Hey, I know, and the usual arguments against unions are nonsense too; but nuanced is not how those conversations usually go.
Canadian Soccer
- Thread starter RedDevilCanuck
- Start date
So, out with a whimper.
We got beat by 3 better teams.
Very happy with the Belgium performance and 30 mins against Croatia.
Herdman deserves lots of credit for getting us to Qatar but some decisions were flat out wrong.
Playing Atiba against Croatia was simply a terrible mistake and leaving him on for so long makes it worse. Eustáquio getting injured was a huge blow. I thought he and Buchanon were our best players.
Davies and David disappointed if you ask me. Seeing Davies central or on the right makes me cringe.
We have a serious lack of depth in midfield. Borjan can come up with brilliance but we need to move on now.
Herdman got a dose of reality against better teams. He's really good at dispatching lesser teams which is a great skill.
Canada's schedule doesn't help. Constantly playing concafaf doesn't help. We are so insulated by this.
I am proud and disappointed at the same time. At least we played football amd tried to be positive in every game.
We got beat by 3 better teams.
Very happy with the Belgium performance and 30 mins against Croatia.
Herdman deserves lots of credit for getting us to Qatar but some decisions were flat out wrong.
Playing Atiba against Croatia was simply a terrible mistake and leaving him on for so long makes it worse. Eustáquio getting injured was a huge blow. I thought he and Buchanon were our best players.
Davies and David disappointed if you ask me. Seeing Davies central or on the right makes me cringe.
We have a serious lack of depth in midfield. Borjan can come up with brilliance but we need to move on now.
Herdman got a dose of reality against better teams. He's really good at dispatching lesser teams which is a great skill.
Canada's schedule doesn't help. Constantly playing concafaf doesn't help. We are so insulated by this.
I am proud and disappointed at the same time. At least we played football amd tried to be positive in every game.
I didn't think it was that bad. The Belgium game was good, against Croatia Canada was clearly the lesser team, but while the first half against Morocco was bad, the second half was pretty decent.
It's not been awesome, but then Canada is still a small country in football, and I don't think the performance was disappointing if considered in that light. I think Canada got a lot to learn from and build upon, and overall made a pretty decent impression on the world stage.
It's not been awesome, but then Canada is still a small country in football, and I don't think the performance was disappointing if considered in that light. I think Canada got a lot to learn from and build upon, and overall made a pretty decent impression on the world stage.
I think the spine of the team is the crux of the issue. The centerbacks constantly making mistakes causing the team to collapse and compensate to support them really wrecks things.
We need better defence and a refreshed central midfield, no disrespect intended to Atiba.
We need better defence and a refreshed central midfield, no disrespect intended to Atiba.
There was a fair bit of naivety there. Playing so open against a team as good as Croatia are on the ball whilst 1-0 up was daft, and the mistakes made early on against Morocco made it a mountain to climb to get anything out of that game. The Belgium result was unlucky.
Stuff to build on for 2026. Hoping to see a couple of games in Vancouver.
Stuff to build on for 2026. Hoping to see a couple of games in Vancouver.
Two world cup goals! Unbelievable stuff!
Next time a point.
Next time a point.
And you got there before the World Cup becomes an open house party so that's something worth celebrating
Yeah, even the Belgium game likely ends 0-0 or maybe even a goal on the counter if Vitoria is 3 years younger and can cut out that simple long ball down the middle.
Croatia was a symptom of the lack of midfield quality, particularly when Eustaqio got hurt. He's the one player who if he had been injured, Canada might well not have squeaked into the World Cup in the 4th spot that Costa Rica achieved to get a playoff with New Zealand (who with only Chris Wood and a young LB at Empoli among the big 5 leagues probably wouldn't have been up to beating Canada anyways).
Wide positions should be fine with the young talent (Davies, Buchanan, Marshall-Rutty, Johnston, Corbeanu, Koleosho if he picks us and Jayden Nelson is a promising set) and David will improve, and a system can be built around him as the lone #9 since he works defensively and links up well. Keeper should be fine but not really a strength. The big questions are, as you say CB and CM. Eustaqio, Kone and Miller filling 3 spots looks promising, but a 2nd CB and another CM might be difficult to find. Really need that kid at Nice, Justin Smith, who can apparently play either spot - and looked far more composed than the other guys in that U-20 tournament debacle - to make it, and then either another MLS guy or one of the kids playing in Europe to make it, or a 25-26 year old guy like Cornelius, Kennedy or Waterman to improve a ton as they hit 30, which isn't at all too old for a CB if they can keep improving.
Not a lot of margin for error, though. The 3 guys in italics have to stay healthy and keep improving, and it's no certainty that we'll find a CB and a CM of similar quality by 2026, there's not really a ton of guys (except for out wide) like the U.S have in Sands, Chris Richards and Tillman that have gotten big moves at age 22, 22, and 20 and you're thinking should be solid enough players in Big 5 leagues in 2026.
I think Davies might end up having to play somewhat central for us in 2026, like Di Maria did for Real Madrid.
Winger---------David---------Buchanan
------Davies-Eustaqio-Kone-------------
LB-----Miller---Smith/CB---MarshallRutty/Johnston
------------------St.Clair
Feels like a more reasonable goal to me than finding both a quality CM and CB by then. We generally seem to end up with better fullbacks than CBs anyways. At least it's only a right-sided CB and not a left-sided one, which is harder to find, and a left-sided winger and not a right-sided one, which again is the easier spot to fill.
It was a decent showing to be honest. I think they absolutely deserved to win against Belgium. They did okay against Croatia, just got outclassed by a much better team, and yeah the Morocco game was disappointing but they're also a better team and they steadied the ship and played well in the second half.
Yeah it looks bad to go out with 3 defeats in 3 games but when you add all the context to it, it was a decent effort and I would be pretty proud of the team if I was Canadian.
Yeah it looks bad to go out with 3 defeats in 3 games but when you add all the context to it, it was a decent effort and I would be pretty proud of the team if I was Canadian.
From what I saw, Canada were a very good team and finishing last on no points doesn't do you justice.
Thought the coach showed a lack of experience at this level, both tactically as others have alluded to... and also that very naïve with that F -U to Croatia... i mean come on.