Soju Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 Unfortunately we dont have the firepower because our build up play is good the problem is the finishing touch. It has always been our achilees heel. We need a quality striker since teams usually double up on dero and friend isnt consistent with us. Ali is a good option but against a high quality defence like US or Mexico he is ineffective. Even against Honduras in the last Gold cup semis he was shut down Sorry what are you basing this on? Gerba tore Mexico a new one in Edmonton, cracking goal and assist for Radz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 Sorry what are you basing this on? Gerba tore Mexico a new one in Edmonton, cracking goal and assist for Radz. True, but if Ali was that dominant against top defenders he wouldn't be playing in the NASL. He has had some excellent performance for us but overall he's still an average player and his club career, which is probably the best reference point, seems to indicate that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derofan Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Gerba has not been with our NA team for a while now and the last match i saw against honduras in that 1-0 loss he did squat. I agree he is a good player but he needs the perfect delivery just like friend does. We need a true goal scorer who can carry distribute and score all together Sorry what are you basing this on? Gerba tore Mexico a new one in Edmonton, cracking goal and assist for Radz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Gerba has not been with our NA team for a while now and the last match i saw against honduras in that 1-0 loss he did squat. I agree he is a good player but he needs the perfect delivery just like friend does. We need a true goal scorer who can carry distribute and score all together One game. That's what you're basing your opinion on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derofan Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Not only one game its a fact Ali is good but he plays in a a lower league he got kicked off the Toronto FC team if he really was glorious as we all think then he would still be there along with Dero and JDG. Dont get me wrong i like ali i think he has quality but i dont think he is our solution to the problem. I would give Ucello and Ricketts more of a try up front to see what happens. If hart can find some new talent that would help our situation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tuscan Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 So... back to talking about the Hex now. We really need to play some brutal friendlies on our road to making the Hex - Panama in Panama, Costa Rica in Costa Rica, T&T in T&T, Mexico in Mexico... you get my drift. The boys need to find a comfort level in these places so when they come up against it, it won't have such a mental effect on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Not only one game its a fact Ali is good but he plays in a a lower league he got kicked off the Toronto FC team if he really was glorious as we all think then he would still be there along with Dero and JDG. Dont get me wrong i like ali i think he has quality but i dont think he is our solution to the problem. I would give Ucello and Ricketts more of a try up front to see what happens. If hart can find some new talent that would help our situation Playing in a lower level league never stopped him from scoring for us before. Sometimes players rise to the occassion and play beyond what their club form dictates, other times players play below their club level. Ali is an overachiever and his track record with Canada dictates he deserves to be playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted March 31, 2011 Author Share Posted March 31, 2011 29 caps 15 goals, we are talking about a guy who is the most Consistent canadian scorer of ALL TIME and if we give him the chance at the pace he's on he is set to smash Mitchell's record. RE: Uccello and Ricketts, you can't say that Gerba isn't at a high enough level and then call on those guys and yes I know Ricketts is on a good club but he isn't a starter. Here's what I think, for our next match Gerba is the starter up top if he's in the squad.. 14 goals are vs. CONCACAF sides btw. If he isn't up to task then on to the next one, but I'm guessing he will be up to the task and you've gotta think Hart loves the guy and as others have said fits into his system.. remember this isn't about picking our best 11 players, its about picking our best team... Gerba is built for that role up top more than any other Canadian. Other facts you may want to know: - Gerba scored SIX of our 13 goals during the last WCQ (his only cycle), Bunbury is the all time leader with 11 over 2 cycles - An impressive 12 of his 15 international goals have come in official competitions (as mentioned 14 vs. CONCACAF teams) - Gerba is our all time leader in Gold Cup goals with 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonovision Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 A lot of commenters like to write off Gerba's accomplishments because he managed to score a number of goals against minnows. I took a look at this on my blog last year: Gerbage goals The long and short of it is, yes, of course, he scored more against weak teams. But that's what international strikers do. Take a look at any big European goal scorer with a big fat total and you'll see a bunch of goals against the likes of Andorra, Estonia, Malta, and the like. Ali has scored his share against so-called minnows (4 against Guatemala, 4 against SVG, one against Guadeloupe). But he also has a strike rate of 0.35 goals/game in matches against opponents ranked higher than Canada (at the time the match was played). That strike rate against higher-ranked opponents is better than any other Canadian player's strike rate against all opponents, by far. Impressively, he scored against Mexico both home and away in the last WCQ. In my opinion, Ali Gerba has earned the right to lose the job. That is, he should get called until he proves he CAN'T score against international competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 ^ What this guy said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyola Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 A lot of commenters like to write off Gerba's accomplishments because he managed to score a number of goals against minnows. I took a look at this on my blog last year: Gerbage goals The long and short of it is, yes, of course, he scored more against weak teams. But that's what international strikers do. Take a look at any big European goal scorer with a big fat total and you'll see a bunch of goals against the likes of Andorra, Estonia, Malta, and the like. Ali has scored his share against so-called minnows (4 against Guatemala, 4 against SVG, one against Guadeloupe). But he also has a strike rate of 0.35 goals/game in matches against opponents ranked higher than Canada (at the time the match was played). That strike rate against higher-ranked opponents is better than any other Canadian player's strike rate against all opponents, by far. Impressively, he scored against Mexico both home and away in the last WCQ. In my opinion, Ali Gerba has earned the right to lose the job. That is, he should get called until he proves he CAN'T score against international competition. I don't think commenters are writing off Gerba track record. I think we are putting the numbers in perspective. I've always said that his goalscoring record is the best among active players but the numbers are inflated because of those 6 goals against SVG and Guatemala B squad in a friendly Guatemala challenged it wasn't an official one. Even if you take those goals away he has a solid case for himself. Youa re right that others players around the world scores against minnows but you might want a ask the managers if those goals means much for them. If Rob Friend didn't injured himself after 7 min away in the SVG first leg I'm pretty sure we would still gave them a 3 or 4 nil game. We are always going to score those goals against weak opposition and it doesn't matter who plays up front IMO. The real measure is against CONCACAF teams like Jamaica, Honduras, CR, etc, where the goals are harder to find, specially in WCQ. Of course, he's still our most successfull against such teams but the numbers are less impressive. I still think Gerba deserves a look but the level of competition he's facing should be a concern because it's the weakest for him since he left the A-league. Like jpg75 it might not impact his play at all and didn't in the past but when he was scoring for us he was playing at a better level than the USSF D2 IMO. Anyways, SH should call him again pre-GC time and I hope this time Ali accepts the call because MTL season isn't that important this year (sorry Impact fans ). PS: I just took a look at Dale Mitchell 19 goals with Canada MNT and none of those were against weak teams like SVG and at one point DM was 19 goals in 42 games for us. He didn't scored in his last 13 games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgar Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Assuming they use the May 2011 rankings, zero. We are currently looking at being in 8th in May, far behind 6th-place Cuba, but both El Salvador and Grenada are very close behind. We are probably going to be somewhere between 8th and 10th. Actually you're more like 7th - so close. 2014 World Cup seeding for CONCACAF teams (1 April 2011). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Thanks for the update Edgar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tuscan Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Interesting. Is there no way we can surpass Panama for 6th before then? I mean obviously if we beat Ecuador at BMO surely that would give us a points boost. Still, is it even a possibility? Do we even want to be 6th right now? Is the reasoning that we would play more games even if they are against a minnow a reason to not overtake Panama? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianW Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 The game against Ecuador is too late to be used for the May 2011 calculations and Panama doesn't have any games scheduled before the Gold Cup, so that won't be changing. I suppose if we played and won a few games against some minnows in the next few weeks it might put us above them. If the July 2011 rankings are used we can still move up quite a bit if we win some games in the Gold Cup (especially the one against the US). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdroze Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Interesting. Is there no way we can surpass Panama for 6th before then? I mean obviously if we beat Ecuador at BMO surely that would give us a points boost. Still, is it even a possibility? Do we even want to be 6th right now? Is the reasoning that we would play more games even if they are against a minnow a reason to not overtake Panama? It's unlikely any more friendlies will be scheduled before May 12, so for the May rankings we're almost certainly 7th. For the July rankings, it's all up in the air. There are a lot of points available in the Gold Cup, and this tournament will have a huge impact on our ranking. If we were to win every game and the whole tournament, we could probably make it as high as 3rd for the July rankings. The scenario I'm scared about is if we win against Guadeloupe but then lose every other game, we will probably end up in 16th; not good if WCQ seeding uses the July rankings! Me, I'd definitely prefer to be able to play the extra group stage against the minnows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSoccerFan Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 I think a lot of you are missing the point with respect to being top 6. The advantage of being top 6 is not the bye. It's being in the B pot for the semi-final group stage draw. That is what really matters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted April 1, 2011 Author Share Posted April 1, 2011 I think a lot of you are missing the point with respect to being top 6. The advantage of being top 6 is not the bye. It's being in the B pot for the semi-final group stage draw. That is what really matters. If we aren't in the top 6 that means other teams that we consider inferior are and they could be drawn into our group it works both ways so I'm not too worried about that I'd welcome the extra games Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSoccerFan Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 If we aren't in the top 6 that means other teams that we consider inferior are and they could be drawn into our group it works both ways so I'm not too worried about that I'd welcome the extra games That's a very loose way of looking at things. After the last two groups of death I will never take such a lackadaisical view of the draw. Mathematically, the chances of a difficult group are immensely higher if we're in the C pot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayhoo62 Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Not sure what to think of this, from Gerry Dobson's Twitter: "I'm hearing we're still a month away from learning about #WCQ procedure in #Concacaf. GD" Any speculation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derofan Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 Why does fifa put qualifying dates during the week. Especially for Canada where we could use all the support we get FIFA puts the 2011 qualifying dates on Friday and Tuesday nights go figure! who will attend during the week? At least if one date would be on a saturday or sunday. I hope these dates change.. Also where would we be able to find the official dates for the wcq FIRST ROUND phase PRELIMINARY - 2011 June 3 June 7 FIRST ROUND - 2011 September 2 September 6 October 7 October 11 November 11 November 15 SECOND ROUND - 2012 June 8 June 12 September 7 September 11 October 12 October 16 THIRD ROUND - 2013 February 6 March 22 March 26 June 7 June 11 June 18 September 6 September 10 October 11 October 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSoccerFan Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 Why does fifa put qualifying dates during the week. Especially for Canada where we could use all the support we get FIFA puts the 2011 qualifying dates on Friday and Tuesday nights go figure! who will attend during the week? At least if one date would be on a saturday or sunday. I hope these dates change.. FIFA buckled to complaints from clubs about players returning late from international duty so they moved the dates back a day. Teams can still opt to play on saturday if they want but it leaves only two rest days before the Tuesday game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSoccerFan Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Edgar has another projection up on his site. He assumes we would finish 12th in the July rankings with assumptions made for results in upcoming matches. http://www.football-rankings.info/2011/04/2014-fifa-world-cup-probable-seeding_08.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tuscan Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 After a win against Belarus we would fall out of the top 10?? I don't get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSoccerFan Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 After a win against Belarus we would fall out of the top 10?? I don't get it. Our 2007 gold cup results get removed from the ranking calculation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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