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

[Free kick]

1 hour ago, The Beaver 2.0 said:

Tuesday, I want Davies on the left wing, Tajon on the right, Oso, Eustaquio and one of Hutch/Kaye in the middle. Back three of Miller, Vittoria, Johnston, and Larin and David up front.  

Off the bench, Ugbo for Larin or David. Millar for Tajon or Davies. One of Hutch/Kaye for Hutch/Kaye. Laryea and Sam where needed.

This set up bungs up the midfield, gives us lots of cover coming back, and plenty of fire power on the counter.  And, it will allow Davies to do what he's great at, but not overdo it.

Yes. I think the starting lineup we used at the cycle was the best one.   Your suggestion are close if not identical.

[Joe MacCarthy]

4 hours ago, Bison44 said:

Was it SpecialK showing Herdman some love??

I'm not kidding, the guy Herdman was holding so compassionately looked physically, mentally handicapped.

[Unnamed Trialist]

7 hours ago, narduch said:

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 

Exactly. 

The whole organization has to pull in the same direction. 

The CSA are passive, amateurish and deserve to be given a hiding. Any dunce can look at the pitch and see it gives a poor image. Herdman better let them know that in private at least. 

They respond if they are given a slap in the face. Like with getting the fans in the stadium this time round, much better apparently. 

As for the quality of the turf, I'm not 100% sure it was that bad. If we'd played with more pace and precision we'd have gotten past it, but we let ourselves be brought down to the level of our rival. Davies was also at fault for cutting our continuity by trying to hotdog. 

About the width: is it possible the CFL sidelines are not up to par with the rest? 

[TGAA_Star]

Canada we get the job done by beating Costa Rica who are a major threat in CONCACAF on a good day and in World Cup qualifiers, results like this matter. Canada we are near top of the table in qualifiers. We are 3rd right now and we face Mexico on Tuesday.

For the Mexico game, preferably of course I want our boys to win but I'll settle for a draw. Especially playing Mexico at home here in Canada won't be easy which is why I said I'm okay with a win or a draw.

But it is definitely too early to say that we will be in Qatar but I do love our chances.

[Unnamed Trialist]

7 hours ago, toontownman said:

I thought they said the Costa Rica manager was going to file a complaint demanding that games should never be played on turf again. 

 

They have turf stadiums in Costa Rica so highly unlikely. Saprissa plays home matches in Concacaf on turf, so you're not going to say something to hurt your own. Unless that Colombian manager goes his own way. 

The turf actually favoured them anyways. Maybe vs Mexico it'll favour us. 

[scullion44]

Larin is not a hockey fan or what 😂

Ugbo also not in the picture 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CWNmVfLjeFa/?utm_medium=copy_link

[TGAA_Star]

Tajon bicycle attempt off the crossbar was a thing of beauty but if he had scored on that bicycle, could you imagine? It would have been the goal of CONCACAF qualifying by far but that is if he had scored on that attempt

[baulderdash77]

6 hours ago, The Beaver 2.0 said:

Tuesday, I want Davies on the left wing, Tajon on the right, Oso, Eustaquio and one of Hutch/Kaye in the middle. Back three of Miller, Vittoria, Johnston, and Larin and David up front.  

Off the bench, Ugbo for Larin or David. Millar for Tajon or Davies. One of Hutch/Kaye for Hutch/Kaye. Laryea and Sam where needed.

This set up bungs up the midfield, gives us lots of cover coming back, and plenty of fire power on the counter.  And, it will allow Davies to do what he's great at, but not overdo it.

This is pretty much the best setup for Canada.  A 2 player central midfield is just not ideal for Canada and I felt that when they had possession, Costa Rica advanced too easily up the middle.

Davies is not nearly as good of a striker as he is at winger.  It’s too clogged up centrally for him.

So if it’s not a 3-5-2 then they have to run a 4-3-3 or a variant of it with Davies on the left side.  
 

Mexico is much stronger and we will need the possession of a 3 player midfield against them.

[RS]

35 minutes ago, scullion44 said:

Larin is not a hockey fan or what 😂

Ugbo also not in the picture 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CWNmVfLjeFa/?utm_medium=copy_link

Larin and Ugbo are both there, behind Eustaquio. 

Neither are wearing Oilers jerseys. Davies isn’t, either, which is funny given that he’s the only one from Edmonton on the roster.

[king1010]

1 hour ago, scullion44 said:

Larin is not a hockey fan or what 😂

Ugbo also not in the picture 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CWNmVfLjeFa/?utm_medium=copy_link

CSA did a great job making the dressing room look like home. 

[dyslexic nam]

8 hours ago, Weng said:

To anyone that went to the game tonight, was there any issues with out of province vaccine cards in trying to get into the stadium?

Just wondering if I should bring paper proof as well for Tuesday, or if the cards did the job.

No issues with our group - and it consisted of me (digital PEI VaxPass), two Edmontonians (one paper one digital I think), and two from SK (old school vaccination cards).  

[gator]

7 hours ago, The Beaver 2.0 said:

Tuesday, I want Davies on the left wing, Tajon on the right, Oso, Eustaquio and one of Hutch/Kaye in the middle. Back three of Miller, Vittoria, Johnston, and Larin and David up front.  

Off the bench, Ugbo for Larin or David. Millar for Tajon or Davies. One of Hutch/Kaye for Hutch/Kaye. Laryea and Sam where needed.

This set up bungs up the midfield, gives us lots of cover coming back, and plenty of fire power on the counter.  And, it will allow Davies to do what he's great at, but not overdo it.

That's exactly what I want to see if everyone is healthy and I expect Herdman agrees with us and we will see something very close to this!

[SoccMan]

2 hours ago, TGAA_Star said:

Canada we get the job done by beating Costa Rica who are a major threat in CONCACAF on a good day and in World Cup qualifiers, results like this matter. Canada we are near top of the table in qualifiers. We are 3rd right now and we face Mexico on Tuesday.

For the Mexico game, preferably of course I want our boys to win but I'll settle for a draw. Especially playing Mexico at home here in Canada won't be easy which is why I said I'm okay with a win or a draw.

But it is definitely too early to say that we will be in Qatar but I do love our chances.

Problem is that Panama out of nowhere are still just behind us , we lose to Mexico they beat El Salvador which is very possible playing at home and they go to 3Rd and Canada to 4th . Mexico will want the 3 points badly , and Mexico is still Mexico .

[king1010]

I cant believe Panama, thought they would come back down to reality by now. Hopefully their away games against the states and mexico go as expected. 
 

our final game this cycle is away to panama…. Could be the decider. 

[gator]

Just now, king1010 said:

I cant believe Panama, thought they would come back down to reality by now. Hopefully their away games against the states and mexico go as expected. 
 

our final game this cycle is away to panama…. Could be the decider. 

Lots of football to be played between now and then but it wouldn't surprise me if that's what it comes down to, I said at the time our 4-1 demolition of them should serve us well in the away leg, we should have no fear of a team we tore apart at home and they will have to be quite concerned about our attack!

[SoccMan]

Need Osorio on the field he does things that at times you don’t notice but he keeps the team connected, he is the link in the midfield . I really thing that we looked disjointed last night and that’s why Osorio needs to play . He can slow a game down when needed and speed it up also . Put the damn guy on the field he has proved time and time again he is a vital part of the starting 11.

[Stryker911]

Panama has a pretty difficult next window. Away to Costa Rica and Mexico and hone to Jamaica. 

[gator]

2 minutes ago, Stryker911 said:

Panama has a pretty difficult next window. Away to Costa Rica and Mexico and hone to Jamaica. 

Agree but ours isn't exactly easy either, home to the group leaders and two tricky Central American away matches in Honduras and ES!

[Approve My Account Pls]

1 hour ago, RS said:

Larin and Ugbo are both there, behind Eustaquio. 

Neither are wearing Oilers jerseys. Davies isn’t, either, which is funny given that he’s the only one from Edmonton on the roster.

only thought on Davies was maybe because NHL jerseys are Adidas and he's a Nike athlete I'm pretty sure

Good look by the Oilers tho to do that, of course all the Toronto teams (probably Raptors moreso than the others in my eyes) dropped the ball on that one

[Floortom]

Btw that backup keeper for CR stinks. He’s lost them two consecutive matches. They should have drawn vs the US and Canada with a decent keeper. Costa Rica has zero attack but they would still be tough to beat without Navas

[dyslexic nam]

A bunch of random thoughts.  

- no idea how it sounded on TV but the Vs were pretty active last night and in good voice.  I think Toronto might have the edge when it comes to participation (though it could be the acoustics) but overall was loving the vibe in the V sections. 

- the turf didn’t look great in person either.   The lines were a lot more visible than I was hoping.  

- great to see/meet some V’s in the stands.  I wore my red PEI toque and I think it got spotted by a couple of folks.   

- was still in the beer line for the goal.   Goddamnit.  *sigh*  at least there was the massive TV screen right above us.

- JD with his typical fox-in-the-box play.  He was pretty quiet for much of the game but did what he had to do on the one play that mattered.   Thanks Johnny - sincerely, Canada.

- I love him.  So very much.  But Davies definitely tried to do too much.   And it wasn’t just for a short period of time -  it was consistently throughout the whole game.  He turned over possession a ridiculous number of times just by trying to dance through 3-4 people.  He came off in the 82nd or so minute and it wasn’t just a victory lap for the hometown boy - he wasn’t being effective for us.  He needs to learn how to recognize when other teams are collapsing around him (as they all are learning to do) and then use an outlet pass to escape the pressure.   This has to be addressed by Herdman because it isn’t the first time and it hurts us.  

- agree that Adekugbe and Millar played great.  Love seeing them push their way into consideration.   We have never had this sort of quality and depth before - and I love it.

- Ugbo almost smashed in a beauty.  From our angle it looked like it went in.   Would have been one helluva way to announce your arrival.  Looked lively our there in his time on the field   Glad he got on the field and I am excited to see what he brings in the coming months.

- Tajon, damn that would have been sweet.  Another two inches lower and that dings the underside of the crossbar on its way in and dominates highlight compilations for the next month.  

- On another note, we didn’t look like we had as much speed tonight as I expected.   Maybe CR just put their fastest defenders on the outside but I expected amore penetration down the wings just purely from our pace.   I know we did get by them a few times but was hoping for a bit more throughout the game.

- Milan didn’t have a ton to do but looked pretty confident handling the ball.  No nervous moments that I can recall.   

- the two relatively early cards against us, both for defenders (and one of them Richie…) had me pretty nervous. Glad he toned it down.  And as much as I wondered why Johnston didn’t get the start (which I assume was due to the formation since he is better suited to a back 3) it was nice to have him come off the bench to avoid any chance of a 2nd yellow for Richie.   

- I know Herdman likes tactical flexibility but I agree that 4 mids isn’t ideal for us.  I would rather see us use a 3-5-2, 4-3-3, or even a 4-5-1.  My worry was that Herdman might overthink the strategy and I am still not sure if this was the case.  We used a formation that excluded Oso and Johnston which had me worried, but our traditional formation also doesn’t easily accommodate all of Laryea, Buchanan, Adulugbe and Millar - with the e latter two clearly playing well.  I guess at the end of the day we have enough talent that there are always going to be very good players not in the 11.  But I think a 5-man mid helps accommodate more of these guys.  

- despite the fact that it was a nervy 1-0 win, we never looked seriously threatened from open play that I can recall.  Anything can happen on a set piece but overall we got the result we deserved despite it being far from our best performance.  Sometimes you have to just win ugly and move on, and this was one of those games.   For me this was always about 3 crucial points and by that measure we got the job done.  

- forecast for Mexico is looking a lot colder than last night.   Someone mentioned -10.  Going to have to bundle up so it may be less red in the stands (not everyone has a bright red parka).  Hopefully our time spent training here and playing CR will give us a sufficient advantage over Mexico to get a result.  A win would be killer obviously but a draw would be fine by me - especially given the way we played tonight.  A 4 point window would be a very solid result if that is how we leave Edmonton.  

[toontownman]

2 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

They have turf stadiums in Costa Rica so highly unlikely. Saprissa plays home matches in Concacaf on turf, so you're not going to say something to hurt your own. Unless that Colombian manager goes his own way. 

The turf actually favoured them anyways. Maybe vs Mexico it'll favour us. 

Was in the OneSoccer broadcast 23 mins in. CR coach wants Fifa to take a look and ensure matches of this calibre are played on the same surface and the best surface is grass. No talk of an actual formal complaint though, must have imagined that up.

[Approve My Account Pls]

1 minute ago, dyslexic nam said:

- no idea how it sounded on TV but the Vs were pretty active last night and in good voice.  I think Toronto might have the edge when it comes to participation (though it could be the acoustics) but overall was loving the vibe in the V sections. 

I'll say that the atmosphere from Toronto came through the TV much better, imo. Sound-wise, that's probably down to acoustics and also the OneSoccer mics continuously coming in and out. One second you'd hear the crowd clearly, the next all you'd hear is Wheeler. Atmosphere-wise, I think the V's are able to control/influence the remainder of the crowd better in Toronto and therefore get more people in on all the chants. The only real chants that came through the TV all night were "lets go Canada" and "ref you suck". 

Interested to hear how you guys found it

But the Vs section looked unreal, keep it up fellas. The FOMO was real last night

[Dmrich]

Great to see the boys win in person. Wow that Shot by Tajon was wicked. Can’t go to the game Tuesday. Off to Mexico today so there will be a couple of us cheering on Canada from our resort bar. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

6 minutes ago, Approve My Account Pls said:

I'll say that the atmosphere from Toronto came through the TV much better, imo. Sound-wise, that's probably down to acoustics and also the OneSoccer mics continuously coming in and out. One second you'd hear the crowd clearly, the next all you'd hear is Wheeler. Atmosphere-wise, I think the V's are able to control/influence the remainder of the crowd better in Toronto and therefore get more people in on all the chants. The only real chants that came through the TV all night were "lets go Canada" and "ref you suck". 

Interested to hear how you guys found it

But the Vs section looked unreal, keep it up fellas. The FOMO was real last night

That's what I heard. I did not get a sense of constant chanting, more selective. Some shots of the VS we saw what we saw in other sections. The broadcast mentioned the Voyageurs a few times, but I'd agree that at TO the crowd noise overall came through better. 

I'd like to see One Soccer do better, miking us better, as there's going to be Mexican support audible next match. And we need to have it matched.