madmonte Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Amid all the talk of Canada's lack of scoring touch, has it been completely unnoticed that Canada (the Armenia friendly aside) has let in like...no goals lately? Should they not be congratulated for that? Noone seems to have even noticed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Amid all the talk of Canada's lack of scoring touch, has it been completely unnoticed that Canada (the Armenia friendly aside) has let in like...no goals lately? Should they not be congratulated for that? Noone seems to have even noticed. It is an accomplishment, but obviously 5 of those clean sheets were in the minnow round, and two of those were disappointing draws. It is good that we're playing solid defensively and not letting in soft goals, as we don't tend to score much. If grinding out 1-0 wins and 0-0 draws gets us through to the next round you won't hear me complaining. Having depth at the GK position is huge for us. I mean, imagine if we didn't have Borjan in the picture, who here would not have been crapping their pants at the thought of Kenny Stamatoupoulous starting against Honduras? By the way madmonte, since you're kind of new here I'll warn you that this seems like the kind of thread that attracts a lot of grizzicule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmonte Posted June 13, 2012 Author Share Posted June 13, 2012 lol I really don't care about ridicule from any source, articulate or otherwise, I stick by my opinion that it is, in fact, a decent accomplishment, one that many countries in the same boat (New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Australia) who played similar rounds against their minnow opposition could NOT accomplish. Keeping goals out of the net on that consistent of a basis is a very difficult task, and is credit not only to the keepers, but the defenders and midfielders who do a good job coming back as well. Does that solve the goalscoring issues? Obviously not, and in fact some may argue that it is a detriment to goal scoring how focused Canada is on defense. But then, Germany always had a similar mindset, and has on occassion tee-totalled Brazil when they came in with offensive minds. It proves that the mindset of defense definitely works. If the opponent can't score on you, they can't win. I hope they continue to be stoic in defense, but convert a few more of the many chances they have been generating their last 3 games (including against USA). I remain hopelessly optomistic and proud of my country and the way they play. Ridicule me, or Grizzicule me, I care little man, my faith and optomism will remain intact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 I didn't double check but I don't think we allowed Honduras one shot on target last night, that's pretty impressive in my books. Still dissapointed by the result last night but to keep things in perspective we're in the best shape we've been in since '98 qualifying right now, so let's build on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free kick Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Yes, there is nothing to remotely complain about from the defensive stand point and its not just the work back line but equally the defensive midfielders. I also noticed that our front men can also be (often) seen coming back and defending or hustling to win back balls. So its been a team thing. Its is effective and there is no indication that it wont continue in other matches. The one caveat is that we must take our chances (ie.: be more opportunistic offensively) because eventually we will need goals and if we ever get into the situation where we have to press for goals, well then that's when thing as can fall apart even defensively . Our back line isnt the quickest group of characters around. We have the kind of team that would do well in a single knock out format. One who plays well positionally and waits for opposition mistakes or breakdowns. This is exactly how you need to play in those final round stages at the WC finals, euros or other tournaments. Perhaps no country has mastered this more than Italy. This is kind of how we won the Gold cup in 2000. But in a group or round robin stage, you have to score to advance. PS.: based on what we have seen so far, its premature IMO too heep to much praises on the goalkeepers. They havent been really tested. And, we have seen costly blunders or inconsistency on semi regular basis (eg.: in the last round versus St lucia or at teh last GC). I still think that its a bit of an achilles for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmcmurph Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 We are playing a 4-1-4-1 or 4-5-1 so either way we had better be getting clean sheets! Not complaining about it as those formations suit us and the players we have available. Our wingers are working their asses off to get back from the 4-3-3 offensively when the ball turns over, we have 2 first rate keepers and our back 4 is allowing very few chances. This is all good and is the basic foundation of a lot of successful teams. Now if we could score more we'd be a threat to the power house teams in our conference. All in time (hopefully starting September 2012). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeta Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 No, no complaints. Its been good all around, front, back and middle. I think surprisingly so given some of the worries that were being discussed around here not so long ago about the entire back line. Who doesn't think David Edgar (a dyed in the wool centre half if ever there was one) hasn't been a pleasant eye opener at right back? A little too slow for my liking at that position but he's done very, very well within the structure and with what we give up on the throttle side we make up for on the delivery end. If you can't have everything that's not a bad trade off. And is there any doubt Big Kev McKenna doesn't belong in the starting 11 anymore? If there is, sober up, have another look then get back to us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshieScores Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Who doesn't think David Edgar (a dyed in the wool centre half if ever there was one) hasn't been a pleasant eye opener at right back? A little too slow for my liking at that position but he's done very, very well within the structure and with what we give up on the throttle side we make up for on the delivery end. If you can't have everything that's not a bad trade off. Totally with you on Edgar. Him and Occean has been my eye opener. Really impressed with Occean's ability to hold up long balls and control it until the winger/midfield comes to assist. Rob Friend needs to take note. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesW Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 PS.: based on what we have seen so far, its premature IMO too heep to much praises on the goalkeepers. They havent been really tested. And, we have seen costly blunders or inconsistency on semi regular basis (eg.: in the last round versus St lucia or at teh last GC). I still think that its a bit of an achilles for us.Agreed. The Gold Cup is a little foggy in memory but I'm pretty sure Milan spilled the ball right before Panama scored. And of course Lars had his moment in Cuba. Yes, they've done the job for us so far. But when we aren't scoring or scoring very few, even the smallest of mistakes can burn us big time. Having said that, Milan was a great cheer leader for the south end last night when Canada was pushing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Beaver Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 The say that defense wins soccer tournaments, so this recent trend of solid defense bodes well. We still need to score, but if we build from our defensive shape, then good things will happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmonte Posted June 14, 2012 Author Share Posted June 14, 2012 Yeah it's not as though the chances weren't generated the last couple times around, it was about them hitting the back of the net. I'm thinking some of that was too much adrenaline. Then again, I've seen Canada play with NO adrenaline, and I didn't like THAT much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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