Sam Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 Finally here - my preview of the forwards who will take part in the Gold Cup this summer for Canada. http://canadianstretty.blogspot.com/2009/06/canadas-2009-gold-cup-countdown.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 You dismiss Friend as unusable in lieu of who exactly?? Back to school for you, fool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Ed You dismiss Friend as unusable in lieu of who exactly?? Back to school for you, fool. Don't want to be rude, but did you watch World Cup Qualifying? Friend was playing up front as a sole striker, and was useless. Because Friend is a poor player? No he is a very good striker who needs crosses from wide areas. He scores so often domestically because he plays in a system that he fits into. Klukowski is really the only Canadian who can deliver a quality cross. As a fullback he isn't always there to whip balls across the eighteen. Therefore Friend gets left up top forced to play with his back goal since he can't turn and create anything. That is why playing a creative forward like Johnson, or Jackson is a much better option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by leafdolfan Finally here - my preview of the forwards who will take part in the Gold Cup this summer for Canada. http://canadianstretty.blogspot.com/2009/06/canadas-2009-gold-cup-countdown.html Friend is an automatic starter. If you want to start Johnson or Jackson along side or behind Friend that's cool but if Friend shows up he is going to start. Jackson is a good striker but in Friend we are talking about a guy who has scored 25 goals in 57 matches over the past 2 seasons. I'd love to see Jackson and Friend together up front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 We can't continue to give players caps based on club performances if they never perform on the international stage. It is not a slight against Friend not to include him, it just comes down to the simple fact that he doesn't fit into the Canadian system. He is not a big enough player to warrant a complete change of tactics, and he isn't going to work in the current team. Friend thrives on balls played into the box, which Canada just can't deliver! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by leafdolfan We can't continue to give players caps based on club performances if they never perform on the international stage. It is not a slight against Friend not to include him, it just comes down to the simple fact that he doesn't fit into the Canadian system. He is not a big enough player to warrant a complete change of tactics, and he isn't going to work in the current team. Friend thrives on balls played into the box, which Canada just can't deliver! This is Canada not England. What are we supposed to do stop capping our only top level striker because he hasn't performed for Canada. He has performed for Canada Costa Rica 2007, Brazil 2008 and Jamaica 2006 come to mind. And we haven't seen him under Hart since the 2007 where he was playing well imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 While I understand the point of leafdolfan, I think Friend is still valuable to the program. I disagree that he doesn't fit into the "Canadian System" despite his poor WCQ's. I think the problem was that Dale Mitchell put too much empashis on making Friend a target striker for us (which is the logical thing to do). I say this because whenever Friend plays for Hart everyone is not focused on playing direct into him. This was what I noticed happening under Mitchell. Friend is good with the ball to his feet and I believe he can take on defenders the same way Gerba can under Hart. I think we will see a Friend/Jackson partnership and Johnson will replace De Rosario on the left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by leafdolfan We can't continue to give players caps based on club performances if they never perform on the international stage. It is not a slight against Friend not to include him, it just comes down to the simple fact that he doesn't fit into the Canadian system. He is not a big enough player to warrant a complete change of tactics, and he isn't going to work in the current team. Friend thrives on balls played into the box, which Canada just can't deliver! We have a few players who can deliver crosses and the others need to start learning how to. This is the perfect tactic for us against CONCACAF opposition few of whom can defend against a big guy like Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soju Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 RE the midfielder write up, is Bernier a good passer of the ball? He's usually the Canadian midfielder most likely to lose possession and often doesn't seem switched on mentally. I'd say he's inconsistent for Canada at best and if you're excluding Friend based on nats performances surely Bernier is off the list too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Soju RE the midfielder write up, is Bernier a good passer of the ball? He's usually the Canadian midfielder most likely to lose possession and often doesn't seem switched on mentally. I'd say he's inconsistent for Canada at best and if you're excluding Friend based on nats performances surely Bernier is off the list too. I remember during the South Africa match Bernier was absolutely AWFUL in passing the ball and by awful I mean I almost smashed my tv. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Friend was misused under Mitchell, and Hart IMO. I agree he cannot be used as a target man for Canada, but forcing him to play off another forward like Jackson won't work either. In Germany he plays infront of Neuville. Who really does "the work" for him. Friend acts as a target man, but because other BM can get the ball wide and cross it in he is successful. Unless Canada can find two wide midfielders who can get down the line and put a good ball into the box playing Friend is useless. He has scored two goals in his Canadian career as Keegan pointed out. Both goals were from keeper errors against Jamaica and Brazil. Neither were Friend's own work. Putting Friend as a target man, or any forward as a target man for Canada is useless. Grizzly - Sure the tactic would be effective, especially since a lot of a CONCACAF teams are generally shorter. But I still don't see where these natural crossers of the ball are going to come from. And saying the others need to learn isn't going to work. If their club teams don't ask them to make those balls into the box then they aren't magically going to have the ability to deliver them with the national team. Soju - Against Costa Rica at BMO, Bernier showed he was a very good passer of the ball. As he did against Brazil, St. Vincent, and Jamaica as well. He can be inconsistent, but he still is the best option in the defensive midfielder position (considering Daniel Imhof has probably moved on from the Nats) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Hombre Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Disagree leafdolfan. Definitely, Friend is good in the air. However, from the games I've watched he's not a one-trick pony. He's surprisingly good with the ball at his feet. He works very well with Neuville and the same would carry over with Jackson. If both are available, you have to play 2 up top. I don't think our recent results warrant us sticking to the current Canadian system, whatever that is. Don't get stuck in the mindset that we're restricted to one formation just because it worked once 2 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by leafdolfan Friend was misused under Mitchell, and Hart IMO. I agree he cannot be used as a target man for Canada, but forcing him to play off another forward like Jackson won't work either. In Germany he plays infront of Neuville. Who really does "the work" for him. Friend acts as a target man, but because other BM can get the ball wide and cross it in he is successful. Unless Canada can find two wide midfielders who can get down the line and put a good ball into the box playing Friend is useless. He has scored two goals in his Canadian career as Keegan pointed out. Both goals were from keeper errors against Jamaica and Brazil. Neither were Friend's own work. Putting Friend as a target man, or any forward as a target man for Canada is useless. Grizzly - Sure the tactic would be effective, especially since a lot of a CONCACAF teams are generally shorter. But I still don't see where these natural crossers of the ball are going to come from. And saying the others need to learn isn't going to work. If their club teams don't ask them to make those balls into the box then they aren't magically going to have the ability to deliver them with the national team. Soju - Against Costa Rica at BMO, Bernier showed he was a very good passer of the ball. As he did against Brazil, St. Vincent, and Jamaica as well. He can be inconsistent, but he still is the best option in the defensive midfielder position (considering Daniel Imhof has probably moved on from the Nats) Friend does not play in 'front of Neuville'. To say that Neuville does all the work for him is ridiculous. Friend in fact rarely played with Neuville this season. By your reckoning, we should put out the least common denominator in each position. Wouldn't want anybody on the team to actually have to play up to international standards. Friend is our top striker. It is up to the manager to field a team that can use him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 I totally agree with Ed on this. Friend is our top striker, if the coach can't make him work it is a coaching problem, and we should not be looking for anything less. Friend with Radz, with Jackson, with Hume. I like that sort of combo. in a 4-4-2, time to move back to that. A third striker coming out of the midfield, like DeRo, when needed, or Issey, pushing up a wing. My starting Canada, a few in there could be shifted around. Bitch of a team. Lars Stalteri-McKenna-Hastings or Hainault or ??-Klukowski DeRo-Atiba-Imhof-Julian Radz-Friend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gator Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 ^ A good starting 11, I think Friend has to start, hopefully Hart will know how to play the players in the most effective positions! The CB pairing may have to be tweaked as well, we do have options but I think McKenna has to be a starter! Jeffrey, I never got your review of the concert! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrennanFan Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 Friend failed us in WCQ. zero goals. I really dont give a damn what he's done in germany. his WCQ failure is all i think about when it comes to Friend. Of course he's still one of our top guys in theory, but i'd like to see what the younger guys can do in this gold cup. We will be relying heavily on Johnson and Jackson to score goals in WCQ 2014, these guys need the international experience now. Hey Rob, it's Gold Cup time, why don't you go on a second honeymoon?!?!? Hope your first one was worth it. Leaving your teammates hanging, with valuable Gold Cup pressure games where you could have built much needed chemistry with the mids. That's what Gerba did, and he scored 2! What did you do for us? NOTHING! Wonder why... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by BrennanFan Hey Rob, it's Gold Cup time, why don't you go on a second honeymoon?!?!? Hope your first one was worth it. Leaving your teammates hanging, with valuable Gold Cup pressure games where you could have built much needed chemistry with the mids. That's what Gerba did, and he scored 2! What did you do for us? NOTHING! Wonder why... That is pretty ironic to criticize Friend like this considering you call yourself BrennanFan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrennanFan Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Grizzly That is pretty ironic to criticize Friend like this considering you call yourself BrennanFan. oh please, this again? Jimmy called Mitchell out in front of the boys, and then went public with his criticisms - FOR THE GOOD OF THE PROGRAM LONGTERM. He said what everyone was thinking cuz he happens to have a backbone. The campaign was already all over in Montreal, you knew it, I knew it, everyone knew it. Friend was critical as well, but he did it thinking it would never reach the canadian media, And then when it was discovered he backpeddled out of fear of reprisal from the almighty CSA. Who would you rather have on your team? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 BrennanGF, your boyfriend choose not to attend the 2007 GC because he wanted to play with TFC instead of representing Canada.... Is that enough for you? This is the irony Grizzly was alluding to in his post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by gator ^ A good starting 11, I think Friend has to start, hopefully Hart will know how to play the players in the most effective positions! The CB pairing may have to be tweaked as well, we do have options but I think McKenna has to be a starter! Jeffrey, I never got your review of the concert! Neil Young was his usual shy self. Cortez the Killer is such a beautiful song. I loved Everybody Knows this is Nowhere. Fans did a football chant to call for the encore. After the usual Day in the Life he seems to be doing this last year or so, Neil put on a Barça scarf as he came out to take his bows but I didn't really feel he meant it deep down. But he was in Barcelona it seems Thursday at least (when 750,000 fans lined the victory rua, and maybe Wednesday, as the group came early to rehearse this phase of the tour, which started here. I was pretty out by Sonic Youth and having seemed them fairly recently was not really concentrated. It has been an exhausting few weeks between Barça and concert going. I am going clubbing or to concerts every time Canada plays from now on as I see it brings us good luck. A sacrifice my body will have to make for the cause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrennanFan Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by loyola BrennanGF, your boyfriend choose not to attend the 2007 GC because he wanted to play with TFC instead of representing Canada.... Is that enough for you? As a TFC fan, I dont fault him for that. And I respect divided football allegiances more than ditching your teammates for a girl. Also, the situations are completely different, as Jimmy has played with Canada for the better part of a decade, and would slot into any Canada lineup seamlessly. He did not "need" to be there for chemistry purposes. Friend did. There was no greater need to build chemistry on the team than Friend with deRo and Julian in the attack, and he bailed! It irks me so much that he left IN THE MIDDLE OF A CONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP. This is unheard of! It's goalscoring and chemistry that did us in. Thanks for the commitment Rob. (Whatever, Im just pissed about the V Cup. And its a slow work day. Carry on.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by BrennanFan As a TFC fan, I dont fault him for that. And I respect divided football allegiances more than ditching your teammates for a girl. Also, the situations are completely different, as Jimmy has played with Canada for the better part of a decade, and would slot into any Canada lineup seamlessly. He did not "need" to be there for chemistry purposes. Friend did. There was no greater need to build chemistry on the team than Friend with deRo and Julian in the attack, and he bailed! It irks me so much that he left IN THE MIDDLE OF A CONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP. This is unheard of! It's goalscoring and chemistry that did us in. Thanks for the commitment Rob. (Whatever, Im just pissed about the V Cup. And its a slow work day. Carry on.) The irony, I suppose, is that Brennan, who was playing centre back for TFC at the time, probably would have been slotted into that position at the Gold Cup ahead of Hastings and may very well have won himself a starting position for WCQ. He did "need" to be there as he had been suplanted on the left side for sure by at least 3 players and, IMO a 4th. I think players have to look after their livelihood, so I have no problems with someone choosing to look after their livelihood ahead of playing in what a continental championship (or attending to things like Honeymoons, birth of children etc.) I would note however, that Brennan refused call-up to the 2004 WCQ Semis as well given as Yallop would not guarantee that he would be a starter. So it is twice from Jimbo, and the first time really did not have a reasonable excuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Jeffrey S. Neil Young was his usual shy self. Cortez the Killer is such a beautiful song. I loved Everybody Knows this is Nowhere. Fans did a football chant to call for the encore. After the usual Day in the Life he seems to be doing this last year or so, Neil put on a Barça scarf as he came out to take his bows but I didn't really feel he meant it deep down. But he was in Barcelona it seems Thursday at least (when 750,000 fans lined the victory rua, and maybe Wednesday, as the group came early to rehearse this phase of the tour, which started here. I was pretty out by Sonic Youth and having seemed them fairly recently was not really concentrated. It has been an exhausting few weeks between Barça and concert going. I am going clubbing or to concerts every time Canada plays from now on as I see it brings us good luck. A sacrifice my body will have to make for the cause. Totally off topic. Saw Neil Young and Crazy Horse at the Ottawa Civic Centre in 73 or so. Brilliant show. Just came across the ticket stub the other day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted June 3, 2009 Share Posted June 3, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Ed Totally off topic. Saw Neil Young and Crazy Horse at the Ottawa Civic Centre in 73 or so. Brilliant show. Just came across the ticket stub the other day. What's incredible is that his voice, playing and stage intensity have not changed, it is the same musician as almost 40 years ago. Every time Canada plays we should send one Voyageur to a Neil Young concert whereever the world to see if it gives us good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 quote:Originally posted by loyola BrennanGF, your boyfriend choose not to attend the 2007 GC because he wanted to play with TFC instead of representing Canada.... Is that enough for you? This is the irony Grizzly was alluding to in his post. Actually I think I have lost count as to the number of times that his boyfriend has bailed on Canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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