Pan American Games

[Blackdude]

I think it was 4 or 5 starters from the US match.

[The Ref]

Chilean Federation fired today coach Marta Tejedor from her 4 year position in charge of the Chilean National Women team. Her latest failure at the Pan American gave was just too much to sallow. In over 4 year she never accomplished anything. Fans in general had been asking for her head since her failure when Chile hosted the U20 W.C. in 2008.

http://www.latercera.com/noticia/deportes/2011/11/656-402959-9-anfp-despide-a-marta-tejedor-del-seleccionado-chileno-femenino.shtml#

P.S. her salary is claimed to had been US$10.000 a month!

[Trillium]

Sinclair is dropping in the rankings on the team ... I suspect its clear she does not play well in big games, should not be team captain, and playing off her all the time is the reason you have no.... creativity up front.

Morace never addressed that ... its needs addressing now as we prepare for Olympics in London.

Good article from Sportsnet...

November 22, 2011, 3:14 pm

By Chris Black for Sportsnet

PHOENIX - She is, undeniably, the face of Canadian women's soccer.

No one was under more pressure than Christine Sinclair when Canada entered this summer's World Cup as dark horse candidates to make the final. And no one faced more scrutiny when the team stumbled its way to a last-place finish.

Canada's new head coach John Herdman is trying to change things. At a training camp in Phoenix this week, Herdman is calling on all of his players to be more aggressive, to find a path towards success that doesn't necessarily go through Sinclair. It's an approach that's getting rave reviews from the six-time Canadian player of the year.

"I absolutely love it," Sinclair told Sportsnet.ca. "He is encouraging all of us to take risks, and we are developing a game that's even more suited to possession than what we had under (former head coach) Carolina (Morace)."

Herdman, just mere months into his new role, is equally complimentary of his striker.

"She truly is a world-class player. She just understands the game," Herdman said. "I honestly believe she could be dominant anywhere on the field. If she wanted to be a top-class centre back, she could do it.

"She's one of the few players in the world that knows exactly how to operate when given time and space. The game probably moves at a slower speed for her compared to everyone else on the field."

That first chance for Sinclair to play under Herdman - when Canada defeated Brazil to win gold at the Pan Am Games in Mexico - was a valuable learning experience for coach and captain.

"We grew throughout the tournament. We were shaky at the beginning, but he continued to encourage us to try new things," Sinclair said. "By the time we reached the gold medal game, there was a real feeling like we had shed a new skin."

Herdman added: "In Pan Am, we made a conscious decision to remove her at times to see how the other girls responded. We didn't start her in the round robin against Brazil, and we were very happy with the amount of chances we were still able to create."

That gold medal hasn't been the only highpoint for Sinclair in 2011. She also led a star-studded Western New York Flash to the WPS title. After tying teammate Marta for the league lead in goals and leading the league in assists, she was named MVP of the title game.

"Having teammates like Marta and Caroline Seger, it's nearly impossible not to develop and grow into a better player when you're beside some of the top players in the world," Sinclair stated.

Sinclair said having the opportunity to learn from Marta was especially valuable: "I would say to myself, 'how can I emulate her? What can I incorporate of hers into my own game?'

The answer to that question, apparently, was Marta's audacity.

"She is all about creativity and confidence," Sinclair explained. "She tries things in a game nearly no other female player in the world would try. She also has the type of personality where she'll try the move 10 times, and fail the first nine. But she'll score on that 10th try."

Sinclair, it seems, has been gaining confidence both on and off the field as she has grown older.

"Listen, I'm fully aware of her capabilities on the pitch, she slammed a few goals against us when I was coaching in New Zealand," Herdman said.

"But the thing I wasn't aware of was her ability to lead. She has a massive impact on this team without having to say many words. It's really interesting to see the unique effect she has on her teammates. She carries around this great aura everywhere she goes."

Despite the strong, mostly silent leadership style shown by Sinclair, her teammates say - especially in recent months - she has become more of a vocal leader.

"It's not a conscious decision," Sinclair said. "It's just something that I've grown into it over time. When I was younger on this team, the veterans showed me the way, so I feel a responsibility to do the same. But at the end of the day, I always try to lead by example and leave it all out on the field."

Despite any change in style, it remains to be seen whether Canada will ever cease to be known as Christine Sinclair's team. The fact remains she has scored more international goals (120) than the rest of the players on the active Canadian roster combined (85). It's a burden that Sinclair admits she feels.

"I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform," she said. "But I hope every player feels that weight of representing your country. I think that's normal."

"There needs to be at least some type of evolution in the coming years," Herdman said. "There's no way around it, at some point, we have to prepare for life after Christine."

[Jacko]

I'm not saying the coach did anything bad. Nobody knows if he tried to get the top NCAA/CIS players and if he did, he may have been denied. That's why the players he got are not Senior team material. I don't blame him yet. It's not like he did a presser after the squad selection.

And sometimes the coach asks and is turned down. Ranee Premji was called up to the November camp but turned it down because UNC was in the middle of their Cup run.