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Gold Cup 2019


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1 minute ago, BearcatSA said:

This is crucial.  For this Gold Cup I'm looking to see who has the stones for it, either individually or as a collective.  I have been very critical of the program's ability to handle adversity when getting hyped up prior to a key match or tourney (and this was before 1-8 in San Pedro Sula).  Regardless of the pedigree of the players, I'm not sure what to expect. 

I hear you, but it's time to put "that game" behind us. We now have players on this squad that have experience playing big games in hostile environments with their clubs in Mexico, England, Scotland, Europe & CCL/MLS Cup....we know who they are..... and eventhough Larin and Davies did not play much they were exposed to the atmosphere of big time matches. I think Liam has played in front of 40K in the SPL...So we have the squad...now it's up to the players and coaching staff to execute what they have been working on for over a year and bringing it on game day..... these are exciting times for all of us fans. Let the games begin

 

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1 hour ago, Kadenge said:

I hear you, but it's time to put "that game" behind us. We now have players on this squad that have experience playing big games in hostile environments with their clubs in Mexico, England, Scotland, Europe & CCL/MLS Cup....we know who they are..... and eventhough Larin and Davies did not play much they were exposed to the atmosphere of big time matches. I think Liam has played in front of 40K in the SPL...So we have the squad...now it's up to the players and coaching staff to execute what they have been working on for over a year and bringing it on game day..... these are exciting times for all of us fans. Let the games begin

 

2012 also had that squad.. that's the point.

Our starting XI had players who had featured in the EPL, Bundesliga, La Liga, Champions League etc. literally almost every last guy.  Hopefully this is a new era but we can't pretend that team didn't have all of the above.

IMO the real problem was that we relied so heavily on Occean and he missed both the crucial away games in Panama and Honduras.  When he was gone we stuck Jackson/Ricketts up top and it was tough to watch.  

Edited by CanadaFan123
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1 hour ago, CanadaFan123 said:

2012 also had that squad.. that's the point.

Our starting XI had players who had featured in the EPL, Bundesliga, La Liga, Champions League etc. literally almost every last guy.  Hopefully this is a new era but we can't pretend that team didn't have all of the above.

IMO the real problem was that we relied so heavily on Occean and he missed both the crucial away games in Panama and Honduras.  When he was gone we stuck Jackson/Ricketts up top and it was tough to watch.  

The game we blew in 2012 WC qualifying was home vs Honduras when we had them on the ropes and tied 0-0 with McKenna,  Occean and Edgar missing sitters or hitting the post. I was at the game in TO. We also lost Josh Simpson to injury prior to WCQ and then Dero in the Panama away game. Our back 4  in that period was superior, perhaps our mids equal at best but our current GK, and forwards are in my opinion much better.  If I recall Occean was in B2 at the time and he never performed well for the national team. In fact Dero despite the goals (lots of PKs) he scored for CAN, was not the dominating player he was in MLS. Perhaps my memory is fading but I don't recall the same level of expectation from that squad?....but more importantly I believe that we have, on paper, bridged the player quality gap with Honduras, Panama and perhaps Costa Rica. We did  get results against CR and Honduras in GC 2017 and our squad is much stronger now?  

 

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4 minutes ago, Gian-Luca said:

In friendly action Jamaica beat the US 1-0 on a goal by a player who had never scored before for his country. T&T drew Japan 0-0 while Curaçao beat India 3-1

Wow that is a shocking result even for a friendly.

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55 minutes ago, Kadenge said:

Wow that is a shocking result even for a friendly.

Just watched the highlights on the MLS site - not pretty viewing if one is a US fan even if it was an experimental line up. Some pretty scathing comments from Matt Doyle in his review. 

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Just now, LeoH037 said:

I keep saying it, Curacao is going to surprise a lot of people this Gold Cup.

Absolutely, almost every European based player on the squad is born and raised in the Netherlands and plays for Curaçao through family roots.  Basically trained in excellent Dutch programs their entire careers.

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3 hours ago, Corazon said:

Absolutely, almost every European based player on the squad is born and raised in the Netherlands and plays for Curaçao through family roots.  Basically trained in excellent Dutch programs their entire careers.

But if they were really good, they'd play for the Dutch. 

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7 hours ago, shamrock said:

But if they were really good, they'd play for the Dutch. 

Of course?  Several played for Dutch youth teams.  I don't doubt for one second that most would rather play for Netherlands.  I'm sure Arfield would have loved to play for Scotland before taking advantage of some Canadian heritage.

My point was that many players on the team play in the Dutch Eredivisie and Eerste divisions which is a high quality league for many CONCACAF Nations.

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1 hour ago, Gian-Luca said:

It must just be to make up practice squad numbers as he was not on the 40 man roster. I guess cheaper to fly in a CPL guy from the west coast since they are already on the coast? I wouldn’t have thought he was the top CPL prospect based on play so far. 

He's played every minute in the league so far as a teenager. His talent is obvious but he's still prone to mistakes. I rate him highly as a prospect

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1 hour ago, Gian-Luca said:

It must just be to make up practice squad numbers as he was not on the 40 man roster. I guess cheaper to fly in a CPL guy from the west coast since they are already on the coast? I wouldn’t have thought he was the top CPL prospect based on play so far. 

Pacific doesn't play until the 15th, so my guess is that he is just there to make up numbers for now and will be back to Pacific before their next game

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1 hour ago, canta15 said:

Can't believe Lovitz is on the team. Never knew he was playing this well

As per most US fans, Lovitz & TFC's latest American OG shouldn't be anywhere near the team. They are limited ceiling players and plus OG has screwed up enough times with the US jersey on. 

So either GB has made poor selections and/or the defender pool for the US is more shallow than it seems. 

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