Gold Cup - June 15th 2019 - Canada vs Martinique

[Unnamed Trialist]

It used to be we had problems with these games, now we still have problems, too many, but win like this. 

It does not mean we are going to get past quarter finals, but I sure would like to have a shot at at least semis for the first time in two decades.

[CanadaFan123]

Absolute scenes at the wedding I was at when that David winner went in.  

[Corazon]

GK Borjan - Sensational, absolutely one of the best goalies in CONCACAF.  Was always ready even when he hadn't been tested in awhile.

LB Godinho - Thought he looked very poor in the 1st half but much muhc better in the 2nd.  Perhaps because it was his first 45 minutes of a match in a few months.  Still think the position is ZBG but was happy with his 2nd half performance.

RB Kaye/Teibert - Kaye looked out of position for most of the game. Teibert was okay but still cannot understand why we left natural left backs Adekugbe and Cordova off the team for 8 center midfielders.

CB Atiba - Struggled at times.  Much better in CM and hope he returns.  Really miss Henry.

CB Cornelious - Looked very good at times, looked very bad at times.  Inconsistent.

DM Piette - At times good but underwhelming in my opinion.

CM Osorio - Looked very good but definitely faded near the end.

CM Arfield - A few off touches but very good.

RM Hoilett - Abnormally quiet game

LM Davies/Millar - Davies was fantastic going forward.  Millar looked very dangerous when he came on as well.

ST David - Exceptional player.

ST Cavallini - Struggled to get involved but worked his butt off.

 

[CanadaFan123]

1 minute ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

It used to be we had problems with these games, now we still have problems, too many, but win like this. 

It does not mean we are going to get past quarter finals, but I sure would like to have a shot at at least semis for the first time in two decades.

Easy to pick out the bad when expectations are high.  Tougher when it’s 4-0.

Think everyone could use a sleep and some clarity.  4-0 win in a continental championship.  Easy to see the bad but that’s huge.. there isn’t a single person who wouldn’t have grabbed that result with both hands.

[Corazon]

4 minutes ago, apbsmith said:

Adekugbe has a banged up knee, 100%agree about Cordova. 

Morgan will likely get some minutes, he held his own in CL CONCACAF we will see what he can do for the CMNT

I thought Adekugbe might have been banged up.  Still would prefer to see an outside back playing regular football.  Even Morgan has hardly played this year.

[Shway]

Millar didn't do much for the time he was on... Yall are on the spitfire d. Albeit he didn't have much time on the field, but i see some comments as if he was playing like David or Davies

[Shway]

For Mexico I hope to see.... Kaye for Piette, Morgan for Kaye, ZBG for Godinho... 

Piette is solid, but looking overrated. I rather Kaye or Atiba in that spot. 

[Lansdude]

We definitely played this match with the opponent in mind. Played out of the back knowing we could outpass Martinique (although it almost cost us a couple times) so we wouldn't waste our legs in this match. The players who did the most running aside from Piette were subbed off. Should be fresh on Wednesday for Mexico.

[Corazon]

Edit

Edited June 16, 2019 by Corazon

[Corazon]

4 minutes ago, Shway said:

For Mexico I hope to see.... Kaye for Piette, Morgan for Kaye, ZBG for Godinho... 

Piette is solid, but looking overrated. I rather Kaye or Atiba in that spot. 

I agree with all those.  If Henry is healthy he slides in at CB and I would put Atiba for Piette or Atiba rested.  If Atiba is rested would rather see Kaye in there over Piette.  I'm still nervous having Morgan out there but at least its his natural position.

I suspect Cav will start vs Mexico which makes me think that David may start over Hoilett.

[dyslexic nam]

2 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Easy to pick out the bad when expectations are high.  Tougher when it’s 4-0.

Think everyone could use a sleep and some clarity.  4-0 win in a continental championship.  Easy to see the bad but that’s huge.. there isn’t a single person who wouldn’t have grabbed that result with both hands.

I don't think anyone is complaining about the scoreline.  But let's be honest - we could have been 1-0 down early, they missed a couple of others, and it was only two amazing saves from Borjan that kept this looking as safe and secure as the scoreline suggests.  And this isn't some shock - I think the other reason people are not over the moon about it is that the play today confirmed what we have all been saying and worrying about for months: we are really deep and talented in mid and forward, but our defence is suspect and doesn't have the same quality and depth.  A game like this cements that idea, and against tougher opponents we will likely get punished for it

Great result, and hopefully the start of an amazing tourney - but we have things to work out in the back if we want to compete with the reams that will go deep. 

[apbsmith]

4 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Easy to pick out the bad when expectations are high.  Tougher when it’s 4-0.

Think everyone could use a sleep and some clarity.  4-0 win in a continental championship.  Easy to see the bad but that’s huge.. there isn’t a single person who wouldn’t have grabbed that result with both hands.

The result is amazing. 

We are blessed to have Borjan and blessed Parsemin choked hard on his 2-3 tap ins. 

I'm beyond happy with the result but we def need to tighten the screws at the back. Anyone who can't see that is blind,  but one step at a time.

Let's take a moment fellow V's and enjoy the win... 4-0 in a tournament doesn't happen everyday around here. 

Cheers fam.

[CanadaFan123]

Know this also though: it is always tougher defending with a comfortable lead.  Sure they had a few chances before that lead but that’s football.. you can always say “what if”.  And I agree we could improve defensively but I still dont think we’re any worse than the pst 10 years.

[Corazon]

I think its time to move past the narrative that we need to have our best 11 players on the field at all times and start considering playing players that naturally play that position.  It's going to cost us as competition gets better.

We all agree that both Atiba & Kaye are both top 10 players for Canada but clearly looked out of place playing defense.  I would rather play with natural defenders.  Teams like Mexico & Costa Rica would have put 4 or 5 past us today.

[BearcatSA]

I thought it was an excellent offensive display and we really put the sword to them.  I'm looking forward to the acid test of facing the Mexicans on Wednesday because they'll be watching the tape of your defensive play and seeing how they can expose us.  It could be a really entertaining game, regardless of the final result. 

[apbsmith]

10 hours ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Know this also though: it is always tougher defending with a comfortable lead.  Sure they had a few chances before that lead but that’s football.. you can always say “what if”.  And I agree we could improve defensively but I still dont think we’re any worse than the pst 10 years.

Fair enough... but did you miss the empty net tap in Martinique missed when it was 0-0? Not being critical just curious if you might have missed the first 15 mins being at a wedding.

Anyways, what a great day everyone. 

Women onto the KO stage

& 

Men with the 3 points. 

Let's keep it up!

Edited June 16, 2019 by apbsmith

[Norrin Radd]

20 minutes ago, Shway said:

Millar didn't do much for the time he was on... Yall are on the spitfire d. Albeit he didn't have much time on the field, but i see some comments as if he was playing like David or Davies

He didn't see much of the ball but he looked dangerous every time that he did.

[VinceA]

Mexico will be a much sterner test. 

[CanadaFan123]

7 minutes ago, apbsmith said:

Fair enough... but did you miss the empty net tap in Martinique missed when it was 0-0? Not being critical just curious if you might have missed the first 15 mins being at a wedding.

Anyways, what a great day everyone. 

Women onto the KO stage

& 

Men with the 3 points. 

Onwards and upwards!

No I did see that and it was ugly but I just feel that’s football.  It happened, we dodged it and won dominantly.  It’s not ideal but it is what it is.  I’d like to see a 5-0 win with zero shots/chances against but that’s not realistic. 

It would be interesting to see how we reacted if we did go down there.

[Corazon]

Mexico scores less than 2 minutes in 😑

[Lansdude]

6 minutes ago, Corazon said:

Mexico scores less than 2 minutes in 😑

Yeah, Cuba is awful.

[spitfire]

40 minutes ago, Shway said:

Millar didn't do much for the time he was on... Yall are on the spitfire d. Albeit he didn't have much time on the field, but i see some comments as if he was playing like David or Davies

I should know better delete 

Edited June 16, 2019 by spitfire

[dyslexic nam]

12 minutes ago, VinceA said:

Mexico will be a much sterner test. 

Yeah, anyone watching Mexico Cuba will know why some of us are really preoccupied with today's defensive performance. 

[spitfire]

37 minutes ago, Shway said:

For Mexico I hope to see.... Kaye for Piette, Morgan for Kaye, ZBG for Godinho... 

Piette is solid, but looking overrated. I rather Kaye or Atiba in that spot. 

....

Edited June 16, 2019 by spitfire

[AvroArrow]

A team with decent strikers could have put us behind early and then we would have had 80 minutes of Canada trying to break down a bunker.  But Martinique did not have any finishing today and Canada made them pay for that.

Found Hoilett to be lacking today.  Kept dribbling when he should have passed.  Crossing was off too.

I'll be curious to see how Davies does against Mexico.