redhat Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 quote:Originally posted by BrennanFan ok, maybe we didnt play the best looking game, but the fact is we won a close, hard fought game under tough conditions (away, in the rain, with only 10 men). Not to mention we did it without our stars. cmon guys, this is a great result, and all looks well for the future. I agree pretty much. We didn't look great, but then again, would this lineup be your first team? Probably not. Great goal from Occean, from a great cross by Brennan. At least we got a result. We can argue about the substitutions, the referees, etc after the Portugal game. N.I. has a lot more problems if they can't finish when we were down to 10. This is a start; Yallop has his work cut out for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hottoddy7 Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 Klukowski looked good and should have started I also thought that bernier looked ok especially considering he was moved to right back after 20 minutes he has to be our starting right mid. Mckenna was bad as was Derosario I'm obviously happy to win but seriously what the hell was frank yallop doing? A team of ten defending for 90 minutes and he doesn't make any subs till the final eight? After seeing qualifying and now this I am even more worried about his abilities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hottoddy7 Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 I also meant to mention didn't anyone think that Keith gillespie had two awful challenges on Simpson in the first three minutes? For him not to be carded for either and than see Gervais go was a little hard to take. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FC Beast Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 Another dismal game by a Canadian team led by Frank Yallop. We were outplayed for most of the match, lost our discipine yet again, something becoming a regular feature under Yallop's command. Yet we get a brilliant goal by Occean and defeat a team thats worse than us. If we play like this vs Portugal, a cricket score will be likely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torontosupport Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 How the heck did NI lose that game, exactly? Yikes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loud Mouth Soup Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 Awww, jeebus. Is beast back again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 I don't think today's MNT would even make the A-League playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Concacaf Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 So, when is our next World Cup qualifer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 quote:Originally posted by FC Beast Another dismal game by a Canadian team led by Frank Yallop. We were outplayed for most of the match, lost our discipine yet again, something becoming a regular feature under Yallop's command. Yet we get a brilliant goal by Occean and defeat a team thats worse than us. If we play like this vs Portugal, a cricket score will be likely. Agreed, but I think you are missing something crucial. WE WERE DOWN TO 10 MEN, playing in their park and we didnt even field our best. So what really did you expect? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winnipeg Fury Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 It wasn't pretty, but it was a victory. Considering our vets were absent, we were on the road and we had 10 men and half the team is out of season, I'll gladly take the victory, even if it was ugly. Occean is the new John Catliff. A well taken goal by Canada's new target man. The only real positive that Yallop can take from this game was the strong play of Klukowski. He was composed and he has speed, something sorely lacking on our back line. After this match, I think he could challenge for a starting position with our full roster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 check out this article from the CSA, says Atiba was sick and that our victory was inspiring: Canada's Men's National Team turned overcame playing a man down for nearly 70 minutes and terrible playing conditions as they battled to a memorable 1-0 win over Northern Ireland in an international friendly at Windsor Park in Belfast on Wednesday. Playing in what felt like gale force winds at times and in a continuous swirlist mist, Canada found themselves down to 10 men after only 20 minutes when Gabriel Gervais was sent off for his second bookable offence when he was forced to foul in order to avoid a potential breakaway. Minutes later, Jim Brennan delivered an inch perfect cross off a free kick to Olivier Occean who rose majestically and powered an unstoppable header past Northern Ireland goalkeeper Maik Tyalor. Canadian head coach Frank Yallop was thrilled with the performance and determination of his players. ''Considering the circumstances this is a tremendous result for us,'' said Yallop. ''It is not easy to come to some of these countries and get a result but to do so in these conditions and playing a man down for as long as we did and to defend with the discipline and organization that we showed was fantastic.'' Yallop started Montreal Impact goalkeeper Greg Sutton and the A-League MVP was outstanding, turning in a composed and clean performance. The Northern Irish hit the woodwork in the first half and again in the dying seconds but Sutton snuffed out several crosses and his distribution in a ferocious wind was impressive. Follwing Gervais' dismissal, Yallop dropped Patrice Bernier to right back, alongside Kevin McKenna who captained the side and Marco Reda who made his senior debut when he replaced Atiba Hutchinson who was unable to play due to illness. Josh Simpson lined up at left back. Dwayne de Rosario started up front alongside Occean but dropped in a central midfield role along side Daniel Imhof and Adrian Serioux. The three, along with Brennan, were heroic in their defending, continuously breaking up Northern Irish attacks and running themselves into the ground to track back and pressurize. When McKenna went down early in the second half with a quad pull, Mike Klukowski stepped into the breach at centre half and quickly asserted himself with some excellent clearances. Iain Hume and Jaime Peters came on for thre tiring Brennan and Serioux in the last 10 minutes to help see out the game and share the spoils of a thoroughly impressive and inspiring victory. http://www.canadasoccer.com/eng/media/viewArtical.asp?Press_ID=2037 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 Its been somewhat amusing, if disappointing, I have to admit, to read some of the posts here. Canada looked like an largely inexperienced (both with each other & internationally), largely off-season team that hadn't played together in a few months. And guess what folks - that's exactly what they were! The circumstances for this young & inexperienced team were against them, most players were not in game-shape, which we knew coming in, and they were made worse by the sending off early on, and yet they come back for the win. I didn't expect people to be gushing, but expected at least a few people to give them some credit for their effort & determination and the character they showed given the circumstances. I think it was a good experience for the young team and a positive one they can learn from (rather than a negative one, which has happened far too often). I liked the character they showed, and the pride. I guess people were expecting more than I was under the circumstances. It wasn't the prettiest win obviously, but I view the poor quality being due far more to lack of cohesiveness as a result of the circumstances, than due to lack of talent. The game was valuable, to my mind, for seeing how composed Sutton could be, and how the new members of the backline did. If nothing else, it suggests Klukowski deserves the start ahead of Gervais. Reda is not a right back, so I assume that Atiba must have been injured. So I was not surprised to see he looked much more comfortable in the centre of the park. In fairness to the header he missed, that ball was being pushed farther & faster than most normally are by the unpredictable wind. The most surprising comments I find are the Yallop bashing. I thought he made the right moves all of the way, particularly the re-adjustment after the Gervais sending off. And I think he introduced the younger players at around the right time. All the moves paid off, so its strange to see him get bashed so mercilessly here as though his moves caused us to lose. Left over bitterness from qualifying?? Player by player: Sutton - I liked his composure, and his positioning. The last shot off the post went there because he was in the right position McKenna - until the injury had a decent match, covered his man well until his injury, which I hope isn't too bad. Reda - out of place on the right, so the one good thing about the sending-off was moving him into the middle where he belongs. He played well after that. Gervais - well, the first yellow was harsh in light of the prick Gillespie getting away with murder twice before that, but the 2nd yellow was deserved (sorry Craig, but I disagree with you here), and quite frankly, worryingly stupid given that he already had a yellow, and particularly for a guy who is actually the oldest member of the team. In fairness to him, considering what the Ref was letting the Irish get away with previous to that, he probably didn't think that the Ref was going to pull out yellows, but even so.... Simpson - I think Josh lost some confidence early on thanks to the Ref. He kept taking on Gillespie and beating him only for Gillespie to hack him down viciously both times, both of which were clear yellows & the 2nd possibly a straight red. WTF the ref was thinking of I don't know. After that Josh didn't seem to know what to do when on the ball and was guilty of giving it away in the first half. He played well defensively in the 2nd, particularly when he made that recovery on the play when the makeshift Canadian defense tried to play the offside trap (which shows the unfamiliarity of the team, particularly the patch-work backline, more than anything). Brennan - Would have liked to see him invovled a bit more, but unfamiliarity between he & Simpson was obvious. If they were to become familiar there is certianly some scope for some nice overlapping runs down that left side. Fantastic cross for the goal, obviously. Serioux - He played ok, but neither he nor Imhof is an offensive midfielder, so the fault lies perhaps with Yallop in the formation. But in this game, the dual defensive central midfielders actually worked out well. Down the road though, something is doing to have to be done about offense from the central midfield position. Imhof - the usual Imhof bashing isn't a surprise. He played quite well, and once again I disagree with Craig Forrest (though this time in our favour) that it was a penalty. The Irish player went to the ground too cheaply, and what's more I think Daniel got the ball. Not that the crap ref was in any position to make the right call either way. But Daniel was the most aware midfielder out there and read the game well. Again, same comments as above - paired with Serioux, I'm not sold on for creativity from the middle. Bernier - I thought he played quite well - at right back! I'm not sold on him on the right flank however, though to be fair he only got to play 20 minutes in that position. De Rosario - with Dwayne I think you have to accept some of his mistakes for the bonuses he gives you, that you don't get from other Canadian players. He gave the ball away a bit more than I like, but he set up the goal (he was the one fouled on the play) & was unlucky to have another late, largely through his excellent individual skill. Impressed with how he is able to run miles for us, even when he's not quite in game-shape. Occean - Great taking of the goal, and played well as a target man. Not as his sharpest, by the looks of it, but again, that is to be expected during his off-season. Klukowski - I thought Mike looked great, certainly more comfortable on the ball than Gervais & positioned himself better as well. Given that he & Reda probably only met for the first time a few days ago, they linked up fairly well. In fairness to Gervais, he's not in mid-season shape & Mike is, probably accounting at least in part for looking so much better. Nevertheless, on the basis of today Klukowski should get the nod ahead of Gervais against Portugal. Hume & Peters both looked fine, but as they played just a few minutes its tough to say too much. I don't think Hume is as capable of holding the ball up in a man-short situation as either DeRo or Occean, so again I think Frank's moves were correct under the circumstances. With 11 men on the field I think they both would have seen more action. And that's it.....we're on a bit of a roll. Two national team wins in a row sandwiching 3 U20 qualifiying wins. Just in time for the cavalry to arrive against Portugal, where frankly it will be needed considering many of these players today still won't have played much between now & then (not to mention the fact that the likes of Stalteri, De Guzman & Radzinski are superlative players in any event). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Alex Canadian head coach Frank Yallop was thrilled with the performance and determination of his players. ''Considering the circumstances this is a tremendous result for us,'' said Yallop. ''It is not easy to come to some of these countries and get a result but to do so in these conditions and playing a man down for as long as we did and to defend with the discipline and organization that we showed was fantastic.'' When McKenna went down early in the second half with a quad pull, Mike Klukowski stepped into the breach at centre half and quickly asserted himself with some excellent clearances. Iain Hume and Jaime Peters came on for thre tiring Brennan and Serioux in the last 10 minutes to help see out the game and share the spoils of a thoroughly impressive and inspiring victory. http://www.canadasoccer.com/eng/media/viewArtical.asp?Press_ID=2037 Now, having read this after I made my previous post, I have to say I think they are going a bit over the top here with some of these comments. Its almost the polar opposite of many of the comments I've read here by the supporters. I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. But I don't blame Yallop for being pleased with the determination & effort of the players given the circumstances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ref Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 I am not going to say anything about Yallop. There is good criticism of him elsewhere. What I am pissed is the Sportsnet cut off the English commentary just to inject good ol Gerry. Man, he is as bad as Helen was. Like Craig though, he is telling the truth, but I would just save him for half-time and end-time commentary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 There is a video interview with Yallop available on the bbc site: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4243897.stm# He isn't quite doing the cartwheels that the CSA report makes it sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imported_n/a1394647443 Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 GL As usual the voice of clarity, sanity and reason. Thank you for reminding me what a fan is. Sometimes you forget with all the garbage I see posted sometimes. Ref Tell me, why do you whine like a girl? Sorry girls. We get a win you whine, we lose you whine. What no mention of the CSA? Now tell me (as a guy who was in national broadcast TV for ten years) what exactly is wrong with Gerry? I'd like to know. Is it that he doesn't have a British accent? That he doesn't scream goooooooooooooooal? That he's unprepared? That he doesn't know the players. Oh, it must be his lack of tactical knowledge. News flash, that's Craig's job. Next time we play and you'll enjoy this, turn off the sound and call the game off your TV screen for the full half. I'll bet you couldn't last 2 minutes. I know, I've tried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted February 10, 2005 Author Share Posted February 10, 2005 quote:Originally posted by The Ref What I am pissed is the Sportsnet cut off the English commentary just to inject good ol Gerry. The way I understand it, there was no commentary, because the match was not broadcast in Britain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadiankick97 Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 Would have liked to have seen more of Hume. Kluka looked good when he came in for McKenna. Best defender by far. Bernier was ok but both hime, Reda and Simpson had some scary moments back there. Lucky to come away with the win buthowever you look at it it still is a win. And that means a probable jump in the Fifa rankings (Yay!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca There is a video interview with Yallop available on the bbc site: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4243897.stm# He isn't quite doing the cartwheels that the CSA report makes it sound. I just have to laugh because they list Watson as a sub. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadiankick97 Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 quote:Originally posted by DJT The way I understand it, there was no commentary, because the match was not broadcast in Britain. There was an English(?) broadcaster for about 5 minutes until they had "audio problems" and Gerry n' Craig took over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 quote:Originally posted by The Ref I am not going to say anything about Yallop. There is good criticism of him elsewhere. What I am pissed is the Sportsnet cut off the English commentary just to inject good ol Gerry. Man, he is as bad as Helen was. Like Craig though, he is telling the truth, but I would just save him for half-time and end-time commentary. I don't know, it's a bit of a mixed blessing. The Northern Irish commentator would have been talking about what an embarassment it was for NI to be losing to Canada for 60 minutes this time, instead of just 30, as was the case the last time they failed to beat us. On the other hand, we could have done without the Gerry Dobson constant-panicking and the suggestion that the 2nd half was like a shooting gallery when Northern Ireland's main problem was that despite their posession they were unable to get themselves into good shooting positions, and subsequently didn't shoot all that much. But at least they showed the game, that's the main thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca There is a video interview with Yallop available on the bbc site: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4243897.stm# He isn't quite doing the cartwheels that the CSA report makes it sound. I just have to laugh because they list Watson as a sub. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted February 10, 2005 Author Share Posted February 10, 2005 quote:Originally posted by canadiankick97 There was an English(?) broadcaster for about 5 minutes until they had "audio problems" and Gerry n' Craig took over.Oh, I didn't know that as I didn't see the first quarter or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 The Northern Irish broadcaster at the beginning was the same one we got for the game in 1999, where he said that Canada was a "lesser soccer nation" than Northern Ireland, to which I can now reply 2 wins, O losses and 1 tie - with Northern Ireland having home field advantage in the best of three. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew W Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 I'm going to temper some of my comments from earlier after a second watch of the game. In retrospect, Klukowski is a revelation. The whole tone of the game changes when he entered and the box became virtually impossible for the NI players to get into. He seemed to have a composure in the centre of defence that just rubbed off on Reda, Bernier and Simpson. The only real threat they gave up was the chance off the post late in stoppage time. I took a lot of time to watch Reda (along with Kluka) and I believe he may work out in the centre after he loses his nerves (first cap and all) and is fully recovered from his recent list of injuries. After a second look at the diving header attempt, he either makes a sensational play and heads the ball clear or it goes through anyways. I guess what I'm saying is it was an all or nothing attempt. Still didn't see much in the midfield to be impressed with and Bernier was way better at right back than right mid. My opinon of Imhof hasn't changed (sorry to Matthew, G-L, et al) and I'll once again say that we agree to disagree, after all it is a subjective matter we are discussing. BTW, to his credit I don't think it was a penalty either. Occean looked like a big guy who takes a while to get into shape, but he has real potential about him and I'd really like to see Hume get a chance to play off of him. Sutton turned in as solid a goalkeeping performance as we've had for awhile although his distribution wasn't great but probably wouldn't have looked as bad on a decent day weatherwise. It'll be interesting to see what parts of this team are used to rebuild around Stalteri and Julien DG. Add some players that are in the youth ranks and mix with the most important ingredient (time, oh give us time) and maybe we'll see something BTW, that CSA report is pollyanna at best and abject homerism at worst. Cheers all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.