Canada - Ecuador Game Thread [R]

[foreverthursday]

SUCK IT ECUADOR! SUCK HARD AND SUCK IT LONG! YOU SUCK YOU FLOPPING DIVERS AND WE GOT OURS!

Every time I turned from the Vancouver game one of those pussies from Ecuador was squirming on the pitch eating time like a cheating b*tch.

[guppy]

If Johnson had put away that gimmee it might have been much more easy to watch. I don't know what he was thinking there, he shot so far off to the side (where the keeper actually was), it looked like he was kicking a mini-cross rather than putting it in the open net.. I'm still not sure he wasn't passing it.

[phil7777]

Great game - but overall we can see that technically, we have work to do in order to compete with south american teams.

To the Ecuador team: you wanna play the diving game, then suck it in.

To Toronto: Shame on you. This was actually a worste turnout than the MTL Honduras WCQ. There was yellow everywhere. I don't understand, you have twice the MTL population and no political issues... WTF???

Man of the game: Josh Simpson.

[Lord Bob]

Honestly, the way Ecuador was playing, if Johnson had scored they probably would have got three. They made the imbecilic mistake of letting Canada do as they wished with the ball in the first two-thirds of the pitch after they went up. It's imbecilic because Canada, while mediocre, isn't actually a terrible soccer team. Eventually they're going to take advantage of that; had De Rosario finished that great chance or Friend been more assertive, it would have been sooner.

[loyola]

Good heads up play from JDG but he was poor in the defensive side of midfield. I think I would start Dunfield ahead of him against the US. The Dunfield-Atiba midfield duo was pretty solid in that first half.

I'm really worried about our center back. Mckenna and Hainault are too slow and if they now get beat on headers by the smallest Ecuadorian not named Plata we are in big trouble.

Simpson was solid and I liked DeRo too but in was invisible at some point.

As for Borjan, he's good, his kicking is far much superior to Lars in term of putting the ball out of danger. Maybe he did put some in no man's land but that no man's land wasn't 40-45 yards away from our goal. I think he could've come out on the CK but it seems like this was on the defender head(Mckenna).

I don't want to read too much with that crazy ending, good we got to benefit from it but it probably won't happen ever again for us...

[RamR]

If Johnson had put away that gimmee it might have been much more easy to watch. I don't know what he was thinking there, he shot so far off to the side (where the keeper actually was), it looked like he was kicking a mini-cross rather than putting it in the open net.. I'm still not sure he wasn't passing it.

This is the key to how the match unfolded (and so sadly often does)... putting the opponents away when you got them on the back foot is so critical.

[guppy]

They'll come out to watch lowly TFC but not this, which is levels higher. Figure that one out.

[Scottie]

They'll come out to watch lowly TFC but not this, which is levels higher. Figure that one out.

This.

[ThiKu]

I can't believe I was unable to watch this! 2-2. I'll take it, gladly! Nice pickup of FIFA points.

[The Ref]

I don't think I will ever understand what does the coach see in Friend.

[phil7777]

Another observation: we need to develop the killer instinct. Johnson and DeRo both missed insane chances. Also, in order to get more creativity, Canadian players should move alot more (without the ball that is). Passes are too predictable.

On the good side, the CMNT did not have much practice, as opposed to the Ecuadorians.

[Olgier]

2-2 ? Ill take it with a smile.

Cons : Way too many yellow shirts in the stands.

[Ruud]

Wow - what a finish - and hey, decent game overall, given the limited time they've had to play together recently.

Simpson and Atiba heads and shoulders above the rest. Atiba plays so well, even though he seems indifferent on the pitch. But he looks that way with PSV too. Then Borjan and Jackson, and DeRo who picked it up in the second half to his credit. Dunfield falls into the second group.

Rest of the team needs work. Particularly Johnson and DeJong and JDG. I found that DeJong often made the wrong decision shoot/pass/run, and the defense looked shakey at all times. Several rushed passes. As for Johnson, he was over his head today. Can't complain about the effort, but otherwise...? As DeGuz??? He's a shadow of his former self at the present time. Not sure why.

Credit the the Ecuadoreans, who looked dangerous, and made great passes. They will kick themselves for playing a bit stupidly in the last quarter of the game.

Dobson/Forrest - no mention of any other footballers watching the game? Forrest and Dobson have to stop whining about time wasting etc. This is normal - and they don't go on about it in the Premiership when it happens.

[Scottie]

It will be nice to see what this side can do after training together for a week. We have a lot of talent as we saw tonight, and hopefully with some more time to gel they can work on the tactical side of things. I found the passing and first touches to be a little awkward tonight, but that should sort itself out after a few more training sessions. Hutch and Simpson have to be the focal point of our team as they seem to be way more confident on the ball. Also, Jackson had a pretty nice shot on goal from outside the box in the first half, which made me think, when was the last time Friend kicked a ball towards goal for us? I honestly can't remember.

[munseahawk]

After those 2 quick goals by Ecuador, I'll take a 2-2 draw. However, I still think that Canada let a couple clear chances fall by the wayside.

I did some quick calculations and it looks like Canada just picked up 127-128 ranking points with the draw.

[Loud Mouth Soup]

That was in Toronto? Colour me shocked. Or yellow, as that seems to be the new national kit colour.

It's my country, so I'll never stop cheering for them. But if this is the best we've ever had, it's hard to figure how anyone has come to that conclusion as it's the same old, same old.

No attitude to want to boss the game.

Passing like a pinball game, hesitation on the ball, afraid to attack the opposition defense.

The entire team backing off when the opposition has the ball.

Passing to no one in particular, hoping someone sees it and will run to it.

I could go on, but why? Change the coach, change the players, change the CSA...we always seem to be the same.

For a bunch of players in some of the top leagues around the world, how do they continue to play like lesser players when they come together for their country?

Sigh.

[BearcatSA]

Watching this match made me realize how important Simpson has become to our side. He's dangerous and has to be game planned against with extra defenders on the flank.

[tmcmurph]

Way to steal one boys! That'll teach them to pay attention and stop whining at the ref.

As to the game well it was the old good, bad and ugly.

The good: we scored 2 against a south american team, tied the game in injury time, never gave up, dribbled like aces, had some big saves from our keeper.

The bad: we missed an open net, defense got burned a lot, bad back passes in our third, poor marking on their first goal

The ugly: we still have lousy first touch. That was very evident from the difference between theirs and ours.

We have a week until the Gold Cup starts so we have some time to gel as a team. Dunfield for MOTM? No not quite. The one player who we had who gave them fits all the time was obvious. Simpson was clearly MOTM so what were the announcers picking from? He scored and played 45 he must be it. Duh, like even a kid could see who our best player was by a mile.

[nolando]

Good heads up play from JDG but he was poor in the defensive side of midfield. I think I would start Dunfield ahead of him against the US. The Dunfield-Atiba midfield duo was pretty solid in that first half.

I'm really worried about our center back. Mckenna and Hainault are too slow and if they now get beat on headers by the smallest Ecuadorian not named Plata we are in big trouble.

Simpson was solid and I liked DeRo too but in was invisible at some point.

As for Borjan, he's good, his kicking is far much superior to Lars in term of putting the ball out of danger. Maybe he did put some in no man's land but that no man's land wasn't 40-45 yards away from our goal. I think he could've come out on the CK but it seems like this was on the defender head(Mckenna).

I don't want to read too much with that crazy ending, good we got to benefit from it but it probably won't happen ever again for us...

Good points all around, loyola. The CBs were shocking really, and not only in the air. McKenna got beaten badly on the ground a number of times. Also a lot of errant passes between defense and midfield. Very worrisome. This still looks like a team that will lose most key games against similar opposition to Ecuador (Honduras, Costa Rica) and not have a chance in hell come WCQ vs the US or Mexico.

I was happy to see Simeon up front, but he's not a lone striker. Simpson benefited from being able to to be more flexible, switching duties with Jackson a couple of time. This obviously isn't possible with Friend, who showed again how useless he is in this mix.

Ledgerwood was OK but really looks like a third-tier player skill-wise.We could really use big upgrade there. I think Klukowski would have offered more to this match than de Jong, bit is he in match shape? And then what about corners?

I think the Dunfield vs JDG argument has been soundly decided. What a change in career paths. That's the crack on goal we have been sorely needing for years from a central mid - god knows Hutch will rarely fire them off and Julia's strikes of old are fading memories.

Borjan was all right but doesn't have me taking down my Craig Forrest posters just yet.

The starting lineup is way blurrier than ever, I think. Would have liked to have seen more of Ricketts. Hope this isn't his first and last Canada goal.

I personally loved seeing Canada get a cheap goal for once. Now start time wasting and drawing fouls too. The Hainault incident is a perfect example where a proud and respectful Canadian won't get the free kick and in fact might even booked if he doesn't make a meal out of a hard foul against him like on that play. The CONCACAF opponents surely will capitalize on those if we are too stupid to do the obvious thing.

A mess - but an entertaining mess. Wish we had one more tune-up to sort things out. Oh well, onward and upward.

[TFCRegina]

We were much better out there today.

Borjan was alright, didn't have much hope on the 2nd one. 1st one I thought he needed to be better.

2nd goal...I blame JDG, he was jogging his lacksadasial ass back and didn't appropriately challenge the goalscorer. It's as simple as that. Subbing Dunfield out was a game changer if you ask me. Dunfield had the grit and vision required to play his position. JDG looked like a lazy ass out there.

We should have won.

And my boy Ricketts got a goal!

Anyway, we should have called JBB instead of JDG.

[TFCRegina]

Way to steal one boys! That'll teach them to pay attention and stop whining at the ref.

As to the game well it was the old good, bad and ugly.

The good: we scored 2 against a south american team, tied the game in injury time, never gave up, dribbled like aces, had some big saves from our keeper.

The bad: we missed an open net, defense got burned a lot, bad back passes in our third, poor marking on their first goal

The ugly: we still have lousy first touch. That was very evident from the difference between theirs and ours.

We have a week until the Gold Cup starts so we have some time to gel as a team. Dunfield for MOTM? No not quite. The one player who we had who gave them fits all the time was obvious. Simpson was clearly MOTM so what were the announcers picking from? He scored and played 45 he must be it. Duh, like even a kid could see who our best player was by a mile.

Yep, Simpson was easily the best guy out there although there is a case for Dunfield. Once he was out and JDG was in, Canada went south quickly. JDG shouldn't be getting any more callups.

I guess this is what Paul James was talking about. The right characters. JDG looked friggen lazy out there.

[Ruud]

Agreed- like in Montreal v Honduras - Dunfield is the real deal. He shouts and has intensity - really wants the ball.

Did anyone notice the free kick that happened late - Deguz holds the ball, and DeRO walks up and takes it from him?

No love lost between these two? Anyone see anything?

[shawn_strat]

Just wondering, there are very few Ecuadorians in Montreal. Wouldn't we have had a better home crowd here? For sure I would never want to see us play El Salvador, Honduras, Lebanon, Algeria, etc... here, but Ecuador?

It could have worked here. But congrats boys, a nice tie, and I loved our second goal, bunch of winey babies. Bite me!!!

[loyola]

We were much better out there today.

Borjan was alright, didn't have much hope on the 2nd one. 1st one I thought he needed to be better.

2nd goal...I blame JDG, he was jogging his lacksadasial ass back and didn't appropriately challenge the goalscorer. It's as simple as that. Subbing Dunfield out was a game changer if you ask me. Dunfield had the grit and vision required to play his position. JDG looked like a lazy ass out there.

We should have won.

And my boy Ricketts got a goal!

Anyway, we should have called JBB instead of JDG.

Look at the shot from Ecuador that led to the CK goal. Julian again comes back slowly to close the space and gave too much time to the Ecuadorian player who got a good strike on goal.

[Grizzly]

JDG has not only lost his starting spot but is starting to be questionable even as a call up. And it was not that long ago that he was our best player. While MLS is not La Liga this can certainly not be entirely blamed on the change of leagues. Maybe the partying after the WCQ loss in Montreal really said all we needed to know about his character.