Shortdutchcanuck

You'd think anyone associated with Valour would be used to being 'behind Forge' at this point in the season 😉

Any Fury fans out there just a tiny bit jealous? You too could have opportunities at a competition like this.

Have to tighten up at the back and win a little possession back. Henry's been fantastic but we're running out of bailouts.

Jonathan Grant has been unreal on the right wing tonight. Really starting to come into his own after injury issues in recent years.

I don't know about Nanco as a regular starter but his decision making has really improved over season. Learning what to do with his moves.

Crowd around me went crazier after Henry save than the goal. Really engaged crowd so far.

@Cheeta and @Lofty are usually so vocal after a loss, I feel like this big win might have left them speechless!

I commented to my wife at the Forge home opener how solid the quality was. I remember being both massively excited and massively nervous about the inaugural season as it grew closer and closer. Now I have no concerns about quality and have enjoyed both home games and OneSoccer viewings. OneSoccer has had a few hiccups but mostly provided quality production and value for my money. The league has some issues about communication with things like disciplinary issues but on the whole seems well-run and solid. I also like how even though we wished more vets had come home (Ricketts, Straith, Hume, Jackson) a lot of the quality of the league has come from young Canadians rising to the opportunity. A few issues still haunt my dreams: York9 attendance (as well as FC Edmonton and Pacific) and the lack of an announcement of an eighth team. I will sleep so much better once we hit 8, and like a baby when we reach 10.

Interesting blog article on CanPL attendance this year, strikes a nice balance well in between doom and gloom and over the top optimism: http://www.kenn.com/the_blog/?p=10541 Notes that Edmonton's attendance this year is slightly lower than their last year in NASL (expenses likely lower too). I really had expected the cities of Calgary and Edmonton to embrace their rivalry more from an attendance standpoint but maybe that will grow over time. Especially if they end up in a home and home in the finals. I still think Forge sill spoil that scenario but an all-Alberta final would be pretty wild and probably a big boost for attendance in both cities going forward.

Free tickets were offered to all City of Hamilton employees. Not sure what % of crowd they made up but hopefully some had a great time at an entertaining game and come back. It was always going to be an uphill battle to draw a decent crowd at 6 pm on a weekday so even if not all 4600 were paying customers I'm still pretty happy with the crowd.

Not even a foul for me. Two players coming together and Cavallini has control of the ball.

Not saveable in any way from my seat. Ref has missed some calls but Antigua more dangerous on the whole. Lots of seasoned pros on that team, Forge a much younger team. Winning in these situations might take some experience, although Calgary seems to have found the right blend right off the bat. This 2nd half might be painfulif it draws on at this score and Antigua just tries to kill it off.

Rollins has been mentioning it connected to an unnamed source on Twitter. Rumour was a Belgian team was interested but Forge doesn't want to sell until January. Whether there's any truth to it I guess we'll have to wait and see.

I'm doomed to follow the Arsenal of the Canadian Premier League.

Because they're resting him one game in a busy schedule he's lost his spot?

Agreed but I think what @Shway is saying is not that Borges is on par at this age but that it is still too early to tell when a guy is just 20 where his career might end up. If CanPL can springboard Tristan back to Holland or to Belgium or Portugal at 21 or 22 who know what he might achieve? One thing he needs to work on is consistency as he has drifted out of certain games completely. But with his composure on the ball, finishing, and ability to buy himself time and transition seamlessly from receiving the ball to either attacking the defender or making an incisive pass, I don't see why he couldn't be successful in a higher, more technical league. So he is down the depth chart but to rule him out at 20 is silly.

If they bring in a proper target striker to replace him that's fine. One of the things Emery brought to the table even on the wing was his physicality. He drew a lot of defensive attention which opened things up for players like Borges and Cisse and Bekker. When they were forced to play without Welshman or Novak in the lineup they just looked like a team with lots of possession but no final product.

Given our lineup options does David play as a 10, a 9, or a winger for us in Nations League?

Borjan - the errors will always be there as well as the monster saves (see Martinique game). I'd like to see Crepeau get a shot against Cuba in fall but Borjan gets to balls none of our other keepers would and is still our #1 going forward. Henry - very solid, quiet (in a good way) tournament and I think he's very capable of anchoring our backline for a long time. Can go toe to toe with anyone physically and made consistently solid decisions outside of the Martinique giveaway. Cornelius - pleasant surprise for me given a few struggles with Caps, definitely has the composure to be a steady figure for us back there Davies - regardless of not liking him at LB, he needs to make that play defensively and he knew it right away kicking the post. No goals but we saw both the potential with breathtaking runs and nice setups and also what he needs to clean up - still some reliance on overdribbling and poor crosses. He still has so much more to offer if he can reach even close to his potential. Even playing partly at LB I expected a little more. Godinho - needs a good long solid stretch at club before I'd start him again. I didn't like Borjan's reaction but I also didn't like Godinho throwing uo his hands at Borjan. The pass was playable but so casual and naive. Gifted going forward, capable of defending, needs to prove reliability. ZBG - hoped to see him against Haiti, solid defender with speed to overlap, needs to refine his touch in tight areas and crossing ability as he will get lots of opportunities. My RB of choice going forward. Miller - looked promising in cameo appearance Piette - the usual, and also a better passer than we give him credit for, his lack of speed as others have noted gets exposed against highly athletic teams. I always want him on my team but he might find starts few and far between once Eustaquio gets here. Hutch - better at DM than CB obviously, long, intelligent, composed, but you can see the cracks starting to show. Might be the end of a brilliant, underrated career. Gutted for him above all. Kaye - still needs refinement but covers so much ground and sees the field so well. Not as good a tournament as I expected, maybe due to injury and playing LB, but saw enough flashes. Would love to see him go to Europe. Arfield - our midfield engine who controlled tempo and buildup, not as big an offensive threat as I had hoped given Rangers form, hopefully no signs of decline in coming WCQ run. Osorio - very composed in midfield and adept at moving the ball under pressure, a lot of us thought he was odd man out in midfield and he proved he belongs on field Hoilett - disappointed in his play, other than a few flashes I thought he made poor decisions and didn't look particularly engaged. Opening the door forr Davies and Millar to take his wing minutes. Johnson - fine, good depth option, probably coming to the end of his callups, always a good injury cover David - hard to imagine a Canadian scoring goals this clinically at any age. Might end up being more valuable to this team than Davies. Positioning and movement fantastic. Interesting to see what position he slots into longterm. Cavallini - a beast but struggled a bit against Haiti. Wears defenders down with his physical presence. Needs good service and not quite as clinical as David. Wears his heart on his sleeve and we will always be secretly wondering if something has pissed him off enough to leave the team for good Larin - some good holdup but not especially threatening, played out of position on wing, seriously in need of a confidence boost Millar - looked lively and dangerous as we have come to expect, need to find more minutes for him going forward Going forward: need to look at Adekugbe and Cordova for LB position as well as James at CB I'd like to see a game with David in MF, Cav up front, Davies and Millar on wings. Can't wait to see Eustaquio, hoping for a speedy recovery. Midfield will continue to be crowded after Hutch retires. Kaye, Osorio, Eustaquio, Piette all competing for possibly 2 spots beside Arfield and David (unless you play David on wing) Need to win at least one of those USA games to restore confidence.

I actually thought Herdman's squad selections and lineups were some of the less debated I've ever seen on here with Canadian coaches. Other than missing Adekugbe at left back due to injury and not calling Cordova (I would have brought him over Will Johnson) the roster was what most on here thought it should be. The other points of debate: squad rotation, Phonzie at left back, do you play your best lineup against Mexico, were difficult decisionsthat were widely debated on here and probably more or less 50-50 between supporters. I just think Herdman was naive going into second half and some individual moments of bad defending really cost us. Unfortunately this overshadows a ton of positives from this tournament. Personally I was too high on this team's chances in this tournament given the lack of quality opponents in the last year. Then following the loss I was much too low, and very angry. In every sport you see it where talented young teams have their first big test and fail it, then maybe fail again a few more times before they learn what it truly takes to win high-pressure games. The one thing that concerns me is rumours of Herdman having a long contract that will make it difficult to fire him. We can still improve under Herdman but I'm not sure he can take us to this group's full potential.

We need to play more games. RB and LB need to be straightened out, taking a look at everyone, Cordova included, which can be accomplished by playing more games. Davies, Cav, and David need to be our front line. I feel like Hoilett has lost a step although he is still a great option for certain games. It's possible to be angry and critical about this match and still hold on to the positives from this tournament, including some midfield and attacking play that showed a different Canada than I have ever seen. It's also good to see anger and outrage, as we should expect to win these games with this group. It's also possible to criticise Herdman and feel he made serious errors without thinking the time is right to fire him yet. Ultimately it will depend on whether he has lost the confidence of key players. Hats off to Haiti. Sometimes a team just seems to be on a magical run, as we were when we won our only Gold Cup. Looking forward to seeing Eustaqiuo with this group. Luckily we do not have long to wait before Nation's League, and there is plenty of CanPL in between. Jonathan David is going to obliterate all Canadian scoring records.

To put JDG2's decision another way: he chose the team that got him to a World Cup and gave him a legit shot to win it (3rd place). And he got to start in a 5-1 WC win over Spain, how many people can say that? Whether he'd trade that for a major role with us for years and years, who knows. I personally kind of doubt it. But he went to Holland pretty young, spent most of his formative training years there, and probably felt like he was mainly a product of the Dutch soccer system. Would have my full respect if only he had decided quicker and not strung us along.

I think playing the Americans plus the amount of goals we are scoring should garner some solid interest. Especially if we make it to semis and play an entertaining game against Mexico, win or lose, I could see the excitement building enough momentum for an excellent crowd.

Calgary played another strong game today but luck ran out. For all they seemed to dominate the spring season things were a little closer than at first glance. Take out that last minute goal in Hamilton and we'd be looking at a race to the wire. Ultimately that goal, failure to win opener, and loss in Halifax home opener doomed our season. Hope we can carry this momentum into Fall Season and CONCACAF League. Calgary Hamilton would be a great final. Getting Welshman back from Gold Cup and a healthy Anthony Novak will be huge.

I think what he did by bringing them on is show his own team that when they have more of their best lineup they can compete with Mexico. It was a morale booster aimed at playing Mexico again in semis. Anyway, thought this was a great learning experience for the team. Mexico is a tough ******* team and they've been that way a long time. Great positioning, runs off ball, ball-winning, and defensive recoveries. Not sure what people were expecting. On another night maybe we keep that game close and even nip a tie. We knew we had issues defensively and there were just enough miscues and moments of confusion to give Mexico the chances they needed. But we held them and made things difficult for long stretches of first half with what I thought was an excellent gameplan to contain Mexico's midfield buildup. We go in to the half 0-0 and maybe its a different ballgame. Not sure why people seem to underestimate Mexico, but I felt better about us holding our own in this one than other games i've watched against Mexico. We still have a lot of chasing to do but think how long it took the US to beat them in something important. I have a lot of hope going forward after this game. You can see that a lot of the pieces are there, and there were some great spells of midfield buildup against a Mexican team that just defends solidly and harasses and makes things difficult.