Friendly: Japan vs Canada - Friday, October 13th - 6:35am Eastern / 3:35am Pacific - Niigata, Japan

[Unnamed Trialist]

Just now, jonovision said:

I'd hope for a better manager than Biello, but let's be real here: if we're drawing conclusions about anyone after this match, it has to be some of the players, not a coach who has been in the gig for weeks.

I agree. Biello does not have the team sleeping in m. 1, don't think. And he does not miss that penalty either. We score that we'd settle into a 1-1 draw and hopefully make it to the half. At 1-1 Japan would feel they did have to attack and that would have give us some counter options.

Then, if we were beaten in the 2nd half, it would be because we felt we should sub in lesser players and that'd be the "reason".

[InglewoodJack]

28 minutes ago, jhoops__ said:

Perhaps but he’s been in poor form for club and country for months now…

In 2023, Watford has been absolutely catastrophic top down. They're two points up from relegation to league one, and it seems like they have about 6 or 7 mediocre midfielders and seemingly each time one makes a mistake, they're subbed out at half time and benched for the next 3 games. Kone has not done himself any favbours and does look uninterested, uninvolved and uninspired most of the times I've watched him, but in his defence, he is playing on a very poor team and playing like he is scared to make a mistake. Our team today played very similar to Watford- no creativity, no quick runs in transition, very few opportunities for Kone to showcase what he's good at.

He's been bad, but I think we need to put into context the type of situation he's been put into. On the other hand, he looked awesome against the US in the NL finals, so I'm more than willing to write off his performance today as just one of the 10 starters that played like trash today.

I turned the game off once Millar and Brym were subbed in because I was hoping for an LDF cameo, but aside from them, I thought Piette looked very good, I thought Harry Paton had some good moments, but an absolute brutal giveaway. I didn't get the Vitoria sub at half, I thought Cornelius looked very solid and I think he needs a lot more game time with Canada, since he's going to become more and more important for us.

Really starting to get concerned about Jonathan David. More than just not being able to score for us or for Lille, it just seems like he's not able to win a ball to save his life and he can't create anything for himself. I get that that's always been part of his game, but looking to where his career might go from here, you can't honestly think a premier league team is going to purchase a player- price irrelevant- who is just an elite cherry picker and (usually) strong penalty kick taker. A lot of the reason guys like David and Larin fade in these games is because their teammates can't get them the ball, but you have a player rated at 60M euros and is supposed to be the best U23 striker in the world after Haaland per goals scored, and yet unless he's not getting the ball on his foot at the exact perfect spot where he can fire on sight, he becomes irrelevant. There were times in this game where it felt like he might actually have had better chances going with no strikers and a 7 man midfield, and just hope you can get lucky on a set piece or get an odd man rush on transition or something.

 

I can't point to anything Biello did that would sour me from being our head coach, but there was nothing inspiring about this game at all- no creativity with his formations or substitutions. At least with Herdman, you criticize some of his strange choices, stuff like starting Bombito and playing him in these weird positions, but at least he's trying something. A CB sub at half when the game is already over makes no sense. Subbing in Brym with like 5 minutes to go when the game is even more over is pointless. I get why he subbed out the entire midfield at once, but I would've liked him to either keep one of those guys in for a bit longer, or go a bit more offensive and get Liam Millar in early, try Bombito out at DM, or just something. It felt like we were protecting a 1-0 lead all game, and it's insane to me to travel all the way to Japan for a single game and just play scared the entire time when you have quite literally nothing to lose since it's a friendly, and one that you were behind in from the second minute, at that.

Edited October 13, 2023 by InglewoodJack

[Joe Keeper]

7 minutes ago, prairiecanuck said:

The problem with the coaching search is the first question any candidate asks is so what is the pay?  The enevitable decline of the interview request follows shortly.  Are there no rich billionaire soccer fans that can help this country out..lol

The lack of money has long been a problem which is why we have to find some way to change that. Sponsorship dollars should be going to hire a real coach now but after an exhaustive search. 

The later we go towards 2026 before we realize this, among other things, the more we could flop in what should be our biggest ever moment.

Edited October 13, 2023 by Joe Keeper

[Sal333]

4 minutes ago, jhoops__ said:

https://x.com/joshuakloke/status/1712812832671117692?s=46

 

not sure what match this dude was watching…

He said this crap a number of times when he was in charge of the Impact. That's his go to line.

[eramosat]

Japan is obviously a squad where Canada's set-up needed proper matching...Japan's excellent pressure on the ball played directly into one of Canada's biggest weaknesses, passing, or just plain playing, out of pressure.  Not having Eustaquio made it that much more imperative to address this structurally, rather than bluntly relying on players who simply are a step down from their competition at this level.  Look how many give-aways, simple missed passes, lack of effective and advancing play.  Play it back, play it back, lose it back often...

But as it was a friendly...it was reasonable to have attempted a repeat of what should be Canada's best formation.  I would expect something different in a competitive match.  But the newer players expected to be on the NT over the next 3 years better wake up quick and understand how much their game has to lift to belong.

[SpursFlu]

I'm not going to get in to an argument as to who is at fault (fans, media, CSA, the players) but if you want to pay big for a coach then you need to make a lot of revenue. We need to sell a lot of tickets and sell a lot of jerseys. Look at that stadium in Japan. That's called making money

On the flip side. Who's their coach? I have no idea. How much does he get paid? I'm a big believer that a national team should have to hire a domestic coach anyways. A "big name" coach would help create interest, get people of their back and maybe help create revenue but I don't think it would have the impact on the field that people think

Edited October 13, 2023 by SpursFlu

[Joe Keeper]

5 minutes ago, jhoops__ said:

https://x.com/joshuakloke/status/1712812832671117692?s=46

 

not sure what match this dude was watching…

Herdman said the same thing a few times and it looks like Biello was just carrying on from John. So many of the same mistakes made under Herdman were made tonight. 

[Cheeta]

9 minutes ago, toontownman said:

We came out scared and we were punished. 

Japan showed why they are one of the most underated teams in the world.

....

 

Not underated in my house, no sir.  And to be fair the OneSoccer crew were calling this a tough test for Canada.  Your point stands though.  We're 2 years and change out from the next Finals, do not want Japan in Canada's group.

A little concerned that today might not help sell Canada as an opponent.

[InglewoodJack]

Yeah, the score didn't reflect the performance- we were even worse. Could've been 5 or 6-1 if a few things went Japan's way. If it was a competitive match and they had all their guys, it might've actually been.

[costarg]

1 hour ago, narduch said:

Vitoria on for Cornelius 

The right move would have been Vitoria for Miller, and switch to a back 4:

Davies - Cornelius - Vitoria - Johnston.

[DeRo_Is_King]

1 minute ago, costarg said:

The right move would have been Vitoria for Miller, and switch to a back 4:

Davies - Cornelius - Vitoria - Johnston.

Or maybe slot LDF into a back four instead of Vitoria. 

[InglewoodJack]

4 minutes ago, costarg said:

The right move would have been Vitoria for Miller, and switch to a back 4:

Davies - Cornelius - Vitoria - Johnston.

I think Vitoria for Johnston might've been the right call. AJ had an absolutely horrible game. Would've been a good opportunity to actually play 3 natural CBs together in a back 3 for the first time since I don't know when.

Also, was it just me or did AJ look like he lost some mass? I remember when he started at Celtic he looked like he put on a ton of muscle, but today, there was a shot of him getting ready for a corner, and he looked significantly leaner- don't know if he lost some muscle mass through his injury and hasn't built it back up yet. I saw him icing his ankle before the game too, not sure if he's fully there yet.

[Cadeau]

4 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

Yeah, the score didn't reflect the performance- we were even worse. Could've been 5 or 6-1 if a few things went Japan's way. If it was a competitive match and they had all their guys, it might've actually been.

Agreed! CSA, CSB etc can keep playing stupid games and all they'll win are stupid prizes. You can see there's no love on the team like before. Hopefully we'll look back one day and look at this as a necessary stepping stone phase.

[EJsens1]

I just find they haven’t looked the same since the walkout game against Panama in Vancouver, including in Qatar, like they did in qualifying.

Very rusty today. Only playing 4 games since Qatar with the main core really showed. Not having a second game this window and going into nations league after this performance is very discouraging. 

As for the game itself, that’s the worst I’ve seen AJ play. Laryea was brutal. Our corners or ability to cross the ball in from the wing was really ugly. Non threatening. At least we didn’t get burned on set pieces today. Japan’s ability off the ball during the transition is amazing, as they can find open spaces so well. Their fans are top notch.

I’ll say it again, but they need to move on from Borjan. They play better when he’s not in the nets. Goals weren’t his fault but they play so much more relaxed when he’s not in there.

[SpursFlu]

Lol.. guys it's really simple. At this level 

Going forward we're good.. defending we suck

No coaching will change that

[Sal333]

1 minute ago, InglewoodJack said:

I think Vitoria for Johnston might've been the right call. AJ had an absolutely horrible game. Would've been a good opportunity to actually play 3 natural CBs together in a back 3 for the first time since I don't know when.

Also, was it just me or did AJ look like he lost some mass? I remember when he started at Celtic he looked like he put on a ton of muscle, but today, there was a shot of him getting ready for a corner, and he looked significantly leaner- don't know if he lost some muscle mass through his injury and hasn't built it back up yet. I saw him icing his ankle before the game too, not sure if he's fully there yet.

Johnston or Miller, either one should have been subbed out. Not Cornelius. But that was a typical Biello move, Unable to read the play on the pitch.

[Unnamed Trialist]

Appreciate the Impact fans who know Biello giving us a perspective. But I am not concerned, we will fortunately be moving on from Biello.

 

[Jack1997]

The backline sucked but honestly I’m not too concerned until we see more, Davies and Johnston are our 2 best defenders and today both looked uncharacteristically bad (Davies on defense he was great attacking) and in my opinion Cornelius played fine and is still young playing at a good club. All we really need is one CB to break through to have a solid backline, that could be De Fougerolles or someone else.

[InglewoodJack]

Just now, Sal333 said:

Johnston or Miller, either one should have been subbed out. Not Cornelius. But that was a typical Biello move, Unable to read the play on the pitch.

In that sense, Biello perfectly fits Canada's mould. Great, inspiring personal story, not qualified for the big moment.

The more I think about it, the more I really want to bring in a coach that has zero ties to Canada Soccer, no ties to the national team, nothing. Bring in someone who has never heard of any of our players except Davies and David- see how a coach like that tweaks the lineup with zero prior biases and see who floats and who sinks.

[Obinna]

34 minutes ago, jhoops__ said:

Spin it any way you want but he hasn’t been good for quite a while now and although he has elite physical tools he doesn’t have the composure or feel for the game to match those…

I would say he has the technique but feeling the game is a big work in progress. If he can master that he's on his way...

[nolando]

33 minutes ago, jhoops__ said:

https://x.com/joshuakloke/status/1712812832671117692?s=46

 

not sure what match this dude was watching…

I disagree. He's actually right in the quoted comment, at least, but mostly in the sense that the score that might better reflect our performance today was actually 7 or 8-1. It was like adults vs kids.

[jonovision]

24 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

Yeah, the score didn't reflect the performance- we were even worse. Could've been 5 or 6-1 if a few things went Japan's way. If it was a competitive match and they had all their guys, it might've actually been.

Could also very easily have been 3-2 or better.

[Obinna]

23 minutes ago, Cheeta said:

Not underated in my house, no sir.  And to be fair the OneSoccer crew were calling this a tough test for Canada.  Your point stands though.  We're 2 years and change out from the next Finals, do not want Japan in Canada's group.

A little concerned that today might not help sell Canada as an opponent.

This is where not letting it get out of hand was to our credit. They could have dropped 6 or more on us and didn't. I think clawing 1 back and finishing 4-1 helps our reputation some, even though Japan were never really tested by us, which was dissapointing. We had good spells but nowhere near clinical enough. 

[Obinna]

25 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

Yeah, the score didn't reflect the performance- we were even worse. Could've been 5 or 6-1 if a few things went Japan's way. If it was a competitive match and they had all their guys, it might've actually been.

We should also mention then that Eustaquio was a big loss, as was Buchanan. That's arguably 2 of our best 5 players. I think Eustaquio in particular was a massive loss. We really have nobody who is that level in midfield. I had hope Kone could eventually be and maybe he still can, but today he didn't make his best case. 

[InglewoodJack]

1 minute ago, jonovision said:

Could also very easily have been 3-2 or better.

You think? I guess if David converts his pen and Davies doesn't score the worst OG I've seen in a minute, that would've been the score.

Funny enough, we were all clamouring for David to take the Belgium pen, and blame Davies for taking too much time at the dot before firing his shot. Today, who takes too much time at the dot after the whistle blows and gives the goalie a relatively easy save? Anyways.