A contrarian view on Hainault?

[Gordon]

Perhaps not all that contrarian, but I've been impressed with the lad. Yes, the first two games he was giving up some free kicks due to excessive use of his arms and hands on contested headers, and yes, he is clearly paying back Onstad for cheating at Pinochle on the team bus, but I think he has learned a considerable amount in the 4 games thus far and has demonstrated a good understanding of the position, good anticipation, and some pretty good feet. I see him becoming a very key element of the Canadian defence over the next few years, and having a very good career in Europe. Some have described him as shaky, but I haven't see it (aside from the 2 games of whack-a-keeper).

[ken]

I don't think that the board is naving a go at Hainault because he is not competent, but rather that he is not the first or even second choice at that position. No one is saying that he does't have a future with the national team or professionaly in europe, quite the contrary but that future is not now and the centre backs are a weakness on this team, pointing that out is not the same as slagging the abilities of either Hainault or Hastings.

[loyola]

Guatemala had no significant chances yesterday, of course there was the Hainault/Onstad thing but our back 4 playede very well and Hainault was pretty good (except for one play). I've notice that a lot of people here have a tendancie to focus on a particular play when they evaluate a player performance and it's costing Hainault some love for his good performance yesterday.

I also agree that he's adjusting very well to the level of play and has reduce is number of fouls.

[Gian-Luca]

Actually aside from the two plays where he's let the ball run & failed to get in the way of the on-rushing attacker, he's been great. He's really done well at reading the play. Definitely a bonus for this tourney that he's getting so much international experience that will bode well for World Cup qualifying if we run into trouble at centre-back.

[Cheeta]

Think he's done all right all things considered. Maybe adequate would be a better choice of words but he is in there under some unusual circumstances.

No. I'd say he's been mostly alright and if he can get his focus and intensity up a bit he may have a real future ahead of him. But that's definitely a long way off.

The clumsy challenges and windmill imitations bother me less the the way he's allowed players to fly past him in certain instances. Sometimes with dramatic effect.

[matthew]

This obviously isn't our first choice pairing in the back, but two years ago I thought Hainault was going to be the heir apparent to that spot. DeVos was nearing the end and I wasn't sure about McKenna. Big Mac has me convinced he's up to it and Edgar had kind of stolen Hainault's thunder.

Still he's been steady. I hope he gets transferred to a Dutch or German team and he can continue to progress. He's still 20 and instead of easing in with a veteran who can take control, he's been thrown in with Hastings who quite honestly has been better every game. I was super critical of calling him up, but he's got a bit of pace which we lack in the middle and he's been more composed on the ball than we'd seen in the end of the Holger era.

This back four is getting better every game and I think it shows with time together we can have a strong backline. I still want McKenna, Edgar, Nsaliwa, Klukowski and Brennan fighting for those two CB spots first and foremost, but I think Hainault and Hastings are definitely worthy of future call ups.

And they're going to get a good test Thursday.

cheers,

matthew

[BearcatSA]

Hanault is a young player playing in a demanding spot on the field. Unfortunately, when you make an error at centre back it stands out more than in other outfield positions. He has a lot of upside.

[JPB]

While I like Hanault's play, overall, the two lapses regarding attackers rushing Onstad are really horrific. This is the sort of thing that a fullback has to do every game and I cannot agree that the rest of his play can make up for these lapses. Someone can get hurt very badly -- and games and championships can be lost, too.

Honestly, if I was a scout on the opposition side I'd encourage my strikers to rush Onstad at every opportunity -- especially when balls are passed back. It is a routine "question" asked of defenders and keepers.

And it is obvious that if fullbacks do not react correctly, that can only light the fire in the heart of those strikers with that killer instinct.

That's not good for Onstad nor for winning games.

The objective should be to dissuade such rushes; and failing that, of course, to shepherd them and make rushes very difficult. I can't fault attackers for trying but I can fault fullbacks for not intervening or for not even making a decent attempt to intervene.

It is such a basic element of his game that I wonder if anyone has seen him do this sort of thing in other circumstances outside of the national team. The coaches -- and as I said in another thread, also Stalteri and Onstad -- need to correct this during his time on the national team. Maybe he just gets spooked when Onstad yells for the ball, I dunnno.

Otherwise, he has done his job fairly well back there. The job will only get tougher in the next round(s) and in world cup qualifications. So he does need to do even better.

Hastings was guilty of this lapse, also.

[CDN4EVR]

For all it's worth, I bumped into Pat Onstad in the elevator after Saturdays game and he holds Andrew in high regards and told me THEY need to work on their comunication. Obviously I agree with Andrew Blocking the player off regardless of wheather or not the keeper calls for the ball. We had a blast at the game and wore our colors proudly all day, even in the parking lot where i saw no one else in Canada gear within the sea of Baby Blue. Managed to ruin at least 10 pictures of Guatemalan group by getting in all their huddles. They were actually lining up to get pics with us. Of course, that was before the game........

[loyola]

quote:Originally posted by CDN4EVR

For all it's worth, I bumped into Pat Onstad in the elevator after Saturdays game and he holds Andrew in high regards and told me THEY need to work on their comunication. Obviously I agree with Andrew Blocking the player off regardless of wheather or not the keeper calls for the ball.

Indeed, to me it looks like a communication problem between the keeper and his defender. It's understandable when you consider that Onstad and Hainault have never played together.

Also, a defender must be carefull when intervening on an attacking player when he isn't even playing the ball (while the opposing player does) to not take a silly foul.

[Free kick]

What has most impressed me about his play is that I have always believed that players in his role have large impact in the way a team plays and organizes itself going forward. I think that alot of credit for the attractive play from Canada must go to Hainault. I believe in the old soccer cliche that offense starts at the back; specifically the way you play the balls out impacts the type offensive buildup and, in turn, dictates whether or not we are going to be direct team who hoofs the ball forward or a patient team that uses the width of the pitch and switches the points of attack. In the heat, humidity and climate of Concacaf, the hard tackling, direct game that relies on fitness and hustle will get us nowhere.

Some have longed for Jason Devos, but after the last WCQ, I think that we were due for a change. And, although his service to the MNT has been invaluable, the timing of his retirement was perfect. It was time for a different player in that role. So far Hainault seems to fit the bill save for odd miscue. Bringing Devos back to replace Hainault would be a step back IMO. As far as Mckenna, I think that he has been very effective when called up but, you will notice, that we play a different type of offensive game when he is in there. Mckenna will never cost us any games and will be steady, but I think that we will look different when he is in there.

Addition point: I'll bet that had Devos or Mckenna been back there instead of Hainault, we would not have been so dominant in the last game from a ball possession standpoint. I like the the way the current back line is patient by moving the ball around and waiting for the good opportunity. This kinf or wore out the opposition.

[El Hombre]

quote:Originally posted by Free kick

What has most impressed me about his play is that I have always believed that players in his role have large impact in the way a team plays and organizes itself going forward. I think that alot of credit for the attractive play from Canada must go to Hainault. I believe in the old soccer cliche that offense starts at the back; specifically the way you play the balls out impacts the type offensive buildup and, in turn, dictates whether or not we are going to be direct team who hoofs the ball forward or a patient team that uses the width of the pitch and switches the points of attack. In the heat, humidity and climate of Concacaf, the hard tackling, direct game that relies on fitness and hustle will get us nowhere.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by the above vis-a-vis Hainault. It seems that whenever he has the ball he plays it square to Hastings who then moves the attack forward. The Guat game was the first one where I saw Hainault move the ball forward but that was still only a couple times. I'm not sure if this was what you were trying to get at but it seemed like Hastings plays a larger role in this than Hainault.

FWIW though, I've been really impressed with Hainault. I thought his matchup against Ruiz was going to be a dicey one with the Fish flopping all over the place, but I think he played him well.

[JPB]

CDN4EVR, cool. (Did you sing "Roxanne" in the elevator? Heh.) It is terrific how approachable our football stars are even when in the midst of a tournament. I've also found that with our top hockey players.

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loyola, fair enough, calm judgement is needed when blocking -- especially given the degree of uncertainty that comes with CONCACAF officiating of close physical play. At the international level this does become an art form -- but consistent form on the basics is indispensable. It serves as a strong deterrent to attackers, too. Lowers their hopes for winning a footrace with the keeper.

Hopefully Onstad and Stalteri will sort this out. Once, that's a glitch. Twice, that's a freakie repeat. But Thrice is a trend. And we saw 2 lapses by Hainault and each was preceded by precipitating lapses by at least one other defender (the last one was Hastings), so that's four times -- the trend needs to be corrected in that defensive line-up.

Hainault has a lot on his plate just in defending and that will only get heavier against the USA's hard-headed strikers.

I agree with folks about the influence on midfield play made by a competent pair of centrebacks. Hainault, for one, has been very calm and steady under pressure and has found outlets and rarely just boots the ball out of play or long up the field. He has shown he can do that, as well, and play out of tight spots inside the penalty box. Good feet and protects the ball well. Sharp on the off-side trap, too.