Article on DeRo & the CSA that Grizzly will love

[Gian-Luca]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/magazine/2009plus7/

Call me a stickler for getting facts straight, but there are some huge factual inaccuracies in that article, including the statement that Canada has only played 5 homes games in the last 10 years. Where did he get that number from? The lack of home matches is pathetic enough that pretending that a whole bunch weren't played was hardly necessary.

As for DeRo's comments on the national team, glad to hear he isn't done, but I can't say I like the one-sidedness of the "everything was the CSA's fault" comments. An alleged lack of preparation can't be blamed for DeRo taking two foolish yellow cards in three games and getting himself suspended for a must-win game in Honduras. Players need to take some responsibility for their play as well.

[redhat]

Below the picture of the last page:

"De Rosario holds his son in one arm and his MVP trophy in the other after being named the star of the Columbus Crew’s MLS championship team in 2001. De Rosario scored the winning goal in overtime."

He played for The Crew? Sacrilege.

[Soro17]

^ Well, it says Columbus Crew on the scoreboard behind him, therefore he must have played for the Columbus Crew.

[Guest Ed]

Also states that Owen Hargreaves bailed on his news conference to join the English team which is far from the truth. In fact, he bailed on his news conference here in Calgary to re-join his Bayern Munich club as they had run into some injuries in their training camp and called him back early. Nothing at all to do with his English team (he had already made that decision quite some time before).

[VPjr]

G-L, can you post the article's text in this thread. I'm reading the thread off my blackberry and I can't open the sportsnet link

Thanks in advance

[Califax]

In December of 2008 Toronto FC brought the most talented and decorated Canadian soccer star of this generation back home. But what the fledgling Major League Soccer franchise might not have realized is that Dwayne De Rosario is also the most outspoken. Now, with the platform to deliver his message, the man known simply as ‘DeRo’ has the Canadian Soccer Association and its handling of the men’s national squad squarely in his sights. “I was sick of hearing this guy saying this or that guy saying that, it was always just little pockets of guys saying things,” De Rosario says. “I just say what needs to be said for the team and you hope that people listen and respond ... and you get what you hope to get.” What needed to be said was that the people entrusted to grow the game of soccer in Canada were in fact letting it down. In De Rosario’s mind, the failure of the Canadian men’s national team in its bid to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa was the result of a decade worth of bureaucratic disorder at the top levels of the CSA. The experienced and talented team that was pegged by many to challenge for a spot in South Africa scored just two goals in its first three matches and was eliminated by the halfway point of the six-match qualification group stage. It was humiliating, but De Rosario, who grew up learning the game in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, had warned of the harbingers of things to come long before the opening game kicked off in Toronto on July 1, 2008. “People need to pay more attention to the men’s national team and why it is not successful,” De Rosario says. “It should be successful; we have enough successful players around the globe, playing at big clubs and doing well. There is something missing.” What is missing is a unified national soccer association, one with a clear vision of where the sport needs to go and how it can get there. In the past 10 years the CSA has been the antithesis of these qualities and was ultimately exposed in the disastrous qualification run. At the crux of the resentment was lack of preparation. The Canadian men’s national team is notorious for struggling to arrange suitable opponents on international dates set aside by FIFA. Furthermore, in the past 10 years the men’s team has played just five matches on home soil.

So, with very little preparation De Rosario and the rest of the Canadian team were expected to simply come together quickly and get the results based on the fact that the team looked good on paper. “It is a shame because I think we really had the quality and the players that deserved to taste the World Cup,” De Rosario says. “But like I said: a lot of things did not go our way and things that we were asking didn’t get answered and we suffered.” For De Rosario, the suffering ended after a 2-1 loss to Mexico in the third match of six. With just one point earned and holders of last place in the four-team group, De Rosario announced he was finished with the national team under its current regime. Irreconcilable differences with then head coach Dale Mitchell and the perceived apathy shown by the CSA forced De Rosario to quit the team.

“It was very disappointing. In this day and age if you play one forward you are going to get punished, and we got punished,” De Rosario says. “We were very defensive-minded going in to those games even though we had an attacking-minded team.” Disappointment at the professional level has been foreign to De Rosario. In eight MLS seasons the 31-year-old has never missed the playoffs and has four league titles on his resume. He is also one of 18 Canadian men to win an international soccer tournament, the 2000 Gold Cup. But being off the team did not deter De Rosario in his verbal crusade. In fact, his homecoming with Toronto FC provided the player with a captive audience to proliferate the message he has been preaching from afar for most of his career. As for where the CSA can start repairing the reputation of a country that has slumped to No. 92 in the FIFA world rankings, De Rosario is quick to point out that the simple things would be an ideal place. “I went to England as a kid and it was an eye-opening experience. I saw how professional they do things,” De Rosario recalls. “I remember the fields being so nice and the players were given top priority.” In the wake of the men’s national team being eliminated from 2010 contention last October, the CSA released a budget promise of $25 million by 2013. The CSA’s operating budget in 2007 was $12 million, $4.5 of which was directed toward the senior men’s team.

“I won’t say (the England example) is successful, but the way they treat their players and the preparation surrounding prac- tices and such is first-class,” he says. But in pointing out the success of England, De Rosario is swinging a double-edged sword. The grass being greener on the other side of the ocean has long been a temptation for Canadian players looking to make a name abroad. Calgary-born Owen Hargeaves ducked out on his own press conference to link up with the English national team before World Cup 2002 in South Korea/ Japan. Hargreaves would establish himself as a member of the starting 11 player for England, his success abroad leaving a bitter taste in the mouths of many Canadians. The sting of abandonment would strike again in 2008 when teenage prodigy Jonathan de Guzman received his Dutch passport, leaving behind the same fields where De Rosario played as a child in Scarborough. As a patriotic Canadian, the decisions of both Hargreaves and de Guzman did not seem traitorous to De Rosario, but rather the fallout of the bureaucratic deficiencies. “It is sad that we put people in the position where they want to play for other countries,” De Rosario said. “I think if the organization was committed to our national team they would want to stay. At the end of the day it is a personal choice. They know they’re Canadian, I don’t think either would ever deny that, but like I said it is sad that the situ- ation made them choose to play where they are now.”

On the opposite end of the spectrum, with 52 senior caps to his credit, De Rosario was forced to make a personal choice regarding his own future with the Canadian team on the eve of the 2009 Gold Cup. A promise made to Toronto FC the day he was brought home by the MLS club would win out as De Rosario turned down the opportunity to return to the men’s national team, which was under the new leadership he sought back in October. Mitchell was replaced by Stephan Hart, who orchestrated an immediate return to attacking soccer. While the new style would complement a player like De Rosario, club success and settling his wife and three children after being uprooted from Houston to Toronto took priority. “It was a decision I made to make a full commitment to TFC right now and to focus on my season,” De Rosario says. “It is a big year ahead of us and I want to make sure we accomplish what I have in my mind for this team.”

Ironically, Canada shrugged off the yoke of last year’s disappointment to finish first in its group at the Gold Cup. Coach Hart, the man behind the revival, was forced to move on without the no-shows. The question is will the door still be open come next qualifying. “(The no shows) will have to answer that question,” Hart said.

“When you are talking about your national team it comes down to the players who want to play. About people having faith in the team and the future, I can’t predict that.” De Rosario insists he is not done wearing the No. 14 jersey for Canada. In fact, it can be ar-gued that the coaching change and the subsequent success is in some small part a product of his criticisms. While the expecta- tion of playoff soccer in Toronto has moved De Rosario on to the next challenge, he is not about to lay down the responsibility of remaining one of the few strong voices in Canadian soccer. “Player have needs and wants and not only for yourself but for the betterment of the team and for your country. That is where I stand,” De Rosario says. “I am still going to be a part of the national team and I am certainly still going to voice my opinion.”

[nolando]

don't wanna threadjack but thought some would like to read this: http://www.irunmoledanceanddrumtheatre.com/aboutourfounder

[CanadasBest]

I wonder if the writer meant 5 homes games with the exception of World Cup Qualifiers... That sounds about right to me.

[Guest Ed]

I might have missed something but I count thta we have played 6 'friendly' international home games in the last 10 years (back to Jul 1999), so he is close - did not include the beer league tour of July 2004.

Sep 07 - CR - BMO Field, Toronto

Sep 06 - JAM - Claude Robillard Stadium, Montreal

Jul 05 - HON - Swangard, Burnaby

May 00 - HON - Winnipeg Soccer Complex

May 00 - T&T - Varsity Stadium, Toronto

Sep 99 - JAM - Exhibition Stadium, Toronto

[CanadasBest]

quote:Originally posted by Ed

I might have missed something but I count thta we have played 6 'friendly' international home games in the last 10 years (back to Jul 1999), so he is close - did not include the beer league tour of July 2004.

Sep 07 - CR - BMO Field, Toronto

Sep 06 - JAM - Claude Robillard Stadium, Montreal

Jul 05 - HON - Swangard, Burnaby

May 00 - HON - Winnipeg Soccer Complex

May 00 - T&T - Varsity Stadium, Toronto

Sep 99 - JAM - Exhibition Stadium, Toronto

In October it will have been 5. []

[ANC2]

Sick and tired of DeRo moaning. Put your hand up DeRo! How was your performance in the qualifications. Canada had good prep. regardless of what DeRo says, you guys even played South Africa & Brazil before the first qualification games. Outside of that, from all accounts it was the players who voted not want to play at BIMO led by DeRo and the other seniors.

IMHO DeRo was one of Canada's worst players in the qualification. He played in his own words "favorite position" behind the striker and only found the net versus St Vincent. Saying that Canada played with one striker may be right because it was he who was responsible for supporting Gerba or Friend.. Excessive dribbling and poor final passes were his main consistency.

Mitchel took the fall but DeRo. Hume, Onstad and a few others were way below their best.

Well said Gian-Luca

[Grizzly]

quote:Originally posted by ANC2

Sick and tired of DeRo moaning. Put your hand up DeRo! How was your performance in the qualifications. Canada had good prep. regardless of what DeRo says, you guys even played South Africa & Brazil before the first qualification games. Outside of that, from all accounts it was the players who voted not want to play at BIMO led by DeRo and the other seniors.

IMHO DeRo was one of Canada's worst players in the qualification. He played in his own words "favorite position" behind the striker and only found the net versus St Vincent. Saying that Canada played with one striker may be right because it was he who was responsible for supporting Gerba or Friend.. Excessive dribbling and poor final passes were his main consistency.

Mitchel took the fall but DeRo. Hume, Onstad and a few others were way below their best.

Well said Gian-Luca

Keep preaching the gospel ANC2! (though I do think Hume had some good games as well as bad games)

[SF]

quote:Originally posted by ANC2

Sick and tired of DeRo moaning. Put your hand up DeRo! How was your performance in the qualifications. Canada had good prep. regardless of what DeRo says, you guys even played South Africa & Brazil before the first qualification games. Outside of that, from all accounts it was the players who voted not want to play at BIMO led by DeRo and the other seniors.

IMHO DeRo was one of Canada's worst players in the qualification. He played in his own words "favorite position" behind the striker and only found the net versus St Vincent. Saying that Canada played with one striker may be right because it was he who was responsible for supporting Gerba or Friend.. Excessive dribbling and poor final passes were his main consistency.

Mitchel took the fall but DeRo. Hume, Onstad and a few others were way below their best.

Well said Gian-Luca

I agree that Dwayne was not as his best during qualification and, yes, his first criticisms shoudl be directed inward. But, that should not diminish his central message. Preperation is more than a few games in the months leading up to your qualifying group. It needs to be a 2-4 year (or, in fact, perpetual you might say) process. That is certainly how the Americans approach the matter.

I would argue that the CSA should be beginning the process of 2014 qualification right now. Off the top of my head, the first steps might look something like the following.

1. Hire Stephen Hart as manager - or someone as manager. Hart looks good to me, though.

2. Commit to playing at least 6-8 friendlies in each of the next 2 years. Ideally at least 2 per year would be in Canada.

3. Start getting some new players into the team during these games. See what the young guys can do and, to the extent in makes sense, ease out some of the older players.

4. Perhaps a new captain? Not a criticism of Stalteri, simply another jesture toward 2014 when Paul may not be a first 11 player.

5. Set a goal of winning the 2011 Gold Cup.

6. Use that Gold Cup as a stepping stone toward 2012 qualification matches (which will be hard).

Anyway, just some thoughts.