Cuba vs Canada (on Grand Cayman island) Tuesday, Sept 10th - 7:15pm EST

[Ansem]

Good news guys!

Virtually guaranteed to qualify for the Gold Cup and to at the minimum remain in League A

[Colliedor]

Disappointed with the lineup choices. I still believe he should be starting his expected starting 11 to build team chemistry and run up the score just in case. We all know players like Wotherspoon isn't going to be a regular starter for us, or even a consistent back up. Wasted start.

 

No one stood out, especially the front line. Davies early in the game kinda showed me why he shouldn't be LB once again.

 

Possession with no creativity. Conditions weren't ideal but man, I want to see some chances here and there.

 

Henry, I have no idea what goes on in his mind. He's trying to lose his spot or something? Idiotic to do that with the USA game coming up.

 

[Colliedor]

1 hour ago, BuzzAndSting said:

Re: Cordova: isn’t the most logical answer that Herdman’s seem him in practice and doesn’t think he’s earned it? I haven’t watched him play so I’m not sure if he’s worthy but seeing as ZBG, Godinho and now Laryea have all played over him it makes me believe he is closer to 4th on the depth chart than 1st.

Has anyone actually seen him play this season with his club?

I have seen him play. Imo Laryea is better than him. Cordova is okay attacking (Still think Laryea is better in that department too), but his defending was iffy to me. Every time I watch him, the opposing team seems to get most of their chances from his side. I'm hoping it's just bad games I saw, but I'm not holding my breathe. Better than Godinho however.

[Cheeta]

1 hour ago, damaaster said:

My opinion on the game:

...

(shortened out of curtosy).

 

Mostly agree.  

Laryea is interesting.  And Adekubge is growing on me just for his ambition.  Quite clever but maybe too clever for his own good outside of more familiar club confines.  Willing to continue testing that question though. 

David completely a waste on the outside. That should be obvious.

Hold the same criticisms of Henry that I held years ago.  Thinking isn't the strongest part of his game and I'm not referring to the red card.  Whatever our shortcoming on the last line it is not yet his time for the CMNT.  I think I've seen enough.

Yes, it was a hard match to get up for.  Yes, circumstances of the day added to the difficulties of achieving a stronger result.  However, Cuba offered next to zero attacking threat.  If that doesn't invite over aggression in your team to score you have a problem with your team. 

Happy to get the result, less than happy with the result.    

[SkuseisLoose]

Am I the only one who thought Johnson was one of our few good players tonight. I know there’s a lot of hate towards him because of his refusal to play for the national team but he had a way better game then some people on this board are saying.

[CanadaFan123]

2 minutes ago, SkuseisLoose said:

Am I the only one who thought Johnson was one of our few good players tonight. I know there’s a lot of hate towards him because of his refusal to play for the national team but he had a way better game then some people on this board are saying.

He was definitely better than Wotherspoon and Kaye.  You could tell he was the only one of the three to have played down there before. 

[devioustrevor]

2 hours ago, Big_M said:

adekugbe very weak..showed why hes not and shouldnt be the #1 left back

His game tonight had me appreciate Kamal Miller's performance on Saturday.  Miller was invisible, but I now suspect that was because I didn't notice him because he completely erased Cuba's attack on his side.

[devioustrevor]

2 hours ago, Ansem said:

Kaye is too good to not play midfield with Arfield and Hutchinson.

I thought Hutch retired after the Gold Cup

[kacbru]

More than a few people have brought up the conditions / the challenge of getting a result away in Concacaf.  You've got to be kidding me!  This was not San Pedro de Sula in the middle of the day.  It was a neutral site game.  Are we really so fragile that unless we have blades of grass of uniform dimensions and temperature between 14 and 16 degrees, we shouldn't expect to win comfortably against Cuba, a team that lost 5 players to defection, including 3 starters?  If that's the case, we certainly don't belong in hex.

[Bison44]

Well 6-0 record performance at home turns into a 1-0 win (minus hoilett and with a Henry red card) on the road.  If we had run the same lineup with no red card its 2-0, or maybe 4-0.  I dont see whats wrong with that??  What team performs as good on the road?  

[CanadaFan123]

3 hours ago, Big_M said:

adekugbe very weak..showed why hes not and shouldnt be the #1 left back

Agreed.  Kaye is our #1 LB for me ATM but I'm interested to see how Miller does for Orlando in the next month if he keeps playing there.  

[baulderdash77]

57 minutes ago, SkuseisLoose said:

Am I the only one who thought Johnson was one of our few good players tonight. I know there’s a lot of hate towards him because of his refusal to play for the national team but he had a way better game then some people on this board are saying.

Johnson is a lot like Straith.  He’s a solid professional player who works hard and maximizes his talent.  He’s a leader, gritty, tough and always tries his hardest.  Honestly he’s been a great service to the men’s program.

But he’s not at the physical talent level needed to be a World Cup player.  We have a bunch of guys that are younger and more talented coming up.  

The talent level is now higher than the super try hard guy that leaves everything on the field.  However for depth it’s always great to have.

[kacbru]

7 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

Well 6-0 record performance at home turns into a 1-0 win (minus hoilett and with a Henry red card) on the road.  If we had run the same lineup with no red card its 2-0, or maybe 4-0.  I dont see whats wrong with that??  What team performs as good on the road?  

Yes, but Cuba was on the road too!

[baulderdash77]

45 minutes ago, devioustrevor said:

His game tonight had me appreciate Kamal Miller's performance on Saturday.  Miller was invisible, but I now suspect that was because I didn't notice him because he completely erased Cuba's attack on his side.

I didn’t think Miller was invisible.  I think he visibly shut down that side of the attack.  Miller really opened my eyes and changed my opinion.  I think he was very good.

[Bison44]

1 minute ago, kacbru said:

Yes, but Cuba was on the road too!

I think the cuban players are more used to cayman island heat and humidity than our guys.  Come on, its like bringing them up to Minneapolis or Detroit and saying its a neutral site.  

[kacbru]

 

7 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

I think the cuban players are more used to cayman island heat and humidity than our guys.  Come on, its like bringing them up to Minneapolis or Detroit and saying its a neutral site.  

Apologies in advance - just being argumentative!  Detroit weather right now 26 degrees, 73% humidity at 1am; Grand Cayman 28 degrees, 79% humidity at 11pm.

I get your point, usually there is quite a difference.  But in this instance, I don't think weather should be used as an excuse in this instance.

[shamrock]

Bad game, good result on the road.

Very unfortunate that we'll miss Henry at home against the Yanks, as he was the one consistent CB we had! Jams better be ready for this one, a pairing of Vitoria & Cornelius won't cut it IMO. 

[BrennanFan]

I have a feeling when we play in central America for real, Herdman will literally shit his pants. Hope I'm wrong.

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

Probably why you play friendlies - other than points.  Too much experimentation/rotation.

Really cheer for Henry since his horror of a time over here but just stupid and silly.

Good that Cuba had no interest in making a game of it, even a man up.

But ultimately got the result.  

[Corazon]

Was very sad that I was missing the game for work meetings but sounds like I didn't miss much.  Glad to get the victory at least.

[The Beaver 2.0]

Painful game to watch, but the pitch was not great and we'd made several changes, and we never really found our chemistry. Cuba, to their credit, were far better organized.  But learning how to grind out games like this is important because, let's be frank, there are going to be a lot of games like this in CONCACAF.  Many will be more trying.  Imagine El Salvador in El Salvador.  With crap officiating, poor field, heat, and bags of piss raining down! 

I am glad Herdman got to see a few other guys in action.  I am glad too, he got to see David out wide.  As long as he can use this information and learn and improve, then it was all worthwhile.  Johnson looked solid out there, which is good to see. He'll not be a starter on this team often, but he's loads of experience and was very dependable and brings leadership to a young squad.  Henry plays with emotion--it is his rocket fuel--but the big lesson for our guys is that reffing in this region sucks, so behave!!  Most (quality) refs would have NOT given Henry the second yellow, let's be honest. But you need to read the ref as much as you read other aspects of the game.  This guy was SO sensitive to anyone challenging him, and he was this way all game.  

Anyhow, we got the points, we've likely secured Gold Cup berth and A-side status, and we got some good experience from a scrappy game.  This was a friendly, with benefits.

[costarg]

12 hours ago, BuzzAndSting said:

Re: Cordova: isn’t the most logical answer that Herdman’s seem him in practice and doesn’t think he’s earned it? I haven’t watched him play so I’m not sure if he’s worthy but seeing as ZBG, Godinho and now Laryea have all played over him it makes me believe he is closer to 4th on the depth chart than 1st.

Has anyone actually seen him play this season with his club?

Yes ok, but Cordova has and can play on the left.  That was always the intention.  We needed to see if he's better than Adekugbe & Miller at the moment.  MIller probably passes him in 2-3 years, but we needed to find our best option vs the USA.

[grigorio]

11 hours ago, kacbru said:

More than a few people have brought up the conditions / the challenge of getting a result away in Concacaf.  You've got to be kidding me!  This was not San Pedro de Sula in the middle of the day.  It was a neutral site game.  Are we really so fragile that unless we have blades of grass of uniform dimensions and temperature between 14 and 16 degrees, we shouldn't expect to win comfortably against Cuba, a team that lost 5 players to defection, including 3 starters?  If that's the case, we certainly don't belong in hex.

Precisely. We are in CONCACAF where 95% of games are played on fields many would consider so far below our players ability to actually play well on. It's also hot in CONCACAF. This never changes. The fact we bring up conditions over and over and it's made its way through generations of players and coaches seems like such a cop out. Imagine an NHL team where after every game they complain about how the ice conditions in opposing rinks aren't as good as at their practice facility or home arena. Play the damn game. 

[BearcatSA]

51 minutes ago, The Beaver 2.0 said:

Anyhow, we got the points, we've likely secured Gold Cup berth and A-side status, and we got some good experience from a scrappy game.  This was a friendly, with benefits.

Job done.  Now it's time to prepare for the States.

[Obinna]

It will be interesting to see who starts next match.

I like the rhythm in the team when Piette Kaye, Osorio and Hoilett play together. I think Arfield can play in that rhythm as well, but I wouldn't be against bringing him off the bench. I also wouldn't mind keeping Cavallini in reserve and playing David as a no.9.

However, I also think David is better on the wing than he showed last night. He plays better on the wing when he has players to combine with - and on the counter he is particular effective.

I think it will come down to whether it's more important to play with Cavallini or Hoilett. To play without the latter is to sacrifice some creativity, which means Osorio is more necessary, but Arfield can perhaps do the job Osorio does?

Lots of questions to answer in up front and in midfield, but it's a good problem to have.

In the back, Henry is gone now, which may not be a bad thing. Vitoria had a solid game, though he was not really tested. How will he deal with the physicality of Altidore? What about Sargent? Are we concerned about him getting isolated 1v1 with Pulisic? 

And what about Hutchinson, perhaps he gets healthy and comes in as a replacement for Henry...

For me I would call Adekugbe and Miller with a slight preference for Sam at this point. Just offers a little more going forward, I think.

Richie Layrea has the job on the right for me and I would call ZBG and let them compete in camp. Thank you for coming out Cordova, but I don't think next window he returns, unless he showed very well in training. He never played a single minute so I think at this point he's likely number 3 at RB (at highest). Out of our 4 realistic options, Godinho is the only one who has played himself out of the team (though I believe he remains an option in the future).

Edited September 11, 2019 by Obinna