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Herdman new head coach


matty

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On 11/27/2018 at 4:38 PM, Ivan said:

Regardless of whether the group contained Honduras, Haiti, Curacao or Panama, (along with Mexico or US) I would expect us to advance.

hell, advancing at the expense of any of Honduras or Panama would just make it that much better :D

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I can see Canada giving a real go against the US. I think psychologically and talent-wise, we are in a very good place. We have produced the premier young talent in North America. I think we earn the respect of Americans when Alphonso is in the team.  

Furthermore, I think Millar, David and Tabla, our promising players coming up, have just as much potential as Adams, Weah and Sergeant. How could they not?

Red Bull, PSG, Werder Bremen vs Gent, Liverpool, Barcelona - is it not the same?

Their players are no further along than ours. If anything, I could argue our come ups are better, but of course i'd be biased I suppose...

Plus they don't have a Davies, though they have a Pulisic. They probably cancel each other out, let's say.

Then what are you left with to separate? Not much. I think it's fairly even.

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5 hours ago, Obinna said:

 

Plus they don't have a Davies, though they have a Pulisic. They probably cancel each other out, let's say.

Then what are you left with to separate? Not much. I think it's fairly even.

I still think their backline is significantly better than ours, both in depth and quality, and that is what continues to separate the 2 teams when push comes to shove.

We have some promising young defenders but as of now there is not one I would say is a better-than-average MLS  starter.  I think ideally you would want at least a couple of Championship or Bundesliga 2 or even MLS all star level defenders to build your back line around.

Time will tell, but ask yourselves this, if our squad was about to step on to the field right now against the US or Mexico (or even Costa Rica or Honduras) how confident would you be feeling about that back line?  And did we see enough against Dominica and St Kitts to convince us we can score enough goals against quality defenses to make up for some occasional defensive lapses?

We'll be tested soon enough in the Gold Cup, but for now this has to be seen as an untried, untested, work in progress team with a lot of potential.  I think its a little early for any kind of boasting about passing the US.  Let's have a few games against quality opponents first.

But I get the enthusiasm.  These are fun days to follow CMNT, and I don't want to throw a wet blanket on the good vibes, just a bit of a reality check, and a call for some patience.

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22 hours ago, rkomar said:

I suspect it was his work on youth development that won over the CSA.  It's essentially what is needed on the men's side for the 2026 world cup.  Herdman looks at the big picture, identifies solutions, and works hard to implement them.  Someone like that running things is gold.  It is his administrative talent that makes him ideal for our situation.  I know many here are judging him solely on results in the upcoming tournaments, but I would guess that the CSA will be judging him more on whether the program as a whole is trending in the right direction, despite any near term results.

Amen

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I think some of the skepticism comes from the idea that if his real job (and skill set) is to implement a long term program development, head coach (ie. Primary tactician) of the senior men's squad may not be the ideal position.  If it ideally about structural changes and youth development, why not creat a position that is specifically constituted to do that?  Is head coach of the men's team the only (or best) place for that kind of function to occur?

I ask these questions genuinely.  If the answer is "yes", then the CSA is probably doing the right thing.  But if it isn't, I hope we don't sacrifice medium term results just for the sake of having a "systems guy" installed in a (relatively) high profile position.

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29 minutes ago, Vince193 said:

So the US has two friendlies and a camp coming up in the New Year and we're gonna wait till March to do anything. And here you have Herdman talking about making the fans care about the team. Kind of hard when you play one game a window. A total yes-man hiring.

It wouldn't surprise me if there are financial issues at play here.

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12 minutes ago, dbailey62 said:

It wouldn't surprise me if there are financial issues at play here.

That's always the excuse but at the end of the day if that's truly the case they need to set expectations then. Herdman and the CSA shouldn't be talking about being one of the best in this region and having the resources to achieve it if they actually can't afford anything and can't play as many games as the El Salvador's and Panama's who we're supposedly better off than.

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5 minutes ago, Vince193 said:

That's always the excuse but at the end of the day if that's truly the case they need to set expectations then. Herdman and the CSA shouldn't be talking about being one of the best in this region and having the resources to achieve it if they actually can't afford anything and can't play as many games as the El Salvador's and Panama's who we're supposedly better off than.

The El Salvadors and Panamas are draws in the U.S., so they actually get paid (or at least get their expenses covered) to play friendlies there.

No one cares about Canada outside of our borders, which puts the onus on the CSA to pay for other teams to come play here (or provide an opponent for one of the countries that does draw in the U.S.).

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7 minutes ago, Vince193 said:

That's always the excuse but at the end of the day if that's truly the case they need to set expectations then. Herdman and the CSA shouldn't be talking about being one of the best in this region and having the resources to achieve it if they actually can't afford anything and can't play as many games as the El Salvador's and Panama's who we're supposedly better off than.

I don't disagree.

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6 hours ago, dbailey62 said:

It wouldn't surprise me if there are financial issues at play here.

That is possible but it has been a long time since we were playing so little, back to the really dark days of being a Canadian soccer supporter. If there are financial issues and not Herdman's choice to do this it would be nice if they were honest about it. The last few coaches even Hart all talked about the importance of playing or training together as much as possible and I haven't heard that from Herdman as far as I can recall. 

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8 minutes ago, Grizzly said:

That is possible but it has been a long time since we were playing so little, back to the really dark days of being a Canadian soccer supporter. If there are financial issues and not Herdman's choice to do this it would be nice if they were honest about it. The last few coaches even Hart all talked about the importance of playing or training together as much as possible and I haven't heard that from Herdman as far as I can recall. 

Possibly because he knows some sort of reality that we do not. I wonder if Octavio is still being paid! :(

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3 minutes ago, dbailey62 said:

Possibly because he knows some sort of reality that we do not. I wonder if Octavio is still being paid! :(

Not sure if he is still getting paid but I would suspect he isn't since he is now coaching Independiente since June. The CSA should be off the hook since he signed with them since otherwise they could stop him from signing with them. 

Too much of the whole saga of the firing of Zambrano, the hiring of Herdman, the lack of friendlies is reminding me of the dark Kevin Pipe days of the CSA. 

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Zambrano was fired because he didn't look after the young kids and didn't attend CSA suits meetings.  In my view the National team should be the main and only preoccupation of the coach, that is a job in itself and then some, specially when our National team has a dismal record.  One thing Herdman is good at it is talking.  Obviously he talked the CSA into buying whatever smoke he was selling.  Is he the panacea man to make us a top world contender?, that is yet to be seen. 

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1 hour ago, The Ref said:

Zambrano was fired because he didn't look after the young kids and didn't attend CSA suits meetings.  In my view the National team should be the main and only preoccupation of the coach, that is a job in itself and then some, specially when our National team has a dismal record.  One thing Herdman is good at it is talking.  Obviously he talked the CSA into buying whatever smoke he was selling.  Is he the panacea man to make us a top world contender?, that is yet to be seen. 

When this whole thing started, I viewed this quality of Herdman as a negative. 

Now, I suspect (hope?) it can be used as a positive. A lot of it is psychology, which is what we always needed to work on anyways, so... 

If he can sell the CSA he's the man for the job, he can sell the players, right? Seemingly that's what's happening. Everyone is reportedly buying in. At the very least we are getting results and there's a unity in the group, which even the blind would see. 

Although the way Zambrano was outed still leaves a sour taste in my mouth, I think Herdman's approach (in tandem with Biello's qualities) will make us very competitive this cycle, or so is my hope.

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2 hours ago, The Ref said:

Zambrano was fired because he didn't look after the young kids and didn't attend CSA suits meetings.  In my view the National team should be the main and only preoccupation of the coach, that is a job in itself and then some, specially when our National team has a dismal record.  One thing Herdman is good at it is talking.  Obviously he talked the CSA into buying whatever smoke he was selling.  Is he the panacea man to make us a top world contender?, that is yet to be seen. 

My understanding is that there is a lot more to his dismissal than that.  

Edited by dbailey62
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7 hours ago, PhillyJawn-guy said:

It's weird to see so many complaints about the CSA. Compared to the grossly incompetent, dysfunctional, and borderline criminal USSF the CSA functions like Swiss clockwork. I'd sacrifice all of USSF's $100 million surplus just to get someone even as half as effective as Vic Montagliani or Paul Beirne.

The USSF might be dysfunctional but at least they play.

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