Jump to content

Canada vs Costa Rica Thursday June 8th in Winnipeg & Sunday June 11th in Toronto


Recommended Posts

2 hours ago, jonovision said:

Did any of you attendees try to take the bus home after the game? What a mess.

I'm not even from here and I knew to go to the pub rather than try to bus out right away.

P.S.: Winnipeg soccer fans are nice people.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 98
  • Created
  • Last Reply

The worst player was Beckie. She looked really rusty with bad touches and taking too long to play the ball.

As usual, Labbe made a poor ball distribution decision which lead to the goal. Schmidt played to expectations - puts herself in position to get opportunities but continues to blow them. 

Fleming started off very well but gradually faded in the second half but her goal is something you don't typically see from Canadian players. Buchanan and especially Lawrence showed how much their French experience has improved their skillsets and iq. Scott showed me something new in her toolbox - a few good long passes to players making good runs.

When Prince & Leon came in, the speed of play really was upped. Haven't seen any previous Huitema national or youth team performances that were noteworthy but I finally saw in her few minutes what Herdman sees in her.     

On the media side, Vic Rauter was a bit off - totally missed the penalty call. LeBlanc seemed to have gottens some media training but they also sapped her energy out of her.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, sting said:

Why was it a mess? Waits, lack of buses, location?

All other events at that stadium have had excellent bus service. Extra buses on all routes, plus park and rides, probably 40 or 50 extra total. That's part of the reason so many people took the bus yesterday, it's usually by far the easiest way in and out (other than cycling). Yesterday had regular Thursday night service. Some people will have waited well over an hour to get a bus.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Complete Homer said:

Maybe dumb question - any chance to still get tickets in the Voyageurs section for today's game? Three of us found out last minute that we can make it (mixup about flights) 

There's an icon on the front page to buy tickets for Curaçao but not this game

I'm pretty sure I saw a tweet that Jamie would have some tickets at Shoeless Joes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Entertaining game and pleased to see so much newer players.  By Herdman pulling off Labbe, there is hope that finally he has realized she is not a keeper for Canada.  Now if he can also see it is time to drop Schmidt, we will be OK.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, dsqpr said:

After being surprised to see your criticism of Schmit in the first game I decided to watch her closely when I re-watched the game at home. I've only re-watched the first half so far but here are her numbers. I started off intending to just keep track of passes completed/incompleted but then added tackles that gained/lost possession and shots at goal.

I should also add that watching one player like that gave me a very strong sense of just how good her positional play and movement off the ball are. She covers a lot of ground and gets into some very good positions at both ends of the pitch, often without reward.

Canada vs. Costa Rica, 8 June 2017, Winnipeg.

Sophie Schmidt, 1st Half:

Passing: 80% (16/20 completed)

Tackling: 71% (Posession won=5, lost=2)

Shots: 2

If you have the game recorded you can verify my numbers. Here are my detailed notes. The number indicates the minute. Where the number is repeated that is more than one occurrence in the same minute:

Ball Won
1H [5]: 1, 13, 14, 14, 48F. ■
2H []:

Ball Lost
1H [2]: 1, 26. ■
2H []


Pass Complete
1H [16]: 4, 12L, 14, 14, 16, 23, 23, 26, 30H, 34, 34a, 36, 38, 39H, 40, 41a. ■
2H []:

Pass Incomplete
1H [4]: 7, 15, 43B, 46L. ■
2H []:

L=Long, H=Header, a=assist-shot, B=bouncing

Shot:
1H [2]: 28B, 32WM. ■
2H []:

B=Blocked, W=Wide, M=miskick

Wow, you have gone through and incredible amount of work to gather all those stats.  It certainly gives an accurate view of Schmidt playing.  It would be interesting if somehow one could compare her numbers with those of the other players.  I base my assessment in just what I see of a player together with what I would like a player to be doing and her impact on the team.  But thank you for doing this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, dsqpr said:

I didn't see the game either but the thing that delighted me from the highlights was that it appeared that this time we played without fear. When we had a chance we hit it first time and consequently we filled the net. Beautiful!!!

Also, shout out for Lindsay Agnew #22. She had a strong game when she came on early for Chapman in Winnipeg and it looks as though she picked up in Toronto where she left off.

We are really starting to develop some depth and now have a wealth of fantastic youngsters coming through (Beckie and now Jordyn Huitema!). If we can learn to play without fear I think this team really can challenge for World #1.

The other piece that struck me was Sinclair's value as a provider rather than poacher. It seems like half the people want her to catch Wambach's record, and the other half want her to give way to our younger players, but there is a lot of value and skill in the way she (unselfishly) sets others up.  The nice soft pass that Beckie volleyed out of the air was excellent, and I suspect that Sinclair's big game experience gives her a pretty calm head in and around the box.  It seems like we have some excellent forwards coming up through the ranks, but I don't think it is time for Sinclair to hang up the boots yet.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Often, our Canadian players tend to stagnate in their careers after a while. But I was impressed with the improvement of a number of players in these 2 matches with Costa Rica.

Prince, Leon, Quinn, Fleming & Scott all showed new purpose and new skills. Lawrence & Buchanan showed they have stepped up to elite class. Haven't seen Agnew before to say she has improved but given she was in the stands last year watching Canada play Brazil, she has moved up the ladder. For Huitema, sample size is small but it looks like she has the speed, skill & size to take over Sinclair's starting spot for WC19.

Only disappointment was Labbe. In a 6-0 match, it is strange to say the goalkeeper underperformed but her decision-making and ball distribution skills are still too scary. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ Maybe I'm a bit off in my analysis, but I thought Scott was poor in the Winnipeg match. Didn't do as much "destroying" as I'm accustomed to seeing, and her passing was off. But I didn't see the game on TV, maybe it told another story.

I largely agree about the others. A lot of exciting players, but Fleming continues to impress me the most. I like her close control, aggressiveness, and her goal in Winnipeg was class. But the most impressive thing for me was her passing range. She was hitting well weighted 30-40 yard passes all throughout both games. That part of her game reminded me of peak Patrice Bernier, or that one Gold Cup where Martin Nash was good. (Obviously, she is miles better than both of those players relative to the women's game)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also saw Scott pretty bad in Winnipeg. She, and Schmidt in Toronto, were the only two performances I wasn't pretty okay with. Sinclair's miss was so horrifying and her speed has deteriorated so badly that we can overlook the good things she did, but on reflection she was a definite net positive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not ready to write Scott off as a player. I also don't think these type of games allow her to show her strengths. She has a much bigger role to play when the other team has more of the ball. I thought she played well, for the most part, in the Olympics when she had a lot more defending to do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...