not ayet a starter on this team, but he will be someday soon. Unless he plays like he did tonight.

Occean (B+) - The best starter on the pitch tonight, Occean was not afraid to take on two or three Guat defenders at once, and usually powered his way through them each time. A prototypical target man, but with a bit of skill to boot. Would have gotten an 'A' if he had scored that sitter, but just the fact that he made the keeper drop the cross and give him that opportunity speaks volumes. Occean brings a dimension to our attack that was sorely missing, and hopefully we''ll see him paired up with Radz against Honduras.

Pesch (C-) - Pesch has clearly lost a step, but kudos for him for giving his all for 90 minutes. His corners were so-so, and he really couldn't take on defenders like he used to. A late sub at best when Radz is there.

Serioux (A) - Man of the Match for Canada. His first touch was superb, and he won every 50-50 ball that was near him. Showed some good skill getting around some Guat defenders a few times, and really read the play well. And those throws...

Peters (A-) - Here's a 17-year-old kid that is going on trial with Man U next week and he showed why. Is lightning fast with the ball, run with his head up, is not afraid to take on two defenders at the same time. Unfortunately he is a midget, even next to the miniscule Guats, but hopefully he's got a growth spurt or two left in him. A guaranteed starter for Canada in a few years, if not earlier should the unthinkable happen and we're eliminated from WCQ in this round (again). Can't wait to see a Peters-DeGuzman led midfield for Canada in the 2007 U-20 WC.

Yallop (C-) - Questionable player selection, even if Brennan is trying to establish himself at his EPL side. Why was Klukowsi not there? Surely Hutchinson or Nsaliwa should have been in the lineup. Will HAVE TO redeem himself (and his team) in the next match, or we can kiss Germany goodbye. Some positives are his willingness to try new players out, although WCQ is not the time to do it.

CSA (F) - Once again, ZERO prep for the bread and butter team of the CSA. Schedule a ****ing friendly or two guys! It won't kill you, I promise.

[kokanne]

Your right it was Pizzolito, Live to me it looked like Watson. Ive watched the tape and it was Pizzolito.

[Bertuzzi44]

quote:Originally posted by BHTC Mike

Because GL - sh!tty Van City gets less people than "No one lives there" Kingston and even though most of them cheer for THE ENEMY in B.C. Kingston's in Ont. which means it eqauls evil!!!!!!! F*******CCCCCKKKKKKK!

F'me what the crowd was like!!! If you can't get more than 7000 in the heart of metro Van. then you never deserve another qualifier. Put them in Peterborough and you'd get more people - and less of them cheering for THE ENEMY!!!!!

FIRST of all the game was a SELLOUT.

SECONDLY, I wouldn't describe Swangard as being in the 'heart of metro Vancouver'.

THIRDLY, Canada played like crap. How can you cheer for crap? If Canada had WON 2-0 then everybody would probably say "the fans were great". Lets face it, when the Vancouver Canucks suck, the crowd sucks too! it's the nature of sport. if they are playing great, then the place is hopin'

LASTLY,

-Replace the entire back line except for maybe Jazic, stalteri

-Imoff should be a sub, not trying to run the midfield

-Seroiux, and Occean deserve starts next game

-We need Radzinski & Hume back BAD!

ps-BHTC Mike, Vancouver's the best city in Canada so shut your f'kin mouth and concentrate on soccer. No wonder Yallop wants the team based in BC.

[JayWay]

quote:Originally posted by Bertuzzi44

FIRST of all the game was a SELLOUT.

SECONDLY, I wouldn't describe Swangard as being in the 'heart of metro Vancouver'.

Nor would I describe Queens University as being anywhere near the vicinity of Metro Toronto. But hey, that didn't stop critics of Eastern Canada on here from taking shots at us.

quote:

ps-BHTC Mike, Vancouver's the best city in Canada so shut your f'kin mouth and concentrate on soccer. No wonder Yallop wants the team based in BC.

Dude, please. He's there for the bud.

[An Observer]

Unfortunately, couldn't watch the game but have read the reviews this morning in the UK. Depressing really.

It seems that my concern stated here of a few months ago that Canada is one major injury away from a crisis at centre back has come true. Lets hope both De Vos and McKenna are fit for the next matches. My concern is that even if they are, they will not be fully match fit which is worrying.

Still, from this match. I think changes are in order. Replace the central defense pair, put Serioux in the holding mid role, bring Hume in on the right, Brennan/Klukloski back on the left and put Rad up front.

Onstad

Stalteri McKenna DeVos Jazic

Hume Serioux De Guzman Brennan

Rad Occean

[nolando]

Things many were wrong about:

DD can fill in well at right wing .

Peters is not ready to play for the senior side.

Occean doesn’t deserve to start.

Simpson will be seriously out of his element.

Guatemala is not much of a threat.

Things many were right about:

JDV’s injury was the biggest and final blow.

The injuries left the squad unfamiliar and thin.

We really could have used a proper friendly or two with our full squad.

Some thoughts:

Was the roster that bad or did we just really miss our regular starters?? Most of us, and I agree, feel that Occean and Peters had decent games, particularly for full debuts.

I was most impressed by Stalteri. No, not Paul, but his wife Christine who came to our section before the game to hand-out signed cards and to chat. She is a very beautiful, intelligent, and charming woman. During halftime, I had a private chat with her near the concession where she told me that Paul just wasn’t playing or feeling right. She conceded he was mostly to blame for the first goal, saying she is his biggest fan and biggest critic. She specifically mentioned the lingering jet-lag as being a big problem for Paul.

Truth be known, I think Watson’s wild, out-of position stab at the ball created that threat, and that combined with the fact that Paul gifted that run to Ramirez, created the goal.

The police in this province are so much to blame for escalating violence in crowd situations time after time. They almost made something much bigger tonight out of what was essentially some commonplace, boisterous cheering at what amounted to a major sporting event for Vancouverites.

Other than getting our butts kicked by the Guats, the thing I was perhaps most disappointed about:

K-Head was right- that was a Southsiders section. They have their place and it’s in the southside, chanting Whitecaps chants. We need a proper group of Voyageurs, even it is only 20 or 30, to cheer in our own section. Case in point, I missed the late firsthalf sub and the very start of the second half while chatting with Christine. I tried to find three of the most sober guys in the section who might be able to tell me who came off for Serioux and they had no idea who Serioux even was. Those are not Canadian supporters, not in my book. There are enough ignorant, erstwhile Canadian fans without the need to populate our Voyageurs section with the same. And I mean that in a nice way. I was impressed by those big, loud Southsiders. Just get them to learn who plays for Canada and for god sakes make some unifying Canadian chants rather than exclusive Vancouver chants. Besides, it’s better for you guys to scare keepers behind the nets.

The strip of second row bench seats (a kind of tail off of the main Voyageur section) was sandwiched between loyal Guatemalan supporters. What a joke- T-master screwed us on that one and I almost felt sorry for the poor disabled and elderly Guatemalans sitting right smack next to us. Couldn’t have been more poorly placed. They asked us to sit down and be quiet but what do they expect, give them even more of a home field advantage than they already had in Vancouver? A couple of the men in the group understood when I asked them to imagine the kind of reception a couple of Canadians would have in Guatemala if they asked some Guatemalans to sit down. Just imagine.

That crowd had to be at least half Guatemalan.

God I hate playacting. It makes our zone look like a joke and doesn’t lend itself to it gaining any of the respect which it really doesn’t have in the rest of the world.

Other thoughts:

Pesch was useless tonight and should really only be used as a sub before he is put out to pasture.

The A-League well has run dry, at least for this round. Why not give Brillant a look?

A situation where the color commentator of the only televising network is best buddies with the coach does not lead itself well to edgy, insightful reporting that cuts to the truth.

Canada has so many guys with dreads or cornrows that we should get team discounts at MagicCuts

Watson is DONE LIKE DINNER.

DD looked to me to be a gear down, not fully recovered from the flu.

Pizz is not there yet- not even close. Bernier will be back. Menezes should be called in for cover.

Didn’t we used to be so much taller than Central Americans? We lost at least half of the balls in the air.

Imhof reminds me of Dasovic in both style of play and appearance.

Occean IS the Bunbury type we have needed since 97.

Serioux’s a keeper. His throw-ins alone are like a twelfth man.

Guatemala weren’t as unimpressive as some would make them out to have been.

Onstad looked like he used to around the time of the last game we played against Guatemala in 1999 (and against Belize). Kind of shaky even as a number two. Only he’s our number one.

Why didn’t Pizz pull Ruiz down on the second goal? He had a handful of jersey and surely he saw a good chance of going down 2-0. I say take the penalty, probably a yellow, but outside the box at least.

The ref didn’t lose this game- the Canadians did.

To not show the Voyageurs section on TV during the anthems or at some time in the first half (let alone the rest of the game) was an intentional move and an insulting one at that. Forrest and Dobson kept mentioning the crowd making a lot of noise but didn’t show any of the primary noisemakers. WHAT A JOKE!

I know why the Guatemalans call their coach “primitive.” You really couldn’t get much uglier unless you hit him square in the face with a shovel.

Guatemala reminds me of the position that El Salvador used to be in when they had Diaz Arce- a team with a dangerous striker and a solid chance at a 6-8th best position in the zone.

We are absolutely sunk if we don’t win in Edmonton.

Time to give this praying stuff a serious consideration.

[Canuck Oranje]

My two cents

- Too many changes at once leading to little team play.

- The CSA needs to consider jet lag in preparing for these games.

- The central defence was absolutely brutal; but, most expected that.

- Goalkeeping is only average.

Player assessments

Watson - done

Pizzolito - not international class yet.

Jazic - impressed especially considering he travelled the furthest.

Stalteri - clearly jet lagged

Simpson - clearly jet lagged.

De Guzman - great as expected but needed someone to play with. Serioux would be nice.

Imhoff - was ok but I think was suffering from having new teammates

DeRosario - probably still suffering a little from his virus.. He should have been the strongest player out there (no jet lag).

Pesch - Better off the bench.

Occean - clearly has lots of potential made some nice moves; but raw. Needs a few games at this level.

Serioux - quality. The surprise for me. I can't wait to see him playing with De Guzman in the midfield. Of all the new players, he is the one who should start in our best eleven. And like some of the Millwall fans said on their boards, he does remind me of Edgar Davids for how he seems to be in control on the field.

Peters - has loads of potential. He looked a little lost defensively. There are no questions about him with the ball. Needs some games.

What the heck?

Hutchinson - this guy is good enough the defend against the Brazilian, Spanish and Czech youngsters (named to tournament team's starting eleven) but not Guatemala? and behind Watson and Pizzolito? I will never understand that rationale. He could be Canada's Rijkaard (playing midfield at the club level and defender at the national team level).

Players who should have been called

Nsaliwa and Brennan..

All I can say is the team needs to play like a team soon or we are done....

[Guest Can. in UK]

I don't understand how the CSA or Yallop (who went through it himself) could have underestimated the effect of jetlag.

It's only going to be worse for the next game. The Coca-Cola Champioship play up until the night of August 31st... Canada's match is four days later.

Would they consider an afternoon match in Montreal? Surely the lads wouldn't feel as sluggish, considering it would only be evening the for them. A Vancouver night game is like 3-4am for them. I don't understand the logic.

[Observer]

I agree with most of the analysis.

Stalteri was woefull and had one of the worst games I have ever seen him play.

Both central defenders were caught out on too many occasions.

Jazic best defender on the night and best passer out of the back line

The entire midfield was a mess. DeRosario and Simpson did not have good games offensively and defensively. The loss of DeGuzman did not help. Imof had to work extra because of this

On a good note Serouix was a surprise and actually made the midfield more solid.

Peters was also a positive and played without fear.

I am a little surprised that Hutchison was not on the bench at least

In general the team lacked composure and on too many occasions made poor decisions when they rushed their passes.

Guatamala should be given credit they played well. They defended well and took their chances

[Gian-Luca]

Hutchinson was on the bench. That's where he stayed unfortunately.

I have to agree with most of the other points being made, particuarly by Canuck Oranje and with most of the player ratings by Rudi (though I think giving anybody on Canada an "A" on this night is generous and he probably wasn't as harsh on Yallop as I would have been).

Again, I think the key is finding out how badly hurt De Guzman is. Despite Craig Forrest's insane observation that we didn't lose anything by his injury taking De Guzman out of the game, he is the key for me in midfield. We obviously have to win the next two games to qualify (and both are very winnable if we play our best available team, Honduras at home & Costa Rica on the road) and the inclusion of De Guzman and all of the players who should have been here tonight (along with the real Paul Stalteri) will be key to achieving that.

[Cheeta]

quote:Originally posted by Can. in UK

I don't understand how the CSA or Yallop (who went through it himself) could have underestimated the effect of jetlag.

I've been crying about that for years.

There will never exist a home field advantage in Canada so long as our players are put into the possitions they are by having to travel half way across the planet and play on a clock which is 9 hours out of sync with their own.

Oh, and all the while the enemy losses nothing but a day in the airport and aeroplane earlier in the week.

It's been our reality for a decade now. The CSA hasn't learned this yet and it's madness.

Set up some bleachers someplace in Halifax, play the damned thing at noon and hope somebody shows up for it.

I could care less if there's a thousand people in those bleachers so long as 11 men in red show up on the pitch. Which would be 9 more then showed last night.

[David C.]

A few random thoughts:

- I think that trying to defend fast Central American attacks with two big & slow defenders, playing beside each other is suicice. Holger's 3-5-2 system with two defensive midfielders stopped most attacks before they got to our defense. With a 4-man back, we should at least play in a diamond formation with a dedicated stopper/sweeper alignment.

- We played like 11 individuals, last night - no team cohesion at all.

- Although he had an off night by his standards, I still stand by the belief that Stalteri has a far greater impact on a game from the midfield position, where he can run ragged for 90 minutes all over the field, without worrying about his back post.

- Unlike many comments, I thought that Imhof was one of our better players last night. He stuck his nose into everything, ran back quicker than our defenders did (not to mention other midfielders) and makes more intelligent plays and passes than most. I don't understand why many berate him so much.

- Josh came back down to earth but is still a valuable back-up to Brennan and Jazic. Time to get Brennan back though.

- Serioux, Peters and Stalteri had a great little triangle going there for about 10 minutes.

- Why didn't Hutchinson play? Is he not progressing or is it not trendy to play young players that already have international experience?

- Unlike many comments, I though Pesch played very well too. His give and go passes are a treat to watch.

- Poor Occean. He's gonna dream about a few of those chances for a while. Does he remind some of Kusch?

- Last night was horrible but the world didn't come to the end. There are still 5 games to go and if we roll up are sleeves and learn from this game, we still can still qualify for the next round. Only quitters roll over and die.

[argh1]

I will give this team the benefit of the doubt . They had an off night.

Don't play with that lack of cohesiveness again or we'll send a CIS ALL-STAR team

It looked to me like they didn't want to be there.

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by Observer

Jazic best defender on the night and best passer out of the back line

That is a point that hasn't been mentioned often. We have lacked the versatility from the back ( especially central defenders)for a long time. Even when DeVos is available we cannot seem to build anything constructive from an offensive standpoint orginating from the back. Also too many offensive forays are the the result of someone make a pointless into space in a non threathening area. Again, as we have seen in many friendly matches and even from our U20 side ( despite their strong performance against spain), we have agreat deal of trouble establishing control and maintaining the ball in the offensive third of the pitch. Consequently, we never get free kicks from ideal positions and are never in a position to capitalize on fouls in the box. We did get a few free kicks last night from further out but no where close enough to get a good crack. This is where the lack cohesion really shows up.

[Loud Mouth Soup]

quote:Originally posted by nolando

I feel like I went out on a date that was a sure thing and went home with not even a kiss, but two kicks square in the balls.

At least you got something....

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by David C.

A few random thoughts:

- I think that trying to defend fast Central American attacks with two big & slow defenders, playing beside each other is suicice. Holger's 3-5-2 system with two defensive midfielders stopped most attacks before they got to our defense. With a 4-man back, we should at least play in a diamond formation with a dedicated stopper/sweeper alignment.

-

That is why I have always like the 3-5-2 in that I saw it as a good way to neutralize the latin american sides in that it forces them to play it wide and cross the ball ( not thier strenght) as opposed to going down the middle. Right now we are losing too many balls in MF and the supply lines to the fwds are cut.

Contrast last nights game aginst the openning game in WCQ semi in 2000 versus T&T. Versus T&T we totally owned and dominated the MF and controlled the play from the opening whistle. Problem was that we didn't have fwds who could create chances for themselves or finish. in that game we got burned by a few counterattacks. Conversly, last night, we didn't really dominate did we?. They won most of the balls in MF and they we able to move the ball around and find space whereas we had trouble. I really started seeing this against Finland. The end result between last night and the game versus T&T in 2000 was the same. But if we would have had the right fwds in 2000? whereas last night we were starting to look like a 1997 squad.

The critics of the 3-5-2 will point out that it often becomes a 5-3-2 against strong teams. Which I don't deny and we claerly saw that when we played tne US at the gold cup. But in that game , we took the them all the way to penalties to eventaully lose the game.

[Polish_LYNX_Fan]

what happend to the pro-canadian crowd wasnt taht the reason why this game was played in BC ?????

[massimo]

quote:Originally posted by Polish_LYNX_Fan

what happend to the pro-canadian crowd wasnt taht the reason why this game was played in BC ?????

Its just the BS they use to get the games there! But as we can all see it didn't make any difference

[Polish_LYNX_Fan]

it was a home game for the guats They were loud. The Voyageurs yes they were good nothing against them but the rest hmmmm they seemed horrible.

[knibbyson]

I may have missed something....but why has no one mentioned that simpson was complete crap last night. His control and first touch was weak at best.

[Loud Mouth Soup]

quote:Originally posted by knibbyson

I may have missed something....but why has no one mentioned that simpson was complete crap last night. His control and first touch was weak at best.

It's been mentioned quite a few times all over the board, actually.

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by knibbyson

I may have missed something....but why has no one mentioned that simpson was complete crap last night. His control and first touch was weak at best.

He is a good player. As we saw in the UAE. But I have had some doubts from day one whether he is a senior team player at this time. He is still young, so I feel uncomfortable cutting him up. But that doesn't mean that I disagree with you.

It looks more and more that Yallop is employing very much a english type system by using speedy attack minded players wide ( eg.: Derosario, Hume or Simpson) as opposed to more all round of defensive types ( Brennan and Imhof). That might explain why Simpson in on the squad. Problem with this system is that we are leaving ourselves more and more exposed defensively by giving opponents more space in MF.

[Andrew W]

Now that I've thought on the game and reviewed the tape (like I'm some sort of expert of something ) I have a few things that confused me.

Why wasn't Hutch good enough to see the field? Why not use all three subs when fatigue due to travel was a factor, not to mention indifferent play by so many?

What did Bernier, Klukowski and Brennan do so wrong in Kingston to be ignored for the first (real) important game? All three have more familiarity with the bulk of the team from the time spent together in the early season.

Does our player pool suit Frank's preferred system? I don't see any real adept crossers of the ball when Hume is out and Stalteri isn't tromping forward.

Where was the competitive friendly between the Belize series and last night? There are many players I'd like to get a look at as internationals: Brillant, Dodds etc. Such a friendly would make us a little more aware of who's available in injury situations.