Soju Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Amidst all the negativity on the heels of our Gold Cup loss, something good has come from Canadian soccer. We are trying to play attractively. We have sought to play patient possession soccer throughout two regional tournaments under Stephen Hart. Even though we lost to Honduras I took that final match to mean something. This was not just an experiment, it wasn't temporary. Canadians can play the game properly. The long ball is dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juby Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 It is great to see strong technical play but I still hope they'll notice if a team fielding a small lineup and punish em with big rob friend (and a few others) edit: and at the end of the last game they fell back on it at times which was probably a mistake but their were encouraging chances so i'm stumped Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownbear Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Juby It is great to see strong technical play but I still hope they'll notice if a team fielding a small lineup and punish em with big rob friend (and a few others) Winner, winner, chicken dinner! This is what I was saying to my friends as we were watching the game. During qualifying Mitchell started Friend and had him chasing the ball. After Honduras scored, they were satisfied packing it in defensively, and we must have had a couple of dozen crosses (including all of those *&%^ed-up corners in the 2nd half), which would have been the perfect time to substitute Friend--either for Gerba, or for a defender. It was frustrating to watch... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeta Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Long Ball well never die! And it shouldn't, its too damned useful. Its like every other tactic in that it has its place. Rejoice! Single dimension football is dead! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superbrad Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Hallelujah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toronto MB Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 In describing Manchester United's dominaton of the 2008-2009 EPL - Alan Hansen stated that: "For United it's not about playing the long ball or the short ball - it's about playing the right ball and this is what makes them so dangerous." Even as a Liverpool supporter, I felt that was a very true statement. The best teams don't box themselves into a system that is derived out of the need to be attractive. (See the Arsenal we'll-pass-it-into-the-goal mentality for example) In fact, I think Canada could stand to improve its ability to counter-attack using the long ball. And we could certainly use some more effective long-ball delivery on set-pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearcatSA Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 quote:Originally posted by Cheeta Long Ball well never die! And it shouldn't, its too damned useful. Its like every other tactic in that it has its place. Rejoice! Single dimension football is dead! I think there's a time and place for all types of distribution, long and short. For instance, I don't mind seeing a holding mid who can instantly change the point of attack with one long, accurate diagonal ball to the opposite flank mid/winger, so giving our player just enough space needed to create something in a 1 v 1 before the defenders have regrouped. At least I was happy to see McKenna get the green light and go forward late along with Gerba, as opposed to sitting on the bench in the dying minutes in Montreal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck in Boston Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 According to Glavine and Maddox, chicks dig the long ball! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
An Observer Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 In line with some of the other comments and I never thought I would say this about Canada, but over the last while going back to the 2007 Gold Cup and even before under Yallop, I think we almost play too much possession and too slowly. Maybe this is an needed transition from our days of hoof and chase, but I almost feel we play too slowly and possession for possessions sake. I think playing the right ball is important. Everyone says we don't have a skilled number 10 who can be an attacking midfielder, I almost think we miss a Nash or Grande type who can spray the ball around a bit. This does not mean we need either of those two but just someone who could play that way a bit in the central midfield. I have never thought that DeGuzman, Hutch or Bernier are that type of player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 ^ Interesting point of view which I share somewhat. The slow buildup and greater ball possession percentage means diddly if you cannot penetrate the final third and finish. Are we starting the resemble the rope a dope Central American teams from the 90's? They (Guatemala, El Salvador, etc) would have lots of possession and build up but no finish. And then we would kill them with the long ball or set piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youllneverwalkalone Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Finish in the attacking third is lacking for about 90% of FIFA nations. I do agree that we could up the tempo from time to time, as Honduras is able to do. Julian and McKenna were actually doing this reasonably well in the last match I thought, but lacked a little support. Overall though, a possession game is important in CONCACAF because closing down all over the pitch leads to foul after foul and the cards that go with that, while allowing slow build up in our own attacking third will inevitably leads to free kicks and/or penalties which will cost us. We're on the right track, but one thing we could do better is taking our own free kicks a little more carefully and taking a few more CONCACAF tumbles closer to goal. Will Johnson needs to teach a CSA course on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 It doesn't matter whether its long ball, possession, or any other style. Until Canada gets a few creative players who can beat a man the results won't change. In the end it comes back to the youth coaches who tell their players to pass the ball every time they get it and don't let them try out a move, or express themselves while playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest speedmonk42 Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Well, the other good thing to come out of that last game is that now the Canadian fans at Elwoods now know what a Meerkat is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superbrad Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 The number and quality of wide crosses that were sent in the box in the GC (two great ones from Simpson in the last game..), would suggest were not opposed to throw them in there. I don't think they were trying to pass the ball into the net. I find that we are surprisingly negative in our assessment of the recent success. Don't forget we had 4 goals for and 3 against in four games against some good teams. I wouldn't have expected three wins let alone running up goals. We did not run up those goals but we obtained respectable results with very good defence. The style was slightly more possessive than under Mitchell, and night and day vs. the hail marys lob ball of the nineties. We only got beat in this tourney by some bad luck – a ref and a goal post were the difference. Personally I'm pretty pumped about our progress. We played the way I think they should have in WCQ - despite not having a few regulars. That's pretty good progress in a short time. I think we can beat any team in Concacaf on any given day...inc. the US and Mexico. Going forward - we really need those friendly matches and the security of a full time coach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ag futbol Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 quote:Originally posted by leafdolfan It doesn't matter whether its long ball, possession, or any other style. Until Canada gets a few creative players who can beat a man the results won't change. In the end it comes back to the youth coaches who tell their players to pass the ball every time they get it and don't let them try out a move, or express themselves while playing. Agreed completely. It’s true that long-ball does have its place, but in the last gold cup it was in the right place (ie option 12Z). When the other team starts stuffing our possession orientated game through the mid, balls over the top to the striker or wingers serves a purpose. Otherwise it’s an inferior form of a primary strategy. I always admired the teams that stick to their approach regardless of the situation. Although, that's much easier to do when you have overwhelming amounts of talent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miche Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I haven't been much of a fan of Simpson, but he was great last game with those crosses, that would have been exponentially dangerous if Friend was in there. Cheeta said it best: "one-dimensional football is dead!" ...now let's all go practice our corners.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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