6/30/2011: Canada v. France

[finchster]

Too tired to post all that needs to be said (and there is a lot) but what no one has mentioned is that the players were mentally fried. That's one small part Berlin and one massive part a year on the road.

When you are away from your home, your family, your comfort zone, your source of strength, your grounding, and your spiritual center - you change.

Hemingway's saying was "you lose it if you talk about it" and the other quote that comes to mind is people who love what they are doing aren't the ones who go around and tell people they're loving it.

Whether they admit it or not to the world or even themselves I think a lot of the players just wanted to come home a long time ago. They looked like they were just tired of all the b.s. and mentally lost at sea.

Had they come home a couple of months ago and gone back over a week or two before the tournament they would have kicked ass all over German soil.

Everything else that happened on the field is insignificant.

Here is a quote from me

“Excuses are the national anthem of the loser”

This just states we have a group of mentally weak athletes, I would rather the players state they played below expectations than say that a month in Europe was too tough. Sure they have played a lot recently, but was our road any harder than any other country?

Perhaps our expectations were too high anyway, the girls have played well recently and one bad game out of many is probably expected.

[CanadianSoccerFan]

You should be asking why they allowed 2 million to be spent on preparations for this fiasco, and why Canda played so many non top ten teams in the run up to this. Or did the CSA not know about, or authorize this expenditure? Oh wise one!

That's on Morace. She wanted more money and freedom to spend it how she pleases with camps and games where she wanted. The CSA was burned at the stake for being hesitant to give it to her. Then they gave it to her and now you're burning them for giving it to her. Which way do you want it? Damned if you do and damned if you don't but it's always guaranteed that it's the CSA's fault no matter what happens.

[navycyr]

After the initial astonishment caused by such a cruel defeat, I asked myself :

Where things have started to go wrong and what might have been done about it ?

How the team we were so proud of when they played against the Germans can offer such a bad performance against France ?

I have been in the surrounding of the Beauport team that won two consecutive canadian championships (U16 - 2009 and U18 -2010) and the coach was stressing the importance of eliminating any distraction that might occur in such a competition and turn momentarily the focus away of where it should be, that is each girl to focus on what she has to do and nothing else.

Ex post, I do believe Christine Sinclair injuree has been a source of distraction for that team, the media doing a big hype around it.

What should have been done about it ? When she realized the attention was focused on Sinclair, Morace should have stated clearly Sinclair would not start the game and then turn to the other players and ask them to level up their play to compensate her absence on the field. By doing that, she would have motivated the troups and reduced greatly all the discussions around Sinclair. During, the game, she could at any time, if she had judged it appropriated, put her on the field and maybe obtain a greater impact. But the most important, she would have made every starter focused on their responsibility to give a little more in the absence of their leader. By keeping uncertainty about whether or not Sinclair would play and letting the focus on her turned other players concentration away from where it should have been, that is, their play.

I have been involved twice in situations where a key player placed itself in a situation where she became a source of distraction for others (the cases are differents since it involved misbehaviour rather than injuree but I think the principle is the same). In the first case, the coach suspended the involved player for a game and the rest of the team came up with their best performance of the season to win a semi-final game without one of their leaders. In the second case, the coach did nothing and his team came up with a deceiving performance, loosing a semi-final it was favourite to win.

I have nothing against Sinclair, I enjoy her play, but I am convinced she should never have started that game, for reasons that have nothing to do with her performance, or even with her, the media being the principal cause of all the attention and exageration put on her (I have even heard a french CBC commentator saying he prefered to have a 60% Christine Sinclair on the play rather than an other player giving 150 % of herself). The biggest mistake Morace did, was to let her start that game. It is easy to say afterwards, but most of us might have done just the same given the fact Sinclair, a true warrior, certainly insisted for playing and it is difficult to say no to such a commited person.

[Stan10]

Has a coach ever kept their job after going to a major tournament with high expectations and losing a game 4-0?

[Trillium]

I have nothing against Sinclair, I enjoy her play, but I am convinced she should never have started that game, for reasons that have nothing to do with her performance, or even with her, the media being the principal cause of all the attention and exageration put on her (I have even heard a french CBC commentator saying he prefered to have a 60% Christine Sinclair on the play rather than an other player giving 150 % of herself). The biggest mistake Morace did, was to let her start that game. It is easy to say afterwards, but most of us might have done just the same given the fact Sinclair, a true warrior, certainly insisted for playing and it is difficult to say no to such a commited person.

Morace carries the game result because she played Sinclair who is not effective against top teams and in important games.. and I have said that for a long time, she was invisible as far as this game goes, and if you expect to feed the ball to her and have her do things up front when she does not ...... and cannot the rest of the pattern falls apart. Sinclair was tentative from the first minutes and the french began to use that... then of course we are not together in the midfield.. look at the game again and see how we win a ball through physical banging then give it away on the pass..net effect nothing.

There was precious little dominance in the mid field and we lacked speed in our back line to deal with the french speed up front..so we were slow... and had no midfield attack to support the forwards.

I would love to know...

1. Why Morace only has the starting 11 warm up not the whole team..i.e. sending the message to the subs you not part of this game...

2. Why at the end of such a defeat, Morace let the players wander around in seperate groups lost and uncomprehending.... why did she not call them together and then have them show some class and acknowledge the very large Canadian presence in the stadia... and this if very very important these ladies owe a duty to the fan base, they need to show class at game end they showed none .... save two players.

As to the game..... sitting in a hotel breakfast room wearing my V tee shirt surrounded by french fans .... I suspect none of our teams players will be proud to be wearing team track suits today.. our players and Sinclair as the captain need to own this and make adjustments, if not, she should not be the captain and someone else should replace her and provide leadership.

Its time for some hard words and some loud words to get this team together to have some pride for Dresden, Morance and Sinclair have to step up if they dont... it may well be time to turn to others.

,

Others have posted about the youth structure being the key and they are right, but it will take a nuclear bomb at the CSA to put people in place who will mandate a change to the youth structure we have now ...which is non-competitive and designed on the basis of fairness and everyone having fun.... time to say it does not work and we need a merit based youth competiive system for the top 3% of talent the rest can play rec soccer one day a week and have fun but the top 3% must be put in a real competitive cauldron for playing time and learn to work ruthlessly in practice.

[CoachRich]

Too tired to post all that needs to be said (and there is a lot) but what no one has mentioned is that the players were mentally fried. That's one small part Berlin and one massive part a year on the road.

When you are away from your home, your family, your comfort zone, your source of strength, your grounding, and your spiritual center - you change.

Hemingway's saying was "you lose it if you talk about it" and the other quote that comes to mind is people who love what they are doing aren't the ones who go around and tell people they're loving it.

Whether they admit it or not to the world or even themselves I think a lot of the players just wanted to come home a long time ago. They looked like they were just tired of all the b.s. and mentally lost at sea.

Had they come home a couple of months ago and gone back over a week or two before the tournament they would have kicked ass all over German soil.

Everything else that happened on the field is insignificant.

Good and wise observation on one of the areas of the personal toll that gets paid by the players and their families.

[Saviola7]

A few unrelated thoughts ...

BTHC Mike had a great point earlier in this thread about not watching soccer. I think it makes a huge difference since it really ingrains the mentality in you. The good news is that is changing with the advent of pro soccer in Canada.

The Sinclair trick apparently backfired, but I'm not sure if spread out media attention on all of the players would have been better.

Morace repeated the Canadian coaches' lament about a pro league. An easy out to be sure, and clearly a Canada-wide women's league is unfeasible, but I can't help but wonder if the residency money would be better spent on subsidies to convince the Impact and TFC to start up WPS outfits.

I'm a little surprised about the 2015 optimism since our youth teams haven't been all that great as of late. Although the only players on their way out would be Leblanc, Tank, Nault, and Wilkinson, meaning we'll need to beef up on defense.

[CoachRich]

Majority of the funding the CWNT gets is restricted funding from Sports Canada, COC (OTP) and etc. Hence it's doubtful they could use it for anything else but the teams use as amateurs in programs under the Olympics and FIFA.

A pro league would be great but without changes in the youth clubs and their levels there is no development and culture to carry into the pro system. Something I think is part of the CM package.

[Saviola7]

There's a lot of talk about 'culture' here but I really think the order of things go as follows: adult teams -> (inspires) 'culture' -> (betters) development -> (betters) adult teams. So sure, you try to fix everything at once, but some modest exposure to adult soccer I think provides a good basis for this process.

[dekester]

That's on Morace. She wanted more money and freedom to spend it how she pleases with camps and games where she wanted. The CSA was burned at the stake for being hesitant to give it to her. Then they gave it to her and now you're burning them for giving it to her. Which way do you want it? Damned if you do and damned if you don't but it's always guaranteed that it's the CSA's fault no matter what happens.

I do not want it anyway. So the CSA allowed a coach 2 million to waste and the CSA are not accountable and the coach is still employed, You are having a laugh. Wow! we really are a backward soccer nation. It really is all rather sad is it not? It was not that many years ago that our female national team was playing local male youth house teams in preparation for games.( I was watching the games.)

The poster that stated a nuclear bomb is required to change the CSA is spot on. Sadly not enough folks care.

[Mapleblood]

I'm certainly no where near as choked up as the majority here are. I saw the first half this morning and the second just now. I don't think the French were all that dominant. First goal was a fluke after a Canadian miscue, second was a terrible decision by Zurrer. If Kyle had still been on the field the third wouldn't have happened and the fourth was France being successful at the very thing that everyone here is accusing the Canadians of - route 1 football. Not one French goal came off of any sustained possession or pressure. In fact in the second half Canada had some nice buildups that resulted in a couple of chances that should have resulted in goals. The one French centre back was very good at intercepting Canadian long balls, however Canada gained possession deep more than a couple of times off direct balls and a couple more narrowly missed being great chances. Individually the French made fewer mistakes but still mishandled quite a few balls and had numerous bad passes as well. I think expectations were so high for this game (and tournament) that the letdown has severely coloured people's perceptions of the game. I want Canadian teams to win as much as anybody but I usually watch the other team during games more than our team. One thing struck me about Foligno, she needs to get a lot tougher. I would think she must have got tired of picking herself off the grass. Julien was invisible so it was probably best to bring Tank on but I wouldn't have removed Kyle, her replacement did squat and contributed nothing. Sinclair was noticeably affected by her injury, I believe that it made a difference. After reading some of the comments before I saw the second half I had assumed that she had never touched the ball at all. Not true at all, she probably had it as much as the French centre forward did. All in all I still think this team is on the right track and can improve. I'm more worried about the long term future, I just don't see a lot at the u20 and u17 levels at this time.

Thank you.

Watching in the stadium, my sense was that this game of moments was won on the circumstances you note. French superiority came in two forms. First, they were better on the ball, which gave them the fractions of a second that are the difference between making the play or not. Second, their ball support and ball pursuit support made more of their possessions and undermined our possession. Perhaps the fact that so many of them play together at club soccer was the key difference in the game. Knowing your teammates' patterns improves time-space management.

This said, the game was not lost yesterday. It was lost six years ago. The difference between the teams was due to France's infra/structural superiority. In the fullest sense of the term "support", good support gives good results, given considerations of chance. The women's team received good support and achieved very good results. Unfortunately, we were bested by teams whose nations provided great support. To avoid a similar circumstance in 2015, we will need to oversupport the team. To remain a contender we will need to address the structural deficit from the bottom up.

Other notes:

I, too, think that Kyle should have remained in the game. Her physicality was missed.

Last night, after the G/N broadcast, they showed stats that said Canada committed 4 fouls to France's 16. What should be made of this?

[garbuckle]

It's sad.

Our team(s) can be world class, but they just don't have the support; from the CSA, to the media, to the fans. 3 days before the Canada/Germany game, there was announcement it would be showed at Dundas Square (where more German fans showed up than Canadian ones). Aside from that, I honestly didn't hear anything about this tournament. I acquired the information myself from the supporter's boards.

Because it's not hockey or olympics, people don't really care about it; and when the teams underperform (due to lack of support), it confirms their belief that they shouldn't care. The women's team actually developed and progressed regardless of the lack of support, and the fact that they made it to the world stage is a good start. the game against Germany was actually not bad. It's too bad they lost the concentration and drive against France, and that one game put them out of the tournament.

I can only hope that in the years to come, that the team will learn from this experience and be able to give a consistent performance through the tournament (i.e. in 2015). They seemed to be able to handle the other tournaments, however, so maybe it's just the added pressure of the World Cup that got to them.

The team(s) need our support more than ever. We need to get out of this death spiral of not supporting the team because they aren't good enough.

Maybe there's a way to convert hockey fans into soccer/football fans

[navycyr]

I have read the France newspapers and web sites this morning to see their comments. I'll retain the french coach Bruno Bini comments after the game : "Skills made the difference" and "The goal is to have the whole team play well."

The lack of technical skills couldn't be more evident than at the 57th minute when Sinclair fed an almost perfect ball that should have sent Kaylyn Kyle alone with the french keeper but resulted in a rushed out off the net shot after Kyle was unable to control at the reception. Score was till 0-1 at the time and should have the ball being received adequately we should have tied the game. I think this sequence of play is the turning point of that game and it shows perfectly well how the lack of skills has hurted us as stressed by Bini.

I disagree with those saying more professionnal teams in Canada would do a difference. We already have 8 teams in the W-League (Quebec, Laval, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, London, Vancouver and Victoria). What I have seen so far either last year or this year (to the exception of the Whitecaps and Victoria that I haven't seen since they play on the other side of the country), those teams favor direct style of play to the exception of the Ottawa Fury who has a style of play more based on skills and ball control. No surprise they sit ahead of the whole pack in the Northeast. No surprise either why attendance is so low. Even if I am sold to soccer, I find games boring while the best senior amateur teams offer a better show whith players maybe not as fast or athletic but moving better the ball around. If we are to increase the number of pro teams in Canada to see more of the same of what is being offered right now, I say NO !

What's needed is a greater emphasis on technical abilities and that will be tough to change since we have a hockey culture where, to the exception of skating abilities, you always can compensate lack of technique by greater intensity. We have to put more emphasis in the recruiting process, at every stage, on technical and tactical abilities rather than purely athletic ones. The goal is not to produce the best track and field athletes but the best soccer players. You can have very athletic players running hard against opponents and killing most of their plays but it is useless if you constantly give the ball back by lack of tactical or technical abilities.

[Vic]

Here is a quote from me

“Excuses are the national anthem of the loser”

This just states we have a group of mentally weak athletes, I would rather the players state they played below expectations than say that a month in Europe was too tough. Sure they have played a lot recently, but was our road any harder than any other country?

A month? They were in Italy in March and have been away virtually since September.

And no, they're not mentally weak athletes. They're a bunch of people that gave up an entire year of their life. Try giving up everything you know and have and love for a year. It's so much the opposite it's obscene.

They're also not throwing excuses and pretty much everything I've read from them does say they performed below expectations.

It's fine to be disappointed but there's no need to disrespect people who have sacrificed so much for the country.

[navycyr]

A month? They were in Italy in March and have been away virtually since September.

And no, they're not mentally weak athletes. They're a bunch of people that gave up an entire year of their life. Try giving up everything you know and have and love for a year. It's so much the opposite it's obscene.

They're also not throwing excuses and pretty much everything I've read from them does say they performed below expectations.

It's fine to be disappointed but there's no need to disrespect people who have sacrificed so much for the country.

Agree with Vic. And remember, the most disappointed ones, are the players themselves, obtaining so little results after having put in so much. We spent only 4 hours watching 2 games and they spent a whole year of their life...

[Mapleblood]

I have read the France newspapers and web sites this morning to see their comments. I'll retain the french coach Bruno Bini comments after the game : "Skills made the difference" and "The goal is to have the whole team play well."

The lack of technical skills couldn't be more evident than at the 57th minute when Sinclair fed an almost perfect ball that should have sent Kaylyn Kyle alone with the french keeper but resulted in a rushed out off the net shot after Kyle was unable to control at the reception. Score was till 0-1 at the time and should have the ball being received adequately we should have tied the game. I think this sequence of play is the turning point of that game and it shows perfectly well how the lack of skills has hurted us as stressed by Bini.

I disagree with those saying more professionnal teams in Canada would do a difference. We already have 8 teams in the W-League (Quebec, Laval, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, London, Vancouver and Victoria). What I have seen so far either last year or this year (to the exception of the Whitecaps and Victoria that I haven't seen since they play on the other side of the country), those teams favor direct style of play to the exception of the Ottawa Fury who has a style of play more based on skills and ball control. No surprise they sit ahead of the whole pack in the Northeast. No surprise either why attendance is so low. Even if I am sold to soccer, I find games boring while the best senior amateur teams offer a better show whith players maybe not as fast or athletic but moving better the ball around. If we are to increase the number of pro teams in Canada to see more of the same of what is being offered right now, I say NO !

What's needed is a greater emphasis on technical abilities and that will be tough to change since we have a hockey culture where, to the exception of skating abilities, you always can compensate lack of technique by greater intensity. We have to put more emphasis in the recruiting process, at every stage, on technical and tactical abilities rather than purely athletic ones. The goal is not to produce the best track and field athletes but the best soccer players. You can have very athletic players running hard against opponents and killing most of their plays but it is useless if you constantly give the ball back by lack of tactical or technical abilities.

It's nice to have my generalist analysis confirmed by the opposition's coach.

[The Ref]

In other countries players spend half of their playing career trying to make their national team. In our case spending a year was certainly not enough. So I am not shedding a tear for these ladies.

[red card]

If they didn't have this type of prep, everyone would be blaming the CSA for the lack of prep as has been the case for past tourneys for both men and women.

You would assume that they love football; so giving up other things for about a year for at least one of the loves of their life doesn't seem harsh. Olympic athletes go through similar or more onerous siutuations and nearly all of them don't do it as part of a team. Football, including the woman's game, has the deepest depth of any sport in the world - one of the reasons it makes so compelling to watch. But does mean that it takes years and the proper support systems to come even close to the pinnacle of the sport.

There are plenty of other explanations such as even with this type of more intensive prep, it is hard to undo how most of them have been playing for most of their lives in less than 2 years. It's like cramming for an exam but then losing it because the first few questions leaves you dazed and confused and you panic as you realize that nothing has stuck in your mind.

And history clearly suggests that Cdn athletes ex hockey tend to blow it when on the main stage. Our football teams have been chronic underperformers in FIFA tournaments while the instances of upping our game beyond the levels of CONCACAF can be counted on one hand. I'm a bit disppointed that Morace's Italian no prisoners style football mentality wasn't really embedded in the team.

[dekester]

It's nice to have my generalist analysis confirmed by the opposition's coach.

Great post. Too bad that more "supporters" can't get more honest. Sadly we will plummet further at all levels. Nothing will change because so few care. Our youth ranks are pathetic at both the male and female stage. The best athletes will always gravitate to hockey, baseball or basketball. Where there is quality youth structure,competition and accountability. We simply pick athletes ( big and fast) at youth level. Intelligence,guile and imagination count for squat.

[Free kick]

Are we really serious about this. Our national teams are a farce. The CSA utterly incompetent. How about TFC and the Whitecaps.

Let us get honest our just shut up.

WE DO NOT PRODUCE QUALITY PLAYERS AT ANY LEVEL. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE ODD FLUKE CSA SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES.

AGain, THE CLUBS PRODUCE AND DEVELOP THE PLAYERS NOT THE CSA. One needs to look between the lines of posts like yours to really get a sense of what these posts are all about. You speak of the "ODD FLUKE", yet anybody who actually has passion

for the game and a passion for this country to succeed in this game, could not possibly ever view a success as fluke. In this thing than we call fandom, hope in is big thing so it's only people who have dislike for certain team that would ever call a success by certain team a fluke or it's people with a predisposed bias or alternate agendas.

[Free kick]

I have read the France newspapers and web sites this morning to see their comments. I'll retain the french coach Bruno Bini comments after the game : "Skills made the difference" and "The goal is to have the whole team play well."

The lack of technical skills couldn't be more evident than at the 57th minute when Sinclair fed an almost perfect ball that should have sent Kaylyn Kyle alone with the french keeper but resulted in a rushed out off the net shot after Kyle was unable to control at the reception. Score was till 0-1 at the time and should have the ball being received adequately we

should have tied the game. I think this sequence of play is the turning point of that game and it shows perfectly well how the lack of skills has hurted us as stressed by Bini.

I disagree with those saying more professionnal teams in Canada would do a difference. We already have 8 teams in the W-League (Quebec, Laval, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, London, Vancouver and Victoria). What I have seen so far either last year or this year (to the exception of the Whitecaps and Victoria that I haven't seen since they play on the other side of

the country), those teams favor direct style of play to the exception of the Ottawa Fury who has a style of play more based on skills and ball control. No surprise they sit ahead of the whole pack in the Northeast. No surprise either why attendance is so low. Even if I am sold to soccer, I find games boring while the best senior amateur teams offer a better show whith players maybe not as fast or athletic but moving better the ball around. If we are to increase the number of pro teams in Canada to see more of the same of what is being offered right now, I say NO !

What's needed is a greater emphasis on technical abilities and that will be tough to change since we have a hockey culture where, to the exception of skating abilities, you always can compensate lack of technique by greater intensity. We have to

put more emphasis in the recruiting process, at every stage, on technical and tactical abilities rather than purely athletic ones. The goal is not to produce the best track and field athletes but the best soccer players. You can have very athletic

players running hard against opponents and killing most of their plays but it is useless if you constantly give the ball back by lack of tactical or technical abilities.

Perfect.

[Soccer9]

^^ I agree.

But on the other hand, a team that is not technically sound, can still hold back a stronger opponent to a point. Canada should have had that tactical knowledge to defend as a group better vs France having been together so long. So I dont understand how they can let in 4 goals in one game. They did not do that vs Germany, or vs Brazil on 2 occassions last December in Brazil. So was this just an off game? Losing 4-0 does not make sence to me given the prior results of this team.

:-( :-(

P.S. I also believe the team is not "game fit" . Players need to play regular games in a league environment to be and stay game fit. It does not come as easily only by practicing or playing 1-2 friendlies per month.

[Vic]

The W League is 2 months. The Ottawa Fury are Americans.

Bingo on game fit. And not physically game fit --> mentally game fit.

Enough with the absolutes and enough with the we're crap. The Dutch beat France in Cyprus because the French stunk. Had we played them then we would have knocked them out too.

They French didn't win the game - we lost it by showing up flat and playing poorly. Watch our games in Cancun, Brazil or Cyprus. We went from beating Italy, England and the Dutch to a team that scored in the dying minutes to beat Hungary just before the tournament. I didn't even know they had a team. The only results of any merit we had were against teams that were at 50% strength. As the Rome camp went on our results kept going backward. The last good game we played was in March in Cyprus.

Take the French women and put them in China for four months and let us fly in two weeks before and we'll see which whole team plays well and who's skilled.

[Trillium]

Take the French women and put them in China for four months and let us fly in two weeks before and we'll see which whole team plays well and who's skilled.

Morace carries the can for putting them in a foreign enviroment for such a long time and isolating the team ?

[Vic]

She did a lot of good things, but that was IMHO a faux pas. Pellerud, same but to a lesser extent. As a coach you do everything you humanly can and you go to the wall for your players. I have no doubt whatsoever Morace absolutely broke her back to succeed for everyone. I just don't think people can go through that and come out fresh, energetic, invigorated and lively with a sense of place and purpose. It's just not real and you're not real anymore. You lose the context. We are all of family, we are all of friends, we are all of Canada. You can't remove that for three months, it becomes too distant. It also wears you down to constantly be surrounded by 25 people who are not suited to you in any way but soccer. Month after month without personal space. I've been through this and seen how it affects people. No one else is down the same road so I may well be just another out of line quackpot. But if I am right, how much is on her and how much is on the CSA for allowing it a second time is judgement.

I've also said this in the past a few times.