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WCQ Canada-Mexico 25 March Postgame


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It's a game of fine margins. In the first 30 minutes, we actually create 3-4 quality chances, better than anything they created up to that point. Yet, before they scored, their 'keeper hadn't had to make a single save and they forced ours to make several difficult stops from what were, realistically, half chances. Unfortunately, they have the quality to do that and once they got real chances to score, they buried them.

In another universe, Hoilett or Larin bury one of more of their gilt-edged chances in the open half hour, Lozano gets deservedly booked for his cynical, early foul and a second yellow for a dive in the box trying to win a penalty. We go in at half with a lead and a man advantage.

In the real world, we fuck up our chances to score, they punish us ruthlessly twice, and by the end we're lucky not to concede double digits in the second half.

My takeaways from this match:

1. We lack the quality and belief in front of goal to threaten any decent teams at the moment.

2. Arfield definitely should have started.

3. Borjan's saves in the first half, while looking good, were nothing less than you'd expect from a half-decent 'keeper. If any of those had gone in, we'd be asking serious questions of him.

4. In the last 15 minutes, when most of our players looked like they just wished it was over, Hume should have come off the bench to at least put some balls on our team.

5. Doniel Henry was, by some distance, the worst player on the pitch. On this evidence, he isn't worth a place on an MLS roster, never mind a Premier League one. He's simply not very good at football.

6. Edgar and Vitoria should start on Tuesday, with a RB who can actually display some football sense. Arfield and Hoilett should probably be held out of the starting eleven to avoid yellows. We'll be bunkering with at least 9 men behind the ball for most of the game, so Haber may be the better bet to start up top, with Rickets and Akindele on the wings.

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for those who are saying fire floro, who exactly will we bring in.  It's not like top coaches around the world are just sitting around waiting to take over the job.  If we don't qualify for the hex we can talk, but it would be stupid to sack him now.  Edgar should have started.  I rate him over every defender that started today.  I like straith but is the norwegian league even playing now.  Jakovic isn't even playing for his japanese club if I understand correctly.  Edgar is playing every week and is in mid season form.  I have never been a fan of henry.  Sure he makes some incredible tackles sometimes, but he has always been accident prone.  Every time he plays I am just waiting for him to get a red card or give away a penalty.  I don't think Hutch, JDG, and johnson should be playing together.  They are three of the best players we have, but it seems when they play together it is three players doing the job of two.  rotate the three of them, and get another striker or attacking mid in there to give larin some f.ing support.  I like larin, but he gets no support at all playing for canada.  if you want him to score like he does for orlando, give him some more support.  Not totally surprised by the result, Mexico is a far superior team to us, but my worry now is once they beat us at azteca and qualify for the next round, what kind of team are they putting out for their last two games.  Will honduras or el salvador be able to get three points again their B team since they won't care about those games, ultimatley screwing us over.

 

Rant over and sorry for any grammer of spelling errors.  I've had a bit to drink

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Just now, SthMelbRed said:

6. Edgar and Vitoria should start on Tuesday, with a RB who can actually display some football sense. Arfield and Hoilett should probably be held out of the starting eleven to avoid yellows. We'll be bunkering with at least 9 men behind the ball for most of the game, so Haber may be the better bet to start up top, with Rickets and Akindele on the wings.

This last point is the most vital for Floro to get right. Our back four needs to get its shit together. Edgar and Vittoria should be the anchorpoints and tuesday has to be the preliminary to the final two games in September. Arfield and Hoilett can and will be the difference makers against Honduras, we cannot risk one of them picking up a yellow in Mexico. They have to be available for the Honduras game at all costs. 

For all intents and purposes, this is now about setting us up for September.

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1 minute ago, gigi riva said:

If  there  is  a  silver  lining   tonite   I  was  Happy  to  see  the  Americans  lose   tonite.     and  Honduras  and  El  Salvador  drawing

 

Unfortunately, the American fans would be happy losing tonight since its gives them more reason to see JK gone...

I would've been more happy for Canada to park the bus and get the draw tonight.

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Just now, DoyleG said:

Unfortunately, the American fans would be happy losing tonight since its gives them more reason to see JK gone...

I would've been more happy for Canada to park the bus and get the draw tonight.

True,  Doyle.  but  the  way  the   American  supporters ,  You   know  the  Don't  tread  on  Me   clowns    yap   they  think  they    are  the best.  So   it  looks  good  on  them

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I can't believe how poor Cyle Larin is for Canada vs how good he is for Orlando. He has 3 goals in 3 games for Orlando this year, without Kaka in the lineup. With Canada, although often isolated, he looks utterly clueless. I wish Cavallini was interested in playing for our program.

Edgar has to play CB and Henry can't start at RB if we want to have a chance to win in the future.

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12 minutes ago, Vince193 said:

Fraser Aird deserves a shot at RB. He is actually playing it for Vancouver and is just as, if not faster than Henry. Also, Osorio deserves to play.

Not to fan the flames but if Osorio was in the squad he would have been my substitution for JDG at very least! 

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Wow I knew we were in for a long night when I saw that starting back 4 just incredible that's the back four Floro put out there and yes it was not all about the back that the game went the way it went but come on! Another opportunity missed in front of that great crowd we just about did another Honduras tonight at least it felt that way. There is nothing that tells me this program has moved forward from looking at tonight's game. In fact at times it looks like we have gone backwards in the past 20 years, the last coach that qualified Canada to two Hex final 6 appearances was Bobby Lenarduzzi in the 1994 qualifying campaign and the 1998 one. We have not qualified for the Hex since Lenarduzzi did it twice in a row and in the 1994 qualifying campaign Lenarduzzi almost qualified us to the World Cup after a close 2-1 loss at home in Toronto to Mexico in a game that if Canada had won it would have qualified to the World Cup in the USA in 1994 that's how close we came. Canada in that 1994 qualifier in Toronto versus Mexico played Mexico pretty even it did not crap the house like this team did in Vancouver tonight against a just as talented Mexican team at that time, if that 1994 Canadian team played this Canadian team it would not be much of a contest sorry, that's how far we have gone backwards I'm sorry to say. When we still have to rely on a 35 year old midfielder to anchor our midfield you know you got problems. It's going to come down to getting at least a point in Honduras again and we all know how that story ended the last time.

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I'd actually love it if both Aird and Bustos see enough playing time for the Whitecaps, and show well enough when they do play, to make strong cases to play in the June friendlies and crucial September qualifiers. They could be the collective key to unlock Larin's potential as a goal scorer on the international front. With a truly creative #10 in behind him and decent fullbacks who can get down the line and put in a cross, we could see Cyle scoring goals for Canada like he does for Orlando.

This could possibly be our most-balanced line-up:

 

---------------------Borjan---------------------

Aird--------Edgar----Vitoria--------De Jong

----------Hutchinson------Johnson----------

Arfield-------------Bustos-------------Hoilett

----------------------Larin-----------------------

 

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7 minutes ago, SthMelbRed said:

I'd actually love it if both Aird and Bustos see enough playing time for the Whitecaps, and show well enough when they do play, to make strong cases to play in the June friendlies and crucial September qualifiers. They could be the collective key to unlock Larin's potential as a goal scorer on the international front. With a truly creative #10 in behind him and decent fullbacks who can get down the line and put in a cross, we could see Cyle scoring goals for Canada like he does for Orlando.

This could possibly be our most-balanced line-up:

 

---------------------Borjan---------------------

Aird--------Edgar----Vitoria--------De Jong

----------Hutchinson------Johnson----------

Arfield-------------Bustos-------------Hoilett

----------------------Larin-----------------------

 

To me the link up problem has always looked more like a tactical problem and not a personnel problem. Will Johnson can get forward, to a lesser extent, so can Atiba, but they seem to not understand how to within the confines of the system.

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Damn...

On the hype-to-disappointment meter, this is probably similar to an identical 3-0 loss to Chile in '07. Mexico full credit for the dominating win.

A few cents:

1) Not sure why Ricketts is an automatic starter. He hasn't been playing at his club recently, which I believe is in the Turkish 2nd tier. I wouldn't even call him to be honest. I'd prefer to give his spot to someone like Jackson.

2) Lozano looks like a fantastic young player. Big future ahead of him. Skinned De Jong all night long.

3) De Guzman is another player I'm not sure should be starting. I think he is more of a depth player now, with his central mid spot taken by someone like Tiebert, Piette, Frose, or even Osorio or Arfield.

4) I hope Cavallini returns to the fold. Larin is a fantastic player, but his holdup play leave something to be desired. Give Cavallini some starts and see if he can bang in a couple goals. Well, if he accepts of course

5) I thought Hutch was good. Borjan as well. Made some saves at full stretch. Arfield looked good. Hoilett surprisingly ineffective.

6) Crowd was good, too bad they didn't get something to cheer for.

7) BC Place security also surprisingly ineffective lol

 

Oh well, hopefully they can get a miracle point at Azteca. Failing that, it comes down to needing results in our final two games. Still very disappointed we didn't be El Salvador's B squad last time around...

 

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1 minute ago, Bertuzzi44 said:

Damn...

..

Oh well, hopefully they can get a miracle point at Azteca. Failing that, it comes down to needing results in our final two games. Still very disappointed we didn't be El Salvador's B squad last time around...

 

Honestly, if I'm going to pray for a miracle to help our chances, I might choose the El Salvador/Honduras match. An El Salvador result - especially a win - makes things really tough on Honduras - likely needing to win in Mexico, even if they beat us.

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We had our chances but didn't even get a shot on net until the second half. We aren't going to win or draw making the other team's keeper work so little.

That said this was Mexico. They pass better, receive passes way better and shoot lethally. We don't. Not yet anyway. We are still in second spot in our group (knock wood).

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Agree with a lot of what has been said. Ricketts is Ricketts, Arfield is a starter, Henry is not a right back, and Larin looks ineffective more often than not at this level (but hopefully will develop).

But reality check. How many really expected a win or even a draw? If El Salvador and Honduras draw again, we remain in second place even with a loss. Remaining in second is best case scenario for these two rounds. If ES wins, we're only one point behind them. Even a Honduras win puts us on level points. Sure, a win over ES 2nd team would have helped immensely, but we're not in a bad spot. Let's not panic.

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39 minutes ago, 1996 said:

Wow I knew we were in for a long night when I saw that starting back 4 just incredible that's the back four Floro put out there and yes it was not all about the back that the game went the way it went but come on! Another opportunity missed in front of that great crowd we just about did another Honduras tonight at least it felt that way. There is nothing that tells me this program has moved forward from looking at tonight's game. In fact at times it looks like we have gone backwards in the past 20 years, the last coach that qualified Canada to two Hex final 6 appearances was Bobby Lenarduzzi in the 1994 qualifying campaign and the 1998 one. We have not qualified for the Hex since Lenarduzzi did it twice in a row and in the 1994 qualifying campaign Lenarduzzi almost qualified us to the World Cup after a close 2-1 loss at home in Toronto to Mexico in a game that if Canada had won it would have qualified to the World Cup in the USA in 1994 that's how close we came. Canada in that 1994 qualifier in Toronto versus Mexico played Mexico pretty even it did not crap the house like this team did in Vancouver tonight against a just as talented Mexican team at that time, if that 1994 Canadian team played this Canadian team it would not be much of a contest sorry, that's how far we have gone backwards I'm sorry to say. When we still have to rely on a 35 year old midfielder to anchor our midfield you know you got problems. It's going to come down to getting at least a point in Honduras again and we all know how that story ended the last time.

Also to be fair... if the 1994 Mex team played against current Mex team they wouldnt stand a chance...

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