beachesl Posted December 24, 2004 Share Posted December 24, 2004 quote:Originally posted by analyst Can someone please give us a Christmas present by reporting that our U20s won the third game on the trip, against Nexaca on Wed Dec 22? That kind of news will help make the Xmas turkey go down smooth. Sorry[V], this from the Nexaca site : http://www.clubnecaxa.com/Noticias/fullnews.php?id=129 OXNARD, Calif., 22 de diciembre.- El Necaxa, que dirige Raúl Arias, venció 3-0 a la Selección Sub-20 de Canadá, en partido que se jugó en una de las canchas aledañas al estadio Home Depot Center. Alfredo Moreno, Sandro Sotilli y José Alexandre Alves marcaron los tres tantos, en un partido que por momentos estuvo muy peleado. Con este partido, Arias da por terminada la primera etapa de los trabajos de pretemporada, que se reanudarán el próximo 26, en Aguascalientes. El próximo juego de los necaxistas está programado para el martes 28, contra el Querétaro de la Primera A, en el estadio Victoria, con miras a su participación en el Interliga. (my translation): Necaxa, under the management of Raúl Arias, won 3-0 over the U-20 Canada team, in a match played in one of the fields adjacent to the Home Depot Center. Alfredo Moreno, Sandro Sotilli and José Alexandre Alves scored the three goals, in a match that for moments was hard fought. With this match, Arias finished the first stage of preseason preparation, that will start again on the 26th, in Aguascalientes. The next match for the Necaxistas is set for Tuesday the 28th, against Querétaro of the First A, in Victoria Stadium, preparing for its participation in Interliga. ------------------------------ Still no word from CSA site about any of the matches![}] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analyst Posted December 24, 2004 Share Posted December 24, 2004 To beachesl, Thank you for the information and for translating the game report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analyst Posted December 28, 2004 Share Posted December 28, 2004 As beachesl reported, there is still no mention of the results on the CSA website, nor in the media. The CSA may be happy with the silence; the fewer people that know how our U20 team did, the better for the CSA. We always like to think that we have good youth players, and we just have to wait until they join the full MNT. The results of the U20 team show that faith is unwarranted. Our U20 team could not beat either of the two US split squad U20 teams. It proves the US has more than two times as many good players as Canada. The results also prove we aren't producing enough good quality players. Five years ago, the CSA began collecting more money for its Blueprint for Success program so we could produce better players and have a better MNT. We have given the CSA the money it needs, but the CSA has not provided the successes which they said they would provide. Is the CSA going to refund the soccer community for not keeping its part of the bargain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan Posted December 28, 2004 Share Posted December 28, 2004 Analyst, see Gordon's post above. Lets not get down on them just yet. The majority of the US team lives and trains together 12 months of the year, while our boys are thrown together in a series of camps just prior to the tournament from all parts of the globe. Remember, we beat the US, in the US, to qualify for the last U20 WC. It sure as hell would be nice to get some reports from the CSA however. How did Dale Mitchell feel about the camp? Did any players play themselves on/off the team? Is DeGuzman coming in or not? What other players does Mitchell want to look at before finalizing his roster? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Posted December 28, 2004 Share Posted December 28, 2004 quote:Originally posted by analyst Our U20 team could not beat either of the two US split squad U20 teams. It proves the US has more than two times as many good players as Canada. And the news that the US has greater depth than Canada comes as a surprise to you? Do you know how many players in each age category reside at Bradenton? Does it surprise you that a team made up of players who have resided and played together for years can beat a team that has not? Incidently, the "blue" team is effectively the expected US national team minus 4-6 players, including probably their 3 best players, who played for the Gray team. I have no interest in defending the CSA, but compare the results at the CONCACAF qualifying tournament before holding their feet to the fire on this one. Like others, I would have like to have seen a goal, or more favourable results. But given that the 2002 U-19 girls started off losing 11-1 to the Americans and the 2004 started off losing 7-1 I think we have to recognize the inherent advantages of the US system and $$$ and equally recognize that our youth teams often - but not always - close the gap in a fairly short time frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analyst Posted December 29, 2004 Share Posted December 29, 2004 At least 5 members of our U20 team were at the Whitecaps mini camp this week (Rosenlund, Peetboom, Davis, Proctor and OReily). They didn't perform better than the current Whitecaps players on day 1. Wonder if they will play for the Whitecaps Reserve team in the PCSL this summer while they are out of school? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analyst Posted December 29, 2004 Share Posted December 29, 2004 Gordon and Ivan, contrary to the info in your posts, the U20 players do not reside at Bradenton. According to the press release about the US team, 24 of the 30 US players are playing college ball all over the US, 4 play for MLS teams, and two play for European teams. The US coach was also quoted as saying that the U20 team was missing a few players who remained with their pro teams in Europe. Some of the US players may have resided at Bradenton when they were on the U17 team, but they have since dispersed and were brought together for the camp. Perhaps I have been reading too many posts about how good our Canadian youth players are, which led me to hope that we could beat at least one of the two US split squads. I know better now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted December 29, 2004 Share Posted December 29, 2004 quote:Originally posted by analyst Perhaps I have been reading too many posts about how good our Canadian youth players are, which led me to hope that we could beat at least one of the two US split squads. I know better now. Or perhapyou are jumping to conclusions. Seems to be the Voyageur mantra these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachesl Posted December 29, 2004 Share Posted December 29, 2004 The big problems are with team preparation, same as with the seniors. Our players are as good or better than most of our CONCACAF opposition. They have just started their preparation, and thankfully have more planned. Yes, they should have had more preparation over the past year (the U-17's had lots). Scouting and player selection are the minor problems, and I think Mitchell has done a pretty good job over the last few years. Further, on the senior side, I note that all the hex teams (except for the US who cancelled a January series against Sweden and Mexico because of the lock-out) have played or are playing at least two friendlies between the semis and the first hex matches in February, as common sense says that is essential. This is where we fall short bigtime, the problems of club committments notwithstanding. Later problems with Yallop's players selections are low on the equation giving this big gap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analyst Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 Beachesl, I agree with you that team preparation is important, but the facts don't support the argument that the reason our U20 lost against the two US U20 split squads was because of a lack of team preparation. The California camps were for both US and Canada teams to start preparing for the main U20 competition. The US coach brought in 30 players from various places and he used the camp to cut 8 from the team. Our team was more advanced, it was already down to 22. The US team has more talent, perhaps because some of them lived at Bradenton when they were younger, with better youth coaches, and a real soccer atmosphere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 quote:Originally posted by analyst Gordon and Ivan, contrary to the info in your posts, the U20 players do not reside at Bradenton. According to the press release about the US team, 24 of the 30 US players are playing college ball all over the US, 4 play for MLS teams, and two play for European teams. So its your estimation that 6 months of college ball undoes the familiarity breeded by 2-4 years of residency at Bradenton? Lets take Freddy Adu, for example, one of the MLS pros and the youngest on the team....managed to live at Bradenton for 2 years prior to joining DC United in the spring of 2004. Go through the roster and tell me how many haven't lived at Bradenton for a minimum of two years. You might find a few late bloomers on the fringe who played for the regional teams, but nevertheless, the vast majority of these players lived, trained and played together for a minimum of 2 years and several for as many as 4 years. I don't think that is lost in 6-8 months. Yeah, there are a few guys who are playing in Europe that the US might add...playing at a pretty high level too. But they may not even make it, or start if they do. Frankie Simek, who was with Arsenal last time around, made the team but only as a back-up. Played against Canada in the CONCACAF final, but only due to injuries. He as gone well beyond most of that U-20 team, now playing - regularly I think - on loan in the Championship league, and having made a few Carling Cup appearances for Arsenal as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analyst Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 Gordon, spending that much time at Bradenton, with all the practice/training time, helped them become better players - better first touch, better at dribbling 1vs1, better at passing, better with dead balls like corners and free kicks, plus possibly even better at basic physical skills (eg better agility and coordination) although those abilities are normally acquired by age 10. I'm not sure how many of the 30 who played at Carson were also at Bradenton, and it would be interesting to know how many of the U17 players who were at Bradenton make the final U20 team roster. I spoke to someone who was part of our delegation and he told me that all 30 of their players ae good enough to be starters on our team. They're just better at this age group becasue they had extra and better coaching when they were younger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 quote:Originally posted by analyst Gordon, spending that much time at Bradenton, with all the practice/training time, helped them become better players - better first touch, better at dribbling 1vs1, better at passing, better with dead balls like corners and free kicks, plus possibly even better at basic physical skills (eg better agility and coordination) although those abilities are normally acquired by age 10. I'm not sure how many of the 30 who played at Carson were also at Bradenton, and it would be interesting to know how many of the U17 players who were at Bradenton make the final U20 team roster. I spoke to someone who was part of our delegation and he told me that all 30 of their players ae good enough to be starters on our team. They're just better at this age group becasue they had extra and better coaching when they were younger. Then they should be embarrassed to have only won a couple of games 1-0 at home . One things the americans have going for them is that the USSF, unlike the CSA, has vertically integrated the entire soccer pyramid. They have choosen a style - one that does not involve hoof and chase - and they coach it from the lowest levels to the highest. It is just one of many things that we can and should emulate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Posted December 30, 2004 Share Posted December 30, 2004 quote:Originally posted by analyst Gordon, spending that much time at Bradenton, with all the practice/training time, helped them become better players - better first touch, better at dribbling 1vs1, better at passing, better with dead balls like corners and free kicks, plus possibly even better at basic physical skills (eg better agility and coordination) although those abilities are normally acquired by age 10. I'm not sure how many of the 30 who played at Carson were also at Bradenton, and it would be interesting to know how many of the U17 players who were at Bradenton make the final U20 team roster. I spoke to someone who was part of our delegation and he told me that all 30 of their players ae good enough to be starters on our team. They're just better at this age group becasue they had extra and better coaching when they were younger. Then they should be embarrassed to have only won a couple of games 1-0 at home . One things the americans have going for them is that the USSF, unlike the CSA, has vertically integrated the entire soccer pyramid. They have choosen a style - one that does not involve hoof and chase - and they coach it from the lowest levels to the highest. It is just one of many things that we can and should emulate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 The USSF also has a lot more money than we do. Yallop has himself said that one of his goals is to start a residency program similar to the Bradenton facility the US have. Unfortunately, we are a long way from that until we get more money in the system. The latest example of our current plight being the Saint John U17 qualifying fiasco. What we need are two things: 1) People have to start going to games at all levels; 2) We need a "sugar daddy" like the US have in Anschutz and Hunt who keep the pro game afloat - we need Frank Stronach to stop pumping his money into Austria and start putting it into Canada. Once the money starts flowing, and our pro clubs are healthy, we will be in a much better position to provide high level coaching to all players, not just those who can afford to pay for it. Analyst, did the delegate say how many of our players could start for the US? Based on population, if one of our players could start, that would be about right. I would speculate that we would have more than one on a combined "North American Squad". I do not doubt that we could have better coaching at all levels and scouting systems, player ratings, etc. However, all this costs money, and we do not have a World Cup legacy to fall back on. I just hate when people say we do not have, or we do not produce, talent. That is just plain wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alberto Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 Any news on the players in Miami, I have not been able to get in touch with Julian Uccello to find out how things are going. Any word on their activities so far. Thanks if you have any info It would be nice to hear from any one that knows thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachesl Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Alberto Any news on the players in Miami, I have not been able to get in touch with Julian Uccello to find out how things are going. Any word on their activities so far. Thanks if you have any info It would be nice to hear from any one that knows thanks Well if he is with the U-20's playing in Panama City (in Pamnama the country, not Florida) on Tuesday evening, he is probably in Panama City already. http://www.canadian-soccer.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5632 There is definitely a big information gap with the CSA activities these days, worse than usual. If you talk to him, pass on the Voyageurs's best wishes:) to the team! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alberto Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 Just to let this forum know I recieved an email from Julian he tells me that practices are going well. Lots of good talent at this camp from the backs to the forwards, and he he seems to be very positive about the teams chances of gettting thru the first round. He also mentioned that this evening they have a game scheduled for 8:00 pm in Panama this well get the team together and for his first time in a National team Jersey and hopefully on a positive note. I have passed your wishes to him and his family from this forum and they as well pass their wishes to all of you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brodycheese Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 Alberto. This is awesome. Uccello is going to show his O-face to these guys. Excellent.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted January 4, 2005 Share Posted January 4, 2005 quote:Originally posted by brodycheese Alberto. This is awesome. Uccello is going to show his O-face to these guys. Excellent.... Haha! Great reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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