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    Guest
    Continuing the clubs efforts to find the best and brightest local talent, the Whitecaps have announced today that they will be hosting an annual tournament that will be geared towards the little ones. The Tournament will take place over the Easter Weekend. This tournament will focus on the kids in those ever important 10-14 ages categories. Ripe to be plucked from their local club teams and potentially dropped in to the Vancouver residency program U-11 all the way up to U-14's will be on display for Whitecaps coaches and training staff.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    An interesting point of note is that the U-11's and U-12's will be playing 8-a-side in their matches and their halves will be 30 minutes. The U-13's and U-14's will be playing 11-a-side in 35 minute halves.
    If you are interested in signing your team up information is available on the Whitecaps website.
    Should the club expand the tournament to include more age groups? Do you think this set up will stop the Whitecaps from plucking anymore prospects from Southern Ontario like Russel Teibert or Bryce Alderson?
    Guest

    MLS Cup Preview: To Live and Die in LA

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    After what seemed like an eternal stoppage (to respect FIFA international break), the Major League Soccer playoffs finally resume on Sunday night with the culmination of the process -- the "granddaddy of em all", to steal a term from Vince McMahon -- MLS Cup 2011.
    The Cup final will feature a Houston team peaking at the right time but also looking likely to be missing their most creative player. They'll meet a Galaxy side that have all three of their Designated Players hitting their stride simultaneously, while also getting clutch performances out of lesser names like Mike Magee.
    In other words, there are tons of little sub-stories being told below the unprecedented hype-fest leading into this year's championship match.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The obvious x-factors in the Cup final will be the status of Houston's Brad Davis along with the relative fitness of Robbie Keane, who flew to Europe and back for two huge, successful matches with Ireland in Euro 2012 qualifying.
    Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear, no stranger to the pomp and circumstance that surrounds MLS' marquee event, has taken to a bit of mind game playing ahead of Sunday's clash. Houston's star player Davis went down with a nasty quadriceps injury in the Eastern Conference Final, and after the match he immediately ruled himself out of the Cup finale. Kinnear initially reasserted that position, stating that Davis would have to watch from the sidelines as the Texas side tried for a third Cup victory.
    About a week later, Kinnear played a bit more coy with the press, implying that Davis may be able to make at least a cameo appearance in Sunday's game. It remains to be seen how serious Kinnear's newest statements are, but it's likely that the original prognosis stands and Adam Moffat takes over from Davis as Houston's primary set-piece taker.
    It's a step down, for sure, but if Moffat can replicate his play from the Eastern Conference championship match, the Dynamo shouldn't suffer too much in that department.
    As for Keane, only time will tell if he'll be able to shake off the post-qualifying hangover after leading Ireland to their first berth in the Euro since 1988. The striker was key in the Irish accomplishment, and now he'll have to shake off two transatlantic flights in time to be the same kind of catalyst for the Galaxy.
    When he suits up for LA, Keane won't see regular strike partner Chad Barrett alongside him, as the former TFC man suffered a dislocated ankle in training and has been ruled out. Many Toronto fans reading this are probably thinking "so what?", but Barrett's balls-to-the-wall style tends to disrupt opposing defences and open a ton of space for the Irishman, something that probable replacement Adam Cristman just doesn't do.
    Fortunately for LA, the rest of the Galaxy's lineup is pretty much intact. Both David Beckham and Landon Donovan have had two weeks of no distractions to focus exclusively on the match, which is bad news if you're cheering for the Dynamo. Donovan actually turned down a call up to the US National side to remain with his club side ahead of Sunday's tilt, so LA have no excuses where their two original DP's are concerned.
    Aside from the more notable impact players, the Cup final will also come down to the support staff. As noted, LA have gotten big production out of Magee, and the Dynamo -- through Canadian André Hainault and his two playoff goals -- have also seen offence come from unlikely sources.
    For Houston, playing in the Galaxy's home stadium means they'll need a near-perfect performance from everyone on the pitch, as LA have yet to be defeated at home in 2011. The odds are stacked against the men in orange, but with the run of impressive road results they've made simply to get this far, one shouldn't be too surprised if they were to make the Galaxy's night a living hell.
    Still, it's hard to see Los Angeles dropping this one in front of an over-sold Home Depot Centre crowd. Look for the Galaxy to take this one as they usually do: with timely goals and a ridiculously stingy defence that stifles anything Houston throws at them.
    Prediction: Los Angeles Galaxy 2-0 Houston Dynamo
    Rudi Schuller contributes Toronto FC, MLS, and Canadian national team content to the 24th Minute. He is MLSsoccer.com's beat writer for all things concerning Canada's men's national teams, and he has spent time as soccer editor for Reuters' online publications. He has also contributed to Goal.com and other soccer media. Follow Rudi on Twitter, @RudiSchuller.
    Guest
    Dwayne De Rosario is very talented.
    Let’s start the conversation there. No matter whether you’re a DeRo person or if you fall on the MeRo side of the debate, you should be able to agree to that. You don’t score 16 goals and add 12 assists unless you have talent.
    And as much as fans want to hold onto the idea that the MVP award is actually for the most valuable player to his team it’s not. It’s for the best player in the league in a given season. In 2011, DeRo was MLS’ best player.
    However, with De Rosario nothing is simple. What should be a proud day for Canadian soccer fans is clouded by people’s perspective on the intangibles that surround the player - the cheque signing, the perception that he doesn’t show up for Canada (which is patently ludicrous), three teams in one year, cancer in the room, etc.
    DeRo is a complex athlete and there are few observers of the game in Canada that don’t have a strong opinion of him one way or another.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    However, today is not a day to dwell on the negatives. The truth is that DeRo has had a remarkable career in MLS and today’s award can be viewed as a celebration of that. Four times he’s won the MLS Cup, he scored a MLS Cup golden goal, won a golden boot, was playoff MVP twice and now he’s the league MVP. If MLS had a Hall of Fame he’d be a first ballot lock. And, he still likely has a few years left in him.
    For a Canadian to accomplish that is something to be celebrated.
    With today’s win, DeRo has captured pretty much everything he can in MLS. Debate can turn to his place amongst the all-time best in the league. On that front, as it was with the MVP vote, there will likely be no consensus. The debate, however, will be interesting.
    It always is with DeRo.
    Guest
    Yes, long-time fans of the Some Canadian Guys podcast, today is your day... unless something bad happened to you completely independently of this announcement, in which case you have our sympathies but there's really nothing we can do about it. Where was I? Oh yeah.
    Some Canadian Guys Talking About Soccer is back! And it's now, somehow, on Sportsnet.ca! Check it out to download the first episode and subscribe -- we talk CanMNT, the TFC venue debate and in promotion/relegation, Jamie tells an interesting inside story about how the live stream of Canada's game down in St. Kitts came to be.
    And don't fear -- Grant and I will be continuing our writing duties here at CSN. This is just another way for you to get your Canadian soccer fix. Enjoy -- and feel free to leave your feedback here.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Guest
    WARNING: what follows is some fairly-heavy, naval-gazing non stat/rumour, inside baseball type stuff (which means don't bother leaving that "yawn" bullshit in the comments). Most of you after all probably don’t care what kind of money changes hands before soccer news and opinion meets your eyes, unless there’s a paywall involved. And the most annoying thing to read for a non-writer type person is a blogger whinging about not getting paid enough money.
    Part of the reason however why bloggers whine about money and newspaper columnists don’t is because the latter make a truck load of union-guaranteed cash for pumping out a column a day, while bloggers toil away spinning thousands of words and hoping they’ll generate enough pay-per-click ad payback to chip off one fifth of their rent. As far as careers go, blogging in and of itself (i.e. without additional paid writing work) is still fairly shit.
    I write this in light of a recent development with the redesign of the popular Guardian Sport Blog, source of information and amusement for soccer enthusiasts the world round (save for you hardcore Canada nerds). They’ve recently struck a deal with some talented “independent” (I’ll get to those inverted quotes later) bloggers to post links to their blogs on the site, and to cross post some content once-in-a-while.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    This was met with some derision in soccer blogger circles because the Guardian doesn’t pay the writers to cross post their content. While the paper argues the writers get a much bigger audience (and a few more PPC hits on their home sites for a tiny bit more cash, in theory) and a boost to the CV, others say that by writing for free, these bloggers are making it hard for writers to get paid everywhere. If the Guardian can get the best for free, after all, then so can anyone.
    I disagree, and here’s why.
    First of all, while many hardcore union-types boast about how they never wrote for free in their life, that’s usually not exactly true. Many journalists got their start after all writing free content for their university student newspaper, which they later used as clips when sending out freelance pitches. Others generated clips by writing for free (or practically for free) for community newspapers.
    Why did they do this? To get their stuff out there in print to prove to editors with an actual budget they could write. In the old days though, this period of free or cheap freelancing didn’t last long (unless you were crap or lazy). A good freelancer would compile their best clips and pitch story ideas to newspaper or magazine editors, and then get an assignment (after twenty rejections).
    Then came the Internet like one massive self-publishing press. A ton of soccer bloggers hit the scene, and generally relied on PPC ads to make (relatively miniscule amounts of) money, which meant generating as much traffic as possible. Digital media also took the stuffing out of the old print publishing industry, but not necessarily for the reasons you might think.
    Yes, digital news made the whole newspaper model suddenly seem ridiculous, but Craigslist arguably did far more damage by killing the money-making classified ad section. And while the web did a lot of damage to writers’ livelihoods by undermining the print publishing business model, it did not destroy it altogether. If anything, it provided a much wider pool of talented writers with a free platform on which to hawk their wares.
    The “writing for free” period in a freelancer’s life expanded and the work got more competitive, yes, but talented bloggers who worked their angles regularly and could write well sometimes got picked up for assignments, or better yet, full time gigs, often from traditional publishers. I don’t want write a laundry list of recent examples, but there are many. It should also be stated that it is very much still possible to get money by sending out pitches to magazines and newspapers the old fashioned way, no blogging required. There is a long list of contributors at the football magazine When Saturday Comes who don’t have a Twitter account, let alone a blog.
    That’s why I put quotes on “independent.” A lot of the writers featured in the GSN have other jobs, which they picked up by getting noticed for their work as bloggers. For those who don’t, GSN offers an opportunity to expand their profile, to use the Guardian in a clipping, and to shop around for paid work.
    The system isn’t perfect—blogger 2nd Yellow pointed out a big problem with SEO for blogs on the network, for example — but GSN’s approach is far different than that of offering bloggers a chance to write original content for free, which at least one recently expanded Canadian sports network has rumoured to have done recently. I also think that more should have been done to compensate individual bloggers for cross-posted content (although my sources tell me an offer to join the Guardian ad network was put on the table), but I don’t see how exposure to a wide audience can’t be levered into more paid work.
    The reason writers struggle to earn a living now has little to do with giant, wealthy publishers exploiting working writers (although there are many, many examples of that, well before the advent of the Internet). You tend to get labelled a neoliberal in blogger circles for saying this, but sometimes there are in fact abstract, economic conditions that affect a certain trade or type of work. Computers made typewriters obsolete. Craigslist have killed print classifieds. The Internet wildly expanded the supply of written content, in relation to demand, driving down price i.e. how you much you get paid a word. Writers don’t get paid as much as they used to. The ones who latched on to union jobs early are the real “winners” here.
    I absolutely agree that it’s an insidious practice for a major media company to solicit original work for no pay. But that’s not what GSN is doing. It’s offering a blog a permanent link and a chance to have content cross-posted. It’s not ideal, but it’s not black and white exploitation. Each blogger involved could have said no, and chose not to. That's because exposure is a lifeline in very difficult economic circumstances for soccer writers. The path to full time writing work exists, it’s just a lot longer, a lot more difficult and arduous, and in certain circumstances, it means writing for free.
    Guest

    DeRo wins MVP

    By Guest, in It's Called Football,

    Dwayne DeRosario has been named MLS MVP. After years in the league, winning titles and MLS final MVP's, this is his first such honour.
    The other finalists were Brad Davis of Houston and Brek Shea of Dallas.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    According to MLS, he becomes the first player to score for three teams in a single year.
    DeRo, who famously departed Toronto, before jumping from New York to DC United also becomes the first player to win the award without his team making the playoffs.
    We'll have more reaction on this and what it means for Canadian soccer throughout the day.
    Guest
    Vancouver Whitecaps head coach Martin Rennie has tapped Canada's U-17 captain as the club's next homegrown player and made him a full MLS roster player today.
    The native of Kitchiner Ontario, joined the Whitecaps residency last year and was called up for the clubs post season evaluation camp in November. During the camp he showed solid positioning, was strong in his tackles, and clearly possesses decent first touch.
    Coach Rennie speaks highly of the youngster. "Bryce is an intelligent, gifted player that has already played at a very high level in his young career," offering up further praise for the starlet he pointed to his successes on the international stage "He captained Canada at last summer's U-17 World Cup, and has continued his development in our Residency program and by training with our first team. We're excited to add another young Canadian talent to our MLS squad."
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Alderson's arrival on the West Coast was a major coup for the Whitecaps, he was already playing in Toronto for the CSL's Portugal FC. Since leaving the Toronto based outfit he led the Canadian National side to the U-17 World Cup in Mexico. Appearing in all three games the young midfielder gained valuable international experience.
    While this is exciting news for both the Whitecaps Residency, and the Canadian Soccer Association, let's not get too excited here. He is still only 17 and pretty raw. Don't expect him to see much first team action. His presence will likely be felt in Voyageurs Cup matches and Reserve League games where he will get more starts against older players.
    How many games would you like to see the youngster play next season? Are you worried that he might be being brought along too quickly? Is this evidence that our current player development system is actually working?
    Guest

    Gretzky to MLS?

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Wayne Gretzky's name has surfaced as a possible front man for an American investment group, Providence Equity Partners, interested in buying MLSE.
    There is no indication that the group is interested in selling off parts of the sports empire, so the potential of Gretzky being part of a group that holds a majority stake in Toronto FC is there.
    The deal is, of course, about the Toronto Maple Leafs and the battle to take control of the iconic, if at times dysfunctional, franchise. The NBA's Toronto Raptors, AHL's Toronto Marlies, the Air Canada Centre, a couple TV stations and some prime real estate would also be part of the deal. The deal is worth about $1.8 billion, so TFC is an exceptionally small part of it.
    Earlier this year the telecommunications giant Rogers was said to be the front runner to purchase the controlling stake in MLSE. Rogers owns the Toronto Blue Jays.
    It's too early to speculate what a change in ownership might mean for the club.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Guest

    Caps add homegrown

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    The Vancouver Whitecaps have signed Bryce Alderson to a homegrown contract.
    Alderson was widely seen as the best prospect in the 'Caps organization, so today's news comes as no surprise. He's a holding midfielder and was the 2010 Canadian u-17 player of the year.
    He'll debut with the club at the start of the 2012 preseason. At just 18, he's likely a year or so away from being a regular starter, but it is a great sign that the Caps academy has graduated a player to the senior side.
    The move increases Vancouver's Canadian content. The club received some criticism last season for the lack of Canadians playing a regular role.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Guest

    One year and one day

    By Guest, in It's Called Football,

    Tuesday was Canadian Soccer News' one year anniversary. I let the day pass unceremoniously because the I'm not much for online retrospectives. They're too often a horrifying act of self fellatio and designed to get others to join in the circle jerk of self congratulations. Plus, there happened to be a Canada game on the same day and it seemed a bit rude to interject in the proceedings of a World Cup qualifier with the lighting of birthday candles.
    But for those that have given so much time and energy writing for this site (as well as for those that have given so much time and energy writing about the writing on this site) I did want to share a few of my favourite moments and give a brief look ahead to the next year on CSN.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    1) Alberta/CSA reform
    For me, with CSN still in its early days, this story immediately gave us national exposure and has come to define what this site can be about. Ben Knight's work during that sixth month period, that saw, first, Alberta's old guard tossed on its head and kicked out the door, simultaneously served as a reference for the mainstream media to find understanding of the issues and as as a rallying platform for those seeking to make meaningful change in the grassroots. The success seen there carried into the New Year when the CSA voted in the board reforms that we all knew needed to happen. To underscore how difficult that vote was and how monumental the moment, let me clarify what it meant: voting in the changes that occured essentially meant convincing those in power to vote on getting rid of, or threatening their own jobs. In a beaucractic heavy country, it's nothing short of a minor miracle getting an old guard, middled in protecting their position, to do anything other than that. Voting those jobs out of relevance was the Apocalypse.
    Months later, Mr. Knight would be paid a visit from as influential and reclusive a character as there is in Canadian soccer. I've been asked not to reveal who that was, but I can share that he asked to meet with Ben personally to congratulate him on his coverage and tell him just how much his efforts meant to seeing through the reform.
    Ben has been one of the longest serving writers of the game in this country. If he was to retire tomorrow, I think this would stand out as some of his best work. And that says something.


    2) Support Local Football
    This video started the same way most of our ideas do - over beers. The conversation centred around what we could do to raise awareness for the national team but mostly about our disgust over seeing opposing fans outnumbering the home fans at national team games. What started as making a few phone calls to media friends to help make a small video, snowballed into a rallying cry for long suffering national team football fans. It didn't hurt that some of the local club supporters had been planning a similar movement to inspire fans to come out to TFC Academy games at the same time. But the video would go viral, get air time on most of the national broadcasters and be played at BMO Field throughout the CONCACAF qualifiers for Toronto FC.
    It's hard to quantify how much influence it had on getting actual butts into seats for those games, but I like to think that it served as a spark to inspire those in charge to start thinking about some of the solutions needed to see it happen.

    3) Going against the grain
    This one is more general, but it's something we all seem to pride ourselves on. If you look at every writer on this site, each one of them has a unique style and opinion on the game. We don't bother with boring match reports or asking questions that every reporter before us has asked into the ground. CSN has found new ways to cover the game and unearth information previously unknown. It's what keeps us relevant and what keeps people coming back.
    There are a whole list of stories that we have broken on CSN this year - of varying importance - but the two that stand out the most actually come from a little covered area - the women's game. And they don't jump out for that, the mainstream press always gets on board during big events, they set themselves apart from anything anyone else was doing at the time because they provided a fresh look or a critical analysis.
    The first was Daniel Squizzato's #ChristineSinclair Twitter campaign. If you aren't on Twitter, or somehow missed it, he took an old Chuck Norris gag and applied it to Sinclair following her world class free kick in the Germany game at the World Cup. What started as a joke, turned into a full-on media spectacle and landed Squizz on CBC's the National talking about the Canadian Women's national team. What made this special, was that while the National and most other media were doing straight edge stories - Ra Ra! cheer on this little team stuff - Squizz took a popular meme and helped relate an relatively unknown athlete to a more general sporting populous. It was hugely popular and became a point of conversation over the course of a two or three day news cycle (no small feat for the women's game which remains under covered.)
    Squizz will never call it his finest work - because it isn't (Taste the Soup anyone?) - but for me it showed me how powerful that relatable approach is.
    The other comes from the completely opposite end of the relatable spectrum. And it was one that got us all in trouble (no, I'm not talking about the lawsuit threat from a well known local soccer agent) for going so far outside the conservative line of thinking.
    Duane's coverage of the women's national team head coach Carolina Morace and her souring relationship with the players was one that, at the time, seemed to come from left field - but only because no one was talking about it.
    Yes, there were some minor mistakes in the coverage but largely the reporting of her attitudes and actions was spot on in reflecting the coach and the climate around the team and the CSA. And since her departure, and as more as come out, that early portrait - one that lead him to be accused of hating the women's game and called every name in the book - has proven pretty accurate. He doesn't get enough credit for it, but while others continued to paint her as a respected genius in the face of an obvious contrast, he stood in there and took the shots - not flinching from his assessment. In the end, after her abrupt departure and subsequent childishness, I think most who have been paying attention would say he was proven right.
    Looking ahead
    A lot of what we're doing right now, as we reflect on this year, is asking 'Where do we go from here?' We're the biggest site of our kind in Canada, how do we top what we've done? The short answer is we have to improve on the markets outside of Toronto. I'm the first to admit (and I mean no criticism to our other writers on this site) that we have lacked at covering Vancouver, Montreal and Edmonton. We tried different things. They were met with mixed results. So, we've gone about it a re-thinking the way we managed it. This new way will ensure that we will have better coverage in those markets in the next year. I won't give too much away but we'll begin rolling those out soon.
    Next, we have some massively important events coming on the CSA level in the months ahead. We'll be diving back into that in the same way we dealt with reform and we'll be shining a light on to those we still consider to be cancers in our game. There is, of course, also World Cup qualifying (we're looking at helping to organize and promote a trip to Cuba), the women's Olympic qualifying and all the club action in between.
    This article has turned out much longer than I had intended and inevitably, as we have come to expect from our wasp's nest of a readership, someone will make the obvious joke: 'For a post supposedly not about self fellatio I sure did gag a lot."
    So, instead of ending it on a bad joke, I'll close with something Jason de Vos said to me recently.
    "You guys have a big role to play in Canadian soccer. You serve as the bridge between the grassroots and the mainstream and have a tremendous amount of influence over the soccer community here. So you need to be mindful of your messaging."
    Granted, he was calling to tell me how we had gotten something wrong, but I'll take it, like most of the criticism we receive, as a sort of praise.
    Cheers,
    Ben Rycroft
    Canadian Soccer News
    Editor in Chief
    Guest
    "You know what Canada's problem is? It's the same as this line of people waiting for the streetcar."
    "What, 'cause there are a bunch of old ladies in St. Kitts and Nevis flags in it?"
    "No, it's just, everyone's too courteous, too polite, too Canadian. Nobody's pushing to the front of the line, everyone's just waiting their turn. Same thing with the team, they just pass the ball around but nobody wants to actually go to the net and shoot it."
    Yes, my not-really-a-soccer-fan-but-coming-around-to-it girlfriend, shivering in the transit queue outside BMO Field on a Tuesday night in November, kinda nailed it.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Sure, it does seem counterproductive and counter-intuitive to focus on a negative aspect of things, especially since I'd specifically asked for a blowout and, with a 4-0 dispatching of St. Kitts and Nevis (both of 'em!), Canada went ahead and delivered.
    So let's give some credit where it's due. Canada trounced the opponent it was obligated to face, with Tosaint Ricketts making the absolute most of his first full 90 for Canada, providing a goal, drawing a penalty and raising the level of pace and passion on the field by about 64% at any given moment (non-scientific estimate). Dwayne De Rosario, of course, gave his hometown fans a memorable moment, tying Dale Mitchell's all-time goal-scoring record for the senior national team with his 19th.
    The lineup, though, was a bit strange: despite claims that this entire round would be used as a means of maximizing familiarity amongst the "A" squad, and that Tuesday night's game would serve as preparation for the next round, head coach Stephen Hart kept Julian de Guzman and Mike Klukowski on the bench for the duration. Occasional Premier Leaguer Simeon Jackson only came on as a sub.
    On the other side, local kid Ashtone Morgan went the full 90 in front of the Toronto faithful, while even ex-TFCer Nana Attakora (a last-minute, desperation replacement on the roster for Matt Stinson) got a run-out, presumably as a nod to the huddled masses at BMO Field. Suffice to say, in any event, that the starting XI for Canada on Nov. 15, 2011 and the starting XI on June 8, 2012, when the squad next wades into World Cup qualifying, will not be one and the same.
    One key difference, hopefully, will be the presence of a healthy Atiba Hutchinson. While Canada's insistence on switching the field and maintaining possession -- at the expense of middle-of-the-park attacking and taking on defenders -- in the last few games was frustrating at times, it can't be removed from its context: This was a team operating without Hutchinson, its midfield lynchpin.
    It's problematic when a team's dynamism is lessened with the removal of one player, but such is the reality of any team sport. On the plus side, a young, hungry Will Johnson has suggested he'd be interested in a more central midfield role, and is continuing to show himself capable of absorbing added responsibility for the national side. 'Twas his nicely placed corner kick, remember, that lead to Canada's third goal in the 4-0 win.
    "Ah," you're saying. "But there's the problem! No goals from open play! Three of Canada's four goals on Tuesday were from set pieces. Both of their goals in the Gold Cup were from set pieces. If this team can't score from open play, they're doomed! Doomed!"
    Allow me to first refer you to Soccer Cliche #392: "They don't ask how, they just ask how many."
    Looking back to the Gold Cup, had Panama not frantically bundled an equalizer over the line in stoppage time, Canada likely would have advanced and the tournament wouldn't be referred to as a mess, disaster or debacle -- a minor disappointment, perhaps, but not the catalyst for existential soul-searching. We may very well have still ended the tournament with no goals from open play, yet the outcome would have been framed differently.
    Again, it's all about context.
    Recall, too, that even the mostly well-disciplined, highly-paid and prestigious teams in the world concede goals on set pieces sometimes. Canada's inability to create goals from open play is worrisome, no doubt, but to act as though Honduras, Panama and Cuba all have some air-tight, impenetrable and infallible system for defending set pieces is ludicrous.
    The "we're going to Brazil" chants that arose in the south end of BMO Field on Tuesday night were surely tongue-in-cheek, as no one without a healthy dose of self-delusion truly believes that this team will cakewalk its way into the 2014 World Cup. Still, the out-on-the-ledge cynicism about the team's chances, borne of a pair of 0-0 draws against Puerto Rico and St. Kitts and what seems at times like an inability to score from open play, surely swings too far in the other direction.
    The reality is that a patchwork Canadian lineup still managed to utterly dominate a game on home soil and win four goals to nil... albeit against a team of semi-professionals from a tiny island already eliminated from contention. The reality is also that Canada has played six games in the last 10 weeks, going undefeated with five clean sheets and a goal differential of +17... albeit against three small territories with a combined population of under four million.
    So what's the point? The point is that, like the players, we as observers need to be a little more... Canadian when it comes to thinking about the campaign thus far. And by "Canadian" I mean all of those high-minded ideals about our national character that may or may not bear any resemblance to reality: diplomacy, even-handedness and careful consideration.
    The round was nervy, but we still clinched it with a game to spare. The attack was suspect at times, but we still bagged our biggest-ever win in World Cup qualifying (the 7-0 shellacking of St. Lucia) and the team gave the home crowd eight opportunities to celebrate a goal. The tactics may have been questionable, but the coach was hamstrung by injuries and availability issues surrounding some important players.
    In the end, what did this round teach us? Not much, really. So it's difficult to come to any concrete conclusions. In about seven months' time, we'll come back for further study, further analysis... perhaps we'll convene a public inquiry, simply to continue gathering facts. That sounds pretty Canadian.
    But when it comes down to it, the squad will need to be less Canadian from here on out. Less courteous and forgiving. This team can't simply wait for its turn in the big show -- it needs to butt ahead in line and go after it.
    My girlfriend and I, if you're wondering, didn't cut ahead in that streetcar queue. We patiently waited, teeth chattering amid the chilly lakeshore breeze as we dreamed about when we might next get to enjoy a nice, warm bowl of soup.
    .
    Guest

    A question of Hart

    By Guest, in It's Called Football,

    We'll have more reaction throughout the day as the midweek hangovers wear off and the fog clears after last night's win by Canada, but for now I wanted to pose a few questions.
    Stephen Hart has come under increasing criticism this past year - mostly after half-hearted efforts like the one Canadians witnessed down in St. Kitts last week. That criticism is then shuffled to the side when they rebound - mostly after semi-complete efforts like the ones Canadians witnessed last night.
    So, after a yo-yo year of opinions and play my question, at the present moment, are you happy with Stephen Hart's performance as head coach of this program?
    And before you answer, something to chew on:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Those that remember when Hart took over, that inaugural run at that Gold Cup, will tell you it was filled with a cavalier, carefree approach to Canada's game. They attacked, and attacked in waves and they genuinely looked like a team that could threaten to upend any opponent. They played with confidence - one that was largely exuded and projected by their coach's tactics.
    Flash forward to this past summer in the game against the USA. They looked scared. Terrified even. Their tactics were stalled and straight ahead and nothing aside from a few flashes seemed to really elicit any fear from the Americans.
    The cautious approach continued throughout the rest tournament and largely coloured their outcome - of course bombing out unceremoniously. Since that first year, Canada has not come close to replicating that initial Gold Cup success and that largely (in addition to an aging group of stars and ill-timed injuries) can be attributed to a change in tactics.
    Last night Hart, with nothing to lose (or gain it should be mentioned), lined up his squad in what was a combination of 4-2-4 or 4-2-3-1 - one clearly intent on scoring goals. And score they did. That comes in stark contrast to this summer where we saw unimaginative 4-4-2's and 4-5-1's trotted out, with the results already well documented.
    Two very different approaches. Two very different teams.
    Quite simply, if Canada goes into the next round and lines up conservatively they're going to get run over just the same way they did this summer - with a whimper. They can't afford to go into places like Panama and Cuba, where they need results, and lineup with caution. Their aging midfield - and especially one when they're missing Atiba Hutchinson - won't be able to keep control the play enough to prevent the savior role falling to the likes of Nik Ledgerwood. Their best option is to attack with a return to those unbothered, un-chained tactics.
    Some will argue that the recent weaker opponents have allowed Canada to play a less guarded game but against tougher opponents you cannot be so cavalier - and that's true, to a point. But, in reality, does anyone think Canada is going to qualify for the Hex and the World Cup by playing careful? A better question might be does anyone think Canada is going to win relying on the steadiness of its backline? No.
    It's far better to go guns blazing into the night and surprise along the way, like they did under Hart in the early days, than slink away with these 0-0 results under the Hart of the present days.
    Guest

    Canada: Still not a playa

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Dwayne De Rosario made an appearance on TSN Radio in Toronto today where he talked about the final World Cup qualifying game this round, his MLS season, what happened at TFC and what ails the game here in Canada. Although DeRo was candid as always, the interview did not touch upon anything that long-time observers don’t already know.
    He did touch upon something that the CSA acknowledged needed to change back when Stephen Hart was hired – the lack of games that Canada plays.
    At the press conference announcing his hiring Hart said this to me:
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]“I wouldn’t have taken the job if I didn’t think (that they would schedule enough friendlies)...maybe 85 per cent of FIFA dates.” A high ranking CSA official then sent me an unsolicited e-mail claiming that “(Canada) will play 30-35 times before the next World Cup qualifying cycle.”
    Yet, here we are a couple years later with DeRo still saying that Canada doesn’t play enough. Is he right? Or, is it just his perception based on years of being let down by the CSA.
    To see where Canada stands in comparison to the rest of CONCACAF we looked at how many games each country in the region has played since Hart was hired. The results:
    1 - Mexico – 39
    2 - Honduras – 33
    3 - Panama – 29
    3 - Costa Rica – 29
    3 - USA – 29
    6 - El Salvador – 24
    7 - Jamaica – 21
    7 - Guatemala – 21
    9 - Grenada – 20
    9 - Trinidad & Tobago – 20
    11 - Guyana – 19
    12 - Antigua & Barbuda – 17
    12 - St. Vincent and the Grenadines – 17
    14 - Canada – 15
    14 - Barbados – 15
    16 - Cuba – 14
    16 - Suriname – 14
    16 - St. Lucia – 14
    19 - St. Kitts and Nevis – 13
    19 - Curacao – 13
    21 - Belize – 12
    22 - Haiti – 11
    22 - Dominican Republic – 11
    22 - Dominica – 11
    22 - Nicaragua – 11
    26 - Puerto Rico – 9
    26 - US Virgin Islands – 9
    28 - Cayman Islands – 7
    29 - Bermuda – 6
    29 - Anguilla – 6
    31 - Montserrat – 5
    32 - Aruba – 4
    33 - Bahamas – 2
    33 - British Virgin Islands – 2
    33 - Turks and Caicos Islands – 2
    So, not great.
    There are some legitimate factors that need to be considered. Most notably, Canada does not have to qualify for the Gold Cup. If it did, they would likely have played closer to 20 games. Still, when Mexico plays 39 times and the USA 29, there is still lots of work to be done to get Canada playing more.
    Bluntly, Canada should play on every FIFA date. Period. No excuses. Not every friendly needs to be high profile nor does every game need to have the European-based players called. In fact, it would be beneficial to play a few games each year with younger, hungrier players against lesser competition. As we saw with the Venezuela friendly a while back, you might be surprised by what the so-called B side can do.
    But, you won’t know unless you play.
    Guest
    Today, we're joined by Alex Campbell Jr., owner of the Victoria Highlanders, and the man who has turned over a significant portion of that ownership to the fans and local teams. We'll talk to him about the motivations behind his decision and how the business model will work and what he thinks about the idea of a national league and if regional community invested teams are a solution.
    We'll also talk about Canada's lack of interest/effort in the St. Kitts game, what to expect out of the next round of qualifying and (in lieu of the recent Torsten Frings panic) discuss if MLS winter loans are a good or bad thing for the league.
    The archived show is now up
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    <embed src="http://itscalledfootball.podhoster.com/FlowPlayerLight.swf?config={embedded:true,videoFile:'http://itscalledfootball.podhoster.com/download/2540/27286/nov142011final.mp3',initialScale:'scale',controlBarBackgroundColor:'0x778899',autoBuffering:false,loop:false,autoPlay:false}" width="400" height="25" scale="fit" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>
    Our next show will be next Monday
    Guest

    College colours

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Congratulations to the Queen's Golden Gaels (Kingston, ON) and the University of Victoria Vikes on capturing CIS championships over the weekend.
    Queen's defeated the Montreal Carabins 1-0 after kicks to capture the school's second straight women's crown and Victoria took advantage of hosting the event to defeat Saint Mary's University of Halifax 3-1 to win the school’s fifth national title.
    Recaps of the men's and women's games can be read at the CIS site.
    Congratulations also goes to the community college champions - Alberta's NAIT Ooks (men) and Quebec's FX Garneau (women). [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
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