The Canadian Men's Soccer Team Thread

[Locke]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

Owen had good reason to go. Canada had their chance.

Yeah, didnt Team Canada get like 3 cracks at him and turned him down every time? Then he got a chance with England and all of a sudden he was good enough for Canada?

This is just a case study for poor team management. Not one person on Team Canada staff saw potential in Hargreaves early enough.

[shermanator]

Originally Posted by MillerTime GFG

This is a post from a friend of a friend on Facebook (Orange Julius), who is currently playing 2nd division in England (I believe he played with Fisher, who's currently on Foothills FC):

"The whole structure is a joke. When I played at u17 level I was one of two players picked from the west. It is so politically run. They choose players from the east where most 'coaches' from Canada come from. I left and came to England and they continued to choose the eastern Canadians who were playing in the 4th division in Germany. I was over looked playing at a second division team in England. When we contacted them when I wasn't chosen for the u20 team they said they had never heard of me and they needed to see 5 DVDs of my most recent games. The scouting is horrific. The coaching in Canada is a joke, most so called coaches are parents dads who most likely grew up playing hockey. The next time I was contacted was in April of this year 5 years after my initial approach to them. There excuse was players slip through the scouting network. This is why players choose to play for other nations. Why play for a team ranked 100+ that can't qualify for any major tournaments when I can play for Ireland who more regularly play in top competitions. Or play for Canada who are beat by third world countries. They game isnt important enough in Canada they have other major sports that get all the TV coverage and players receive higher salaries playing in Europe. I could go on but I don't want to bore any of you. Things will never change"

Eastern bias still exists, always has. It's a big country no doubt, but they need to do better.

Given that there's only one Canadian in second division England, I have to guess this is Caolan Lavery from Red Deer (who went to play for the Northern Ireland youth setup)?

[shermanator]

Originally Posted by Locke

Yeah, didnt Team Canada get like 3 cracks at him and turned him down every time? Then he got a chance with England and all of a sudden he was good enough for Canada?

This is just a case study for poor team management. Not one person on Team Canada staff saw potential in Hargreaves early enough.

The flipside to this is that often those who choose to play for other countries think they're getting involved in a long and storied international career, but they end up not playing international football.

See Teal Bunbury as a prime example. Bailed on Canada in 2010 to play for the USA. Played a couple hundred minutes in 2 years. Hasn't been called in 4.5 years, and will most likely never be called again. Great international career there....

IMO, the decision comes down to be pride in being Canadian and representing this country on the world's stage. If you want to think you're too good to play football for this country, then quite frankly you don't seem to be too proud to be Canadian in general, and can #### off. Begovic is a prime example of this. He sure is proud to be Canadian when we're winning Gold Medals in Olympic hockey. But when soccer comes around, we're not good enough for him?

[GirlySports]

Yup. There are two different types of people. Those who wait for Canada to get better and those you want to make Canada better. We need more of the latter.

Arfield is an amazing find. He and Hutchinson control that entire center of midfield and would be unstoppable if Floro had a clue.

[GirlySports]

Also I'm tired of playing in CONCACAF. Could we apply to UEFA? Is that realistic?

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by shermanator

The flipside to this is that often those who choose to play for other countries think they're getting involved in a long and storied international career, but they end up not playing international football.

See Teal Bunbury as a prime example. Bailed on Canada in 2010 to play for the USA. Played a couple hundred minutes in 2 years. Hasn't been called in 4.5 years, and will most likely never be called again. Great international career there....

IMO, the decision comes down to be pride in being Canadian and representing this country on the world's stage. If you want to think you're too good to play football for this country, then quite frankly you don't seem to be too proud to be Canadian in general, and can #### off. Begovic is a prime example of this. He sure is proud to be Canadian when we're winning Gold Medals in Olympic hockey. But when soccer comes around, we're not good enough for him?

I can only speculate'

Could it have been that Begovic saw Hirschfeld in front of him, thinking he'd be resigned to the bench for the next 10 years?

[MillerTime GFG]

Originally Posted by shermanator

Given that there's only one Canadian in second division England, I have to guess this is Caolan Lavery from Red Deer (who went to play for the Northern Ireland youth setup)?

Didn't realize he was the only one...makes anonymity tough. :P

[shermanator]

Originally Posted by MillerTime GFG

Didn't realize he was the only one...makes anonymity tough. :P

Heh, well, there's two technically. The other is Michael Petrasso, but he's from Ontario. And I don't consider Lavery Canadian given that he's committed to Northern Ireland.

Also, he's signed with Sheffield United in League One (no appearances) after playing all of 2015-16 in League Two, so his career trajectory seems to be going downward. Seems to me like a player who thinks he's better than he is?

[shermanator]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

I can only speculate'

Could it have been that Begovic saw Hirschfeld in front of him, thinking he'd be resigned to the bench for the next 10 years?

Again, only speculation, but the story I've heard is....

Begovic was called in to the 2008 WCQ, against his club's (Portsmouth) wishes. He managed to convince them to let him go, only to not play despite the fact that Canada was eliminated. At the time, he was cap tied to Canada, as you could not switch countries after age 21. In 2009 FIFA changed the rule and you could make the switch at any age (see Scott Arfield for an example of how this works). As soon as FIFA made the change, Begovic bolted for Bosnia as he had not yet played a senior game.

There are players who were born in Canada and choose to represent other nations where it is completely reasonable. As an example, Chelsea DF Fikayo Tomori was born in Calgary, but moved to England as a toddler. Was raised and developed in England, and switched from Canada U-20 to the England U-20 side earlier this year after making his Premier League debut. I think this is a perfectly acceptable scenario to represent another country.

[Yoho]

Canada Soccer announces Benito Floro will not continue as Men's National Team Head Coach canadasoccer.com/canada-soccer-…

[shermanator]

CSA announced today that Benito Floro's contract will not be renewed. Was to be expected given his failure to make the Hex.

From the media call:
- An interim coach was not named, but will be internal. Speculation has asst coach Michael Findlay or Technical Director Tony Fonseca as interim
- Search for a new head coach will include both domestic and international candidates.
- Canada men's team will play in October and November. No details given.

http://www.canadasoccer.com/canada-s...00&language=en

[GirlySports]

can we hire Gullit? My dream De Vos and Jack can be the assistants

https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Watch-F...ds=ruud+gullit



Interview: https://www.theguardian.com/football...l-weekly-meets

[troutman]

I think GirlySports should be the new coach.

[GirlySports]

4-4-2 run people over.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

4-4-2 run people over.

Always go for the extra kick to the shins.

This is CONCACAF!!! Bitch!

[shermanator]

Also, Victor Montagliani confirmed that they are targeting 2018 as the launch date for a domestic league. https://twitter.com/gavinlday/status/776151362082050048

As well, they are expecting that the double standard of Canadians being considered foreigners on US teams, and Americans being considered domestic on Canadian teams in MLS will be resolved by the end of the year. Hopefully by Canadians being considered domestic league wide.

Canada Soccer ‏@CanadaSoccerEN 5h5 hours ago
We're expecting an announcement on a solution to the domestic player issue in #MLS by the end of this season: @VicMontagliani

[Bill Bumface]

^That would be huge.

They owe it to Canada for getting Jozy Altidore back in form for them.

[shermanator]

Michael Findlay was named interim head coach this morning. He was an assistant under Floro, and previously coached the national team in the friendly against Ghana, where they looked much more creative offensively.

Also, Canada will play friendlies against Mauritania (Oct 7) and Morocco (Oct 11). Surely, they will defeat Mauritania this time, right?

[shermanator]

Here's a really good article on the MLS website discussing some of the key things the CSA are working on to help develop better national team players: For-profit academies having the same status as community clubs, eliminating standings at the young ages, Jason de Vos' new role as Director of Player Development, high performance leagues for 18-23 year olds, and a potential domestic league.

http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/0...elopment-track

[shermanator]

Canada wins 4-0 over Mauritania this afternoon. Goals by Ricketts (2), Haber and Vitoria. Considering the first two games under Floro were a 0-0 draw and 1-0 loss to Mauritania, it's slightly encouraging.