2012 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying 19-29 January 2012

[Trillium]

One thing that did strike me throughout this tourney, even against Cuba when we failed to pad to our lead in the 2nd half with Sinclair subbed off, is

"how over-reliant this team is on Sinclair. The US marked her out of the game"

and by comparison they had an array of weapons they could deploy against us. Case in point Alex Morgan wasn't even starting for them in this tourney that truly meant something and she ripped our team to shreds. Which makes the defection of Leroux (who looks like she could have been the next big thing for us) somewhat more painful. We certainly need to get both Filigno & Belanger back for the Olympics, otherwise the exact same thing will happen as did in the WC last year, even if we have a slightly improved midfield supporting cast.

Sinclair cannot and does not raise her game versus good defenders, she is not improving at breaking down semi-skilled and skilled defenders, one of the valid knocks against her play is she has not made others around her look good, indeed it has usually been the opposite others feed her and against week defenders and keepers she is able to get off shots that succeed, against the US or a Japan she lacks the athletic quickness needed to move her game up... the National coach will have to try to man manage around the

expectations to see Sinclair as the team.

Hopefully Matheson back in for Olympics and naming her team captain can begin to start a new era of unified team.

If Sinclair holds on the the captain armband and continues to not develop and improve her game, we are looking at a poor showing

in London and a poor three year cycle to the 2015 WWC in Canada.

Our team needs to more soccer quick and we need to not play to a single player but to group of players to show well and win.

[BearcatSA]

Our team needs to more soccer quick...

Well, you are going to need a significant turnover of personnel for this to happen. Between the last WWC and the Mexico match (omitting the USA final) I see too many players who aren't "soccer quick" enough, as you put it, though I may be misinterpreting your meaning here.

[Posessionsoccerrules]

It is time for Herdman to do his homework and start scouting players and leave no stone unturned. There are better players in the US college system that he has not brought in for whatever reason which could include availability. The players he has brought in are clearly not the best player(s). An example of this is Mottershead. She plays on a mediocre college team (Syracuse) who play in a relatively weak conference and despite this the team did not qualify for the NCAA tournament. She played every game as a starting midfielder and generated only two assists once again in a weak conference.

The U20 roster (1992 and younger) that was recently released is a step in teh right direction. There is a lot of talent on that team. As we do not have a U23 team like the US Herdman needs to look at 1990/91 players playing high level college ball and bring them into the senior national team for at least a look.

The CONCACAF experience showed that there at least half the starters need to be replaced between now and teh Olympics.

[Soccer9]

It is time for Herdman to do his homework and start scouting players and leave no stone unturned. There are better players in the US college system that he has not brought in for whatever reason which could include availability. The players he has brought in are clearly not the best player(s). An example of this is Mottershead. She plays on a mediocre college team (Syracuse) who play in a relatively weak conference and despite this the team did not qualify for the NCAA tournament. She played every game as a starting midfielder and generated only two assists once again in a weak conference.

The U20 roster (1992 and younger) that was recently released is a step in teh right direction. There is a lot of talent on that team. As we do not have a U23 team like the US Herdman needs to look at 1990/91 players playing high level college ball and bring them into the senior national team for at least a look.

The CONCACAF experience showed that there at least half the starters need to be replaced between now and teh Olympics.

Herdman should spend some time at the upcoming U20 camp, I hope. Has some time before Cyprus Cup

[red card]

Very good ratings for Cdn women's matches. Can-Mex beat last May's UEFA Champions League final ratings on Sportsnet of 438k. Likely highest rated non WC or Euro football match televised in Canada. Peak was 727 100 near 9 pm PST.

Canada-CR: 190 000

Canada- Mex: 473 000

Canada-US: 329 000

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