WCQ: Canada vs Costa Rica - Friday, Nov 12, 9pm EST / 6pm Pacific - Edmonton

[toontownman]

2 minutes ago, spitfire said:

In my mind it’s all about the 3 points finding a way to win ugly in a frustrating game. So happy for the lads and Canada!! 

Liam's best performance in a Canada shirt, in my opinion, tonight. You must be chuffed! He was really positive. What a ride!

[footballfreak]

Glass half full: The gap to the bottom 4 is now 7 points. We just need to keep grinding and hope Panama finally comes down to earth. All of the bottom 4 will be keying off Panama as a 6 point game.

[Approve My Account Pls]

Got the Win thats all that matters. 

- Adekugbe, unbelievable today

- Once again, David needs Larin or Ugbo up there with him to be most effective

- Davies needs to try to take on the whole team, move the ball more and we're scoring more

- We NEED to clean up our passing, if we do that vs Mexico we're getting our asses handed to us on a platter

- EDIT to add that the turf is f-ing horrific

Edited November 13, 2021 by Approve My Account Pls

[Gian-Luca]

MOTM was Adekugbe, worst player of the match was the turf. No more games there after Tuesday please until grass is put back in, it made things better for Costa Rica, even if the cold apparently affecting the Costa Rican keeper.

[Scottie]

1 minute ago, Approve My Account Pls said:

Got the Win thats all that matters. 

- Adekugbe, unbelievable today

- Once again, David needs Larin or Ugbo up there with him to be most effective

- Davies needs to try to take on the whole team, move the ball more and we're scoring more

- We NEED to clean up our passing, if we do that vs Mexico we're getting our asses handed to us on a platter

Mexico is not playing 11 behind the ball.

[ag futbol]

I think Mexico losing might work to our advantage in a weird way. Let’s be honest, despite all the attacking talent we struggle to score the first goal when the other team plays defensively.
 

they’ll feel pressure to come out and be on the front foot, which should open things up for a counter a bit. 

[scullion44]

Where can I get that Jonathan David toque? It’s a beauty

[footballfreak]

Those USA-Mexico highlights are gonna be wild. Can’t wait.

[Grandbloke]

Why was that field not made to be 75 yards wide? A CFL field is 65 yards wide and you could see the CFL sidelines. The field  was at most 2 yards wider on each side, so not more than 69 yards in overall width. And yet there appears to be plenty of room on that turf to make the field a full 75 yards wide.

Edited November 13, 2021 by Grandbloke

[Free kick]

4 minutes ago, Grandbloke said:

Why was that field not made to be 75 yards wide? A CFL field is 65 yards wide and you can see the CFL sidelines. The field  was at most 2 yards wider on each side, so not more than 69 yards in overall width. And yet there appears to be plenty of room on that turf to make the field a full 75 yards wide.

Probably because they dont know what they are doing.    Lets be honnest here.  Locales with MLS clubs have a better understanding of these things.  

With the team we have and with that field in edmonton, we would be better off playing the next game at Azteca.

Edited November 13, 2021 by Free kick

[Bdog]

Not the most pretty win but I'll take it.

[kacbru]

2 minutes ago, Grandbloke said:

Why was that field not made to be 75 yards wide? A CFL field is 65 yards wide and you can see the CFL sidelines. The field  was at most 2 yards wider on each side, so not more than 69 yards in overall width. And yet there appears to be plenty of room on that turf to make the field a full 75 yards wide.

Yeah, this was worse than the see-through paint on the field. 

[Neil R.]

Thank goodness we found a way to win. I'm so relieved we took the full 3 points tonight.

On KJ's target of 21 points where you try to average 2 points per game at home and 1 point per game away, we're currently averaging 2.5 points per game at home and 1 point per game away. Fantastic.

[footballfreak]

This is gonna hurt me to type this, but should the USA game be at BMO? BC Place is nowhere near as bad as Commonwealth, but it’s yet another new venue to get used to. A lot of home advantage comes from familiarity.

[Meepmeep]

I think this was a good result considering the circumstances.  Not pretty but they’re still trying to learn how to be the favourite. You can tell it’s not a comfortable thing yet and I don’t think Herdman’s tinkering helps either. 
Then our 21yr old superstar folds a bit under the pressure of playing at home for the first time as the face of the sport in Canada and plays his worst game if the campaign. 
I believe they’ll play better Tuesday.  Very happy to bank these 3 points even if it was ugly. 

[narduch]

 

[PiedPilko]

I think it's hard to throw the venue under the bus until we see the mexico game. It's gonna be real cold on Tuesday, and unlike CR, Mexico is gonna be pretty desperate to get out on the front foot.  It'll affect us too, but hopefully we'll be a better plan by then.

[Stryker911]

Crazy that there is any negativity on here after a massive WCQ win over a traditional powerhouse. Who cares if it wasn't as pretty as the Panama game. There has been countless games on the past where we looked great, but didn't get the result we needed. Also we literally hit the crossbar twice and had a legit pe alty appeal. This game could have been 2,3, or 4-0 very easily.

In regards to the pitch, was there this much complaining when the women played on it? Who cares what it looks like? In the past 2 years, we have played on.. a cricket field, a baseball diamond, an empty stadium in Florida, a training field at a Florida academy, and numerous "grass" fields that are the same quality as my kids timbits field. We put nearly 50000 people in a stadium in November in Edmonton, and despite the early reports it appeared to be mostly full at kickoff.

[Scottie]

Costa Rica knew to key in on Davies. Every time he had the ball there were 3 defenders on him immediately. Could have used him as more of a dummy or given him more outlets, Millar made some good overlapping runs doing just that.

[narduch]

5 minutes ago, Free kick said:

Probably because they dont know what they are doing.    Lets be honnest here.  Locales with MLS clubs have a better understanding of these things.  

With the team we have and with that field in edmonton, we would be better off playing the next game at Azteca.

But Herdman bragged about talking to the grounds crew way ahead of the game.

Looks like the CSA pushed using this stadium despite it not being optimal 

[toontownman]

We have got better each game in these windows. It will be a completely different game though against Mexico. Costa Rica came to stifle us, as Herdman just said they shut down their league early and gave their players more time to train. The 3 points was everything. 

We will be the team likely on the defensive come Tuesday. That said, with our players, sometimes attack is the best form of defence!

 

[nolando]

Did we just lose Laryea for MEX for accumulation?

[TOcanadafan]

Very relieved… playing on that pitch was a big mistake, but the team pulled through.  Overall, I think people have been too negative on the performance considering the playing conditions.  
Adekube and Millar were excellent.  Eustaquio his normal boss self.  Davies and Buchanan were both close to moments of brilliance. David scored.  A few bad passes from Miller but overall the D was solid.  I’ll go to bed happy.

[SpursFlu]

Just take the 3pts. Not pretty but CR didn't offer much. We just keep on rolling 

3pts v Mexico would flip everything right on its head. Look forward to it

[narduch]

1 minute ago, Stryker911 said:

Crazy that there is any negativity on here after a massive WCQ win over a traditional powerhouse. Who cares if it wasn't as pretty as the Panama game. There has been countless games on the past where we looked great, but didn't get the result we needed. Also we literally hit the crossbar twice and had a legit pe alty appeal. This game could have been 2,3, or 4-0 very easily.

In regards to the pitch, was there this much complaining when the women played on it? Who cares what it looks like? In the past 2 years, we have played on.. a cricket field, a baseball diamond, an empty stadium in Florida, a training field at a Florida academy, and numerous "grass" fields that are the same quality as my kids timbits field. We put nearly 50000 people in a stadium in November in Edmonton, and despite the early reports it appeared to be mostly full at kickoff.

I think it's totally valid to question the width. 

A narrow pitch suited our opponent better tonight.