Match Thread: Gold Cup - Group Stage: Canada vs Guadeloupe - Tuesday, June 27, 2023 - 7 pm ET/4 pm PT

[The Beaver 2.0]

1 hour ago, VinceA said:

The discourse on Social Media is becoming to USMNT-Y. Too many delusional takes from fans who don't actually know the realities of Canadian Soccer.

Part of the growing pains, I'm afraid. Two steps forward, 1.99 steps back. Progress round these parts is slow on every front. But I'm not giving up yet.

[SpursFlu]

At least there is a discourse. That can be considered progress really 

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

1 hour ago, grigorio said:

...You take the game breakers out of this roster (who stayed home) and it's not so different from Canada 6 years ago where drawing or losing to Guadeloupe or Martinique wasn't that far-fetched. 

Definitely wasn't clear to me why so many posters on here seemed to think qualification from the group stage was a foregone conclusion under these circumstances.

[devioustrevor]

Don't know how it looked on TV, but in the stadium our backline looked slow.  Really, really, slow.  My buddy I went to the game with and I both agreed that after early jitters in the first 20-25 minutes, that Ali Ahmed looked really good.

Liam Millar looked our most dangerous player.  He won, and fought through, so many challenges.  Bombito looked decent defensively, but didn't offer nearly enough going forward.  Oso looked way too tentative when it came to shooting the ball.

[nfitz]

5 hours ago, jonovision said:

McGraw has been awful and is as slow as Vitoria.

I've never seen McGraw play before, but he seemed absolutely dreadful. Time and time again in the second half, I was watching him - and was slow, late, out-of-position. If he had been in better position the first goal may not have happened.

In the second goal, first McGraw slips and gives up the ball in midfield, resulting in Vittoria and Miller chasing it (and Vittoria's mind-numbingly stupid yellow card). Then after the corner he's positioned himself between Zator and Borjan. As Zator let the Guadeloupe player go around him, McGraw doesn't move to the line to try and stop the ball.

I feel if McGraw didn't play today, then Canada wins. And Zator didn't look very good either - though why Herdman subbed him in for Laryea at the 90th minute, down only a goal, I don't know. Zator doesn't enter the game, and Canada wins.

Hopefully two players we don't see again this tournament - unless we are up significantly. I have no idea why McGraw was ever with the team - this is an improvement on Henry?!?

 

4 hours ago, footballfreak said:

At least east coasters know now that Caps fans weren’t artificially pumping up Ahmed.

The only east coaster I know about at the game was Shaffelburg!

 

4 hours ago, Soccerpro2 said:

What's with all those blue pitchside seats that are unoccupied?

They didn't sell the pitchside seats. I think it's a CONCACAF/FIFA thing. They never seem to for these games.

 

2 hours ago, costarg said:

Well he was no where near regular Osorio, and he was definitely not sharp or good.  He spent a lot of time on the ground.  We can agree he might have been average if we're feeling generous.

He did play a full match 3 days ago (with Laryea) in Boston.

Edited June 28, 2023 by nfitz

[Watchmen]

I was unable to watch the game tonight, but you know it was a poor performance when the only positive note in the thread is "we're all thankful for the Whitecaps and the great player they've developed".

[BearcatSA]

Guadeloupe were physical and direct in their play, trying to take guys on 1 v 1 or 1 v 2 instead of simply teiberting the ball around, so from a fan's perspective that was refreshing.  They were a tough out and as a result ended up earning a point.

Us?  The online metrics can be deceiving at times.  Some of our guys who had good stat numbers didn't really impose themselves on the game as much as you'd think.  Guadeloupe didn't bunker and at too many moments were calling the tune while we faced the music.  That's where you really miss an Eustaquio out there.

Man, we need some wheels (not Gareth) in that back line.  McGraw got caught out for pace on that great first half chance from a foot race through ball while Vitoria looked very vulnerable.  Kennedy and maybe this Bombito might be the guys needed to change that, but the former didn't get the call tonight and the latter is seen as a defensive midfielder.

On the other hand, Ahmed made a strong positive impression on his international debut and his efforts bode well for the Caps as they head into the second half of the season.  Hoillet looked the goods as the match progressed and looked a danger man but I guess they felt they needed to manage his minutes as I think he'll be starting every match.

Cavallini is a limited banger out there.  He still drives to net well, as shown with his goal, but the other areas of his game are declining, especially hold up play.

 

[Unnamed Trialist]

Surprised no one has mentioned that MLSE firing Bradley the day before was probably a factor, that winning aura that has done the national team so well these last 2 years had clearly vanished into thin air.

[kacbru]

The highlight of the game for me was the crowd shot of Zator's family (I presume) with tears in their eyes when he subbed on for his debut. Congrats! 

[Redpunkfiddle]

Well on the bright side we didn’t lose any FIFA points.

Edited June 28, 2023 by Redpunkfiddle

[TOcanadafan]

Osorio was one of the bigger disappointments.  Although, for both TFC and CNMT I’ve noticed he seems to have very little impact when playing with lesser players, and contributes significantly more when he’s surrounded by other top players, so this was not that surprising I guess.  

As for our D… Would have rather seen Bombito in the back 3 over McGraw, but it was nice to get a look at both… McGraw doesn’t seem like an upgrade (which is seriously needed)… Vitoria, unfortunately, is done… and Miller, aside from the good passing, is just not good enough… especially in the air - he should’ve bagged a couple of goals if he was a decent header of the ball.

[theaub]

10 hours ago, VinceA said:

The discourse on Social Media is becoming to USMNT-Y. Too many delusional takes from fans who don't actually know the realities of Canadian Soccer.

Has been the case for 18 months now.  Fun to see new people come onboard, somewhat hilarious to see these people who proclaim themselves as NT experts who don't have a single take anywhere about Canadian soccer prior to November 2021.

[InglewoodJack]

10 hours ago, VinceA said:

The discourse on Social Media is becoming to USMNT-Y. Too many delusional takes from fans who don't actually know the realities of Canadian Soccer.

Every take is so insane and so different from one another. Just saw someone call Brym our third star. Someone on Facebook was saying Millar isn’t MLS quality. Guys talking about our best players not showing up a sign of them not caring about Canada soccer. No one watched the game.

[InglewoodJack]

As for the players, I really liked Millar, Bombito, and Ahmed. Those are three guys I want to see integrated into the main squad. Hoilett and Laryea were good- par for the course performances, but everyone else, didn’t see too much to be a fan of. McGraw looked terrible. Slow, nothing remarkable- I haven’t watched him much with Portland so I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but if this is the player he is, I don’t know if he’ll be getting many calls in the future. 
 

I hope we play Bombito as a CB at some point. He looked really nice as a 6, but with those skills, he could be exactly what we need. If he was at CB on the first Guadeloupe goal, I think he tracks his man down and prevents the shot. 

[Shway]

Does anyone know if there is a replay of this game?

I gotta rewatch this on TV.

[JamboAl]

31 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

Every take is so insane and so different from one another. Just saw someone call Brym our third star. Someone on Facebook was saying Millar isn’t MLS quality. Guys talking about our best players not showing up a sign of them not caring about Canada soccer. No one watched the game.

Many would like to kill the Facebook page.  But then people would just gravitate here with their incoherent ideas.

[InglewoodJack]

Just now, JamboAl said:

Many would like to kill the Facebook page.  But then people would just gravitate here with their incoherent ideas.

Before coming here, I’d lurk the subreddit and the content there seemed mostly normal, if not just very slow and infrequent, but the Facebook group is crazy, mostly just people who barely watch games. I think I saw a post there this morning shocked that last night’s game wasn’t a sellout. I mean…

[Wasp]

10 hours ago, Soccerpro2 said:

It’s interesting that we all hoped Bombito would be the answer to our CB problems but Herdman sees him as a 6.

This to me was the biggest head-scratcher, especially when you have Loturi, a natural 6, who still hasn't seen the field even though this is his third camp.

If we are determined to stick with a back 3, we need mobile CB's who won't get torched in transition and Bombito seems to be literally our only CB option other than Johnston who fits that bill. Would've much rather seen him replace Johnston in the RCB role and have Loturi start as the 6 instead of throwing Bombito into an unnatural position in his first game and first camp.

[Ruffian]

53 minutes ago, Shway said:

Does anyone know if there is a replay of this game?

I gotta rewatch this on TV.

It is available for replay on OneSoccer. Also on FUBO TV if you recorded it.

[MtlMario]

Sorry for replying so late but the Crazy Glue is just wearing off my eyelids. All I'll say is I can't wait to see the lineup for our next game and I'm thinking of buying a new crystal ball.

Edited June 28, 2023 by MtlMario

[Ottawafan]

9 hours ago, devioustrevor said:

Don't know how it looked on TV, but in the stadium our backline looked slow.  Really, really, slow.  My buddy I went to the game with and I both agreed that after early jitters in the first 20-25 minutes, that Ali Ahmed looked really good.

Liam Millar looked our most dangerous player.  He won, and fought through, so many challenges.  Bombito looked decent defensively, but didn't offer nearly enough going forward.  Oso looked way too tentative when it came to shooting the ball.

Millar I thought was good on the wing, attacking with pace.  Why was he brought off so quickly?

[Ottawafan]

We have zero depth up front outside of David and Larin.  Cava shouldn't be on the field and Junior is too slow to play up there.  Yes the goal they scored was a beauty and full marks for them on that.  Outside of that run, they don't offer much.

[Floortom]

Some of the expectations here are frighteningly low IMO. We drew a home match vs. Guadeloupe and apparently most of the squad played well. In my view, most of the players were quite poor or average at best (especially in the context of a home match vs. team that isnt even top 100 in the world based on ELO). Ahmed showed upside which is nice, but even he as MOTM, was just solid at best IMO.  

[theaub]

47 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

Before coming here, I’d lurk the subreddit and the content there seemed mostly normal, if not just very slow and infrequent, but the Facebook group is crazy, mostly just people who barely watch games. I think I saw a post there this morning shocked that last night’s game wasn’t a sellout. I mean…

Honestly the answer to the 'are we a soccer nation' topic should just be links to the FB and WhatsApp groups.

[Shway]

4 minutes ago, Floortom said:

Some of the expectations here are frighteningly low IMO. We drew a home match vs. Guadeloupe and apparently most of the squad played well. In my view, most of the players were quite poor or average at best (especially in the context of a home match vs. team that isnt even top 100 in the world based on ELO). Ahmed showed upside which is nice, but even he as MOTM, was just solid at best IMO.  

Trust me. 

I'm more lenient on guys who made their debut (Ahmed, Bombito, McGraw), and expected a lot more from those who have been around long enough.