Gold Cup: Canada vs USA - Sunday, July 9th 7:30pm Eastern / 4:30pm Pacific - Cincinnati, OH (Match Thread)

[VinceA]

Just now, Jack1997 said:

We were also against Matt Turner

Who played for the New England REVOLUTION (against the brits).

The plot thickens

[Hawkguy]

15 minutes ago, king1010 said:

That is what im telling you

Well I disagree. But that's just my opinion. 

[footballfreak]

Imagine this team with just Eustaquio and Adekugbe added. Coulda would shoulda, but that hurts.

[toontownman]

4 minutes ago, VinceA said:

Slight disagree on Laryea. He's been good but his habit of looking for fouls instead of beating his man and sending in crosses was too much of a familiar sight this tournament.

Fair. It was compounded today especially. He was really one of our most positive players with Ahmed though in the early games. Shaff was the complete opposite and hopefully that rubs off on a few of our players happy to go down and expect calls.

[king1010]

3 minutes ago, SthMelbRed said:

We were absolutely the better team in the first half, but probably second best in the second half, and beyond. There wasn't much in it throughout the match, either way. It was an even game and it wasn't unjust that it went to penalties.

I felt we were dominated in the second half. But sometimes you need a bit of luck. 

[Joe MacCarthy]

2 hours ago, El Hombre said:

It was a typo.  He was referring to fifth Canadian prime minister Mackenzie Bowell.  He will destroy us with pace.  Fuckin' traitor.

No, it was Cowell, Liz was a hottie back in the day

[The Beaver 2.0]

2 minutes ago, footballfreak said:

He’s 28 and plays a wide position. His market value is already at or past peak.

Apologies: I was speaking figuratively. Still, if he can add that to his game, then he'll do much to hold his current compensation AND extend his career.

[Free kick]

3 minutes ago, VinceA said:

We should have expected to lose the penalty shootout as we are part of the commonwealth.

As is Jamaica 😀

[The Beaver 2.0]

1 minute ago, king1010 said:

I felt we were dominated in the second half. But sometimes you need a bit of luck. 

US dominated play in the second half for sure. But I felt we had a slight edge in the first.

That goal by Shaff was magic.

[Pottsy3]

I think Shaffelburg was impressive enough in his short showing tonight to earn some calls during more important windows. Feels like the perfect player to fit that super sub role, coming in late in games to provide a spark.

DSC might've earned some more starts as well, absolutely solid.

I won't lie, this tournament hasn't given me any more hope about the future of our backline. Miller was shaky at times, but is going to be leaned on heavy in the future. Vitoria has been our most consistent, and I'm not sure how I feel about McGraw as his replacement.

[Soccerpro2]

2 minutes ago, footballfreak said:

Imagine this team with just Eustaquio and Adekugbe added. Coulda would shoulda, but that hurts.

Imagine this team with the U.S calling in some of their equivalent players.

[Stoppage Time]

I agree with most of the comments here. I do wonder about what Wotherspooon brings.

 

[Soccerpro2]

2 minutes ago, king1010 said:

I felt we were dominated in the second half. But sometimes you need a bit of luck. 

You also need at least one shot on net in 90 minutes to back up a claim of dominance.

[Stoppage Time]

Multiple post.

 

Edited July 10, 2023 by Stoppage Time

[Stoppage Time]

Multiple post

 

Edited July 10, 2023 by Stoppage Time

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

Just now, Soccerpro2 said:

Imagine this team with the U.S calling in some of their equivalent players.

They called a pretty good A keeper.

Angry Thomas Middleditch-looking bastard.

[kacbru]

15 minutes ago, Soccerpro2 said:

Things I learned by watching Canada play soccer this summer: Scott Kennedy is a lot worse at soccer than I thought he was before.

I don't understand this.  I thought Kennedy did quite well containing Cowell, closed him down and ushered him out, won the ball.  Is this because of a rapid fire OG deflection?  Give me a break.  It is just unlucky.

[SoCalTransport]

1 minute ago, Pottsy3 said:

I think Shaffelburg was impressive enough in his short showing tonight to earn some calls during more important windows. Feels like the perfect player to fit that super sub role, coming in late in games to provide a spark.

DSC might've earned some more starts as well, absolutely solid.

I won't lie, this tournament hasn't given me any more hope about the future of our backline. Miller was shaky at times, but is going to be leaned on heavy in the future. Vitoria has been our most consistent, and I'm not sure how I feel about McGraw as his replacement.

McGraw almost feels like a Doniel Henry replacement, but with less snot in his game.

[The Beaver 2.0]

Let's go Panama!!

[maplebanana]

Just now, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

They called a pretty good A keeper.

Angry Thomas Middleditch-looking bastard.

Thank you! I was starting to think I was the only one that thought that. Silicon Valley looking motherf****

(Middleditch is Canadian though...)

[DeRo_Is_King]

1 minute ago, canadave said:

An important showing for Herdman, I think. If we came out flat and got rolled, the calls for his head would really start to get loud. But the effort tonight should put most of that to rest. At least for now. 

It's a weird one for me. I did not like his substitutions overall (except Shaff), both in terms of personnel and timing.

He burnt our last sub before extra time even started. A lot can happen in 30 minutes -- namely, an injury -- and I thought that was a risky decision. 

Those substitutions also led us to having a weak selection for PKs. And those PK takers did not come through.

I will hand it to JRR, but both Fraser and Brym had no business taking a penalty over Shaffelburg after he bagged the late equalizer.

Maybe Shaff didn't want to take a PK. I don't know. But if so, that's unfortunate.

What I learned today is Herdman will keep putting his guys on the field, even when they underperform. That is scary. 

[The Beaver 2.0]

Back three for the (near) future:

 

Johnson McGraw Miller

????????????

[Corazon]

My adrenaline coming down after a whirlwind of emotions.  The game was a lot better than I was expecting but we came with a strategy and worked it almost perfectly.  Too bad it wasn’t the result we wanted but I’m leaving this tournament feeling a lot better about the players after the performance tonight.

Herdman - Although I doubted his strategy all tournament, I think he got it right tonight and I even doubted most of his subs tonight and in the end they all worked out.

St Clair - He is the shot stopper we’ve known him to be.  One of the best shot stoppers in MLS but his distribution is very poor.  He also needs some help on his crosses.  Despite being cursed at, I thought he should have done better on the penalty before Brym’s miss.

Vitoria - Very good game.  Didn’t look exposed at all and a great penalty during the game.  Unfortunate on the penalty in extra time.  Turner is a top notch penalty shot stopper.

Kamal - Just when I start to doubt Kamal, he brings me right back in with a strong performance.

McGraw - I thought he had his best game in a Canada shirt.  Maybe finally adjusting to the new role at RCB . I think he may be a decent replacement for Vitoria after he retires.  

Millar - Another solid outing by him.  Wasn’t his best game but worked both ways and overall one of the players of the tournament for Canada.

Laryea - Great defensively.  Had his hands full with Cade in the 2nd half but overall solid strong performance defensively.  A little less influential going forward today which can be expected as we bunkered back.

Osorio - I thought he good.  Not great again.  I have no idea how he played every minute of this tournament (a little on performance but moreso impressed because he’s looked exhausted and it returned from injury.

Bombito - A better performance from him.  It would be nice to have a solid player that can play both Center Back and Defensive Mid.  So early in his career to determine where he ends up playing but we could use him at both.

Ahmed - Another solid performance.  Player of the tournament for me and I’d expect him to be included in some upcoming “A” squads.

Cavallini - Live his heart but not always his brain.  Wasn’t much of a factor tonight.

Hoilett - Aside from Ahmed he was my player of the tournament for Canada but today wasn’t his finest performance.  

Fraser - I didn’t think he was great but he didn’t make too many mistakes and didn’t look out of place.  Terrible penalty.

Wotherspoon - I got a soft spot for him but he hasn’t been great this tournament.  He did have a great defensive header and a nice dribble but not much else in his game tonight.

Russell-Rowe - Not quite ready for our “A” squad but I liked what I saw from him in the tournament.  Expect more of him with our program in the future.

Shaffelburg - He has his deficiencies but he works around them.  Can never hate on him for his effort and his attack.  He was great for us tonight.  Even better than his goal and even better than his run on the goal.  The work he put in to get that ball back that started that run on the goal was the highlight of that play for me.

Kennedy - I was shocked to see the sub come before the extra time and shocked it was Kennedy.  Unlucky on the own goal but if there’s anything to take away from this tournament for him it’s that he’s clearly behind Kamal (who I also believed played every minute).  Also, he appears to have dropped completely further down our overall Center back charts.  Still valuable for the team because we have no one else back there with speed.

Brym - Probably not good that I forgot to include him on here especially since he was our last player to touch a ball this tournament.  Not a great performance today and unfortunately not a great penalty.

Edited July 10, 2023 by Corazon

[Pottsy3]

Just now, SoCalTransport said:

McGraw almost feels like a Doniel Henry replacement, but with less snot in his game.

I can see that, considering the aggressiveness of his challenges alone. What really bothers me about McGraw is he seems to move like he has cinder blocks attached to his feet. 

[Stoppage Time]

Now we need to play friendlies in September/October!!!

 

Who from the Gold Cup squad gets a look on that possible roster?