Match Thread: World Cup Group F - Matchday 2 - Croatia v Canada - November 27, 2022 - 7pm local time / 11am ET / 8am PT

[king1010]

59 minutes ago, The Pessimist said:

Herdman's quote was bulletin board material for Croatia. Would this be bulletin board material for Canada? If I were Herdman, probably not.

Its the world cup. I dont think Croatia is going to play any harder than if Herdman didnt make the comments. Its not like theyre going to play better or give extra effort because the opposing coach said we’re going to “f” you up. 

[Sal333]

1 hour ago, narduch said:

 

 

Herdman is very careful about what he says to the press and I was surprised with his "we'll F Croatia" I thought it was a mistake. Then bang this front page. That's what he wanted. He wanted the Croatians to respond. That front page is better bulletin material than his "we'll F Croatia."

[Kadenge]

For those of you who are Raptors fans, this is not new..."Fuck Brooklyn"? As usual this is only fodder for the media. The Croatian players are probably all laughing. I like Herdman's swagger. Just let's go out and deliver it on the field boys.

[narduch]

Didn't Herdman say it in the team huddle?

In my opinion everybody is making too big a deal about it.

[Sal333]

1 minute ago, narduch said:

Didn't Herdman say it in the team huddle?

In my opinion everybody is making too big a deal about it.

He repeated it outside the huddle when he was asked what did he tell the boys.

[A.D.I.D.A.S.]

Match officials for Sunday.

[TGAA_Star]

5 minutes ago, A.D.I.D.A.S. said:

Match officials for Sunday.

Hopefully they don't cheat you guys like they did to us yesterday against Portugal LMAOOOOO HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA but I digress

[Kingston]

1 hour ago, Sal333 said:

He repeated it outside the huddle when he was asked what did he tell the boys.

More accurately, he confirmed what he had said rather than being like a weasely politician and deny it.  He also provided context and affirmed his respect for the Croatian team.

A bigger question for me is, how did that Croatian newspaper get Herdman to pose for the photo?

[The Pessimist]

2 hours ago, The Pessimist said:

Herdman's quote was bulletin board material for Croatia. Would this be bulletin board material for Canada? If I were Herdman, probably not.

If you were Herdman would you want that picture posted on the dressing room bulletin board?

[frmr]

As awkward as it is, that tabloid photo of Herdman should be on the changing room wall. If someone disrespected a much-loved manager of mine like that I would be seething.

[frmr]

The final group games are played at the same time, so we'll have no way of knowing whether we need 4 or 6 points beforehand.

[Joe MacCarthy]

9 minutes ago, Kingston said:

More accurately, he confirmed what he had said rather than being like a weasely politician and deny it.  He also provided context and affirmed his respect for the Croatian team.

I think it was a good move.  The Croatians were under a little pressure because everyone expects them to win, now that has been ramped up.  Herdman didn't guarantee a win, nobody outside this board is gonna remember what he said a week from now.  If you have low expectations, people will go out of their way to meet them, you gotta shoot for the stars.

[Canucklehead69]

Could this have partially been a ploy to keep their media away from talking about our Serbian born keeper and ours from piling on Davies?

Has put all the heat on himself rather then the team

[frmr]

2 minutes ago, Canucklehead69 said:

Could this have partially been a ploy to keep their media away from talking about our Serbian born keeper and ours from piling on Davies?

Has put all the heat on himself rather then the team

Doubtful, but that's definitely a positive spin on it.

[Joe MacCarthy]

3 minutes ago, frmr said:

As awkward as it is, that tabloid photo of Herdman should be on the changing room wall. If someone disrespected a much-loved manager of mine like that I would be seething.

One of my favourite hockey stories was Johnny Bauer let in a bad goal with a few minutes left in the game.  Coach Punch Imlach told his players at the bench "Your goalie was made to look like a horse's ass, do we allow one of our teammates to be a horse's ass?"  They scored with a minute to go.

[A.D.I.D.A.S.]

6 minutes ago, Canucklehead69 said:

Could this have partially been a ploy to keep their media away from talking about our Serbian born keeper and ours from piling on Davies?

Has put all the heat on himself rather then the team

[Sal333]

26 minutes ago, Canucklehead69 said:

Could this have partially been a ploy to keep their media away from talking about our Serbian born keeper and ours from piling on Davies?

Has put all the heat on himself rather then the team

Good point!

[SpursFlu]

For sure it is.. Gretzky in Salt Lake

All that.. I think its good. Now the guys are 100% focused on this one game because it's their Alamo. Focus off Phonzie and puts a little bite in the game which is good for our guys. Croatians are great but what's the opposite of not taking yourself too serious? That's Croatians. I suspected this type of reaction. Me likey, Sunday just got even more spicy 

Edited November 25, 2022 by SpursFlu

[Alex]

32 minutes ago, Canucklehead69 said:

Could this have partially been a ploy to keep their media away from talking about our Serbian born keeper and ours from piling on Davies?

Has put all the heat on himself rather then the team

That’s what Wayne Gretzky did during the 2002 Olympics. 

[SpursFlu]

I think it does put more pressure on Croatia. They're national identity is really wrapped up in their football team. They have a lot to be proud of but they have a big ego when I comes to football. They're under pressure always but to lose to Canada and after this little women's coach said he was gonna f them? Trust me, there will be national outrage and would be a huge embarrassment for Croatians. As professional as their players are, they'll be gripping their sticks a little tighter

Edited November 25, 2022 by SpursFlu

[Unnamed Trialist]

If you are going to talk about putting the heat on yourself, Davies taking that penalty. 

I was against it, I would prefer about 5 others. But he is probably best prepared to live with missing it, so it was leadership, anyway you look at it. 

Until, of course, the coach designates a taker (which would be, imo, as Herdman is concerned, a better definition of "putting the heat on yourself").

[Canucklehead69]

22 minutes ago, SpursFlu said:

For sure it is.. Gretzky in Salt Lake

All that.. I think its good. Now the guys are 100% focused on this one game because it's their Alamo. Focus off Phonzie and puts a little bite in the game which is good for our guys. Croatians are great but what's the opposite of not taking yourself too serious? That's Croatians. I suspected this type of reaction. Me likey, Sunday just got even more spicy 

Much like the Great One, Herdman isn't an idiot with his words I have to assume he thought this out

[SpursFlu]

11 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

If you are going to talk about putting the heat on yourself, Davies taking that penalty. 

I was against it, I would prefer about 5 others. But he is probably best prepared to live with missing it, so it was leadership, anyway you look at it. 

Until, of course, the coach designates a taker (which would be, imo, as Herdman is concerned, a better definition of "putting the heat on yourself").

We're supposed be talking about Herdman looking like the guy from operation not Phonzie pk miss anymore

Geez some people just don't want to fall for the mind games. Get with the program 

[youllneverwalkalone]

2 hours ago, Sal333 said:

Herdman is very careful about what he says to the press and I was surprised with his "we'll F Croatia" I thought it was a mistake. Then bang this front page. That's what he wanted. He wanted the Croatians to respond. That front page is better bulletin material than his "we'll F Croatia."

I agree with you and really thought this was intentional and not emotional. My take is that he wants Croatia to think we'll come out pressing the way we did against Belgium. I suspect the reality is that we bring in an extra midfielder in a 3-5-2 and try to do a bit more on the counter when Croatia go for the early knockout. Herdman is an experienced tournament manager and a draw keeps us alive.

[Ansem]

My take is that Herdman did it on purpose. We were never "expected" to beat Croatia whether he opened his mouth or not but people would "understand" an upset after the way we played Belgium.

This drama just added this extra pressure on Croatia that they must not only win but humiliate us. Could take them out of their game