2023 Cavalry FC and CPL Thread

[MillerTime GFG]

Originally Posted by Muta

Meh. All three goals were exciting and fun IMO, which is the point. Carducci's decision-making on the last one though for sure is questionable.

Oh for sure, I was just saying it didn’t constitute “banger”. You’ll never hear a player say “I scored a banger” when directly from a corner.

[shermanator]

6 months ago after the poor showing in the 2022 playoffs, the quiet offseason, and the slow start to the season, I thought Cavalry were in desperate need of change.

This club proved me wrong and tonight I am so proud of them, despite the result. Which is a devastating one.

Can't wait for February and CONCACAF.

[TheIronMaiden]

[Muta]

Originally Posted by MillerTime GFG

Oh for sure, I was just saying it didn’t constitute “banger”. You’ll never hear a player say “I scored a banger” when directly from a corner.

...unless they tried to do that lol. Honestly, I wouldn't get so hung up on the term, I just meant it as an exciting goal.

[MegaErtz]

How can a goalkeeper let that in? Embarrassing. He should never, ever play for us again.

[Ozy_Flame]

I was at the game, here are my thoughts:

Cavs should have taken this one. Possession, pace of play, winning balls, it was all Cavalry. All three goals scored were incredible to watch live, and I honestly don't think anyone was too blame. They looked very difficult to save in the heat of those moments, I'm not sure even a guy like Donaruma could have done perfectly either.

Musse and Klomp were absolute beasts. No one on Forge comes close to the quality of those two. Bekker was damn near invisible. Henry had some great saves.

Barton St. Battalion is a big supporters group. And they REALLY hate the cavalry, every chant was basically F the Cavs. They also really really hated Trafford for some reason lol

That game felt like an MLS game. As bad as it is to say, the league benefits when there is support like that for a fledgling league. 13k is no joke for attendance.

I wore my Cavs gear with pride. Foot Soldiers and Ultras did their best to rally the boys. ######bag Forge fans got front row seats in the Cavs section and damn near got in a fight with Cavs fans. That said, I met some great forge fans in the concourse who just wanted to talk league growth and the importance of rivalries. I was surprised.

All in all a great experience, but ATCO Field is still the best venue and game day experience in the league by far.

[Ozy_Flame]

One more thing - if you're chuffed about the loss, after stepping foot in Hamilton, let them have this. There are tons of inferior parts of that city and pales in comparison to Calgary. If this makes them feel better as a city so be it. But remember, Calgary has so much more offer, and we've had a Stanley Cup, multiple CFL Grey Cups, held an Olympics, and constantly gets rated as a world class city.

After driving by the rough neighborhoods and endless smokestacks, you realize they can have this win and it's just a game. It would have been much worse if it was Edmonton instead.

[ditty]

This result is extra painful cause I think we were truly the better team for so much of the match. I listen to all the talk about the Forge dynasty and how it doesn't look good on the league but, at least in this season, they were not the best team in the league. They are the playoff champions, no question there. They won the final on two individual pieces of brilliance/goalkeeping errors (whatever verdict one might ultimately have on those two goals).

But this wasn't the Forge team that bossed Ottawa for the full 90 minutes last year. If I'm Smyrniotis, and I'm honest, I know my team did not perform well overall this year. Remember, everyone had them running away with the league at the start of the season. They had trouble scoring goals. Their vaunted attack was incredibly inconsistent and they really lacked wide attacking players. I honestly think that by the end of the season, Tommy had built a better squad, or probably more accurately, a better starting 11.

I truly despise Forge and really hoped that today would mark a changing of the guard; the league's first double winner (league and playoffs) and it's not Forge. Alas, it wasn't to be. But Tommy recruited very well last offseason and I trust he'll do so again this year. He has the extra cherry of a Champions Cup tournament to attract players as well.

Up the Cavs!

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Slava

I don’t think so. I think our bench just isn’t as strong as theirs. They have the luxury of bringing on guys like Borges and Choniere while we pressed as long as possible with the original line up. I thought Cavalry played better while we didn’t make those subs and created more opportunities. We just didn’t have the horses though.

I disagree. They've done this to Cavalry like clockwork.

They dont press for the first half of the game, they absorb pressure and fall back, they pack the box and look for the counter-attack.

So Wheeldon puts the pressure on them for 60-90 minutes, accomplishing nothing, then they rely on their bench when our starters are tired.

They've done it over and over and over again and Wheeldon falls for it more often than Charlie Brown trying to kick a football.

Forge played them like a fiddle. You could see it coming from miles away. Did you see see the difference in the teams after Cavalry scored?

[Slava]

Yeah, you could see the difference after Cavalry scored in the first extra period. But that was when Forge had the urgency because they had to come forward. If we bury a goal or two in the first 90, who knows how the outcome goes.

But I still think the difference is the bench and depth. We just didn’t have the backup. You take off Musse and Camargo (who you know can’t give you 90 at this point), and you run out of quality replacements. In the meantime, Forge isn’t as good to start, but the quality doesn’t drop off.

The reality is, we created more and had more chances until the replacements for both sides were in the match. You can see that Wheeldon knew it also, because he really didn’t want to make changes. He swapped Camargo, but held off on any others until extra time when it was basically necessary.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Slava

Yeah, you could see the difference after Cavalry scored in the first extra period. But that was when Forge had the urgency because they had to come forward. If we bury a goal or two in the first 90, who knows how the outcome goes.

But I still think the difference is the bench and depth. We just didn’t have the backup. You take off Musse and Camargo (who you know can’t give you 90 at this point), and you run out of quality replacements. In the meantime, Forge isn’t as good to start, but the quality doesn’t drop off.

The reality is, we created more and had more chances until the replacements for both sides were in the match. You can see that Wheeldon knew it also, because he really didn’t want to make changes. He swapped Camargo, but held off on any others until extra time when it was basically necessary.

They do this every time. The answer is...don't start them.

Forge were always going to rope-a-dope us for at least the first half, so hold your best players in reserve and sub them in after an hour. You soak up Forge's resolve and then attack them hard when they're weakest.

Kind of...oh where did we see that? Oh yeah. Its exactly what they did to us.

There are tactics that can be used to counter Forge's, you just have to be willing to use them.

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by Locke

They do this every time. The answer is...don't start them.

Forge were always going to rope-a-dope us for at least the first half, so hold your best players in reserve and sub them in after an hour. You soak up Forge's resolve and then attack them hard when they're weakest.

Kind of...oh where did we see that? Oh yeah. Its exactly what they did to us.

There are tactics that can be used to counter Forge's, you just have to be willing to use them.

We don’t have anybody even remotely close to Musse’s and Camargo’s quality on the bench. Leaving them on the bench would be a vastly inferior starting 11.

Through 90 we created by far the two best chances of the game. Through 102 we had created the three best chances of the game. That’s not rope-dope, that’s Forge struggling to survive.

Forge won on the back of a brilliant goalkeeping performance and two pieces of individual brilliance on those shots (or possibly two ridiculous pieces of luck on miss hit crosses). All the credit to Forge for the players delivering those moments, but those aren’t tactics that can be relied on.

[Slava]

This season was a series of draws, a 3-0 win for Cavalry and the 2-1 loss in the playoffs. It doesn’t happen every game, and it’s not the same story every time. In the October 14 match, Cavs battled back and a few chances where they could’ve tied and gone ahead, but it wasn’t to be.

And this is the big issue; you leave guys like Camargo, Musse and Bevan on the bench and start Shome, Mason and Fisk (or something) and get run over from the start. And honestly, no one is leaving Musse on the bench in this squad. I just picked him because he was the glaring substitute.

I just don’t think it’s as easy as you suggest. And frankly, there’s also a point of pride. I want Cavs to play and try to win, not just try not to lose.

[M*A*S*H 4077]

I think next year Camargo can’t be a starter. Henry or a newcomer needs to grab that spot

I think they had some options on the bench to mix things up. Shome is a quality, quality player, maybe bring him in and shift more of the inverted fullback look and give Forge something different to contend with. Fisk might have been an upgrade on Akio who was struggling all match long with his control and the pitch. A passer like Fisk may have allowed for greater control in the final third. Forge had better options on the bench with Borges and Choiniere but I refuse to believe their starting XI was equal to ours.

But what’s done is done. We’ve got to figure out a different look or something to turn to when we’re failing to find that breakthrough

[Slava]

Camargo should be riding off into the sunset. Admittedly, I felt that before this season and he played better than I expected, but we need some new players.

[Yoho]

Carducci wilts in big games time to move on from him. What a wasted effort by the field players. Should have easily been a Cavs win.

[Ozy_Flame]

I think we could have used Escalante on that wing last night. And if not for dynamic creativity, then to completely throw off Forge. Him and Trafford live rent-free in their heads.

Masons departure will surely see a new international come in for a fresh threat.

[AndyM]

Carducci blunders. Lack of depth on the bench. Those were the downfall of the Cavs yesterday. It's a shame, and they deserved much better, and we could almost taste that victory.

[TheIronMaiden]

This is misery. I wish they were blown out, but to lose like that.

[cheevers]

Originally Posted by Locke

I disagree. They've done this to Cavalry like clockwork.

They dont press for the first half of the game, they absorb pressure and fall back, they pack the box and look for the counter-attack.

So Wheeldon puts the pressure on them for 60-90 minutes, accomplishing nothing, then they rely on their bench when our starters are tired.

They've done it over and over and over again and Wheeldon falls for it more often than Charlie Brown trying to kick a football.

Forge played them like a fiddle. You could see it coming from miles away. Did you see see the difference in the teams after Cavalry scored?

This isn't what happened though, Cavs dominated more and more to the end, Forge got lucky to get to extra time then scored a fluke and a goalie blunder.

I do think Tommy lost the plot a bit after the Cavs scored, but the 90 minutes gave them ample chances to win.