COQ | Match Thread: Canada U23 vs Haiti U23 | March 22 @ 6:00pm EST

[Kadenge]

Haiti's #6 is quite the player

[Dominic94]

This squad is a mix of the new and old Canada and it shows. There’s some players with good technical skills and some with the old physical traits that we really liked back in our 1.0 Floro era.

we need to commit to the attacking 4-3-3 that we’ve seen Zambrano and Herdman I still. I like building from the back but we don’t need to have just that, and we also need to play a more technical style. Baldisimo, Buchanan, Ballou, Dias and the full backs have all show that they are at their best with the ball at their feet. They are our top guys so we have to build around them and their strengths.

the reality is that Bair, Brym, Metcalfe, Probably Daniels and Raposo, have maybe another 3-4 caps in their careers in they’re lucky and that’s only due to COVID and a crowded schedule. So why are we playing to their strengths?

[Gian-Luca]

Another shout out to Pantemis, that reflex save he made was Dayne St. Clair-esque and world-class. Got to feel optimistic about our keeper depth despite the fact that TFC still hasn't produced a keeper for the national team in about 14 years that they have been running. I just hope that he gets more playing time this year in MLS and that this doesn't turn into an Alim Karim/Michal Misiewicz situation where keepers with an impressive showing at these youth tournaments disappear from the pro (and national team) scene soon after.

[Macksam]

1 hour ago, narduch said:

If they could finish worth shit they would have beat us 3-0.

If both teams could finish worth shit, we would have won 4-2.

[Aird25]

Outside of Buchanan we’ve hardly threatened at all. I wonder what Ongaro or Campbell could have offered 

[BrennanFan]

1 hour ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

Out-coached? This is a bad take. Some of their players were simply better. Faster. Creative. If they had actually been well coached they would have won this game.

You could see it in the way we played collectively. Our decent-to-good coaching is what gave us the draw and many chances to actually win the match.

Seems like we watched different games. Their players were better? No. We were far better man for man, and Haiti got their result against us anyway. 

Haiti went in knowing they were in tough against us, would need to absorb early pressure and nick a goal to win it in the second half. They played their game to perfection. We let them. We couldn't dominate possession. We couldn't score to force them out of their shell. We didn't switch up our formation in search of a goal, instead we opted to stick with the plan so far as forcing our only 10 Dias to play on the wing. 

As has been pointed out, both sides had chances and it could've gone either way. But that second half, Haiti turned it on and we had no response until the last few minutes. Our approach and execution doesn't sit well with me, and that's down to the coaching. I've seen this before. 

Dias and Tabla must both start the next game. The gloves have to come off. 

 

[An Observer]

I actually thought Buchanan was pretty poor this match.  He missed two sitters, was offsite about 5 times, and lost the ball alot as Haiti targeted him.  He did create some chances but probably isn't really ready for the "star" label and the attention it affords.

I thought Baldisimo was even worse.  He gave the ball away tonnes and was dispossessed a few times as well.  Metcalf was much more invisible as well.  Bair and Brym did very little as well.  Cornelius was good, Norman struggled a bit with his defending and so was Godinho and ZBG on the other side was ok.  Daniels had a few nice touches and moves but nothing much.  They looked tired and lacked urgency throughout the whole match; and you could see Haiti's fresher legs catching up with them around the 70 or so minute (but the match should have been put away by then).

As for the subs, I am a bit mixed on Tabla.  I don't criticise him for the miss as that was a good save rather than Buchanan's two which were right at the keeper.  But I criticise him for his lack of energy at times.  For example, the chance where Haiti broke and the ball was on the right and then played into the center and their player one timed it from outside the box just past the post.  I could see that developing and Tabla was just jogging back about 10 yards behind that player.  He should have spotted the danger on the break and closed that space down and removed that player as an attacking threat.  He had ample time to do it and he had fresh legs as he had only been on for 10 minutes. Dias on the other hand was a bundle of energy and invention when he came on on both sides of the ball.  That is what I would like to see more from Tabla and probably is the reason that Henry got frustrated with him and subbed him when he was a sub himself the last time he played for the Impact.

Dias definitely has talent and he would be a great get for the program.  But I would like to see more of him.  I don't think he could keep the energy up that he showed for 90 minutes.  Still, I would start him next match and get at least 60 minutes out of him

 

[Shway]

1 hour ago, Gian-Luca said:

Another shout out to Pantemis, that reflex save he made was Dayne St. Clair-esque and world-class. Got to feel optimistic about our keeper depth despite the fact that TFC still hasn't produced a keeper for the national team in about 14 years that they have been running. I just hope that he gets more playing time this year in MLS and that this doesn't turn into an Alim Karim/Michal Misiewicz situation where keepers with an impressive showing at these youth tournaments disappear from the pro (and national team) scene soon after.

Alim!!! Played with him at GS United when I was 20 - didn’t believe the tales they spoke of him.... but he’s a doctor now making that American health money.

[Shway]

I do think Buchanan was overly smelling himself this game, where I was watching and found myself saying “relax young blood” “or this guy thinks he’s the star of the show”.....but no.
Fuck it.

He is the star of the show. Let’s stop taming our skilful young players to be like those hockey robots with no personality. We need more guys to have that Lille mentality(jks), but have a bit of arrogance to match the skill.

Liam Millar is the other one who I saw this from in his Charlton games. The mindset, the swagger, the attitudes is how we are going to change our nation. 

 

[Macksam]

Ignore this post...

Edited March 23, 2021 by Macksam

[BearcatSA]

1 hour ago, Shway said:

Let’s stop taming our skilful young players to be like those hockey robots with no personality.

I want winners.  Consistent winners or teams that are really, really tough outs.  Flashy with bravado or bland assasins, I don't care.  Just win.

 

[TFC2017]

Something I've took note of. I remember Herdman saying they want to instil the same tactics from the first team to the youth team so that the youth players can come in and know their roles. 

 

What do we know about our tactics?

 

We line up in a 4-3-3 and defend in a 4-3-3 with the wingers dropping back marking the fullbacks (I guess you can call it a 4-5-1 if you'd like). 

When we're in possession one of our CM's drop back and it allows our fullbacks to bomb forward acting like RWB/LWB or RM/LM if you will, essentially changing our formation to what looks like a 3-4-3. 

 

The reasoning behind it being that a 3-4-3 allows us to always have players open where we can keep possession and not only that but it allows us to utilize our strengths which is the amount of quality wide players we have. 

 

Today we saw:

Buchanan-Bair-Brym
Daniels-Baldisimo-Metcalfe
Godinho-Cornelius-NormanJr-ZBG

 

When we were in possession, one of Baldisimo or Metcalfe dropped back in between the CB's and it allowed our full backs to move up the field which is why we often saw Godinho so far forward against El Salvador and ZBG so far forward against Haiti. 

 

If this is any indication as to how our first team will take to the field, I cannot wait to see what we look like. 

[cronaldo7]

8 hours ago, Gian-Luca said:

Another shout out to Pantemis, that reflex save he made was Dayne St. Clair-esque and world-class. Got to feel optimistic about our keeper depth despite the fact that TFC still hasn't produced a keeper for the national team in about 14 years that they have been running. I just hope that he gets more playing time this year in MLS and that this doesn't turn into an Alim Karim/Michal Misiewicz situation where keepers with an impressive showing at these youth tournaments disappear from the pro (and national team) scene soon after.

Luckily nowadays we have the CPL for these exact situations. Our boys will get a chance to develop, finally. 

[DeRo_Is_King]

It was not the result we wanted, but as many have said, it could have gone much worse. While there's ample evidence of this, Pantemis saving a downward header from five yards away is probably the best example. He was absolutely brilliant on the night. 

Otherwise, it was a pretty mixed bag. We very much controlled the first half, but you just knew Haiti would be tough to break down. Rather than bounce the ball around the perimeter, I would have liked to see more attempts at goal. It seemed we were looking for the perfect chance, and we just ran out of steam in the second half. 

Fortunately, we came out with a draw. At minimum, we'll need another one against Honduras. I have confidence in this team to get it done. 

 

 

[DavemTFC]

Not sure what Biello's talking about with the long balls. All I saw during that game in terms of buildup was players having the chance to go forward but instead pass it back to the goalkeeper or CB's and then try to slowly build through the CB's and DM's once Haiti had 10 behind the ball. Baldisimo is a good passer (yeah he had some giveaways but he also started some of our most promising moves) but they were trying to set up to build through him slowly when they should have tried taking advantage of the times when Haiti were more open.

That's been the biggest issue with our overall style of play this tournament. Going for a slow build out of the back when it isn't the best option. It's maddening to watch

[MtlMario]

What do we do now if the US finish first in their group tomorrow night? 😎😎😎😅

[costarg]

11 hours ago, narduch said:

If they could finish worth shit they would have beat us 3-0.

Exact same could be said for us.

[DeRo_Is_King]

5 minutes ago, MtlMario said:

What do we do now if the US finish first in their group tomorrow night? 😎😎😎😅

I know it's tough not to look ahead, but the semis are going to be difficult regardless. We need to go about our business in the Honduras game. 

[gator]

10 minutes ago, MtlMario said:

What do we do now if the US finish first in their group tomorrow night? 😎😎😎😅

I have posted in the other thread, if the US wins we need to rest players and play not to win, that sounds unethical but it is a prudent move and shouldn't be hard to do!

[DeRo_Is_King]

13 minutes ago, gator said:

I have posted in the other thread, if the US wins we need to rest players and play not to win, that sounds unethical but it is a prudent move and shouldn't be hard to do!

Again, I get the philosophy here, but we're not talking about a choice between Mexico and DR. We should not be aiming to play either Mexico or the U.S. On paper, is Mexico better than the U.S.? Of course, but that doesn't mean we should purposely play to a draw, especially if the U.S. is able to finish first ahead of Mexico. We need to play to win. If we draw, we're through. Great. But we will have to beat either Mexico or the U.S. to make the Olympics. There's no changing that.  

Edited March 23, 2021 by DeRo_Is_King

[Floortom]

Just now, DeRo_Is_King said:

Again, I get the philosophy here, but we're not talking about a choice between Mexico and DR. We should not be aiming to play either Mexico or the U.S. On paper, is Mexico better than the U.S.? Of course, but that doesn't mean we should purposelly play to a draw, especially if the U.S. is able to finish first ahead of Mexico. We need to play to win. If we draw, we're through. Great. But we will have to beat either Mexico or the U.S. to make the Olympics. There's no changing that.  

I have to agree - going 2 W and 1 D in the group stage would be a solid accomplishment for this group.

Realistically, we will be significant underdogs against either the US or Mexico. We have a big talen deficit and experience deficit against both squads. I would rather take the opportunity for a win against Honduras then try to game our semi draw.

[gator]

2 minutes ago, DeRo_Is_King said:

Again, I get the philosophy here, but we're not talking about a choice between Mexico and DR. We should not be aiming to play either Mexico or the U.S. On paper, is Mexico better than the U.S.? Of course, but that doesn't mean we should purposelly play to a draw, especially if the U.S. is able to finish first ahead of Mexico. We need to play to win. If we draw, we're through. Great. But we will have to beat either Mexico or the U.S. to make the Olympics. There's no changing that.  

We are basically through to the SF already barring a huge Haiti win and us losing badly, they would have to overturn a 5 goal difference, I don't care if the US happens to top the group, there is no comparison in playing Mexico at home to the US in a neutral site!

[DeRo_Is_King]

15 minutes ago, gator said:

We are basically through to the SF already barring a huge Haiti win and us losing badly, they would have to overturn a 5 goal difference, I don't care if the US happens to top the group, there is no comparison in playing Mexico at home to the US in a neutral site!

I'll leave it at this: The fact we're even talking about a U.S. win shows me there is a comparison. 

[gator]

15 minutes ago, DeRo_Is_King said:

I'll leave it at this: The fact we're even talking about a U.S. win shows me there is a comparison. 

That match is meaningless, I would prefer our chances with a rested full squad vs the US over a tired squad with possible suspensions vs Mexico in Mexico, call me crazy if you want! 😀

[dyslexic nam]

1 hour ago, DeRo_Is_King said:

I know it's tough not to look ahead, but the semis are going to be difficult regardless. We need to go about our business in the Honduras game. 

Given the obvious need to keep building team chemistry after last night's game, we can't afford to waste the opportunity to play hard against Honduras and continue that process.  If we have any hope in the semis (assuming we get there) we need to be absolutely on top of our game.  That doesn't happen if we spend 90 minutes playing second stringers and aimlessly kicking the ball around. 

 

EDIT: if circumstances suggest our chances are better with a loss (ie. US beats Mexico to top their group) then we can let them kick a couple into the net in the last 5 minutes. 

Edited March 23, 2021 by dyslexic nam