2018 World Cup

[CroFlames]

Iceland have never lose a World Cup match. Amazing.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Iceland have never lose a World Cup match. Amazing.

Peru has not won a match since 1978.

[Locke]

Its not 'one game confirmation bias' tho (<- that is just really awful by the way) I even stated that I'd seen it over and over and over.

Sure, hes probably punted 100 goals past Real Zaragoza or Malaga or whatever, but for Argentina when the chips are down and they turn to him he tends to wilt.

Believe it or not Messi has played more than 1 game that I've seen. I love your 'confirmation bias tho' because you in all of your infinite wisdom just assumed that I made a statement based on only ever seeing Messi play 1 game.

You know what they say about assumptions?

And once again Argentina were playing with every attacking option on the field.

Anyhoodles, onto more current news, my Brother-in-Law is in a World Cup pool at work and knows little about soccer so he asked for me help, he had to pick two teams and unfortunately he selected last, so its his turn to pick and Belgium and Croatia were still on the board, so I'm pulling for them!

Unfortunately Croatia's primary National Export is 'crippling disappointment.'

[Locke]

Originally Posted by shermanator

Canada can learn a lot from Iceland. 20 years ago they invested heavily into indoor facilities and coaching education, and they are reaping the rewards now. Also, the Icelandic actually get behind their country, something which is not done here.

You know, its interesting because you are clearly far more in tune with Canadian Soccer than I am, largely because I had bad experiences in dealings with CSA for years and after a while even a Circus gets old so I just abandoned it.

But you're absolutely right about Canada being able to learn from Iceland.

I find that Canada and Iceland are fundamentally opposite at the moment.

Iceland do not have a plethora of highly skilled game-breaking players, but when you take the squad that they do have they are greater than the sum of their parts.

I find Canada to be opposite, I dont feel that once our National Team gets together that they play better than their collection of players.

And thats coaching.

The Icelanders all buy in. They have that National Pride, but they buy into the game plan, the strategy, the coach and ultimately they have confidence and faith.

Down 1-0 against Argentina? Its easy to say: 'Yeah, we likely werent going to get anything out of this one, lets hang our heads and move along.'

But they didnt. They punched back and got a result. Thats mental fortitude. I love it. Every time you count Iceland out they punch you in the throat.

And I agree, the way Iceland got to where they are now is investment in facilities and Coaching, youth development and commitment to the National Team. They stole a lot of their blueprints from ze Germans but it works and we should be doing it too.

And in a lot of ways I think their small population is their strength rather than their weakness. It is logistically easier to manage a small group over a small area than a huge group spread out over a huge area.

Its much easier to centrally control their National Program.

[GirlySports]

African refs are awful. That's an easy penalty call.

[GirlySports]

Wow. That went into Row Z

How can a regular penalty taker be that nervous.

[SebC]

Peruvian may not have dove, but he definitely flailed his leg out so that he'd get tripped. Glad he missed.

[Bagor]

Canada's problem also is the cost of playing the game.

There are kids in my local park and in house league soccer that are far superior to the so called competitive kids here in Ottawa.

As a result, places on so called competitive teams are measured by financial contribution to the program.

A less talented kid that plays with the organisation all year round here will always make the competitive team ahead of a more gifted player that plays hockey half the year and just wants to play soccer in the summer. Starting goalie? Lesser kid will get in ahead of the more talented kid if he has done the "goalie clinic".

From my observations here you could pick a starting 11 from the house league and they would be as good as the so called competitive kids.

And as mentioned. The vast size of Canada makes it hard to centralise things.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by SebC

Peruvian may not have dove, but he definitely flailed his leg out so that he'd get tripped. Glad he missed.

The defender cant put his foot there.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Bagor

Canada's problem also is the cost of playing the game.

There are kids in my local park and in house league soccer that are far superior to the so called competitive kids here in Ottawa.

As a result, places on so called competitive teams are measured by financial contribution to the program.

A less talented kid that plays with the organisation all year round here will always make the competitive team ahead of a more gifted player that plays hockey half the year and just wants to play soccer in the summer. Starting goalie? Lesser kid will get in ahead of the more talented kid if he has done the "goalie clinic".

From my observations here you could pick a starting 11 from the house league and they would be as good as the so called competitive kids.

And as mentioned. The vast size of Canada makes it hard to centralise things.

Absolutely right and at top level pick s coach and style and stick with it. Use height and strength to your advantage.

When Canada takes short corners at the Azteca I turn it off.

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

African refs are awful. That's an easy penalty call.

The technology is there. Why not use it for certainty?

Doesn't make him any less of a ref in my eyes.

[White Out 403]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

African refs are awful. That's an easy penalty call.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Bagor

Canada's problem also is the cost of playing the game.

There are kids in my local park and in house league soccer that are far superior to the so called competitive kids here in Ottawa.

As a result, places on so called competitive teams are measured by financial contribution to the program.

A less talented kid that plays with the organisation all year round here will always make the competitive team ahead of a more gifted player that plays hockey half the year and just wants to play soccer in the summer. Starting goalie? Lesser kid will get in ahead of the more talented kid if he has done the "goalie clinic".

From my observations here you could pick a starting 11 from the house league and they would be as good as the so called competitive kids.

And as mentioned. The vast size of Canada makes it hard to centralise things.

I have had a number of assistant coaches (I was a youth coach for almost 10 years) from all over the world and this is a huge point of contention with them.

In most of the world if a kid has talent you pay to train him.

In Canada they want that kid to pay to be trained.

Its backwards.

And furthermore, for the most part in Canada the people being paid to do the training arent worth the money, so you've just got this loop of failure.

And we're fortunate because Canada is a country of immigrants who were trained elsewhere and pass that knowledge along but its an inefficient scattergun process, it isnt focused or concentrated in any meaningful way.

I have so much experience with coaches from all over the world but it still amazes me that I can go and meet with various coaches and still think:

"Okay this guy is a clown, why are we listening to him and not paying more attention to this guy who really knows what hes doing?"

And then the politics start.

[Ozy_Flame]

To be fair, soccer is also a sport in Canada (indoor as well as outdoor) that many parents sign their kids up for because hockey is just too expensive. Yes, you pay to play on a club, but it's also a fraction of the cost of the equipment and registration that hockey adds up to.

Growing up playing minor soccer, there really wasn't a clear vision or path to success that was obvious for amateur players coming up in the system in the 1990's and early 2000s. Basically you just hoped you could get a scholarship at a university, which a couple of people I know did, but that was as far as they went.

I was just happy I played for my high school, where you earned your way onto a "club" haha.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Bagor

The technology is there. Why not use it for certainty?

Doesn't make him any less of a ref in my eyes.

I mean how did he miss that in the first place.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

To be fair, soccer is also a sport in Canada (indoor as well as outdoor) that many parents sign their kids up for because hockey is just too expensive. Yes, you pay to play on a club, but it's also a fraction of the cost of the equipment and registration that hockey adds up to.

Growing up playing minor soccer, there really wasn't a clear vision or path to success that was obvious for amateur players coming up in the system in the 1990's and early 2000s. Basically you just hoped you could get a scholarship at a university, which a couple of people I know did, but that was as far as they went.

I was just happy I played for my high school, where you earned your way onto a "club" haha.

Ha! Funny story, I wasnt allowed to play for my High School because of my club team, they said I couldnt do both.

So I ended up playing for my High School Rugby team and ended up getting hurt fairly regularly. My club team was pretty choked about that.

Also I learned that I'm pretty crap at Rugby. I spent 3 years playing Rugby as basically tackling practice.

[Locke]

Scandinavia is kicking ass and taking names today.

[GirlySports]

Game has really picked up.

[Locke]

Beautiful defensive tackle there. Textbook stuff.

I hate when players complain about clean tackles.

[Beninho]

Originally Posted by Locke

Its not 'one game confirmation bias' tho (<- that is just really awful by the way) I even stated that I'd seen it over and over and over.

Sure, hes probably punted 100 goals past Real Zaragoza or Malaga or whatever, but for Argentina when the chips are down and they turn to him he tends to wilt.

Believe it or not Messi has played more than 1 game that I've seen. I love your 'confirmation bias tho' because you in all of your infinite wisdom just assumed that I made a statement based on only ever seeing Messi play 1 game.

You know what they say about assumptions?

And once again Argentina were playing with every attacking option on the field.

Anyhoodles, onto more current news, my Brother-in-Law is in a World Cup pool at work and knows little about soccer so he asked for me help, he had to pick two teams and unfortunately he selected last, so its his turn to pick and Belgium and Croatia were still on the board, so I'm pulling for them!

Unfortunately Croatia's primary National Export is 'crippling disappointment.'

So Messi hasn’t scored vs the best teams in the world? He didn’t take Argentina to the World Cup final? He was a Higuain finish away from being word champion.

https://youtu.be/PtTJLw51c7U

Yes I’d say your assessment of Messi was very much impulsive. But I guess all he does is kick the ball into the wall. I actually couldn’t believe someone was questioning weather Messi or Aguero should take free kicks, that statement alone makes me question if you’ve actually watched Messi over his entire career. I’m not trying to be a smart ass but your comments about Messi are entirely off as he has a 14 year track record that proves otherwise. Football is a difficult game, both Ronaldo and Messi have games where they get shut down, to make gross generalizations over a few games is just ridiculous. Ronaldo was superb yesterday but he got shut down in both the semi final of the CL and final but still won. Like I said earlier he’s only scored 6 World Cup goals in 4 world cups. You were making grandeous statements like Ronaldo always produces on the big stage and Messi has not with Argentina. Just not true at all