July 9 GC - USA v Canada - POST-match [R]

[analyst]

Why didn't Hume play and why doesn't Yallop move De Rosario to midfield, playing behind the two front runners? And why didn't Yallpop give Pozniak a start instead of Braz?

The Voyageurs in Section 120 were noticeable again. Good on you.

As someone else mentioned, Hutchison's goal saving tackles in the penalty area were tremendous. Any big defender like McKenna, Braz or Reda would have been called for penalies if they did the same thing. Serioux had a great game just like he did for Yallop last summer. Bernier played very well, as did Occean. Why did Yallop take Occean off and leave DeRosario on?

How much $ are our players being paid for taking part in the Gold Cup?

[Paddy]

quote:Originally posted by analyst

Why didn't Hume play

I think he had a thigh or calf injury. He seemed to be limping in the first game.

[Gian-Luca]

I believe its actually the knee.

As for taking off OO & leaving on De Rosario, Ali & Sir Lawrence are mainly the same type of strikers. DeRo is a different type altogether, and its makes sense to have the different types up front.

[Vancouver Fan]

quote:Originally posted by youllneverwalkalone

The Voyageurs were our strongest link. Great volume, especially for the smaller CR contingent. I think Nazz (VF) had more appearances on camera than many of the players!

I'm gonna have to ask them to shoot my good side in the future.

It was nice to meet the Voyageurs that made it to Seattle.Really good turn out considering the low profile of both the Gold Cup and the team we sent.

Have to agree with most of whats been posted.Theres always going to be positives and negatives whether we win,lose,or draw.Biggest positive is Atiba.Young guy still but really lead the team IMO.He's an example of someone who will take an opportunity and make the best of it.Also liked what Serioux,Simpson,Peters,and Bernier gave us.

Some negatives would be of course finishing first and foremost.Didn't like our intensity at times.Too many players too timid to get stuck in.Winning the 50/50 balls in midfield does wonders to a teams moral.Losing them put's teams back on their heels.I'd like to see more on Tuesday.

I like how we seem to be improving with each game going back to last Saturday at Swangard.I like how we didn't fold despite the adversity of the awful officiating again going back to the Honduras friendly.Many teams would have opened the flood gates.

It seems unlikely but I would have loved to have seen Canada play a 4th game in the quarter finals.All we would have needed was a tie in the first 2 games going to Boston.We deserved that much.I'm sure we'll see a better display against Cuba.

[matthew]

quote:Originally posted by youllneverwalkalone

The Voyageurs were our strongest link. Great volume, especially for the smaller CR contingent. I think Nazz (VF) had more appearances on camera than many of the players!

I enjoyed seeing Cheeta get some face time. Nice to see he was alive and across the border.

I also renjoyed the 'German reject' chant when Donovan took corners. Simple, but effective.

cheers,

matthew

[canso]

Landon Donovan is now on my Top 10 list of least favorite Americans. Sulky little twit.

I think the "German Reject" chant really got to him though!

[Alex M]

Like him or hate him, he can play soccer.

Alex

quote:Originally posted by canso

Landon Donovan is now on my Top 10 list of least favorite Americans. Sulky little twit.

I think the "German Reject" chant really got to him though!

[CanadasBest]

quote:Originally posted by matthew

I enjoyed seeing Cheeta get some face time. Nice to see he was alive and across the border.

I also renjoyed the 'German reject' chant when Donovan took corners. Simple, but effective.

cheers,

matthew

"Friedl would have caught it" when Keller knocked the ball out for a corner was also a classic. Kudos to all the fans I met at the game, was alot of fun. Sorry there's no pics for Current Champ and others to see. Security wouldn't let me in with my SLR camera!! I'm still miffed about that.

[Cheeta]

Hey, made it back.

If Keller was man of the match this world is fu'ked. Tells you everything you need to know about this tourny. I thought Onyewu (sp?) was awesome. Not very many Yanks catch my eye and I try to be fair, but the big centre half had a good battle with Occean and came away the stronger I thought. Really commanded the box to and supported the flanks well when one of our lads would find himself alone, isolated and without options. Great lad. Very smart, strong, and fairly quick.

Ho ho! Did we get up Landon's nose! Got an earfull from the Voyageurs and friends and we must have hit a nerve because you could see he was shedding that thin skin he carries about. And wasn't long before he did his little dive and confrontation that he blew his top (much to our delight).

The Incident. Okay. It was not a shove. Call it a slap were I come from. Generously, a "face wash". Either way, that's a red card in any league. Prevoked or not. And what provocation? A bit of mouth? Shamefull. No wonder the twat couldn't cut playing in Europe and had to run home to his MLS security blanket. I'll tell you something though, a more experienced player like Big Kev for example or Diesel, would have gone bananas and made sure that Donovan took the Red-Card-Walk. Even if they would have had to join him.

Serioux played pretty good Saturday. Actually did a couple of nice dribbles and was quicker with the ball and decision making than what he showed Thursday (thank God).

Go figure, Simpson and JB are playing themselves into shape and getting their timing back up to snuff.

de Rossario. He isn't used to the players he's playing with. Wasn't that the quote from the articule? It shows. Grand effort. Few smart plays. A few. Again it gets down to whether he dose more harm than good. All that juking and dribbling didn't amount to too much and the Yanks had him pinned for a Show Boat pretty quick. Except for the deflection to Bernier thought that he did have the best scoring chance with the right footer he sailed. That ball was rolling oh-so-good that I was willing to give it a go. Poor bugger just didn't get over top of it.

Tough one. Interesting reading the Seattle papers Sunday and comparing their impressions to mine. Honestly, have no clue at all what any of them were talking about. People too often mistake a bit of ball control and half-developed opportunities as some sort of domination. Whatever. Certainly on the right track though. Arena has used a lot of players so far this tourny but Saturdays result, victory by an own goal and an extra time marker against a side with 10 men pushing forward? While fielding the best 11 you've brought to this tourny? Might want to watch those tapes a little there, Brucie.

[aussoccerfan]

Any photos from the game ?

[MikeD]

Kudos to the Voyageurs for getting under little LD's skin and for your creditable impact in the Seattle matches generally. You were on of the bright spots for Canada, IMHO.

Another bright spot for me has been Jamie Peters. Not only can that guy take on defenders one-on-one, he also showed against the US that he can cross the ball well. A good crosser is something we've been lacking from the right side of the pitch, and it's something we need because we're stacked at the front with target men (Occean, Gerba, Friend.) I still don't advocate starting Peters, because the Cubans have enough guns to hurt us so I think we need a right midfielder who can play defence as well, but I do hope he gets on much earlier in the second half if we need goals at that point. Ideally, I'd like to see Peters on the pitch while Occean still has enough gas left in his tank to link up with him. When Occean gets tired, bring on Gerba.

[Polish_LYNX_Fan]

yeah pics would be grea, maybe those who went to the game can post as well. Also someone asked how much the players were getting paid. As far as I know you dont get paid to represent your country.

[Cheeta]

Oh!

Voyageurs rock. (Sorry lads but this sort of turned into a family vaction so next go around we can do this proper).

For those who weren't out, and I don't think this translated to the TV, the dozen or so lads who came out really, really made an impression on both matchs. A lot of casuals out to both games and many were clearly wondering "What the Hell is that?". Actually got a few of the scattered pockets of Canada supports to migrate down and join the ranks. And I should mention, there actually were quite a few pockets of Canadians in their colours around the grounds.

Don't know if that fellow and his daughter (both of whom did themselves proud) are Voyageurs or not but I hope their voices come back. Man, that's what it's all about.

Cheers to all who came out. Well done, lads. Vancouver Fan thanks again for the tickets. Jake, maybe see you Tuesday?

[Cheeta]

Wee Elf took some snaps. Try to get them up this after' some time.

Yeah. Subs. Both matchs seemed to be a bit late, especially the CR match. No idea what was up with that. Given that we don't exercise as much ball control as other sides the boys do have to have some sort of opportunity to impose themselves and one or two touchs just won't allow for it.

[canso]

"Sorry lads but this sort of turned into a family vaction so next go around we can do this proper"

No kidding, one beer then "oops, look at the time."

"tis allright, I am my own party.

Seattle paper ran the Headline "USA owns Canada." Then ran an editorial about how the USA is now a world power in soccer.

whatever sells tickets I guess.

BTW, who was the guy with the drums? He was excellent!

[Gian-Luca]

I guess the "owns" was play on the "own goal" which gave them the win. At least I hope it was.

[aussoccerfan]

quote:Originally posted by canso

Seattle paper ran the Headline "USA owns Canada." Then ran an editorial about how the USA is now a world power in soccer.

Is there a link ?

[CanadasBest]

quote:Originally posted by Cheeta

Don't know if that fellow and his daughter (both of whom did themselves proud) are Voyageurs or not but I hope their voices come back. Man, that's what it's all about.

I didn't ask, but they mentioned they were making it a camping trip from Calgary. Was great to see so many people from all over come out. Wish I could have made the Costa Rican game too. The drummer with the Canadian flag was great too.

[An Observer]

Finally had the chance to watch the US game. To be honest, I found it quite encouraging. Other than the own goal and Donovans in injury time when we were a man down and pressing, the US had about 3 or 4 decent chances not much more. Sure they killed us on shots but very few were dangerous and personally, I would more look at chances than shots. Canada had quite a few half chances although we left our shooting and heading boots at home. In any event, with a young side that has rarely played together, I personally think we could not expect much more that what we delivered here. Without the own goal, who knows where this could have gone and before Serioux was sent off we had a number of opportunities to get back into the match.

Of course, I am not saying that we are better than the U.S. Of course, we are not but we are getting closer (whatever the US commentators say). And remember, this is effectively a home game for the U.S. The big differences I noticed were the ability to run into space, attack in the final third and the quality of the crosses/passes into the box. The US was clearly better in this regard. I think this is something that Canada will improve the more these guys play together.

In any event, if you add the 5 or 6 players we are missing to this side (and let the US do the same), we actually would give them a game now. I am not saying we are better but we certainly could beat them on occasion. And that is a big difference from a few years ago.

[SamIAm]

quote:Originally posted by Cheeta

If Keller was man of the match this world is fu'ked. Tells you everything you need to know about this tourny. I thought Onyewu (sp?) was awesome. Not very many Yanks catch my eye and I try to be fair, but the big centre half had a good battle with Occean and came away the stronger I thought. Really commanded the box to and supported the flanks well when one of our lads would find himself alone, isolated and without options. Great lad. Very smart, strong, and fairly quick.

Gooch was named Man of the Match by USSF.

[Gordon]

quote:Originally posted by Loud Mouth Soup

You might want to go back and check the Fair Play tables of recent seasons. You'll find that's a myth perpetuated by the English media over the last couple of years. In fact, I do believe they finished second in the table last season...

Sorry 'bout yer luck.

lol! No, I'll stand by it, despite being an Arsenal Fan. They have improved over the last couple of seasons. But look over the Wenger reign and you will find they are number 1 by some measure. Yellows are yellows and I don't necessarily place a lot of stock in their numbers since many yellows can be the result of goal saving fouls. But Arsenal has seen 55+ (i've lost count) red cards under Wenger and it will take more than a season or two to polish up that image.

[redhat]

quote:Originally posted by canso

No kidding, one beer then "oops, look at the time."

BTW, who was the guy with the drums? He was excellent!

canso, sorry to abandon you and the boys earlier. little jack must

have been upset with the Donovan foul that he had to be taken to

the hotel for a nap. That's the life of a 7 month-old. Anyways,

glad to meet you and the boys.

As for the guy with the drums, his name is Abid from New Brunswick

who was in California when he heard of the the game. Told him he

won the Voyageurs' long distance contest.

Cheeta I'll see you Tuesday. I'm at Seattle airport as I write

this ... thank goodness for wi-fi.

[Cheeta]

Well, if Gooch is Onyewu then good. I can spell Gooch.

Just watched the match and for the most part my impressions haven't changed very much.

Serioux had an excellent match. Very physical, usualy fairly and when not, excepting for that Beasley sythe, not so exceptionaly foul as to prevoke a card or warning. But enough to make sure that the Yanks were pretty aware of where he was on the pitch when they had the ball. Way quicker with the ball and decision making. Good passes mostly. Some real beautys actually. Quite impressed. If he'd have been able to keep that gob of his shut when he should have he might have made MOTM. Really was that impressed.

Hutch is awesome. The own goal notwithstanding, he may have been our best man out there. This guy is the real deal and he did it playing out of possition. And for a walking corpse, he's pretty damn physical himself. And great in the air.

Leduc should be sent home.

Braz is pretty much what-you-see-is-what-you-get. Did alright I guess but the man is all utility. Fits a very narrow role which is okay so long as that's all that's on his plate. Maybe there's more to him that wasn't evident Saturday but honestly, I was waiting for him to bend over and tie his boot just to see if he had a plumbers crack.

Against that USA squad I think we missed the injured Hume badly. He would have sprung that Yank trap wide open and kept Keller honest with that right hoof of his.

Noonan missed that free header worse than a fat lady on a diet misses candy. Ho boy. That was bad. As bad as Hutch's own goal. Let's say we forget the pair and call it even, eh?

And speaking of American goal scoring. Gervais was absolutely spent on that last goal. No chance it could have been played off side either from how I saw it. Poor Gabriel just getting back from a desperate run up into the Yank box, has played hard for 180 minutes in three days and then has to try to find something on that play to try and match LDs pace. Not going to happen.

Oh, and if Leduc is going home, he can take de Rossario with him. Think I've grown tired of that Show.

[beachesl]

from Concacaf site:

"Miller Lite Man of the Match: Miller Lite: Kasey Keller, USA"

[Gordon]

Good comments Cheeta, but i think Gervais had only played 90, not 180. McKenna and Hutch in the first game, Gervais injured.