Summing Up: 8 matches in the Marsch Era

[El Diego]

I was critical of the hire but he has done well. Most impressively is his willingness to be practical. I think being outside the Red Bull system (and yes I am aware Leeds was outside that family) helps him be more free with his philosophies. I think he learned quickly how to navigate international/tournament football.

I think there is still lots of data for him to collect. The two red cards from Peru and Chile were great from a results stand point, but didn't help us learn much. I think the Uruguay match where we dropped Larin maybe (hopefully) sparks something for Marsch.

Overall I am very optimistic because I believe Marsch is willing to change and adapt. There is still a lot of naivety in the way we play but it is more controlled now, even though he's only had eight matches under his belt. I always try to remember that Herdman was given lots of time and he changed his shapes and philosophies quite a bit.

I am not sold on Davies as a regular old full back, I think we can easily slot him in on either wing over Shaffelburg/Millar/whoever and play Laryea/Adekugbe at LB and we'd be way better. Shaff obviously had impressive moments but I really don't think he'll be a consistent answer. I will be curious to see what happens with Davies going forward, right now Marsch seems very happy with how he has been incorporated.

[Joe MacCarthy]

It just came to me and it should have been obvious because it was in the thread title.

The biggest accomplishment of the Canadian team in the Copa America is that we got to play three extra games, and against good opposition.

And to this naive observer if we hadn't have played those games we might not still know how good (or not good) we are.  We only had one win in our first five games (two of them with a man up), we didn't know who would show up.  Is this the game where the curtain in Oz gets pulled back and we finally get smoked?

But like all those early qualifying games before we got to the Concacaf final eight before the WC, those extra games proved more than useful.

So because I still have ambivalent feelings about how we did, I think those three games (and what we did in them) were the best things to come out of it.

[gigi riva]

On 7/14/2024 at 9:03 AM, Ottawafan said:

I posted this on FB.  Couldn’t give a flying fuck what the negative Nelly’s have to say after this run  

Canada found their GK
Bombito and Cornelius solidified the back end
Kone stepped up his game 
Shaf became a starter 
We added depth all over the field
$8M added to the coffers 
Coach was dropped in two months ago and got these players to gel and play better each game
We played Holland France Argentina twice Chile Peru Venezuela and Uruguay 

Bigger picture here. Complete success towards 2026.

Screw The negative Nellies. 

[gigi riva]

We played 8 games in a span of 40 days against teams that were highly ranked  above us with the exception of Peru I believe , we did not embarass ourselves , played in some pretty crazy atmospherers and crazy conditions too.  In the span of 40 days this team seemed to regenarate the sport in this country and kind of got the whole nation or at least a good chunk interested in this team , at the same time pissing off the Americans and getting praise from other international  media types .  Most important we got around 6 million  coming to  the CSA . 

[Obinna]

7 hours ago, Joe MacCarthy said:

It just came to me and it should have been obvious because it was in the thread title.

The biggest accomplishment of the Canadian team in the Copa America is that we got to play three extra games, and against good opposition.

And to this naive observer if we hadn't have played those games we might not still know how good (or not good) we are.  We only had one win in our first five games (two of them with a man up), we didn't know who would show up.  Is this the game where the curtain in Oz gets pulled back and we finally get smoked?

But like all those early qualifying games before we got to the Concacaf final eight before the WC, those extra games proved more than useful.

So because I still have ambivalent feelings about how we did, I think those three games (and what we did in them) were the best things to come out of it.

I want to build on this point and talk specifically about the depth. We learnt in the 3rd place match that we have the talent in depth to go toe-to-toe with Uruguayan starters. That's a big win for a team commonly thought of as talented, but shallow. Choiniere in particular really impressed me, as did Ali Ahmed. LDF didn't look out of place for an 18 year old, and Dane St. Clair came in and did a fantastic job, not to mention Osorio stepping his game up a notch, not just in that 3rd place match, but all tournament long.

Anyway, without that 3rd place match, and all the rotation in it, we wouldn't have discovered how good our depth is, or at least "can be", so long as the guys are dialed in and motivated.

[Sal333]

On 7/14/2024 at 2:13 PM, Unnamed Trialist said:

My takeaway from yesterday, or what we learnt, is that in various matches, at various points, we could have opted for another mid and taking out Larin and it could have been just as effective.

We put in Tani for Larin, fine.

But putting in Choinière beside Staq and freeing Kone, for example, could have been just as effective or more. We are not condemned to an outside game, wing play; we also can find an inside game. 

Next is that we have better depth in almost all positions than we realised. We were just missing good cover for Davies this tournament, everything else looked okay.

Finally, overall, I think we have to learn to keep the ball alive and not waste it, especially as we approach the final third. We did it well yesterday, but in many other matches we blew easy passes or missed obvious options, so instead of being able to find a chance, we were back defending. We rushed, we don't have a natural movement backwards, we have clear passing lanes we don't take and overthink (or don't think).  This is maturity, it is a more solid possession game, it is also the demand each player has on his own play, which as they move into higher quality leagues we should find more widely across the roster.

I agree with your points except I have one nagging, negative thought. The scoring.  This team has been known to score in the last couple of years. At the Copa, we didn't do a good job. I can think of three possible reasons.

1) A new system, new coach. Scoring is the most difficult aspect of soccer but it'll come when the forwards learn to play within Marsch's system.

2) This was not CONCACA. The level of play is much higher. But then I counter with Larin and David (Davies and Buchanan)all play in the top 5 European leagues. While I was typing that I realized something. Tajon had a bad tournament except for his last sub. Is it possible Tajon is an indispensable key to our scoring? And we need someone to fill in for him?  don't know.

3) Maybe Marsch's system neuters our forwards. He has given them a heavy workload and they're just not fresh enough to put the ball in the net when the time comes. Maybe better conditioning will help. Maybe they're not able to play this system and score.

It could be a combination of all three. But whatever the reason or reasons Marsch needs to find a solution

Edited July 17 by Sal333

[Sal333]

On 7/14/2024 at 3:08 PM, Northvansteve said:

Decisive. That's the word that comes to mind with the new Marsch era. He made decisive choices in the lineup replacing the old era of Borjan, Vitoria, Piette and co without any hesitation. He implemented a new formation (no more 3 at the back) and playing style. He stuck with a core group of starters. He brought in young players and stuck with them. Love to see it.

I hate to say it but those decisive choices were made by the interim coach, Biello.

[Unnamed Trialist]

9 hours ago, Sal333 said:

I agree with your points except I have one nagging, negative thought. The scoring.  This team has been known to score in the last couple of years. At the Copa, we didn't do a good job. I can think of three possible reasons.

1) A new system, new coach. Scoring is the most difficult aspect of soccer but it'll come when the forwards learn to play within Marsch's system.

2) This was not CONCACA. The level of play is much higher. But then I counter with Larin and David (Davies and Buchanan)all play in the top 5 European leagues. While I was typing that I realized something. Tajon had a bad tournament except for his last sub. Is it possible Tajon is an indispensable key to our scoring? And we need someone to fill in for him?  don't know.

3) Maybe Marsch's system neuters our forwards. He has given them a heavy workload and they're just not fresh enough to put the ball in the net when the time comes. Maybe better conditioning will help. Maybe they're not able to play this system and score.

It could be a combination of all three. But whatever the reason or reasons Marsch needs to find a solution

If we analyze our scoring off headers, is it possible that Vitoria was an indispensable key to our set piece scoring? 

He was a lot better than many are giving credit for. We did not have any really effective header situations, well just Eustaquio point blank and Larin missing one he could have gotten. But not a high % given our corners and set pieces.

[Sal333]

2 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

If we analyze our scoring off headers, is it possible that Vitoria was an indispensable key to our set piece scoring? 

He was a lot better than many are giving credit for. We did not have any really effective header situations, well just Eustaquio point blank and Larin missing one he could have gotten. But not a high % given our corners and set pieces.

Forgot about Vitoria's set-piece prowess.

[gigi riva]

I am glad Mr Marsh is not resting on his laurels and is activley scouting games in CPL . I hope and want to see  attendence pick up at CPL and Local Ligue 1 games across this Country 

[Kadenge]

21 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

If we analyze our scoring off headers, is it possible that Vitoria was an indispensable key to our set piece scoring? 

He was a lot better than many are giving credit for. We did not have any really effective header situations, well just Eustaquio point blank and Larin missing one he could have gotten. But not a high % given our corners and set pieces.

Tani vs Argentina ?

Edited July 18 by Kadenge

[Sal333]

3 hours ago, Kadenge said:

Tani vs Argentina ?

It wasn't effective. He missed by a country mile.

[ahmedou]

Positives: Development Coach, The Backfour, Great relationship with the players, North American Experience, Etc

Negatives: Same lineup (no turnover, etc), Intensive trainings, Afraid of the risk, No faith on his bench options, Etc

[rydermike]

I'm super impressed. I didn't watch the friendlies besides highlights because of work, but I was super impressed by the Copa games. I was not expecting them to go toe  toe with some of those teams. Dominating Uruguay especially and being competitive with Argentina, especially that we had multiple decent scoring opportunities. We just need to work on our finishing across the board.