How we can win in September

[madmonte]

More friendlies = more practices.  

At those practices?  Let's practice offense rather than just staying tactically strong with defensive positioning.  It feels to me like they get to the final third and noone knows how to create a scoring chance.  

[Unnamed Trialist]

If Floro pulls it off, playing exactly like we are but with Hoillet not blasting over and Larin finally poachng one, great. That is the only way it is going to happen, BTW. We are not going to try anything else.

If it doesn't go, next cycle, just for the hell of it, let's try to play beautiful possession football and score wonderful goals and go out in a burning mess losing 5-4 in the last qualifier. I mean, just for once. The chance to celebrate goals at home even. Just for once it'd be nice to die beautifully and not have these TS Eliot endings all the time.

[CCF]

Put the ball in the box. Not going to score if you play a perimeter game and don't even threaten the net. 

The only shot I recall last night was de Jong's. That's unacceptable even against a strong opponent like Mexico. 

Take advantage of the corners awarded - don't just play the ball short as it appears Canada ultimately loses possession. 

[Califax]

Entirely possible we get out of the group with 2 goals on 8 points. Last team to do that was Panama in 96 as my good friend informs me. 

If this next game isnt why Floro was brought in then I dont know...

[Blue and White Army]

46 minutes ago, Califax said:

Entirely possible we get out of the group with 2 goals on 8 points. Last team to do that was Panama in 96 as my good friend informs me. 

If this next game isnt why Floro was brought in then I dont know...

Two more 0-0 draws and we would likely go through. 1 goal and 6 points.

[squizz1402635577]

There's only one FIFA international break between now and September -- the one in June, in which we have a training camp in Austria and a friendly against Azerbajian (plus, hopefully, some other Euro opponent).

The odds of getting a squad together on a non-FIFA summer date to play CONCACAF opposition are slim to nil, unfortunately.

 

[Califax]

8 minutes ago, Blue and White Army said:

Two more 0-0 draws and we would likely go through. 1 goal and 6 points.

Indeed!

Dream big!

[Moldy9]

Don't worry mates we got a friendly booked with Azerbaijan! LOL

Stephen Hart to Benito Floro on San Pedro Sula:

"Good luck bra'. Let's see what you can do!"

My selection for next two games (laugh if you want but seeing Benito's lineups anyone can pick a better XI)

 ------Larin --Cavallini

-----------Aleman

Hoillett -------------Arfield

----------Hutchinson

De Jong- Edgar-Lefevre-Aird

----------Borjan

[Moldy9]

11 minutes ago, Blue and White Army said:

Two more 0-0 draws and we would likely go through. 1 goal and 6 points.

If this were to happen then I'll laugh with amazement.  "Turtle Turtle and the Hare. Slow and steady wins the race" by Benito Floro. How to get to the Hex by doing nothing. 

[Moldy9]

FML hey I'll be the happiest guy if we make it to the hex. And if we do get by with two 0-0 draws I'll produce a video in El Señor Floro's homage called: Benito's Special - Canada's Road to the Hex highlight videos. (Hope you guys like air balls, and back pass corners and free kick highlights and scoring the goal off the back via deflection) 

[jpg75]

1 hour ago, Califax said:

Entirely possible we get out of the group with 2 goals on 8 points. Last team to do that was Panama in 96 as my good friend informs me.

Panama was in our group in 96 and they did not advance. It was Canada and El Salvador that went to the Hex.

[Califax]

18 minutes ago, jpg75 said:

Panama was in our group in 96 and they did not advance. It was Canada and El Salvador that went to the Hex.

Apologies, it was in 2004 for the 2006 WC. They finished 2-2-2 with -3 GD and 8pts. 

Oh to have an institutional memory.  For the rest of us there is wikipedia. 

 

[Blackdude]

22 minutes ago, Moldy9 said:

FML hey I'll be the happiest guy if we make it to the hex. And if we do get by with two 0-0 draws I'll produce a video in El Señor Floro's homage called: Benito's Special - Canada's Road to the Hex highlight videos. (Hope you guys like air balls, and back pass corners and free kick highlights and scoring the goal off the back via deflection) 

And turtles? 

[Moldy9]

1 minute ago, Blackdude said:

And turtles? 

They'll sponsor the video and I'll have the theme music as background to our highlight. (The 1 goal)

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

4 minutes ago, Blackdude said:

And turtles? 

If we make the Hex with two 0-0 draws vs Honduras and El Salvador I will donate money towards the creation of a Benito Floro as a turtle banner.

[Moldy9]

[rob.notenboom]

3 hours ago, Moldy9 said:

Don't worry mates we got a friendly booked with Azerbaijan! LOL

Stephen Hart to Benito Floro on San Pedro Sula:

"Good luck bra'. Let's see what you can do!"

My selection for next two games (laugh if you want but seeing Benito's lineups anyone can pick a better XI)

 

How to get to the hex? Sacrifice a chicken? Swing a dead cat over your head at midnight under a full moon.

 

Seriously though, I'm not sure now, and haven't really been in the past, that coaching is our problem. Talent is, or perhaps more accurately, development of talent. Don't get me wrong. I'm all for our team and players, especially the ones who show up every time they're called, and give it their all. But watching Mexico and Canada on the same field, there is such a gulf in technical ability and ability to read the game between the Mexico players and ours that it almost isn't fair. It's not even really the player's fault as they were developed for the most part in a system that doesn't give them what they need. You could be the most dedicated Canadian kid, who has the strongest desire and passion and the deepest commitment o try to play soccer at the highest level in the world, and despite still end up with a Div 5 Regina first touch.  Regardless, a result in Honduras and another in Canada is well within the realm of possibility. 

 

Nice that destiny is in our own hands though, but of course we've been here before. This is either going to be a soul-crushing exit, a grab-life-by-the-horns exciting qualification, or a hilarious squeak in with two 0-0 draws scenario. I'm not sure what I would bet on tbh.

[Guest]

16 hours ago, Northvansteve said:

 Will Johnson are old and are slowing down

He is 29. He is in his prime

[Guest]

12 hours ago, BearcatSA said:

And having to win at home, under pressure,  in the final match, against an underdog opponent who can play the spoiler?  Even harder, imo.

 

 

For God sake. It seems like every game we play is a hard game. For once can someone say "El salvador at home? We dominated Honduras we can do it to a lesser El Salvador"

[Guest]

12 hours ago, jpg75 said:

Saying we'll draw in Honduras is easy, doing it is much harder.

Don't worry that is what we have Floro for. He was brought in to get points in Central America with his park the bus tactics. Saying we will lose in Honduras is like saying we don't believe in Floro

[Yoginess]

Honestly, the way in to the Hex is to fluke in one year and maintain a top 6 ranking in the region. Avoid Rounds 2 and 3 and be a second Pot team in Round 4. Wouldn't guarantee us anything but it sure would make things a lot easier

[CanadianSoccerFan]

21 minutes ago, Yoginess said:

Honestly, the way in to the Hex is to fluke in one year and maintain a top 6 ranking in the region. Avoid Rounds 2 and 3 and be a second Pot team in Round 4. Wouldn't guarantee us anything but it sure would make things a lot easier

There's some truth to this.  The semi-final round draw is half the battle.  Just look at Stephen Hart right now.  T&T racked up ranking points in the caribbean cup (which have a multiplier of 2.5X) to crack pot 2 of the draw and now they've got  an easy path.  

[Soccerpro]

9 minutes ago, CanadianSoccerFan said:

There's some truth to this.  The semi-final round draw is half the battle.  Just look at Stephen Hart right now.  T&T racked up ranking points in the caribbean cup (which have a multiplier of 2.5X) to crack pot 2 of the draw and now they've got  an easy path.  

T&T tied Mexico twice last year and beat Panama away IN Panama.

They are way better than us right now, easy group or not.

[shermanator]

3 hours ago, rob.notenboom said:

Seriously though, I'm not sure now, and haven't really been in the past, that coaching is our problem. Talent is, or perhaps more accurately, development of talent. Don't get me wrong. I'm all for our team and players, especially the ones who show up every time they're called, and give it their all. But watching Mexico and Canada on the same field, there is such a gulf in technical ability and ability to read the game between the Mexico players and ours that it almost isn't fair. It's not even really the player's fault as they were developed for the most part in a system that doesn't give them what they need. You could be the most dedicated Canadian kid, who has the strongest desire and passion and the deepest commitment o try to play soccer at the highest level in the world, and despite still end up with a Div 5 Regina first touch.  Regardless, a result in Honduras and another in Canada is well within the realm of possibility. 

Nice that destiny is in our own hands though, but of course we've been here before. This is either going to be a soul-crushing exit, a grab-life-by-the-horns exciting qualification, or a hilarious squeak in with two 0-0 draws scenario. I'm not sure what I would bet on tbh.

Rob, I couldn't agree with you more.

We are who we thought we were, and I don't think folks should be surprised at that. The conversation of "how can we win in September" should be re-phrased to "how can we win in September 2020", because outside of a bunch of new faces, not much has changed. And that really shouldn't be a massive surprise to anyone except for those looking for a quick fix.

A few flashy new additions doesn't change the fact that our development pyramid is inherently flawed, and doesn't produce anywhere near the talent Canada needs to compete with the likes of the CONCACAF powers, or even the semi-powers such as Honduras or Panama or Jamaica. Don't get me wrong, the likes of Hoilett, Arfield and Akindele help, but none of these players are going to tip the scales in our favour in a massive way.

We rely on 5 professional clubs to scout out talent from the hundreds of thousands of players that play in this country. Quite frankly, we need more places developing quality local talent to even begin to get better on the international stage. What's been done in this regard since 2012 are positive (specifically referencing League1 Ontario and PLSQ), but are just baby steps. We need more Sigma's. We need more Calgary Foothills. We need more regional high performance leagues. We need to start seeing players from our professional academies actually get through to the first team and becoming everyday starters. We need to see every day starters move to better leagues in Europe. And so on.

Or, we can expect to get to the hex and be crushed again in San Pedro Sula, like 4 years ago.

[Oranje]

16 minutes ago, shermanator said:

Rob, I couldn't agree with you more.

We are who we thought we were, and I don't think folks should be surprised at that. The conversation of "how can we win in September" should be re-phrased to "how can we win in September 2020", because outside of a bunch of new faces, not much has changed. And that really shouldn't be a massive surprise to anyone except for those looking for a quick fix.

A few flashy new additions doesn't change the fact that our development pyramid is inherently flawed, and doesn't produce anywhere near the talent Canada needs to compete with the likes of the CONCACAF powers, or even the semi-powers such as Honduras or Panama or Jamaica. Don't get me wrong, the likes of Hoilett, Arfield and Akindele help, but none of these players are going to tip the scales in our favour in a massive way.

We rely on 5 professional clubs to scout out talent from the hundreds of thousands of players that play in this country. Quite frankly, we need more places developing quality local talent to even begin to get better on the international stage. What's been done in this regard since 2012 are positive (specifically referencing League1 Ontario and PLSQ), but are just baby steps. We need more Sigma's. We need more Calgary Foothills. We need more regional high performance leagues. We need to start seeing players from our professional academies actually get through to the first team and becoming everyday starters. We need to see every day starters move to better leagues in Europe. And so on.

Or, we can expect to get to the hex and be crushed again, like 4 years ago.

I'm sure you could find this exact post after the loss in San Pedro Sula, when Montagliani became prez, when Hart was fired (or resigned, can't remember) and when Floro was hired. Nothing is going to change until the development channels are drastically redone and the grassroots game is flipped onto it's head. The only thing that will change is our expectations with the new player additions/new coaches while the root cause for our agony remains the same.