reme90 Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 How do we still not have highlights? - sortof Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1zzurri Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 I personally like to see very inch of railing space in the south end(the whole stadium is the dream) full with canada fags and banners. We had about 10 on the front railing yesterday but the more the merrier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apbsmith Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Nice highlights, MOM Ricketts, would have gotten the assist on Osorio post also. Good on him. Yes, I know it was vs a minnow etc. but wow his speed kills, and really opens up the play for others, that showed last night. Hope he gained a lot of confidence this game, and carries it into the Gold Cup. Just thinking, we could be pretty strong on the RW moving forward in the next couple of years, with petrasso, and possibly Finlay. Solid depth never hurts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Who is that team in the highlights? Wow, I came away thinking we looked good but in those highlights we look really good. Much, much more convincing than any match against a minnow from last cycle where we took advantage of mistakes a lot of the time... here we actually created and dominated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baulderdash77 Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Sure this was against a minnow like Dominica; but you really have to be encouraged by the absolute domination of possession as well as the havoc created by our front 3. The combination of Akindele, Larin and Ricketts up front is really going to be productive for us. I don't think we've had a complete set of attackers like this in at least a couple cycles. Akindele and Ricketts provide us with true wide forwards and we finally have a clinical target man up front in Larin. The midfield is also really coming along. With good wide play we can finally deploy the strength of the Canadian program- central midfielders. There's a lot of class and depth in our CM pool. I'm really surprised how good Piette has gotten. For such a young player he has a mature game. The only point of nervousness for us is depth at the CB and (obviously) RB position. I think at RB considering the strength of the team everywhere we're going to be ok with Ledgerwood and his 1 way defensive play. At least playing so defensive he doesn't hurt us at that end. We really need to see Henry back healthy and playing to take the next step. This is an encouraging start and I expect the next round is going to yield a similar result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baulderdash77 Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Just as a note- it really is amazing what 2 things do to the program's outlook. Akindele emerging from nowhere and becoming such a solid LF so quickly as well as the rapid maturity of Larin into such a good striker. Suddenly everything looks that much better everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Ricketts and Akindele are probably best suited to a counter attacking team so I'm interested in seeing how they do when we're up against a team that controls the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red card Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 My observations from being there: Ricketts is a clueless finisher. If he can't finish those setters, he won't against Costa Rica and hasn't in the past. Larin can be a difference maker but not yet multi-dimensional enough which means he can be easily marked out by the proverbial Costa Rica. By the way, we should all say first he was made by Sigma rather than UConn where he only had a cup of tea. Piette showed he can be a destroyer. Akindele goal was impressive but he disappointed more than he was pleasing to the eye thereafter. While dominating, overall play was a bit too casual and still too slow. You can chalk it up to being Dominca but not good enough against Costa Rica. But add in Atiba & Johnson with Larin, there is hope for making the HEX. 10k was my expected attendance but the mainstream crowd was much more into the game. And maybe only in Canada can I see a adult male wearing a Sinclair jersey attend a senior men's national team match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince193 Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 My observations from being there: Ricketts is a clueless finisher. If he can't finish those setters, he won't against Costa Rica and hasn't in the past. Larin can be a difference maker but not yet multi-dimensional enough which means he can be easily marked out by the proverbial Costa Rica. By the way, we should all say first he was made by Sigma rather than UConn where he only had a cup of tea. Piette showed he can be a destroyer. Akindele goal was impressive but he disappointed more than he was pleasing to the eye thereafter. While dominating, overall play was a bit too casual and still too slow. You can chalk it up to being Dominca but not good enough against Costa Rica. But add in Atiba & Johnson with Larin, there is hope for making the HEX. 10k was my expected attendance but the mainstream crowd was much more into the game. And maybe only in Canada can I see a adult male wearing a Sinclair jersey attend a senior men's national team match. Mr. positivity over here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 We'll see how proverbial Costa Rica's defenders do against Larin in July. Larin has been a handful for any defender he has gone against in MLS this season, it's never easy to handle an athlete like Larin, I don't care who you are. Waston vs. Larin would be an interesting battle. We moved the ball with speed and precision at times that would work be effective at any level. Re-watching the highlights I'm very, very impressed. Ricketts won't finish every chance but neither will a lot of strikers. The important thing is that he creates space and chances for others while chipping in with the odd goal. Ricketts is as fast as anyone we'll face in the region and that is an undeniable weapon. Speed kills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonovision Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 A lot of people are ragging on Ricketts' finishing, but he has a better (non-penalty) goalscoring record than any Canadian striker not named Gerba in the last 20 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackdude Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 . And maybe only in Canada can I see a adult male wearing a Sinclair jersey attend a senior men's national team match. Meh, it's not like it was a Sinclair jersey at the 2001 Confederations Cup, now that would be something, especially wearing a shirt of a 17 year old girl. Also, Sinclair jersey cost $10 less than any other jersey. Before they had Sinclair, Hutchinson and DeRo when it started now they only have Sinclair. jerseys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub Narcotic Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 A lot of people are ragging on Ricketts' finishing, but he has a better (non-penalty) goalscoring record than any Canadian striker not named Gerba in the last 20 years. Yeah, his second goal was a beautiful chip as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baulderdash77 Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 So from what I can tell our next round of qualification will have Canada, Haiti & Jamaica go into a pot and have a draw against one of St. Vincent & Grenadines (#112), Antigua & Barbuda(#104) or Grenada (#160). The remaining round 3 competitors will all be randomly drawn to play against each other. So is there anyone in St. Vincent, Antigua or Grenada that should worry us? St. Vincent's 2 best players play in the Finnish 3rd tier & USL Pro with Seattle Antigua has a couple players who are in League 2 and a couple guys who are in the youth setup for Championship teams as well as Peter Byers who played in USL Pro Grenada is pretty much a beer league team, but they did just knock off a Puerto Rico team with a bunch of USL guys on it. I guess we should pretty much expect something like what happened this round more or less. Maybe Antigua wouldn't be a complete tomato can team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Antigua is the toughest draw out of the 3. If Dexter Blackstock is in the picture they have a legit scoring threat and all you need to do is look at Jamaica drawing away there, Guatemala winning off a wonder strike and the USA winning in injury time to see the threat they can be. Last cycle they also had Mikele Leigertwood who was in the EPL at the time but he may be retired. They also have a midfielder playing for Red Star and another player playing in the SPL. They could field a XI with full professional experience unlike Dominica, St. V&G and Grenada. I wouldn't fear them but definitely respect them and I think Haiti or Jamaica are probably worried about drawing them. On the other hand, they only won 5-4 against St. Lucia on aggregate with both legs at home... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 My preference would be to avoid Antigua - they gave the USA a scare during the semi final round last cycle. During that time their squad was pretty much the USL side, so a lot of chemistry likely gave them a boost. I think the team folded though so I don't know what their NT is looking like now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Hombre Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 A lot of people are ragging on Ricketts' finishing, but he has a better (non-penalty) goalscoring record than any Canadian striker not named Gerba in the last 20 years. Yeah, but if he's going to continually hit free headers directly into the palm of a diving keeper's outstretched arm, we'll never beat Costa Rica! Kick him off the team and replace him with one of the multitude of proven goal scoring threats that we have just waiting in the wings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keano Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Is it just me or Camara would/will be an upgrade on Ledgerwood, flaws notwithstanding. Better wheels, more ball skill one on, much better imagination in distribution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unnamed Trialist Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Uh, three strikers, four with Haber, one scores two and he shouldn't be on the team. Am I hearing that right? Better to take 5 strikers, let them compete, whoever performs best and helps us get results plays. After all, maybe vs Costa Rica we need two strikers who can run down defenders and mids to cut of their playmaking, then come back to defend set pieces. Cause a scoreless draw will put us through to the next round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmonte Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 People are talking about the Akindele/Larin/Ricketts partnership. I'm also still not convinced about Ricketts. But then, someone would have to come along and convincingly take that spot from him. Noone has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Havoc88 Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 I'm not complaining at all re some of the names mentioned. For now, against this level, it's what we need and they are performing and getting the result. Ricketts needs multiple chances to score, and against the lower teams he will. For the next round he is good for us. He might no longer be the main target up top, which is ideal, but he doesn't quit and has desire which I mark as a plus. For now, he is a good option. By the time we are in the fourth round, and hopefully the Hex, if Petrasso continues his ascent he could be a viable option in that position and had a few more years development under him. So I'm not really worried about our attack right now barring injury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 I guess that's the thing, if you look up flag desecration, letting it touch the ground and using it unconventionally are both considered desecration. The thing is that standards of decency and respect change over time. The "rules" you are referencing were developed in the Victorian Era, more than a century ago and fossilized by the bureaucracy. If you want evidence of change in the forms of respect look at all the people in the stands who now remove their hats and place their hands on their hearts when the Canadian national anthem is sung. This would have been a ludicrous display to Canadians 50 years ago but has become accepted in our stadiums to the point where people start making comments if you do not. Bottom line: I am not going to harrass someone who is making an honest effort to express a positive pride in our nation using our symbols. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king1010 Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 How did Grenada knock off Puerto Rico full of USL players? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 I don't know what their squad currently looks like, but they've been to the GC in recent years. I can't say the same for PR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 I'm not complaining at all re some of the names mentioned. For now, against this level, it's what we need and they are performing and getting the result. Ricketts needs multiple chances to score, and against the lower teams he will. For the next round he is good for us. He might no longer be the main target up top, which is ideal, but he doesn't quit and has desire which I mark as a plus. For now, he is a good option. By the time we are in the fourth round, and hopefully the Hex, if Petrasso continues his ascent he could be a viable option in that position and had a few more years development under him. So I'm not really worried about our attack right now barring injury. Ricketts may need multiple chances to score, but so does Larin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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