2010 CONCACAF U20 Tournament

[turnit]

Sydney gave the Canadian system its chances and with the dual citzenship, has all the right in the world to play for either country. When Syd went to Arizona and told them she wanted to be on the National team, they laughed at her. She left home, family and friends and spent many a lonely year down in the states, because she wanted to play for them. We have trouble recognizing and rewarding talent here and we tend to switch alliances quickly. Obviously Sydney made the right choice for her and one player doesn't make a team. Good for her to recognize where her opportunities lie. How many of our girls are looking to play college careers in the States? Why? because we perceive it to be a higher level of soccer than the Canadian University system.

[Sam]

Calling for Morace's head is stupid. What did people expect when brining in a new coach with such a different philosophy? Women's football is changing, more people are taking notice and Canada can no longer get by on the basis of throwing some cash at and having some good athletes. They need quality soccer players and that is what Morace is making. The fact we are seeing Costa Rica, Mexico and others in CONCACAF start to compete is just a sign that if we had stayed with Pellarud for longer these sides would be miles ahead of us. Give Morace more time give her at least until the 2011 World Cup, and the 2012 Olympics. Within three years I am confident the women's program can start producing results that it never could during the end of Pellarud's tenure. Not qualifying for this tournament should act as a wake up call to Morace and her staff and players, not just at the youth level but at the senior level as well. The CONCACAF Gold Cup will be a big moment for Morace this year let's hope this acts as a reminder Canada doesn't have a god give right to be at every major tournament (remember we didn't qualify for an Olympics under Pellarud as well)!

[The Ref]

I hope too that this failure becomes a wake up call for Morace and her cohorts. This is not Italy and we speak English and French. She now has seen what the Concacaf opposition is all about, their style, their players and coaches. It is time to apply herself and get involved. Never thought she was an arm chair coach.

[Vic]

I forgot to mention a couple of players that impressed me. Julie Cassleman is a gamer. She has good game sense and plays the left with two good feet and gave a brilliant backspin chip in the semi to send Malette in alone on the keeper. Vanessa Legault-Cordisco battled the right side pretty well and brings a nice sense of French grit. Bryanna McCarthy can get up the park and turn on a dime with explosive power and strength and if someone can teach her to add the short ball and interplay to her skill set she'll have a good future. I also like Cynthia Leblanc and wish we could have given her a goal in one of those last two games to see her in a shootout.

if we had stayed with Pellarud for longer these sides would be miles ahead of us

Sam, I think we need to separate coaching and tactics. Had we played an intelligent direct game we would have been in Germany this Summer and those kids are wearing medals, and probably gold - you rarely get an American team that weak. U20 women's soccer is massively turnover-oriented. There is no slow methodical build-up and crafty interplay in the box. There are no Ronaldinho's or Marta's. The reason we were the best U20 program in CONCACAF since day one was because we were extremely direct.

Why did our women's team bomb out? If you listen to a lot of commentators it's outdated direct tactics, but they obviously haven't watched the Norwegians who are playing some great direct football these days. The reason our women tanked is no professional league, poor government assistance and a coach who had lost the plot. Our program failed, not the tactic.

All the top countries in women's soccer have professional leagues. They also have massive soccer infrastructures of professional clubs and coaches that women's soccer benefit from. The only exceptions are the Americans (who have a massive player pool and buy their way out) and the communist North Koreans and Chinese.

We don't have a soccer culture. We don't have thousands of professional youth coaches and kids who grow up getting dragged to pro games and listening to their parents talk about games on tv. Nobody dreams soccer. Kids don't play in the street. We also don't have the climate to make the game affordable. There are 50 countries in the world who will always have more skill than we do.

The answer is still direct football but simply playing it more intelligently and providing world class resources, including capable coaches who are on top of their game.

[Richard]

I think if this same group of players and coaches had played six international friendlies before the tournament the outcome would have been very different. Never mind perceived mistakes in player selection, strategy, tactics, direct ball or otherwise. This for the most part was a young group of players inexperienced on the international scene. The root problem is insufficient funding for the program.

[Vic]

I'm not sure if you're baiting me but I'll bite:

July 12 - USA U18

July 14 - USA U20

July 16 - USA U20

October 29 - Mexico

October 31 - Mexico

December 19 - NCAA

December 22 - NCAA

[Sam]

Vic - When I say get rid of long ball football, I don't mean get rid of it entirely. We just need to learn to play more than one way. The biggest example for me of when our girls looked completely inept was against Australia in the 2007 World Cup. Up 2-1 with five minutes left and they didn't know how to hold onto the ball! We need a coach who can teach them how to play with the ball, and if our biggest strength is still a direct style then so be it, but under Pellarud that was all we saw.

[navycyr]

It is truly sad that our Woman’s program has sunk to this level; but don’t blame the players; look at the coaches in the program.

Concacaf is a power on the world stage for woman. The USA is legit and makes its mark each and every time it competes in the World Cups; and now so will Mexico, deservedly so. Every association is making advances every year. The pace of progress is evident based on the results of the U20 Championship. Canada is a legitimate 4th in Concacaf at the junior level; not good enough to get to the world stage any longer. The U17 program will double stamp that when they attempt to qualify in March. Possession style soccer rules.......Period.

Clearly the players were not "technically" skilled or "tactically" aware in this game. Too many missed easy passes, end to end running with the ball from defenders when it is simply not required, lack of defensive awareness or transition knowledge throughout the middle. The decade of "kick and run" has created an incredible void in national calibre mid field players with any international experience. In the Pelerude system of play, mid fielders’ have always been thought of as front line defenders! That is simply not good enough any longer at the Concacaf level of soccer; this type of player needs to be our most all round skilled and knowledgeable player in order for the national team to succeed. You had to feel sorry for these players who clearly posses a great degree athletic capability but lack the simple logic of their action or the technical skill to maintain possession of the ball in small spaces.

Morace is the tip of the ice burg. It is too early to call in her ticket. With coaches like Bryan Rossenfeld still in charge at the U17 National level, what kind of player do you think he is selecting right now for the U17 Concacaf championships? Do you think he has any insight into “possession” soccer? Clearly he is selecting players who can run like track stars, can kick the ball the length of the field against the wind, slide tackle as their first defensive thought, and apply their shoulder when ever close on a 50/50 ball; every tactic that will create and advantage for the opponent on the international stage. Morace’s hands are tied.

Perhaps she picked a team consisting of ten 92's because that is her way of preparing for the U20 2012 Championships! If we are to improve between now and then, we can’t keep sending our players to 4 practices a week where all they do is kick balls under the direction of stale, uninspiring, inexperienced, unknowledgeable coaches. Where is the international “A” license at the NTC level? The NTC program needs to have new blood at the coaching level. Without it; we will sink deeper in 2012. It’s naive to think that just one head coach will make the difference……aim your guns at the president of your Provincial association; they are the apathetic slugs who are defending the status quo. Much like the “fat cat” bankers we have all become familiar with in the past year. Get rid of them and we will get rid of the coaches!

Don't blame Morace ! It will take some years before getting results. Whole structure has to be reviewed. Kick and run soccer era is over ! Lets turn to possession style soccer and to skilled players instead of more athletic players but with lesser soccer abilities.

I also agree with you about the U17 girls team. For one, the best striker in this country (to my opinion and I am not one of her relatives or coaches) with 56 goals in 35 games in the provincial elite league (in the last two years) and 9 goals in this year U16 national championship (including 5 in the final game), that girl has not even been looked at and invited to one of the national camps. None of the girls that won this year final has been invited to the camps altough showing great technical and ball control skills proving those are not important selection criteria.

It will take new people involved at lower levels for a new philosophy of soccer to emerge. Let's get rid of the dinausors of canadian soccer !

[donincanada]

I think our women's game has been going downhill for a few years. I have noticed at tryouts for Provincial teams that the strategy of the coaches seems to be to pick the tallest and biggest girls, disregarding smaller more skilled and technically superior girls. It would seem that they think they can teach the skills and technique to the big girls, whereas of course you can't teach the smaller girls to grow taller. Unfortunately, a lot of the skills that some of the smaller (average size) girls have is natural, God-given talent, and sometimes you just can't teach that to others. Soccer has always been a small mans game, and I suspect it is the same for the womens game. The teams that do well are the ones that move the ball around and only use the long ball when it presents itself, whereas Canada uses the long ball all of the time because a) we can't move the ball as well and we believe that our taller girls can win the balls. Not to say that tall players aren't or can't be good, just that they need skill and technique first. If I were the coach I would pick the team based on skills, technical play, full-field vision, guts and determination. Just my two cents, and we do have a lot of good players on our team, just that maybe we could have had a few better ones had we chosen a different path.

[kj52]

It is truly sad that our Woman’s program has sunk to this level; but don’t blame the players; look at the coaches in the program.

Concacaf is a power on the world stage for woman. The USA is legit and makes its mark each and every time it competes in the World Cups; and now so will Mexico, deservedly so. Every association is making advances every year. The pace of progress is evident based on the results of the U20 Championship. Canada is a legitimate 4th in Concacaf at the junior level; not good enough to get to the world stage any longer. The U17 program will double stamp that when they attempt to qualify in March. Possession style soccer rules.......Period.

Clearly the players were not "technically" skilled or "tactically" aware in this game. Too many missed easy passes, end to end running with the ball from defenders when it is simply not required, lack of defensive awareness or transition knowledge throughout the middle. The decade of "kick and run" has created an incredible void in national calibre mid field players with any international experience. In the Pelerude system of play, mid fielders’ have always been thought of as front line defenders! That is simply not good enough any longer at the Concacaf level of soccer; this type of player needs to be our most all round skilled and knowledgeable player in order for the national team to succeed. You had to feel sorry for these players who clearly posses a great degree athletic capability but lack the simple logic of their action or the technical skill to maintain possession of the ball in small spaces.

Morace is the tip of the ice burg. It is too early to call in her ticket. With coaches like Bryan Rossenfeld still in charge at the U17 National level, what kind of player do you think he is selecting right now for the U17 Concacaf championships? Do you think he has any insight into “possession” soccer? Clearly he is selecting players who can run like track stars, can kick the ball the length of the field against the wind, slide tackle as their first defensive thought, and apply their shoulder when ever close on a 50/50 ball; every tactic that will create and advantage for the opponent on the international stage. Morace’s hands are tied.

Perhaps she picked a team consisting of ten 92's because that is her way of preparing for the U20 2012 Championships! If we are to improve between now and then, we can’t keep sending our players to 4 practices a week where all they do is kick balls under the direction of stale, uninspiring, inexperienced, unknowledgeable coaches. Where is the international “A” license at the NTC level? The NTC program needs to have new blood at the coaching level. Without it; we will sink deeper in 2012. It’s naive to think that just one head coach will make the difference……aim your guns at the president of your Provincial association; they are the apathetic slugs who are defending the status quo. Much like the “fat cat” bankers we have all become familiar with in the past year. Get rid of them and we will get rid of the coaches!

Just a small quibble Thruball - there were 7 92's on the squad and pretty much even split between 91's and 90's. In my opinion there are better 90's and 91's in the player pool, however it's possible school commitments may have eliminated some of these players. It's too bad though since it's never good for any development program to not play in international tournaments. I agree Morace is still feeling her way here. I disagree with the implication that all we have are coaches who are "stale, uninspiring, etc." I personally know and have seen several high level coaches work in Alberta who I would suggest do not fit that profile at all - in fact who insist on possession football, building from the back, etc. etc. Unfortunately the other kind do exist just as you describe them.

[Guest footyfan]

I am afraid that Vic's and your lessons are lost on me. First of all, I think having Chelsea Stewart on the team is a mistake; I don't want to have Canada spend its limited resources on players who are also in the US national team pool. And I have made it clear that Sidney Leroux is nothing but an opportunist who has spit on our flag.

I have no inclination to cheer on anybody who jumps from our national team to another. To hell with them.

Ed, just curious if your opinion of Sydney would change if you knew that it was the canadian program under Pellerud and Bridge who turned their backs on Sydney, (at the U19's in Thailand) thereby allowing the US to be her only other option...she didn't spit on the flag...from everything I have heard (her former youth coaches at the club level) our national program turned their back on her.

[Vic]

I'll buy that Sam.

We did panic in that game but there were a few other things that didn't help...marking De Vanna on a tear is weeks work at the best of times and I really felt for Swiatek coming in cold, and that burnt a sub we really needed.

The majority of the forwards in the U17 camp are from Quebec, so there's definitely something serious going on there. And the guy responsible for the scouting brought us to a World Cup final and consecutive CONCACAF finals. It's ok to think differently but it's pretty tough to argue with those qualifications.

[Vic]

Women’s U20 failure unacceptable

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/james-on-soccer/womens-u20-failure-unacceptable/article1451989/

[ThruBall]

Navycyr;

I agree with our points. The priority of player skill selection in our Provincial system is very limited. Athletic ability and competitive aggression are weighted well above the list of skills players are taught and practiced in the world’s soccer nations. But it is a "cop out" to feel we, as a soccer culture, cannot get there. I've heard that excuse to often. Your striker has the skill and likely didn't go outside of Canada or Quebec to acquire it.

Change is inevitable in Canada. The only uncertainty is the timing. The CSA and the Provincial Associations are facing the biggest crisis they have ever faced yet likely are not even aware - Obsolescence. When the game played here becomes so vastly different than the game played in other places of the world, why waste your time or resources?

I feel for your striker. I'm sure she would love to play for her country. But she is ahead of her time, along with many others who are in the same position.

Kj52;

Morace took 3 additional players along with the 20 roster for Concacaf. These players were 92's. They were included as part of the build up to the roster submission.

I'm glad your Coaching experience in Alberta has some positive spots! Here in Ontario, the OSA has 7 Player Development Regions, staffed by coaches all reporting to BR. 5 of those coaches have been in place almost as long as BR who himself has held the position almost as long as the Pellerud era. Jim Canovan, who just resigned in November 2009 has been the Director of Technical for almost 2 decades. Canovan couldn't even spell "futsal" let along understand the advantaged of integrating the sport into the Provincial Development system; sad. The current Player Development coaching staffs have not upgraded their coaching accreditations on an international level since joining the OSA. How incredible is that? Any professional who decides to NOT continue with their professional development cannot be counted as a professional. However the OSA as endorsed this kind of apathy among their coaches, continues to fund them, and out right supports how they go about their day to day programs. BR, the Manager of Player Development and the current CSA U17 Woman’s coach has nary an international accreditation. If you saw the CBS special in 2008 featuring "Death's", BR's self proclaimed nick name, you would have seen his level of professionalism i.e. swearing, berating, humiliating, yelling at the women players. None of these skills are taught anywhere on any professional level, let alone in acquiring an "A" level federation license, except here in Canada. The closes the documentary was able to get to BR's technical insights was during an interview where he proudly described why he had enrolled his roster in "kick boxing" classes! Apparently this was being offered as an inventive insight towards "cross training" in order improve his charges soccer capabilities!

I believe in placing the blame for the U20 Woman’s performance squarely on the shoulders of where it belongs; at least from an Ontario perspective.....that would be Guy Bradbury, CEO of the OSA for his apathetic and irresponsible execution of the responsibilities of his offices!

I find it hard to blame Morace for this! I believe she has a good handle on the depth of the problem and my hat goes off to her for NOT ducking with respect to the U20’s. She captained the ship in full view of the on coming storm. My contempt is aimed at people who can help the most but are not…that is our associations.

[Guest Ed]

Ed, just curious if your opinion of Sydney would change if you knew that it was the canadian program under Pellerud and Bridge who turned their backs on Sydney, (at the U19's in Thailand) thereby allowing the US to be her only other option...she didn't spit on the flag...from everything I have heard (her former youth coaches at the club level) our national program turned their back on her.

She was by far the youngest player on the Cdn team in Thailand, and, despite that, was a sub in 2 of the 3 group matches, kept out of the 3-3 draw with Germany, our toughest group match. We then went down to China in the quarters, reduced to 10 players one minute in. Neither situation was ideal to throw in a girl 4-5 years younger than most of our starters. How exactly was she snubbed so horribly that she joined our greatest rivals? I don't buy that argument one bit.

[The Ref]

Thank you for posting that Vic. But really, Paul James is dead in the water. He is not saying anything we all already know, I feel sorry for the guy. Another has been. To advocate Bob Birarda as somebody who the CSA should have given the U20 reveals Mr. James is way out of touch. As we all also know that Mr. Birarda was fired by the CSA for never disclosed reasons but that we all suspect, and the team given to Ian Bridge before the WC in 2008.

I also liked Casselman, Vic. I think she provided a lot of good stuff.

[Vic]

I'm with you there Ed, and Ref I think you might have read that quickly - James never mentioned bringing Birarda in (I also seem to remember he was brought into the program sometime after Birarda left). I believe what he's saying is that it takes time to get the hang of new things. He mentioned CONCACAF but there is also age. If you ask any youth coaches who have switched age brackets they'll tell you that it takes them at least a few years to master the age difference in understanding and handling the players intelligence and psychology.

[Guest footyfan]

She was by far the youngest player on the Cdn team in Thailand, and, despite that, was a sub in 2 of the 3 group matches, kept out of the 3-3 draw with Germany, our toughest group match. We then went down to China in the quarters, reduced to 10 players one minute in. Neither situation was ideal to throw in a girl 4-5 years younger than most of our starters. How exactly was she snubbed so horribly that she joined our greatest rivals? I don't buy that argument one bit.

Ed, from the information I received, there were personal conflicts with the team staff (which can happen when someone so young is put into that environment) that had her sent home early and told not to return. This point of view may be one sided but it comes from pretty close to the source and I am inclined to believe it. Presented with this scenario I have to admire Sydney for making her way into the US program..she is a determined player who left long time friends and family for a chance to succeed on the national stage...and her choice was our canadian program first but, due to the mistakes one makes when they are young and the pride involved with one's ego at the higher levels, that didn't work out and looked like it was never going to work out. From what I understand, she didn't jump ship, she was let go and chose to set sail on another ship.

We can argue this all we like but I am curious if, given this situation, your opinion might be a little different.

[turbo]

I think if this same group of players and coaches had played six international friendlies before the tournament the outcome would have been very different. Never mind perceived mistakes in player selection, strategy, tactics, direct ball or otherwise. This for the most part was a young group of players inexperienced on the international scene. The root problem is insufficient funding for the program.

Why was this group of player inexperieced and young? We have a pool of more than 30 available players with international and world cup experience. The U-17 world cup quarter-finalist and the 1990's U-20 CONCACAF champions. that's the coach decision. It's not because we have a new coach and a new system that we have to start from scratch and discard everything that was done before. There are some very good word class potential player from those 2 teams that did not get a chance to perform. I like beautiful soccer also and the canadian team that perfomed last week did not play good soccer, they were outplayed by minor teams like Guatemala and Cuba.

This is big time failure only 5 of the 7 players with international experience played the games. I understand that we want to develop younger players but not at the expense of the players that are already qualified to do the job. Most of the 2008 teams players are now playing in NCAA and are doing very well. I believe it would have been very easy to qualified and compete for the gold with those playes. Canada games soccer is way below the international level.

I am sorry but the coaching staff has to take the blame for this one. A bunch of inexperience coaches should not rely on inexperience players went they are under-budget and have 6 months and 3 camps for preparation.

I am sure they will learn from there mistake but it's too late for the 2008 youth world cup players. Probably the best crop of canadian female player since 2003.

http://www.canadasoccer.com/tourney/FIFA_U17WWC/FU17WWC_2008roster.asp

http://www.canadasoccer.com/tourney/FIFA_U20WWC/FU20WWC_2008roster.asp?

[Vic]

A bit of trivia... Watching Christine Nairn coax it in that first free kick with body English makes it a great clip. And Victoria DiMartino who scores one in the middle has two Sisters who play in the WPS and that great shot she takes is with her weak foot.

[Jon Que]

If Canada had 5 or 6 international friendlies (so that Morace could see which players perform well under pressure and also the team could gel a little bit) they probably would of at least qualified. If they had all those experienced U17's and U20's then they very well could of been playing for a gold, but Morace (and some Canadian fans) don't want to win that way. Like the Dutch they would rather be beautiful losers than win ugly (Actually I would say we were ugly losers this time around).

[Soccerpro]

Wow a lot of keepers just get flat out chipped in this age group of womens soccer....

[Jon Que]

Ed, from the information I received, there were personal conflicts with the team staff (which can happen when someone so young is put into that environment) that had her sent home early and told not to return. This point of view may be one sided but it comes from pretty close to the source and I am inclined to believe it. Presented with this scenario I have to admire Sydney for making her way into the US program..she is a determined player who left long time friends and family for a chance to succeed on the national stage...and her choice was our canadian program first but, due to the mistakes one makes when they are young and the pride involved with one's ego at the higher levels, that didn't work out and looked like it was never going to work out. From what I understand, she didn't jump ship, she was let go and chose to set sail on another ship.

We can argue this all we like but I am curious if, given this situation, your opinion might be a little different.

So you are saying because of a conflict with Canadian staff due to her ego and pride she walked away from the Canadian program. You are not really helping your case here. She was 14 (I believe). Did she expect to start at an under 20 tournament?

[Vic]

If Canada had 5 or 6 international friendlies (so that Morace could see which players perform well under pressure and also the team could gel a little bit) they probably would of at least qualified.

Morace was actually given a pretty good preparation cycle by CSA standards:

July 12 - USA U18

July 14 - USA U20

July 16 - USA U20

October 29 - Mexico

October 31 - Mexico

December 19 - NCAA

December 22 - NCAA

All of those games were out of the country.

And as someone mentioned earlier in the thread, and one of the reasons Ian Bridge resigned, our U17's play their identical CONCACAF tournament in a month and have never left Canadian soil or been given A SINGLE INTERNATIONAL GAME. The total caps of all the girls added together is 1.

[lolo3000]

Hey Im new to this forum. But I have been keeping up with this forum and I know Sydney Leroux very well. I played with her starting at 8 years old. You all have great imaginations on why Sydney left for the USA.

The truth be told. She left because she could. She didn't have any problems with Pellerud, or Bridge. She rather liked them. But when she was 10 years old her dream was to go play for the USA cause they were the

best team in the World and that was her dream. She loves Canada but who wouldn't leave to play for the USA if they had a chance to make that squad? She never got cut, she never got snubbed and if she was still

here she would be welcome to play for team Canada. You don't see the USA putting Chelse Stewart down for changing countries. Just be happy for someone that is doing so well. I hear she is playing with the Whitecaps

this summer if the National Team allows her too. I'm sure you will love to see her scoring goals for the Whitecaps or are you going to throw popcorn at her? I know I will enjoy watching or playing with her again..

peace!!