Voyageurs' Cup 2017

[Gian-Luca]

55 minutes ago, harrycoyster said:

Just here to say I can't wait until we have a US Open Cup sized Voyageurs Cup. Watching the US Open Cup games right now is so much fun. Miami FC beating Atlanta United, FC Cincinnati currently tied with the Fire in the 75' minute, 45k attendance in two D2 stadiums. What these cups do for the game is fantastic. 

The irony here is that on the mls website I've seen a number of comments from American fans wishing that the US Open Cup was more like/as good as the Canadian Championship. I was asked by a number of general sports fans but not really soccer fans if I was at the game last night and got to see Giovinco bang the drum. Which tells me that this little competition of ours, which myself and other long-time V's funded the creation of the Cup which is to be won for it, is entering the mainstream like it never has before.

[Ansem]

So I've been looking at the Montreal Impact supporters group on Facebook and unanimously they say Canada has crappy refs and when talked about CPL joining the tournament, some of them dismiss it due to low quality and poor referees.

So I told them:

-How can you expect world class Canadian referees when you have no top Canadian leagues to allow them to referee more often in critical games enabling them to learn from mistakes and get better at their job?

[harrycoyster]

18 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said:

The irony here is that on the mls website I've seen a number of comments from American fans wishing that the US Open Cup was more like/as good as the Canadian Championship. I was asked by a number of general sports fans but not really soccer fans if I was at the game last night and got to see Giovinco bang the drum. Which tells me that this little competition of ours, which myself and other long-time V's funded the creation of the Cup which is to be won for it, is entering the mainstream like it never has before.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Voyageurs, but it isn't big enough for significant upsets. I want Canadian FC Cincinnati, Canadian Miami FC, and Canadian Christos FC.

Nothing quite like watching teams go 3 rounds past where they were supposed to.

[Moldy9]

Honestly I'm just pissed Gantar had to put the freakin cherry on top with that red. I was really hoping to see the game go to penalties and see Crépeau's metal. 

[Moldy9]

Didn't they say yesterday at half the tournament is to be expanded next year by two more teams?

who are they and how will the format work out?

[Gian-Luca]

I just saw the edited highlights of Biello's post-game tirade against the officiating.Not sure if the full conference is available anywhere, I'm curious if anyone in the media asked him if he thought that Gantar got the non-PK call correct and if so, what is the possible criteria that he used to say it wasn't a penalty.

I actually agree with him that Refs shouldn't be influenced by players and that it was wrong for Bradley & Altidore to go screaming in his face, but in terms of blaming everything for a loss on the refs, that's beside the point. Hard to argue that he wasn't consistently crap for both teams but in the edited highlights he makes it seem like only one team got screwed. Yeah, Mavinga could have got a yellow for is foul on Tabla, Fisher could have got a straight red or two yellows, Camara could have got a yellow for his stomp on Edwards in the first half, and the list goes on if you want to go down that route. But I'm not sure why you'd want to if you are a coach.

[Gian-Luca]

5 minutes ago, Moldy9 said:

Didn't they say yesterday at half the tournament is to be expanded next year by two more teams?

who are they and how will the format work out?

I believe Ontario & Quebec champs, but I'm not sure about the format for 7 teams. Maybe the USL/NASL teams play against the so-called "semi-pro" teams first?

[TRM]

56 minutes ago, harrycoyster said:

Don't get me wrong, I love the Voyageurs, but it isn't big enough for significant upsets. I want Canadian FC Cincinnati, Canadian Miami FC, and Canadian Christos FC.

Nothing quite like watching teams go 3 rounds past where they were supposed to.

I want to see the Canadian version of Havant & Waterlooville  

[harrycoyster]

Anthony Totera on the "TFC cheated by subbing out their Canadians for better players" nonsense: 

 

[Zem]

1 hour ago, Moldy9 said:

Didn't they say yesterday at half the tournament is to be expanded next year by two more teams?

who are they and how will the format work out?

The champions of League1 Ontario and the PLSQ.

Assuming they're the only ones being added, it's most likely just going to be tacked on to the existing format with an extra round between Ottawa, Edmonton and the two semi-pro sides, with the two winners advancing to what is currently the preliminary round. They haven't said anything official about the format change yet, but that would be the most straightforward solution for the time being.

[Grizzly]

I hesitate to post this since I know these guys really crave attention and will do just about anything to get it but what is with the sign calling for the breakup of Canada during the Canadian championship?

 

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

Looks like a response to the posters Impact fans had at the first game.

[Grizzly]

Yes it may be a response but there is a big difference between the insulting the other team/city and advocating for the breakup of your own country especially in the national tournament of your own country.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

Soccer will have truly made it in Canada when something like this blows up into a major international news story because Justin Trudeau has very publicly demanded an apology from the president of the CSA before the game can even be played:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1982065.stm

 

[jonovision]

10 hours ago, Gian-Luca said:

I just saw the edited highlights of Biello's post-game tirade against the officiating.Not sure if the full conference is available anywhere, I'm curious if anyone in the media asked him if he thought that Gantar got the non-PK call correct and if so, what is the possible criteria that he used to say it wasn't a penalty.

I actually agree with him that Refs shouldn't be influenced by players and that it was wrong for Bradley & Altidore to go screaming in his face, but in terms of blaming everything for a loss on the refs, that's beside the point. Hard to argue that he wasn't consistently crap for both teams but in the edited highlights he makes it seem like only one team got screwed. Yeah, Mavinga could have got a yellow for is foul on Tabla, Fisher could have got a straight red or two yellows, Camara could have got a yellow for his stomp on Edwards in the first half, and the list goes on if you want to go down that route. But I'm not sure why you'd want to if you are a coach.

That's not my interpretation of his remarks at all, it was a response to the question he was asked. And his main point, which was that refs like Gantar and Fischer are not at the level at all and as a result are having an inappropriate influence on matches, was entirely correct. Obviously he'd highlight where calls went against his own team but I don't think anyone can fault him for that.

Compounding the missed calls, and this I think was a big part of Biello's point, was the fact Gantar didn't do anything about the unsporting behaviour of both teams. Handing out a few yellows for the constant simulation (this game was one of the worst I've seen in that regard: Giovinco, Tabla and Edwards the most frequent) and players getting in the referee's face (Bradley was the worst culprit though there were others on both teams) would have calmed things, in my opinion.

[jonovision]

4 hours ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

Looks like a response to the posters Impact fans had at the first game.

"Fuck Toronto" is childiish and bad banter. "Quebexit" is a political statement on an issue that has consistently divided our country and at points in our history has gotten people killed. I can see how it might have been intended without malice, but bringing politics into it is crossing a line that doesn't need to be crossed.

A "Fuck Montreal" or french equivalent would have been just fine, if just as stupid as the original.

Although IMO any sort of banner that merits more than a few seconds of reaction is probably counter-productive.

[jonovision]

This was the first year of the Voyageurs Cup where the Canadian content rule was in place. Here is how the teams stacked up, in terms of percentage of total minutes played by Canadians:

1. Vancouver 33.3%
2. Edmonton 30.9%
3. Montreal 28.1%
4. Ottawa 26.3%
5. Toronto 24.2%

By way of comparison, here are the numbers from last year without the rule:

1. Toronto 33.2%
2. Vancouver 27.6%
3. Montreal 24.9%
4. Ottawa 24.8%
5. Edmonton 21.2%

No real difference among the MLS teams overall. Surprisingly it was Edmonton and Ottawa that were forced to up their content a bit by the new rule.

 

[Gopherbashi]

My god, we get worked up about the tiniest things, don't we?

[rightback]

Re. Gantar 

The worst referee I've ever had to see multiple times. He's so uniformly incompetent, game after game, that it's inconceivable that he's allowed to ref anything more important than under-10's. His crowning achievement, in my opinion, was when Brazil played Honduras a few years ago. Why the Brazilians didn't simply walk off the pitch in the middle of the game is beyond me...and all the while he had this stupid smile across his face. A Canadian embarrassment and disgrace. Tuesday's game was one of his better efforts.

Re. The game. The first half wasn't great but it sure picked up in the second. I'm no fan of Delgado but Osorio fully deserved to be subbed off, he was only notable for some nice passes to the Impact. Loved Vasquez as always but a real treat to see him live. I don't know if Vanney appreciates the showboating but, man it's fun to watch. These Voyageur Cup games are a real treat and I'm looking forward to Toronto in the Champions League. 

 

[Califax]

6 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Yes it may be a response but there is a big difference between the insulting the other team/city and advocating for the breakup of your own country especially in the national tournament of your own country.

Hyperbole isn't a thing with you is it?

 

It was a hilarious, tongue-in-cheek response to the monument to Socratic wit that was the "fuck toronto" sign, and when twice in my lifetime Quebec has advocated for the breakup of its own country, going to far as to organize a vote (and with rumblings as recently as Marios' election) there is a historical precedent set for why it's both funny and topical.

 

Come on. 

 

(edit: it was inebriatti who did this, not RPB. I say this cause the credit should go where it belongs. Well done boys and girls)

[Macksam]

8 hours ago, Grizzly said:

I hesitate to post this since I know these guys really crave attention and will do just about anything to get it but what is with the sign calling for the breakup of Canada during the Canadian championship?

 

Fuck Toronto was funny no doubt. Quebexit doesn't even make sense in any context. You're encouraging your rival to enact a vote to separate? The RPB would have been better off getting that giant drawing depicting a Montreal girl going down on a TFC supporter from last year. At least that had some effort put into it.

[Unnamed Trialist]

5 hours ago, BringBackTheBlizzard said:

Soccer will have truly made it in Canada when something like this blows up into a major international news story because Justin Trudeau has very publicly demanded an apology from the president of the CSA before the game can even be played:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1982065.stm

 

But that was a Corsican team's fans. Contextualize. I have never seen anything similar in Canada.

You would not believe what has been happening in Spain with recent cup finals between Barcelona and Basque teams. The national anthem is inaudible, hissing and whistling of course. Mind  you, it is the only game in Spain where they play the anthem, and the king comes, and he stands. And Catalans and Basques drown out an anthem of a nation they'd prefer not to be part of. Showing their colours and flags, and standing. While playing the final of the Spanish King's Cup.

It would help if certain Spanish politicians would not use purity of nationhood and forced unity as hammers to beat away at their political rivals. (BTW, I've been in Catalonia for three decades, married to a Catalan mountain girl, and neither of us are in favour of the independence "project")

 

[Califax]

4 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

But that was a Corsican team's fans. Contextualize. I have never seen anything similar in Canada.

You would not believe what has been happening in Spain with recent cup finals between Barcelona and Basque teams. The national anthem is inaudible, hissing and whistling of course. Mind  you, it is the only game in Spain where they play the anthem, and the king comes, and he stands. And Catalans and Basques drown out an anthem of a nation they'd prefer not to be part of. Showing their colours and flags, and standing. While playing the final of the Spanish King's Cup.

It would help if certain Spanish politicians would not use purity of nationhood and forced unity as hammers to beat away at their political rivals. (BTW, I've been in Catalonia for three decades, married to a Catalan mountain girl, and neither of us are in favour of the independence "project")

 

This is a great post. Not taking a stance either way but it's fascinating to see. 

[Gian-Luca]

1 hour ago, rightback said:

 I'm no fan of Delgado but Osorio fully deserved to be subbed off, he was only notable for some nice passes to the Impact.

 

When I re-watched the game in full yesterday I counted one turnover by Osorio in the first half and 7 by Delgado in the 2nd, so I'm not really seeing the basis of this claim. Osorio kept his team in possession better and had Beitashour made better use of the three times Osorio set him up perfectly with acres of space to deliver a cross into the box, Osorio might have been credited with a couple of assists.

That's not to say that putting Delgado on was a mistake (they won the game after all) - it was more of a risk/reward situation as he played a great ball to Bradley that ultimately led to the first goal, but he also gave the ball away about 7 times as often as Osorio did in their respective 45 minute stretches. He's also arguably a better fit to play alongside Vazquez & Bradley because he will cover the ground that Vazquez won't (or won't as quickly - look at the Montreal goal for an example, Delgado probably would have been all over that defensively while Vazquez, as much as I love what he brings to the team, was a passenger defensively on that play (although to be fair to him, I have no idea where Bradley was running to when Tabla got the ball)). Osorio isn't up to Vazquez levels of distribution, so he's not going to start in that role ahead of Vazquez. Vanney mentioned this yesterday in a media scrum where he was generally praising Osorio's value to the team.

[Gian-Luca]

22 minutes ago, Macksam said:

Fuck Toronto was funny no doubt. Quebexit doesn't even make sense in any context. You're encouraging your rival to enact a vote to separate? The RPB would have been better off getting that giant drawing depicting a Montreal girl going down on a TFC supporter from last year. At least that had some effort put into it.

None of these signs in question I think have anything to do with the Red Patch Boys (or U-sector for that matter) - judging by the photo, this is another Inebbriati supporters group sign.

Incidentally I think those signs are getting noticed more now than they were at the stadium at the time.