WCQ: Canada vs Suriname - In-Match Thread

[TGAA_Star]

I think should Canada make the Octo, in September, I think TSN will show their games or Sportsnet will or CBC will...either one of those networks will

[apbsmith]

Incredible result I was over the moon last night, slowly coming back to earth now. 

Personally enjoying this for the rest of the day before I mentally gear up for the next mission vs Haiti. 

As great as the scoreline was but for those that missed the game... 

Suriname was inches away from going up 1-0 first 15mins and in 2nd half missed a sitter to cut lead to 2-1. 

Some cleaning up and tightening up to do for sure, Haiti will be tougher matchup and I expect more clinical in front of goal. 

I'm confident these lads and this squad will only get better and better and will be up for the challange.  

Let's keep the good vibes rolling. 

Much love my fellow V family.

[El Hombre]

I find the day after game day threads very interesting.  Sometimes I'll get a notification that someone has reacted to one of my in-game comments a day or two later and I always have the same three thoughts:

1) Some poor soul is going through the entire in-match thread after the game's over?

2) When did I say that? Better question: why did I say that?

3) Maybe I should cut down on the pints next time.

 

[Obinna]

We were outstanding last night and rose to the occassion. Some thoughts:

- Osorio had a few loose touches, but he was a very important part of the midfield. He is mobile, ball secure, intelligent, and experienced. I was a little upset that he was rusty in the first half, but considering the magnitude of the game and the lack of recent action, I think he did a fine job.

- Piette and Eustaquio were also very good. Not perfect, but they both had solid games and with Osorio they controlled the midfield. I know some people want Kaye in there, but I liked the balance tonight.

- Johnston and Kennedy were excellent. Much has already been said. I would feel comfortable seeing these two against Haiti.

- Henry was very good. I have been a big critic lately and said he could be the best or the worst we have on any given day, and last night was one of his good nights. Great game from him. 

- Buchanan is a great sub to bring on. Someone pointed out how good Laryea and Davies were in this formation, but I think Buchanan gives us great depth behind Laryea in that spot, if not competition. ZBG will have his chances there too. On the left Guiterrez will give Adekugbe left wing back competition. We are literally 3 deep in both of those spots.

- Much had been made about our weak defence, but that was far from the case tonight. I wonder what the Suris are saying now. Looking forward to iMAXitFootball now this morning. He really did overlook our MLS players, as I figured.

[Obinna]

1 minute ago, El Hombre said:

I find the day after game day threads very interesting.  Sometimes I'll get a notification that someone has reacted to one of my in-game comments a day or two later and I always have the same three thoughts:

1) Some poor soul is going through the entire in-match thread after the game's over?

2) When did I say that? Better question: why did I say that?

3) Maybe I should cut down on the pints next time.

 

You were in good form last night. 3 day recovery for you now. Be ready for Saturday. The match thread needs you to come with another big performance!

[El Hombre]

3 minutes ago, Obinna said:

- Much had been made about our weak defence, but that was far from the case tonight. I wonder what the Suris are saying now. Looking forward to iMAXitFootball now this morning. He really did overlook our MLS players, as I figured.

Watching his post-mortem now.  Fun stuff.

[BearcatSA]

30 minutes ago, Hawkguy said:

I will say this - props to OneSoccer for fixing the issues from Saturday night. The stream against Aruba was atrocious and the worst viewing experience I've ever had. I still don't like that they didn't really make a public announcement about it and just ignored it - a smaller company should not be doing that. But the stream last night was perfect. 

And the game is up on replay so I can now watch what I missed prior to the 53rd minute.

Re:  Wheeler.  To me, he's in the same category of pbp guys are hear calling matches south of the border.  So in other words,  I just keep the off the sound so I can concentrate on the game without distracion.  If people like him, they can fill their boots.

[rightback]

7 minutes ago, narduch said:

Its also nice to have a pre and post game show.

TSN would probably go straight to SportsCentre.

I couldn't find the pre game show on the mobile app...I kept wondering what you guys were talking about.

Re. the feed quality. I started watching well before the game to make sure all was well and found I got good results casting the OneSoccer mobile app from my android box to my Chromecast (the mobile app doesn't full screen properly on my android box). The picture of the USA-Mexico game was as good as DAZN so I was happy. As soon as the countdown for live TV reached zero for Canada vs. Suriname, I started that and...the cast button disappeared! Scrambling, I found that casting from my PC to Chromecast wasn't good but acceptable apart from some stuttering at the start and near the end of the game.

I go through hoops like this because I like to watch on the TV.

 

[archer21]

1 hour ago, prairiecanuck said:

Every time I watch team Canada play I come away think Ritchie Laryea is the most under rated player on the team by leaps and bounds.  He's like our secret weapon.  Team are rightfully wary of Davies and the left side and then the ball finds Laryea on the right and he always makes something happen.  He has so much pace.  His technical ability is quite good.  Davies is a top left back in the world, but we need to appreciate Laryea more.

It looks like Besiktas is interested in Laryea.  I would love to see him get that opportunity.  It looks like Atiba is part player, coach and now manager for Besiktas..lol.   

Kind of surprised by this, because I didn’t think it was Laryea’s best game. Not that he was bad or had bad touches or anything, but he seemed to keep having miscommunications with teammates. He seemed to want to run in behind a lot while his teammates would play to his feet. Not sure who’s fault it was but he seemed to be the only one having the issue. Hopefully with more practice time, everyone gets on the same page.

[PopePouri]

My thoughts on the game:

 - I think we've been dreaming for a back 3 for a while. Looking back on the previous games, I thought Herdman phased the system seemlessly with the adaptive shape in previous games. It just opens up our player pool completely. Tajon, ZBG, Laryea, Guiterrez and obviously Davies can thrive at the wingback positions.
 - If we stick with the back 3 and ensure the middle CB is more experienced, marshalling the line, we have Henry, Vitoria and possibly Ferriera to do that. It leaves the option that if another inexperienced CB breaks through, whether it be Singh, Dunn, Halbouni, or Waterman, they easily slot in without the worry of a lack of leadership on the backline. 
 - Still on the Alistair Johnston hype train. What a job to come in, play a position different from that an Nashville, against an bunch of European players, on your second cap. He hit a bunch of passes through the lines, something I've never seen him do. I think Canada can or has made him more brave on the ball. That's great for him to taking that back to his club. Certainly Gary Smith can see how tactically flexible he can be.

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

19 minutes ago, archer21 said:

Kind of surprised by this, because I didn’t think it was Laryea’s best game. Not that he was bad or had bad touches or anything, but he seemed to keep having miscommunications with teammates. He seemed to want to run in behind a lot while his teammates would play to his feet. Not sure who’s fault it was but he seemed to be the only one having the issue. Hopefully with more practice time, everyone gets on the same page.

I saw that as well but not sure any of our guys were on the same page with their passing early on. 

I will say Laryea was still drawing fouls and keeping them disjointed in the first few minutes.  Help mitigate their early intensity and our nerves. 

Once we got our feet under us, the play switched to the other side where our best players were.  So it went a bit quiet for him but I think he played an important role especially before we scored. 

[TOcanadafan]

Laryea started off a mess but settled nicely... on mis-communication, I think the majority of the time it wasn’t on Laryea... he was making runs and the passer would play to the feet.

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

1 hour ago, narduch said:

Dunfield? The guy that orgasmed on air when we scored against US in Nations League?

I also thought he was too much of a Homer. He quickly seemed to forget those first 35 minutes.

14 minutes ago, Obinna said:

We were outstanding last night

I thought we were outstanding during the Canada vs USA game. We were not outstanding last night.

Same weaknesses as before,  we did not react that well to set pieces.

We were not very good (but not terrible) for the first 35 minutes and after that we were simply fairly good. That first goal took the wind out of Suriname's sails.

[zeelaw]

So fun having a game to care about last night. First 20' reminded me of feelings I haven't had in years though haha

[Acid-Tone]

12 hours ago, kacbru said:

I laughed way too hard at this!  El Hombre must be Joey Jeremiah!

[Acid-Tone]

12 hours ago, El Hombre said:

Fuck yeah!  Best bassist around.

"Everybody wants something they'll never give up..."

Zit Remedy 4Lyfe!  😍

[BrennanFan]

We played well overall.  The backline did well enough, though they weren't tested as much as .  I was most concerned about Johnston but was happy with his play, especially his passing.  No errors from Henry.  Osorio was the leader in the midfield, let's hope he continues to get back into form.  

Perhaps Cavallini and Kaye start on saturday?

Confidence will be running high going into the Haiti match.  I don't think Haiti will have an answer to our firepower.  

 

[El Hombre]

8 minutes ago, Acid-Tone said:

I laughed way too hard at this!  El Hombre must be Joey Jeremiah!

Damn straight.  I've got the fedora to match.

[BearcatSA]

Now that I've watched the match, here are a few of my thoughts:

- as I mentioned earlier, as go Davies and David, so goes our team.  Huge X factors players who can conjure something out of nothing.  That first goal was a 40-60 play that Davies turned into a bit of magic to finish.  Those two take our team to a different level.  David's movement is world class:  his timing in drifting into spaces at the right moment and getting unmarked allows the other guys around him space as well.  And the guy can finish.  

- Kennedy has big time recovery speed and I am looking forward to seeing him get more starts.  His pressure on the Surinam player when they had that good chance off the break at 2-0  made a difference in that miss.  Looks like a key piece we've been missing

- For a guy of his pedigree, I expected more of Eustaquio, frankly.  Missed open guys on bread and butter passes with poor touches in that first half.  He will be looking for a better start in the Haiti leg

- There was definitely a disjointedness in that first half but also some moments of flowing play.

- Even if Laryea might be off his game, he brings that "gets-under-your-skin" factor for us that can lead to opponents taking red cards:  I could see Pulisic giving him a shot in an altercation and then being sent off

- If Buchanon's trajectory continues, his skillset might combine with Davies and David in the best first choice grouping come the fall.  Larin might have to be used in a different role for us.

- Regarding the opponent, they had the look of seasoned European journeyman pros, but they lacked attacking nous.  Their best chance or two came off the break or a scramble.  They were pretty static up top, particularly Hasselbaink, and fairly unsophisticated with their off the ball movement (usually only one real passing option and then other teammates reacting to it in turn after the pass was made).  Their one wing threat was well policed by the team and that was basically it.  More matches together might develop some more attacking cohesiveness for them.  For us, I would like to see how we do against a more dynamic attacking team in this region (or bigger time opponent in a friendly).  Guys like Kennedy and Johnson clearly have potential for higher ceilings at the international level:  they just need to face the next levels of competition in challenging locales to see if they indeed have the chops.

- We ground it out in the first half, popped a goal, and then put the sword to them in the second half, as I had hoped. IMO, It would be a calamity to be losing a two leg tie to Haiti.  I expect us to be in the Ocho and be a force as long as Davies and David are there leading the charge, getting the condescending Yank pundits to suck it in the process.

 

[Kadenge]

Great result and that's all that matters in a game. Going forward though we  must start strong from the opening whistle. That game could have taken a detour if Becker had scored. Big fan of Oso, but he was not match fit and our mids in general were not sharp early on, which contributed to Suriname's early pressure. Our mids were also not connecting with David and Larin for the first 20 mins and they were isolated.  It looked to me that Davies noticed this and decided to cut in centrally with the ball to play closer to David at times.  I would prefer to see Eustaquio in the #6 with Kaye #8 and Osorio if he gets match fit, higher up to connect with David & Larin/Cav. 

[A_Gagne]

Thoughts from last night:

- The good... Davies and David: there was a collective "oh sh&%" from the rest of CONCACAF last night. The kids are in full beast mode! Davies is impossible to knock off the ball and routinely slips through a double team. David has the ability to time a run, finish, and create something out of nothing by himself. Steel sharpens steel and there is no doubt being on two of the top sides in the world has upped both of their games considerably. Suriname have a very credible defence and our wonderkids smashed them like a rented guitar. 4-0 actually flattered Suriname. It easily could have been 6-0.

- The bad... Nervous start: more consults with Herdman's sports psychology team are required. On the other hand I'm glad we faced a credible opponent in a do or die match, but also not one that was particularly offensively gifted, and couldn't punish us for it. Hopefully they've gotten that out of their system and will preform better against teams that can.

- The ugly... "home" games: an NHL team, i.e. a private for-profit business, gets a "national interest" exemption from the returning traveller isolation restrictions, and our men's national soccer team doesn't get one for world cup qualifying? Ridiculous!

Edited June 9, 2021 by A_Gagne

[BearcatSA]

2 hours ago, Obinna said:

- Much had been made about our weak defence, but that was far from the case tonight. I wonder what the Suris are saying now. 

I would say that Surinam were more limited in their open play attack then anything else.  I can see why Hasselbaink has had more clubs than Jack Nicklaus.  We kept Becker in check off the dribble and that was that.  When we play more multi-dimensional attacking sides, then we can see see what we really have here.  That's not going to happen until the Ocho or we play some high profile friendlies, if they ever happen again.

[dyslexic nam]

For the record, I have been smiling all morning.  Still elevated by last night’s result and the prospect of making the Ocho.  

[narduch]

5 minutes ago, BearcatSA said:

I would say that Surinam were more limited in their open play attack then anything else.  I can see why Hasselbaink has had more clubs than Jack Nicklaus.  We kept Becker in check off the dribble and that was that.  When we play more multi-dimensional attacking sides, then we can see see what we really have here.  That's not going to happen until the Ocho or we play some high profile friendlies, if they ever happen again.

For all the Suriname hype, they haven't even ever beat a decent Concacaf side yet.

In Nations Leauge their only game a against a team of note was v. Jamiaca and they lost that.

[CanadaFan123]

6 minutes ago, narduch said:

For all the Suriname hype, they haven't even ever beat a decent Concacaf side yet.

In Nations Leauge their only game a against a team of note was v. Jamiaca and they lost that.

That was a completely different Suriname squad.