CONCACAF U-20 Championship (November 2018)

[Obinna]

10 minutes ago, 1996 said:

When your a country that on the men’s side has not done much is so many years every little success is good success every failure is just reinforces to the casual fans , not us hardcore fans that will follow Canadian soccer win or lose, that oh ya they did not qualify for another U20 because it’s Canadian men’s soccer and they are just shit no big deal. How about if we had qualified and a few of these players had a name of a CPL team next to what club team they played for? I’m sure the CPL and the CPL team the player played for could sell that to their fans , a win win for the league and team. Moreover, I really think this U20 team if they had qualified might have made a bit of a run with guys like David, Davies , Tabla and Millar can you imagine the publicity they could have brought to the Canadian men’s program if they went on a bit of a run or a guy like Davies scores some wonder goals at the U20 World Cup? Another lost opportunity but it’s Canadian men’s soccer so why are we surprised same shit different tournament.

There is always the Olympics. 

For the casual fan, that probably means more than the U20WC

Actually, the U20WC is probably not even on the radar for most casuals.

[harrycoyster]

Regardless of if you believe that this failure is as bad as the previous failures given who we didn't have, I think the most disappointing thing is that we still can't buy a defender. This tournament showed that we are still at least 2-3 years away from a starting calibre CB/FB breaking into MLS. 

Edited November 7, 2018 by harrycoyster

[aloyol]

3 minutes ago, Obinna said:

There is always the Olympics. 

For the casual fan, that probably means more than the U20WC

Actually, the U20WC is probably not even on the radar for most casuals.

Exactly.

I don't think the men's program got a lot of publicity after the 2003 U20 WC quaterfinal run.

I would also argue that solid showing at the 2019 Gold Cup might do a lot more goods for the program than a U20 run.

[El Hombre]

42 minutes ago, aloyol said:

Exactly.

I don't think the men's program got a lot of publicity after the 2003 U20 WC quaterfinal run.

I would also argue that solid showing at the 2019 Gold Cup might do a lot more goods for the program than a U20 run.

What?  Don't you remember when Ryan Gyaki became a household name after single-handedly qualifying the 2005 team for the U20 World Cup and led the qualifying tournament in goals?

[Kadenge]

3 hours ago, Fullback said:

Because a one-off tournament with no room for error isn’t the only way to judge if we are producing players

Agree; so to be more objective and provide a longer time horizon, how many  homegrown players have become starters with the 3 Cdn MLS teams over the past 5 years?

[Blackjack15]

Seriously though,  always making excuses and then saying it’s okay

No offense, of course it’s okay when there’s no standard, no expectation, no scrutiny and no pressure

You think the media cares that we didn’t qualify to the U20 WC? Obviously not

In some footballing nations the press would be all over this demanding answers 

The CSA keeps doing the same thing ovsr  over and over, thas the definition of insanity (Doing the same and expecting a different outcome) 

So we fell short, now what? Nothing and that’s what’s frustrating as a fan 

We always talk abou results and getting  better, but how can we do that if we pick the wrong coach and the wrong set of players 

Come on now, we should demand better 

Our NT is more important but our youth teams don’t have success and play in an environment like the U17, U20 world cups and Olympics (U23) then how are they gonna perform with the senior side? 

Guys, it’s just repeat repeat repeat 

We all want change and nothing happens

Another opportunity has gone to waste

[Vince193]

51 minutes ago, Blackjack15 said:

Seriously though,  always making excuses and then saying it’s okay

No offense, of course it’s okay when there’s no standard, no expectation, no scrutiny and no pressure

You think the media cares that we didn’t qualify to the U20 WC? Obviously not

In some footballing nations the press would be all over this demanding answers 

The CSA keeps doing the same thing ovsr  over and over, thas the definition of insanity (Doing the same and expecting a different outcome) 

So we fell short, now what? Nothing and that’s what’s frustrating as a fan 

We always talk abou results and getting  better, but how can we do that if we pick the wrong coach and the wrong set of players 

Come on now, we should demand better 

Our NT is more important but our youth teams don’t have success and play in an environment like the U17, U20 world cups and Olympics (U23) then how are they gonna perform with the senior side? 

Guys, it’s just repeat repeat repeat 

We all want change and nothing happens

Another opportunity has gone to waste

Just a reminder, our new coach who is supposed to change our culture is still following the same old CSA pattern of never playing games unless they have to. One game a window is ridiculous when our direct competition is playing two a window.

[Soccerpro]

1 hour ago, Blackjack15 said:

Seriously though,  always making excuses and then saying it’s okay

No offense, of course it’s okay when there’s no standard, no expectation, no scrutiny and no pressure

You think the media cares that we didn’t qualify to the U20 WC? Obviously not

In some footballing nations the press would be all over this demanding answers 

The CSA keeps doing the same thing ovsr  over and over, thas the definition of insanity (Doing the same and expecting a different outcome) 

So we fell short, now what? Nothing and that’s what’s frustrating as a fan 

We always talk abou results and getting  better, but how can we do that if we pick the wrong coach and the wrong set of players 

Come on now, we should demand better 

Our NT is more important but our youth teams don’t have success and play in an environment like the U17, U20 world cups and Olympics (U23) then how are they gonna perform with the senior side? 

Guys, it’s just repeat repeat repeat 

We all want change and nothing happens

Another opportunity has gone to waste

I'm going to nitpick here.

A few years ago, the CSA decided the reason our youth teams were unsuccessful was a lack of preparation. They held a ton of camps and friendlies (in Central America no less!). Every youth coach was hyping up the preparation in every interview.

Perhaps no youth team in CSA history had as much money spent on them for preparation as the last edition of the u20s managed by Rob Gale. They played a ton of friendlies IN Central America and looked at a ton of players in different camps. No expense was spared. Google it, I promise you'll find evidence!

Guess what happened in that Concacaf qualifying tournament? Go ahead and guess...

Heres an alternative theory to our woes: our youth players, for whatever reason, even those in MLS academies , aren't very good soccer players, especially when faced with adverse conditions and there's nothing a CSA staff coach can do about it with the limited amount of time they get with these young players.

[toontownman]

The situation is more indicative to the state of the senior mens side than the U20's imo. That we currently need four U20 players is as damning as it is exciting. While there is no guarantee's, we obviously would have looked different with Davies, Tabla, David and Miller playing. It is a long game and what we should hope for is another 3-4 years down the line if we hopefully have created another 4 players at Millar/Davies/Tabla/David level maybe we would be in the position that we don't need to promote them into the full mens team at the U20 expense. 

The exclusion however meant it was opportunity/chance for others to step up in this U20 tournament and ultimately, win or lose, gain some valuable experience. It looks like that experience for the players picked in the squad was placed over qualifying. Maybe they really believed we had enough quality to qualify and on another day, Red card aside they may well have been right and we would be sat here gushing. That's football.  

Ideally, obviously, Canada's name should be seen at the U20 world cups, there are of course implications and perceptions that our positive from that happening. We certainly aren't that far away even without our best four players. I don't however feel its the be all end all but I would also rather we don't rest on our laurels and organize a get together or friendly in lieu. They will hopefully appear in Toulon again and then Olympic Qualifying is the following October so the age group wont be idle. 

Beyond the disappointment there were lots of bright spots in the tournament though and we still have two games left. Baldisimo, Okello, Bair, Reid and Bahyia Choiniere, Verhoeven showing flashes. Legault and Kinumbe also look like they have potential. How many of those wouldn't have had the chance to shine with the big four involved?

 

[BenFisk'sBiggestFan]

Personally I think the U-20s is a great place to evaluate young players. Sure we want to win, and I want to see Canada qualify for the world Cup. But when it comes down to it, U-20s means nothing. It was a good tournament to evaluate our players. I wanted to watch our top players come and see us win games. But if the CSA wants to look at more depth players in a tournament I am ok with that. As long as we get results in the senior level.

[El Hombre]

11 hours ago, Soccerpro said:

Heres an alternative theory to our woes: our youth players, for whatever reason, even those in MLS academies , aren't very good soccer players, especially when faced with adverse conditions and there's nothing a CSA staff coach can do about it with the limited amount of time they get with these young players.

Alternate/corollary theory: our youth players believe, like many on this board, that we should walk through these teams and do not respect the talent available to our opposition.

[shamrock]

10 hours ago, toontownman said:

The exclusion however meant it was opportunity/chance for others to step up in this U20 tournament and ultimately, win or lose, gain some valuable experience. It looks like that experience for the players picked in the squad was placed over qualifying. 

I think that's the whole idea behind this set-up. Providing high pressure games for CONCACAF u20 players. Hence the two day game schedule. 

Without our MNT u20 stars, qualifying was always going to be a longshot. I guess the MNT getting into the A-group is more important at the moment. 

[El Hombre]

37 minutes ago, shamrock said:

I guess the MNT getting into the A-group is more important at the moment. 

I think many will realize this in late September next year when we are playing quality competition in Central America.

[Guest]

I’m almost positive Panama sent their best team, if we had too I believe we would have won that game.

I do believe though that to qualify for these tournaments we have to improve our depth at the youth levels as a lot of u20 players will not be allowed to play by their club. The CPL will be a large player in this

[SpursFlu]

I think this is part of the motivation of moving to a u19. Most high end players at 19 are already well cemented in a professional environment and arent released for these qualifiers 

[dyslexic nam]

1 hour ago, El Hombre said:

I think many will realize this in late September next year when we are playing quality competition in Central America.

I think most already realize that.  What some of us are saying is that it didn't have to be an either/or situation because we believe that our men - without these four U20 players - would still have an extremely high chance of leaving St. Kitts with a win, whereas our chances at U20 were significantly worse without them.

Cake and eat it, and all that.

[El Hombre]

So I guess no one's watching us lose to St. Kitts 2-0 in the first half?  This is embarrassing.

[aloyol]

A good thing everyone forgot we were playing St Kitts & Nevis because we are currently loosing 2-0 after 40 min in the first half.....

El Hombre beat me to it....

Edited November 8, 2018 by aloyol

[Ivan]

Canada down 0-1 to St. Kitts & Nevis after 32 minutes.  ?

[Ivan]

Geez, sorry, late to the party.

 

[Ansem]

York 9 select defeats Juventus ✔️

Atlantic Selects defeats Fortuna Dusseldorf ✔️

Youth teams getting beat year after year since the MLS era and with MLS heavy roster ❌

Hopefully CPL changes things and we stop our blind reliance on MLS Academies because...it ain't working. 

[red card]

Well, for this match, most of it is the letdown post Panama as the players look lethargic. 

But Romeo continues to suck - slow footed, out of position regularly and complacent clears. How did he get selected in the first place?

SKN apparently has a player with Leicester youth team who has been involved in both goals.

[Keegan]

Shameful.  CSA should be absolutely embarrassed at this tournament and the way they handled this team. 

Well our senior squad should have zero reason to be complacent in their next match.

but wow, are we a laughing stock or what.  Same old, same old... I don’t think you would see any respectable rival down 2-0 to SKN. 

Edited November 8, 2018 by Keegan

[El Diego]

Perruzza scores a free kick from a yard outside the box. Low hard strike, well taken, but keeper probably should have had it. I like what Perruzza has shows in the second half here, he's an interesting player.

[Club Linesman]

got one back on a free kick just outside the 18.  Boys are starting to play like they give a sh@# and like they understand how embarrassing this would be losing to SKN.  Pretty sure an equalizer is coming.