Doneil Henry

[Ivan]

11 minutes ago, honestseveran said:

He only played RB under Mariner I believe. 

When he was like 17,18 and first signed.

[BearcatSA]

Henry's biggest problem as a defender was marking when his opponent didn't have the ball and then avoiding rash, dive-in challenges that invited fouls, cards, and penalties.  And like most young players, he had a tendency to have a long memory after making a mistake and would compound his error by trying too hard to make up for it and make it a subsequent, sometimes bigger mistake.

Some guys learn from that and others turn into Titus Bramble.

I don't buy the notion that his errors as an RB were because he was played out of his natural position of CB.  He'd make because fundamental errors as described in the opening paragraph.  If he improves in those areas, he still has the athletic gifts (hopefully) to do well defensively at either position.

[The Beaver]

I am cautiously optimistic.  Let's see how he looks after a run of games. Robbo was very pleased with Doneil's performance, that's for sure.  I thought he looked good, maybe a bit naïve in his super tight marking, but like one or two of you said, he got his head on a lot of balls and made at least three key blocks/tackles, and was good for 90 minutes. He's still five or six games away from being fully fit and free of ring-rust, but the prospect of Waston and Doneil at CB is pretty damned exciting. As a striker, I'd hate to have to face those two beasts!

As for the CMNT, if Doneil get stay fit and get his levels up to his potential, then he and Jakovich would make a strong pairing at CB. Jako's distro out of the back is very good, and Doneil is a strong physical presence.  Mind you, we still need a couple of young and talented CBs to announce themselves, and soon!

[Grizzly]

4 hours ago, 1996 said:

TFC eh how about a really stubborn coach Canada use to have who kept insisting he was a wide defender when it was painfully obvious even from a blind man that Henry was not a wide defender , but it did not matter to that stubborn coach even after blunder after blunder he kept putting Henry it that position , but what did this particular coach care , him and his son made a good buck in the end and moved on to new adventures!

That stubborn coach though was also stuck with the problem of the black hole at right back without a single decent right back in our whole system. Henry made some gaffs at this position but I am not sure the alternatives at the time would have been any better.

[Grizzly]

2 hours ago, The Beaver said:

Mind you, we still need a couple of young and talented CBs to announce themselves, and soon!

Did you watch the Toulon tournament?

[The Beaver]

1 hour ago, Grizzly said:

Did you watch the Toulon tournament?

 

1 hour ago, Grizzly said:

Did you watch the Toulon tournament?

No, I did not. I am certainly optimistic based on the game reports on the forum though.

[toontownman]

Henry not being good enough isn't really a question for me. He needs games and he needs to stay injury free. All young centre backs have brainfarts in their early years. If he stays fit he will get games, if he gets games he will only continue to grow. In that scenario its good news for Whitecaps, Henry and Canada.  

 

[BenFisk'sBiggestFan]

^ I agree with Grizzly. Cornelius was great, Sadiki was right up there, and Dunn showed a lot of promise. 

[Wingback6]

Not that you could really blame him for either, but didn't look to great on either of Orlando's goals tonight.

Edited June 10, 2018 by Wingback6

[Northvansteve]

6 minutes ago, Wingback6 said:

Not that you could really blame him for either, but didn't look to great on either of Orlando's goals tonight.

No idea how you could pin either goal on him. First goal against was result of mids giving ball away and then not tracking back to cover. Second goal was a giveaway by the mids and Doneil caught in the middle. He was very good again today and I look forward to seeing him as a regular starter with Waston.

[Gian-Luca]

One thing that pleasantly surprised me last night was Doneil making a couple of nice accurate passes out of the back  - with his left foot. My recollection of him in Toronto is that he didn't have a left to speak of.

[honestseveran]

16 hours ago, Northvansteve said:

No idea how you could pin either goal on him. First goal against was result of mids giving ball away and then not tracking back to cover. Second goal was a giveaway by the mids and Doneil caught in the middle. He was very good again today and I look forward to seeing him as a regular starter with Waston.

He was ordinary on the first goal. He dropped too quickly that lead to runner being played onside. He then was flat footed on the cross. Not a good look.

[Unnamed Trialist]

9 minutes ago, honestseveran said:

He was ordinary on the first goal. He dropped too quickly that lead to runner being played onside. He then was flat footed on the cross. Not a good look.

True, but all of Caps sit back terribly and force the keeper and centre backs to absorb everything, opposing teams always get scores of crosses in, shots, more corners. Because Robbo cannot get his damn mids into defensive shape, and they have no encouragement to challenge balls out past 25 metres. Then, to top it off, we track back terribly and the rivals very frequently outnumber us, everywhere except the middle at the back. 

Caps defenders have a lot of work, too much, because the team is not properly coached for the mids to attack spaces and win the ball back in unison. So a guy like Henry, or Aja another week, or Waston on a bad day, will frequently get exposed. 

[Wingback6]

22 hours ago, Northvansteve said:

No idea how you could pin either goal on him. First goal against was result of mids giving ball away and then not tracking back to cover. Second goal was a giveaway by the mids and Doneil caught in the middle. He was very good again today and I look forward to seeing him as a regular starter with Waston.

I think you need to learn how to read before you continue posting. I literally begin the sentence by saying  "you couldn't really blame him for either," goal that is. Which directly contradicts the first sentence in your paragraph.  Cheers.

[Shortdutchcanuck]

 

Henry apparently one of the few bright spots in thrashing by Union.  Interesting to note his passing accuracy (if you like that sort of statistic) which is an area of his game he seldom gets credit for.

"Aja automatically misses the next game, but starting centreback Kendall Waston should be back from World Cup duty in Russia with Costa Rica’s final game coming on Wednesday with the Ticos failing to advance to the next round.

Should he return, he’ll partner with Henry, who was one of the few positives the Caps could take from the game. The Canadian international had game-highs in interceptions (4) and clearances (8) and came into the game leading the team in passing accuracy in the three straight games he’s started, completing 54 of 60."

http://theprovince.com/sports/soccer/mls/vancouver-whitecaps/philadelphia-4-whitecaps-0-caps-fail-miserably-trying-to-be-union-busters

[Guest Tg11]

5 minutes ago, Shortdutchcanuck said:

 

Henry apparently one of the few bright spots in thrashing by Union.  Interesting to note his passing accuracy (if you like that sort of statistic) which is an area of his game he seldom gets credit for.

"Aja automatically misses the next game, but starting centreback Kendall Waston should be back from World Cup duty in Russia with Costa Rica’s final game coming on Wednesday with the Ticos failing to advance to the next round.

Should he return, he’ll partner with Henry, who was one of the few positives the Caps could take from the game. The Canadian international had game-highs in interceptions (4) and clearances (8) and came into the game leading the team in passing accuracy in the three straight games he’s started, completing 54 of 60."

http://theprovince.com/sports/soccer/mls/vancouver-whitecaps/philadelphia-4-whitecaps-0-caps-fail-miserably-trying-to-be-union-busters

I like hearing this.

[Bison44]

Well what does everyone think of the new and improved Henry??  He has had a stint with Ottawa and 5 starts back in MLS now so we should be getting an accurate look.  And he'll have to contend with Rooney tonight.  I've seen a few of each (mls/usl) and he does seem to have matured, a lot fewer rash challenges (although i always though he got a bad rap for that with TFC) and doesnt seem to be diminished physically from the injuries.  If he can keep getting regular playing time into the fall does he slide back into a CB spot for CMNT?  That would be a good start to filling a big hole for us.  

[HochelagaFC]

36 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

Well what does everyone think of the new and improved Henry??  He has had a stint with Ottawa and 5 starts back in MLS now so we should be getting an accurate look.  And he'll have to contend with Rooney tonight.  I've seen a few of each (mls/usl) and he does seem to have matured, a lot fewer rash challenges (although i always though he got a bad rap for that with TFC) and doesnt seem to be diminished physically from the injuries.  If he can keep getting regular playing time into the fall does he slide back into a CB spot for CMNT?  That would be a good start to filling a big hole for us.  

I think he should be back for the Nations League games. He is easily our most talented CB at the moment, he is playing regularly at a good level and is having good and consistent performance. Given the fact that we are not playing against really strong opponents I don’t know why he shouldn’t be there. 

[Guest Tg11]

1 minute ago, HochelagaFC said:

I think he should be back for the Nations League games. He is easily our most talented CB at the moment, he is playing regularly at a good level and is having good and consistent performance. Given the fact that we are not playing against really strong opponents I don’t know why he shouldn’t be there. 

??

[Keegan]

Yea if he’s starting in MLS that (sadly) makes him pretty much an automatic call up.  I’m hopeful he’s turned a corner because after him we are really short on under 25 centerbacks. 

[Addona]

2 hours ago, Keegan said:

Yea if he’s starting in MLS that (sadly) makes him pretty much an automatic call up.  I’m hopeful he’s turned a corner because after him we are really short on under 25 centerbacks. 

James turns 25 in a few weeks.... maybe Luca G ... that’s about all I can come up with off the top of my head.

[Keegan]

20 minutes ago, Addona said:

James turns 25 in a few weeks.... maybe Luca G ... that’s about all I can come up with off the top of my head.

Luca G can’t even get a cap so that says something ditto Stanese, Didic and Cornelius. 

[Northvansteve]

36 minutes ago, Keegan said:

Luca G can’t even get a cap so that says something ditto Stanese, Didic and Cornelius. 

This is where our system is the weakest: top prospects are Derek Cornelius, Julian Dunn and....? 

[HochelagaFC]

15 minutes ago, Northvansteve said:

This is where our system is the weakest: top prospects are Derek Cornelius, Julian Dunn and....? 

Thomas Meilleur Giguère could fall into that category. Kosovar Sadiki too. But it is clearly our weakest position, both with the seniors and with the youth teams.

[harrycoyster]

1 hour ago, Keegan said:

Luca G can’t even get a cap so that says something ditto Stanese, Didic and Cornelius. 

Didic doesn’t even belong in that group anymore. Having a bad season in USL and clearly isn’t part of SKC’s plans anymore.