DJT Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 Estonia 2 Canada 0 Stalteri OG 59' Zahovaiko 90' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 That was an awkward game. It was like watching a bunch of retards trying to hump a doorknob (dodgeball quote) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertuzzi44 Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 I'm not saying mitchell should live or die by this result since it was in the snow, but both teams had an equal chance of winning and we lost 2-0. I'm just saying mitch doesn't get results! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelownaguy Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 despite some labelling this game as a "write off" , I am very concerned about the state of our team going into world cup qualifying after the debacle in South Africa and now this. Hats off to Estonia for the win, they were the more dangerous team and found ways to create some offence and score some goals in the snow,they deserved it. We have a lot of work to do and very little time to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gator Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 I know conditions were less than ideal(same for both teams) but I am getting concerned! They haven't come close to the GC form they showed! Mitchell has to take some of the responsibility! Is it too soon to be real worried? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkhs Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 All you can say about today is that it was a waste...unless CONCACAF replaces penalties with snow angel making we haven't gained much from this. At the same time, it is troubling that Mitchell has had such trouble turning having the run of play into winning matches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkhs Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 quote:Originally posted by kelownaguy they were the more dangerous team Can't agree there...especially in the first half, they weren't up to much. Hate to be proven right, but, as I said before, all snow and cold does is randomize results, it doesn't favour anyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loud Mouth Soup Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 If anyone is writing this game off as meaningless, then why did we bother to play it, let alone schedule it? Blaming the weather is a cop-out. This was another opportunity for the men to play, for Dale to prove he's not an incompetent boob, for us to adjust to any playing condtions, for the fans to feel belief again, for... Ah, forget it. Let's just write it off as nothing, huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gator Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 Not so sure now that hosting a concacaf qualifier in the cold and snow will really work to our advantage, I don't think we controlled the ball well at all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denis Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 Well what has todays game showed us. Not much. The snow prevented us form playing the kind of possesion build up play micthel seem to want to use (yet we played it any way). I think if mitchell was any kind of a coach he would have changed tactics a little, used the counter attack and maybe played the wings more. Im sure Friend could have got on the end of a couple of crosses. The more games I watch the more I belive that if we qualify this summer it will be despite Mitchell not because of him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe MacCarthy Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 I see we have the usual CSA whining (apparently they can now control the weather) and Mitchell bashing. When, oh when, is somebody going to step up and blame the players. This core group has been together long enough (with each playing at a reasonable competitive level) that they should be getting some results. The players have to take some ownership. They want high profile friendlies and yet cannot be successful against supposed minnows. It always makes me laugh, the guys who come on here with the Canada 3-0 predictions. Are you new to Canadian soccer? It is difficult enough for a world class team to get three goals against another, why should we be able to do it. We lost 2-1 to Spain (in Spain). Even "minnows" have professional players with pride and skill. I don't like to get on the players as they sacrifice themselves playing for their country (which is what it's all about) especially under conditions like today. But it has to be said, that this current group of players seems to lack heart and/or leadership. Forrest, DeVos and the Vs favourite whipping boy Watson added grit to the lineup. We are missing that element, we don't seem to have any players that the opposition doesn't want to play against. This team needs somebody to stand up and take ownership in the worst way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest speedmonk42 Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 Has anyone ever played in conditions like that? I have, it is pretty hard to put your heart in the game. I think it would have been a good game were it not for that. I am not saying we lost because of it, I am saying the game doesn't tell us anything which is mostly what we are looking for right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gator Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 At least they did in fact play the game, I was concerned it might be called off or abandoned! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villus Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 quote:Originally posted by gkhs Can't agree there...especially in the first half, they weren't up to much. Hate to be proven right, but, as I said before, all snow and cold does is randomize results, it doesn't favour anyone. IT FAVOURS THE WEAKER TEAM. We should have dominated possesion but tahts hard to do in a snow storm. Say you take Brazil vs Canada in the snow, how do you not see that it favours Canada, Brazil's skill on the ball does not factor into that type of match nearly as much. If you can change a game into a random lucky bounce game it favours the weaker team almost always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkhs Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 quote:Originally posted by villus IT FAVOURS THE WEAKER TEAM. We should have dominated possesion but tahts hard to do in a snow storm. Say you take Brazil vs Canada in the snow, how do you not see that it favours Canada, Brazil's skill on the ball does not factor into that type of match nearly as much. If you can change a game into a random lucky bounce game it favours the weaker team almost always. Is Brazil in our qualifying group? Is it established that we are clearly the weaker team, at home, versus any team in our group? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 What the f*ck is with the "China Love" banners at the top of the page? [)] Are we as hurting for money as the CSA? p.s. this game was such a write-off...and yeah, i've played in these conditions before and it's fun as hell - made me ultra aggressive and want to break some of the little guys in half... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gator Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 What if we play in extreme heat, or a monsoon at SVG, could we possibly come home a couple of goals down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youllneverwalkalone Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 In any other nation the heat would be on Mitchell. So any and all criticism is fair play in my books. But I don't put a lot of stock in the result, especially given the conditions. Still, the only thing Mitch has shown is decent player selection which, I think many would agree, had a lot to do with our dismissal last time round. His record is 1-2-2 by my count, winless against FIFA opposition. The Association needs to have a contingency plan to replace him if the results don't start to come. I'd hate to think we're committed to the manager for the entire cycle. That attitude is suicide and no other nation would stand for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sloth8 Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 In my opinion, we didn't have any creativity going forward and our passing was poor for the most part. We were also too reluctant to shoot once we got close to the eighteen and tried to pass the ball into the back of the net (likely because of the conditions). I think one of the major issues is that our boys underestimate their opponents and think that any of type of pass will work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 quote:Originally posted by gator What if we play in extreme heat, or a monsoon at SVG, could we possibly come home a couple of goals down? People will find a way to blame the CSA for not having a friendly game in a monsoon and the players will be excuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkhs Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 I'm not meaning to be dense about this, but why should we turn a match - that we have a puncher's chance in already - into a random scramble. If we end up with a November qualifyier and we need a miracle win over Mexico or its game over, maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 First of all people saying this game was a waste and blaming the CSA for playing Estonia are not full of snow but rather the brown stuff you see on top of it when you walk your dog. We had to play in Europe because that is where the players are and I doubt there are a lot of European teams lining up to play us. Estonia is a better team than their FIFA ranking indicates and the alternative to playing them was probably not playing at all. Then the same people bitching about playing Estonia would be bitching about the CSA not arranging any friendlies. Any game we have against any opposition in any conditions prepares us for CONCACAF WCQ. Some opponents and climates may be better preparation than others but when the alternative is most likely no friendly then I will take the friendly. While I will admit the poor weather conditions skew the result on this somewhat I am not willing to give Mitchell a free ride either. He has so far not won under good conditions and not won under poor conditions and at some point he has to start winning. I have defended him being given a chance but I think he needs to win at least one of our next two games or we will need to replace him. He did employ far more offensive tactics than we have seen from him in the past but we still were unable to score. Estonia did outplay us and while 2-0 might be too high, 1-0 would have reflected the run of play. As I mentioned in the other thread I do not understand why Estonia was pressuring us far more when we had the ball than we were doing to them when they had the ball. Estonia just seemed to work harder than us and to be more fit. If you look at their players they are better than their ranking with a lot of players on mid-level European leagues but we should at the very least be able to tie them and be even in terms of run of play. As far as the players are concerned I liked Hirschfeld though he is still a little weak on balls in the air. His kicking has improved. Stalteri was a bit off today but the rest of the back line was fairly solid. Hastings once again looked good and I have no complaints with Klukowski. I am surprised Hainault started over McKenna, I prefer Hainault but am worried about the rookie mistakes he makes which I think may cost us in WCQ where it only takes one mistake to lose a game. I thought the midfield was very poor today. Hutchinson was terrible and I have been really disappointed in him lately as his game doesn't seem to be improving the way I expected. Julian was better in the second half when he moved up which is where he should have played from the beginning. Why you play Julian as a defensive mid when you have Imhof on the bench is beyond me. Issey didn't look very good. DeRo and Radz were guilty of doing a lot without being very effective. I thought Friend was good at times but what use is a target man if we don't get him the ball? The reason Friend scores for BM and not Canada is he gets fed by the BM midfield. Our mids have to learn how to cross the ball decently. In WCQ there may be times when we have to play longball direct soccer and in such poor conditions this would have been the time to try it out especially with Friend available. Both Gerba and Simpson looked good and Imhof was solid at the back when he came on. At least Mitchell made substitutions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villus Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 quote:Originally posted by gkhs Is Brazil in our qualifying group? Is it established that we are clearly the weaker team, at home, versus any team in our group? VS. mexico at home yes its established. Really it makes no difference if Brazil is in our group or not for the argument of snow and poor conditions not favouring anyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gkhs Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 quote:Originally posted by sloth8 In my opinion, we didn't have any creativity going forward and our passing was poor for the most part. We were also too reluctant to shoot once we got close to the eighteen and tried to pass the ball into the back of the net (likely because of the conditions). I think one of the major issues is that our boys underestimate their opponents and think that any of type of pass will work. Not to mention, Stalteri slipped in the snow several times...he'll really need to work on that before WCQ. And Hutch went down under that tackle by Frosty the Snowman...really poor form on his part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gator Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 I don't blame th CSA at all for this, they don't control the weather! A point was made earlier that we could have hosted a game at BMO with similiar weather conditions but once again, how many players would pull out of it due to knocks! Maybe Cuba was an option, I don't know, it's just too bad the weather was such a factor! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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