England vs Canada - Thursday, February 17th - 2:30pm EST / 11:30am Pacific - Middlesbrough

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

This tournament already has two threads:

https://www.canadiansoccernews.com/forums/topic/78153-friendly-tournament-in-england-2022/

https://www.canadiansoccernews.com/forums/topic/78292-2022-arnold-clark-cup/

but just like for the men's side, I feel that every match should have it's own thread:

Arnold Clark Cup - Match #1
England vs Canada
Thursday, February 17 2022
2:30pm EST / 11:30am Pacific
Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough, England
TV Broadcast: TSN1/TSN4/TSN5
Tickets: https://www.arnoldclarkcup.com/fixtures

 

The Canada Squad:

https://canadasoccer.com/news/canada-announces-squad-for-the-2022-arnold-clark-cup/

The England Squad:

https://www.englandfootball.com/articles/2022/Feb/08/england-womens-squad-named-for-arnold-clark-cup-20220802

( thanks for the links @redcard )

----

I'm interested in seeing Kerr in action because she is a dual-national that has been mentioned many times over the years and Alidou simply because I know absolutely nothing about her.

I doubt either starts but it would be cool to see some new faces get minutes.

 

Edited February 16, 2022 by Olympique_de_Marseille

[narduch]

Are you sure One Soccer is broadcasting this?

I don't think they are.

Edited February 16, 2022 by narduch

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

5 minutes ago, narduch said:

Are you sure One Soccer is broadcasting this?

I don't think they are.

I thought they were but I can't find any proof.

I thought they had the rights to all #CanMNT and #CanWNT friendly matches ( because the CSA owned those rights ) but maybe TSN bought them outright off of OneSoccer or the CSA surrendered the broadcast rights as part of their deal to join the Arnold Clark cup.

I'm going to remove ONESoccer. I think you're likely right.

[narduch]

5 minutes ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

I thought they were but I can't find any proof.

I thought they had the rights to all #CanMNT and #CanWNT friendly matches ( because the CSA owned those rights ) but maybe TSN bought them outright off of OneSoccer or the CSA surrendered the broadcast rights as part of their deal to join the Arnold Clark cup.

I'm going to remove ONESoccer. I think you're likely right.

I think they only have rights to home matches

[narduch]

TSN given this the proper treatment with a half hour pre-game show.

[narduch]

 

[Admin]

Damn.  I just assumed this was on OS.

I don't see it.

[sloth8]

Buchanan with some poor dribbling and passing from the back so far.

Canada can't keep possession in the midfield at all.

Edited February 17, 2022 by sloth8

[ShralpShralpShral]

GO ON JANINE!

[narduch]

Sweet goal by Beckie to tie it up

[narduch]

 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

1 - 1 draw

I only caught about ¼ of the match here and there from the office computer so I can't come to any conclusions.

 

Thoughts?

 

[sloth8]

First half was very poor. They couldn't control the ball in the midfield and offered little going forward except for some nice crosses from set pieces by Fleming. Buchanan was shaky in the first 20 minutes, but played great after that.

Canada played much better second half. Played with much more speed and had some good counter attacking chances that they should have done better with. Beckie's goal was a perfect finish.

I don't like Lawrence at the back, she should be in the midfield. Scott offered nothing from the holding mid role - Quinn was much better when they came on. Fleming had some great passes. Rose had some solid runs in the 2nd half, but needs to work on her finishing. Sheridan was solid.

[Greatest Cockney Rip Off]

Only saw the second half but thought Canada looked great. Really good at moving the ball between defence, midfield and to the forwards but really lacking that final ball. Fleming was outstanding. 

[red card]

It was largely the same old Canada we saw last year. Played well defensively, almost non-existent offensively, well structured overall and still got a result. 

Individually, Buchanan was player of the match for Canada with 10 clearances, 4 blocks, 1 interception and 2 headers won and 89% pass rate. Beckie was second since she made one great play to score the goal. Lawrence made one great run in the lead up to the goal. 

 

As a team, this match didn't look like a #6 team playing a #8 team as England largely dominated. Though England has to be disappointed for not getting more clear cut chances and then fading in the second half.

Canada needs all of its players to be in season and need training time to form connections as the individual talent & tactical awareness isn't there beyond the back line. Though, Riviere did make the back line look weak in the first half with her being in the off-season and the only US college player starting.

Midfield continues to struggle in transitioning the play forward, Quinn made a bit of difference when she was subbed in. Fleming didn't influence the game ex 2 passes and 2 tackles. The wingers usually push the ball forward but only Rose did it a few times. I don't believe any of the three in the forward line made a successful pass into the box or the rare times they were in the box. Minimal set pieces earned. Huitema had no shots.

 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

1 hour ago, Greatest Cockney Rip Off said:

Fleming was outstanding. 

3 minutes ago, red card said:

Fleming didn't influence the game ex 2 passes and 2 tackles.

Interesting to read divergent opinions.

[Unnamed Trialist]

I also thought that after a soft first half, with Sheridan mostly solid, and perhaps the whole team failing to challenge England, often late to the challenge, often too deep, the second half (and late 1st) were better. 

I too like Fleming, Gilles looked good, Lacasse too, I mention these latter two as I hadn't seen much of them;  Rose showed to be very fit, Prince is rather ineffective and I'd question her future use for the team. But Huitema was not that great either, apart from sometimes making decent moves (the goal was her "assist"). I like that we pressured higher and hemmed England in for longer periods. Also agree that Quinn was very pacey when she came in.

So nothing stellar, we were slightly outplayed which I think playing the home team, and first match, would be understandable. I think Spain will have more possession against us as well; oddly Germany is probably the slightly worse team here and that should be a game we can dominate a bit more. But looks to me to be set up for ties in all directions. 

[rkomar]

Heh!  I thought that Lacasse was very positive and energetic, but I got annoyed at her positioning when defending.  She would start out in the lane between two English players, run to some other position, and have the ball passed right through where she was standing.  I think she needs to watch some Jonathan David videos to get her angles right.  Otherwise, I liked what I saw from her.

[red card]

On 2/17/2022 at 6:35 PM, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

Interesting to read divergent opinions.

No Canadian player was outstanding. From the match reports, Buchanan was the closest since she was described as "immense". Fleming was outstanding for about 10 mins when she made the 2 notable passes and 1 notable tackle.

Fleming or Quinn are only at times a 10 - most of the time they play like 8s. They aren't close to being a Eustaquio or Osorio. Grosso has only shown some flashes. The wingers are good till the final third and then tend to run out of ideas. Didn't see anything from the u17 midfield group that played Mexico last November. Will see soon if anyone will emerge from the u20 group.

All this means is that the offensive side of the midfield is a weak link as shown by the chart below via OneSoccer. It has resulted in Canada's record of 1-1-8 vs Euro teams at the World Cup. Even in last year's Olympics, Canada did not beat a European side outside of a penalty shootout.

Field tilt illustrates how much of the ball each team has had in the area of the field where they can actually hurt the opposition.