CNL: Canada vs Jamaica - Tuesday, November 21st - 7:30pm EST / 4:30pm Pacific - Toronto

[DeRo_Is_King]

5 hours ago, RS said:

I was at the stadium so cannot speak the validity of the penalty, but the foul that Jamaica got away with en route to their second goal was pretty blatant. It doesn’t change how gutless Canada was to start the second half (after looking like they deserved a 5-0 lead in the first half if not for André Blake’s Superman routine), but it still sits wrong.

Speaking of which, Jamaica were one of the few teams I always felt weren’t “Concacaffy”, as in, they played a tough but honest game and didn’t resort to the assorted bullshit we’ve all come to love about certain other nations in the region. That all went out the window tonight.

Borjan kicked off the time wasting in the 60th minute. 

[RS]

1 hour ago, DeRo_Is_King said:

Borjan kicked off the time wasting in the 60th minute. 

Cool. Concacaf should rescind Gray’s two yellows then.

[Floortom]

Why are we so poor at defunding in transition? It’s just a constant issue.

also Leon Bailey could have had 4-5 goals over these two fixtures. Amazing that Jamaica still pulled it off

[CanadaFan123]

6 hours ago, spitfire said:

I was at the game I’m honestly a bit speechless as to how we didn’t close out the game (could have been 3-0 first half) and then how we didn’t react when they scored their 3rd … the subs  baffled me I have to decompress and think about it. Think Liam should have been in early. Not everything came off but he showed at least a real urgency and desire to try things(even if they didn’t come off). The last 5 mins we were afraid to cross it.. 
we have to move on and try to figure it out. There is way too much talent and potential to now be getting through these matches. 

My friends girlfriend knows little about Canada soccer and I asked her what went wrong as a joke. Even she said our subs were terrible and turned the game. 

[DeRo_Is_King]

41 minutes ago, RS said:

Cool. Concacaf should rescind Gray’s two yellows then.

Care to explain? 

[Ally McCoist]

The morning after and I feel even worse about the game now than I did last night. Fuck me, I'm glad there's no international soccer for 4 months. Need a long break from this team after that bullshit.

Edited November 22, 2023 by Ally McCoist

[RS]

5 minutes ago, DeRo_Is_King said:

Care to explain? 

Well if Borjan kicked off the time wasting, and Gray’s first yellow card was for time wasting…

[PastPros]

8 minutes ago, Ally McCoist said:

The morning after and I feel even worse about the game now than I did last night. Fuck me, I'm glad there's no international soccer for 5 months. Need a long break from this team after that bullshit.

Same here.

Listening to Biello's post-match comments, a couple of things struck me: 1) he implies he won't be around in March, 2) he lays blame entirely on the players.

For me, the substitutions sucked ass. I understand the intention of putting veterans on the field to calm things down - but it's not like the guys we put on have a consistent track record of calming things down and killing off games. 

[dyslexic nam]

14 minutes ago, Ally McCoist said:

The morning after and I feel even worse about the game now than I did last night. Fuck me, I'm glad there's no international soccer for 5 months. Need a long break from this team after that bullshit.

I took a full year off after 8-1.   This collapse has a somewhat similar kind of heartbreak.   I am sure I will still post my usual schtick but my emotional investment is on hiatus for a bit.    

[FC_Hali]

I felt Biello got the line up right for this one. Our best possible 11, based on current form. Canada was the better team over both legs, aesthetically and by xG. The team put in a professional performance under difficult conditions in Jamaica. For 70 minutes last night, Canada were in complete control. Personally, I admire how we came out on the front foot, were the protagonists throughout, and at times had those electric bursts in attack. It’s been a long time since this team has played anywhere close to this well. Certainly not in the last NL final, the Gold Cup, and the Japan match. 

Shit happens in football. Especially in Concacaf. Jamaica capitalized on our errors, not unlike the Belgium match. This team has holes, and I’m not apposed to rotating in some up-and-comers for fringe veterans, but I’m not ready to tear it down.

[mods - apologies, posted this in the wrong thread originally]

Edited November 22, 2023 by FC_Hali

[Kingston]

That was an unfortunate and complete collapse after one and three-quarters games of good soccer.

To me, aside from the the immediate sting of losing in that fashion, the big picture problem is that we failed to show that we are an elite CONCACAF team.  We needed to just go out and win this (as it looked like we were going to do) and move on to the semis and, ideally, final.  Instead, we are back in the CONCACAF pack somewhere.

[Shway]

4 minutes ago, Kingston said:

That was an unfortunate and complete collapse after one and three-quarters games of good soccer.

To me, aside from the the immediate sting of losing in that fashion, the big picture problem is that we failed to show that we are an elite CONCACAF team.  We needed to just go out and win this (as it looked like we were going to do) and move on to the semis and, ideally, final.  Instead, we are back in the CONCACAF pack somewhere.

And this is the scary part for me. After the whole kings of Concacaf bullshit we've regressed really bad. 

I also think Jamaica is going to get better and stronger with the reinforcements they are targeting, which could push us down to fighting for 4th again with the likes of Panama. 

[harrycoyster]

Setting aside the on field misery of last night, we also now don't have a chance at the $1mil in prize money for the Nations League winner and aren't getting the participation fee for the Nations League Finals ($150k in 2021). With our financial situation being what it is, this was a missed opportunity to help fund our youth programs. 

If we don't qualify for Copa America, we might as well fire the youth staff as we aren't having more than a couple camps an age group anyway.

[nolando]

1 hour ago, Floortom said:

Why are we so poor at defunding in transition? It’s just a constant issue.

also Leon Bailey could have had 4-5 goals over these two fixtures. Amazing that Jamaica still pulled it off

Disagree. Canada Soccer are exceptional at defunding just when their national programs are in transition.

[Ruffian]

1 hour ago, dyslexic nam said:

I took a full year off after 8-1.   This collapse has a somewhat similar kind of heartbreak.   I am sure I will still post my usual schtick but my emotional investment is on hiatus for a bit.    

I got the same feeling after the game but the second try in March gave me a little hope back.

[costarg]

1 hour ago, PastPros said:

I understand the intention of putting veterans on the field to calm things down - but it's not like the guys we put on have a consistent track record of calming things down and killing off games. 

Neither of them is a D-first kinda guy either.  Not sure what he was expecting by them.

[DeRo_Is_King]

1 hour ago, RS said:

Well if Borjan kicked off the time wasting, and Gray’s first yellow card was for time wasting…

Or maybe Borjan should have been booked as well. 

[jhoops__]

Was at the match and left completely bewildered at how incredibly soft we were at key times both physically and mentally.   It all turned for me when Kone felt slight contact and fell to the pitch.  Could have called a foul sure but you have to know in that position on the pitch with only 2 defenders behind you that you at the very least advance the ball forward and just can’t risk giving up the ball.   Our transition D is so fucking shit in those scenarios and there’s no reason our fullbacks shouldn’t be offering support to thwart those issues.  We all want our team to play appealing, attacking football but it won’t matter because our  abysmal defending will continue to let us down.   

[Lansdude]

I'll say it again, we looked way too comfortable and over-confident as soon as we scored the first goal. Immediately we started freestyling, hero balling, flooding forward, and becoming undisciplined with our shape and keeping the ball. We thought we had it in the bag and could just style over Jamaica for the rest of the match. The professional mentality went out the window. Once we lost our discipline, then got scored on, we lost our composure as well and couldn't get it back and tried to compensate with more vibes. Davies impacted the game positively but aside from running into a wall a lot of the time, when he gets into Michael Jordan mood it upsets the rhythm. Obviously he can't get away with that at Bayern. But it's contagious and the whole team didn't know how to reset. We looked like an arrogant U-17 team beating themselves. We had a lot of bad luck with the handball and the missed call on Kone, but a superior manager would have exacted more discipline on this team.

Edited November 22, 2023 by Lansdude

[Jedi Ram]

12 hours ago, maplebanana said:

I think we're stuck with CRC. Of the losers in QF:

1. Canada (3 pts, 0 GD, 4 goals scored)

2. T&T (3 pts, -2 GD, 2 goals scored)

3. CRC (0 pts, -5 GD, 1 goal scored)

If MEX beats HON by 3, then MEX advances and HON is eliminated with 3 pts and -1 GD, which puts them in 2nd.

If MEX beats HON by 1, then HON advances and MEX is eliminated with 0 pts and -1 GD, which puts them in 3rd.

If HON beats MEX by 1, then HON advances and MEX is eliminated with 0 pts and -3 GD, which puts them in 3rd.

If HON beats MEX by 3, then HON advances and MEX is eliminated with 0 pts and -5 GD (and if 3-0, no goals scored), which puts them in 4th. 

If MEX beats HON 5-3 (or more), then HON advances on away goals and MEX eliminated with 3 pts and 0 GD with 5 goals scored, putting them in 1st. I think this is the only way we can play T&T.

Bottom line:  CRC. It's almost a certainty. 

Nvm... Figured out... 

Edited November 22, 2023 by Jedi Ram

[grigorio]

19 minutes ago, jhoops__ said:

Was at the match and left completely bewildered at how incredibly soft we were at key times both physically and mentally.   It all turned for me when Kone felt slight contact and fell to the pitch.  Could have called a foul sure but you have to know in that position on the pitch with only 2 defenders behind you that you at the very least advance the ball forward and just can’t risk giving up the ball.   Our transition D is so fucking shit in those scenarios and there’s no reason our fullbacks shouldn’t be offering support to thwart those issues.  We all want our team to play appealing, attacking football but it won’t matter because our  abysmal defending will continue to let us down.   

That made my blood absolutely boil. Assuming you're going to get a call, and then staying lying on the pitch while while your opponent moves the ball 40 yards down field only finally getting up as they're playing their final pass in for a crucial goal. To put yourself in such a vulnerable situation where you're praying for a call otherwise your team is absolutely fucked and then the reaction to the play was crazy. 

[Jedi Ram]

10 hours ago, canadave said:

Half empty stadium, opponent supporters louder than home fans, embarassing play. This was a real throwback. Worried this is more the norm again than a blast from the past. 

To be fair, the lower bowl was nearly sold out, but people didn't come out cause of bad weather. 

[jhoops__]

8 minutes ago, grigorio said:

That made my blood absolutely boil. Assuming you're going to get a call, and then staying lying on the pitch while while your opponent moves the ball 40 yards down field only finally getting up as they're playing their final pass in for a crucial goal. To put yourself in such a vulnerable situation where you're praying for a call otherwise your team is absolutely fucked and then the reaction to the play was crazy. 

Brutal from Kone but he also had no support which really highlights our poor positioning.   AJ and Layrea too far up the pitch.  Mens league defending while protecting a lead.

[nolando]

I could be alone, but I thought Kone looked exceptionally soft on the demoralizing goal in question and at various other points. What we sorely lack is a top notch CDM to win balls, support the backline, take notches out of opposing strikers and, perhaps most importantly, free Eustaquio to play slightly further forward in a more creative role. Piette's lack of development, looking at his career arc, and general fitness, left a big hole in our eleven, as he otherwise fits the profile perfectly.

[jhoops__]

Kone is either good or bad with no in between…