Match Thread: CONCACAF League - Round of 16 - Leg 2: CS Herediano (Costa Rica) v Pacific - August 23, 2022

[Ansem]

The league as a whole needs to practice penalties...

[dyslexic nam]

Damn.  Fought back against the odds, had the chances to do it in the Shootout, but couldn’t get it across the line.  Fack.  

[king1010]

7 minutes ago, Kent said:

Has there been a rule change? How was that second Herediano penalty legal?

Not sure why nobody at pacific complained on that one. 
 

Didic’s penalty wasnt that bad. Keeper came up with a big save. Irving was guessing wrong every time. 

[jonovision]

What a dud of a match. Herediano seemed content with 0-0 from the outset and it came back to bite them. The goal came as a result of a comedy of errors.

In the shootout, the Herediano keeper was inches away from saving 5 of 7. I know as a fan of a competitor, a long CONCACAF run for Pacific is a good thing, but seeing them have more success leaves me cold.

[Kent]

Heartbreaker. Herediano keeper came up big in regulation and in the shootout. Still annoyed about the 2nd Herediano shot, but even if it was called correctly it might not have made a difference. 

[narduch]

Just now, jonovision said:

What a dud of a match. Herediano seemed content with 0-0 from the outset and it came back to bite them. The goal came as a result of a comedy of errors.

In the shootout, the Herediano keeper was inches away from saving 5 of 7. I know as a fan of a competitor, a long CONCACAF run for Pacific is a good thing, but seeing them have more success leaves me cold.

It actually got better after the red card 

[red card]

12 minutes ago, Kent said:

Has there been a rule change? How was that second Herediano penalty legal?

 

[CanadaFan123]

Came down to the strength of keepers in that shootout. Irving was poor to be honest.. his reactions weren’t quick enough and he would have been better off not diving at all (probably would have saved 2/3 that way). Alvarado is the Costa Rica #2 for a reason. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

3 minutes ago, red card said:

 

I woke up middle of the night jetlagged, caught the last minutes and penalties. Good show from Pacific; maybe losing will be better for a squad stretched a bit and in the final league run.

This one is alright because it is a continuous forward motion. Since he sets with the leg poised, it is okay. But I had my doubts at first when I saw it a few days ago.

Didn't even notice the Herediano penalty you are commenting.

[SpursFlu]

I thought Pacific played very well

CPL needs more teams in this tournament and a better seeding for its Champion but I guess it's over anyways

[CanadaFan123]

1 minute ago, SpursFlu said:

I thought Pacific played very well

CPL needs more teams in this tournament and a better seeding for its Champion but I guess it's over anyways

Honestly a shame. The champions league format makes little sense as it pretty well insures all these other teams will continue to play themselves while we’ll be cannon fodder for the teams with a shot at winning.

Surely they’ll change this because it seems to be a hit.

[phil03]

As much as I would have loved for Pacific to win I do think this is still an accomplishment for both them and the CPL. Herdiano is one of the flagship clubs of the third league in CONCACAF, the only one outside of Liga Mx and the MLS who has a descent number of players going to Qatar, and Pacific push them to the brink. That isn't nothing.

Edited August 24, 2022 by phil03

[jonovision]

28 minutes ago, narduch said:

It actually got better after the red card 

Good point, and I paid a little less attention after that as I had other things on the go and I thought it was all over.

[SpursFlu]

Bustos looked amazing in this game

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

^^^highlights work if you click through to youtube

[Kent]

9 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

I woke up middle of the night jetlagged, caught the last minutes and penalties. Good show from Pacific; maybe losing will be better for a squad stretched a bit and in the final league run.

This one is alright because it is a continuous forward motion. Since he sets with the leg poised, it is okay. But I had my doubts at first when I saw it a few days ago.

Didn't even notice the Herediano penalty you are commenting.

I agree with you that the Portuguese league kick is OK.

The one from last night by the book is illegal, but he probably isn't gaining any advantage by it. He just took one or two steps forward, and then while he was still 3 or 4 steps away from the ball stopped and quickly hopped back a step and then continued his run. At least that's how I remember it. I can't find any replays of it.

[Unnamed Trialist]

1 hour ago, Kent said:

I agree with you that the Portuguese league kick is OK.

The one from last night by the book is illegal, but he probably isn't gaining any advantage by it. He just took one or two steps forward, and then while he was still 3 or 4 steps away from the ball stopped and quickly hopped back a step and then continued his run. At least that's how I remember it. I can't find any replays of it.

I think the strictness on penalties is unnecessary anyways. It's a free kick, essentially, the kicker should be able to take it as he pleases and the keeper move within reason. 

Is there any evidence that keepers stopping less now they have to have a foot on the line? 

One thing that bothers me is the ref being so close to the kick, too close imo. They can't even see the three points of interest, goalline, spot and edge of the box. And for me shouldn't be in the keeper's line of vision, should be outside of it. 

[Aird25]

Very disappointing to go out, but we battled hard. I couldn't ask for much more for those involved in the match, but I still don't quite understand why we sold Diaz when we did. He very well could've been the difference in this game and during the season and surely that means more for the club than the money received

Edited August 24, 2022 by Aird25

[shorty]

3 hours ago, Aird25 said:

Very disappointing to go out, but we battled hard. I couldn't ask for much more for those involved in the match, but I still don't quite understand why we sold Diaz when we did. He very well could've been the difference in this game and during the season and surely that means more for the club than the money received

It’s an interesting economics question you raise. Obviously the reason for selling Diaz at the time they did was that the market for him existed at that moment, but what would be the “dollar value” to the club in future terms of keeping Diaz instead and gaining one or more successful rounds in the CONCACAF League as a result? On the one hand, $200K plus bonuses and the club profile raised if Diaz does well in Norway; on the other the profile of the club raised through CONCACAF play, possibly leading to future sales, plus whatever prize money there might be for a higher finish. It’s an expected value calculation with a lot of hypotheticals.
 

Personally, I suspect that our strong showing and narrow loss at Herediano while down a man might have done just about as much for our club profile as would a win, followed by bowing out at the next round. Short of Diaz seeing us through to the finals, I think we have come out on top by selling him at his peak. 

Edited August 24, 2022 by shorty

[Bison44]

Reminds me of Charlie Adam at Blackpool 10 years ago.  They were fighting a demotion battle and had an offer from Liverpool for Adam, turned it down,  still got demoted, sold Adams for more money the next year.  Hard to say what the right thing is to do.

Good on Pacific, every time a CPL team puts on a strong show it helps the whole league.  

[Watchmen]

I know people are really excited for CPL automatically being in Champions League, and fair enough. But it is disappointing the federation didn't go with a slightly smaller CL to keep this tournament alive too. It's the type of tournament I think smaller clubs enjoy because there's a legitimate chance at winning it.

[ted]

23 hours ago, Aird25 said:

Very disappointing to go out, but we battled hard. I couldn't ask for much more for those involved in the match, but I still don't quite understand why we sold Diaz when we did. He very well could've been the difference in this game and during the season and surely that means more for the club than the money received

We sold him when he asked to go. CEO Rob Friend said they basically had no choice in the matter as they were simply honouring the club's commitment they made to all the players when they signed. This club will not hold players back and will work with them to build their careers.

Forcing him to stay would have done nothing for the games he would have pretended to play in, and would have serious repercussions on future signings. Doesn't mean the club or any of us liked the timing, but that's football. You play with the team you have on the day and on the the day, in Costa Rica, we won an away match. That is huge, but of course slightly overshadowed by going out to the crap-shoot of penalties.

[Aird25]

3 hours ago, ted said:

We sold him when he asked to go. CEO Rob Friend said they basically had no choice in the matter as they were simply honouring the club's commitment they made to all the players when they signed. This club will not hold players back and will work with them to build their careers.

Forcing him to stay would have done nothing for the games he would have pretended to play in, and would have serious repercussions on future signings. Doesn't mean the club or any of us liked the timing, but that's football. You play with the team you have on the day and on the the day, in Costa Rica, we won an away match. That is huge, but of course slightly overshadowed by going out to the crap-shoot of penalties.

Interesting. That's what I had originally presumed, and I commented as much earlier on. But this article doesn't indicate that, and it sounds like the offer was just too good to turn down.

https://northerntribune.ca/pacific-fc-rob-friend-interview/

"As it turns out, Pacific had put a pretty tough stance on the transfer: they didn’t want to lose him, and went pretty hard in negotiations to reflect the ‘hands off’ nature of things – but there’s a value attached to every player, said Friend, and even after being told ‘no chance’ numerous times, second division Norwegian promotion pushers Sogndal Fotball raised their offer to a point where Pacific FC ultimately accepted the move."

[ted]

8 hours ago, Aird25 said:

Interesting. That's what I had originally presumed, and I commented as much earlier on. But this article doesn't indicate that, and it sounds like the offer was just too good to turn down.

Yup, writers like narratives and the club obviously tries to drive a hard bargain, but at the end of the day, the timing was up to the player.

[Aird25]

9 hours ago, ted said:

Yup, writers like narratives and the club obviously tries to drive a hard bargain, but at the end of the day, the timing was up to the player.

I guess there’s not a lot we can do then. We’re not offering the best wages and players need to earn a living. I hadn’t seen anyone from the club mention that in anything I saw reported though. Seems odd. Hopefully the squad can still come together to close out the season strongly