Smalls thinks that everything he does, he does for him.
COPA America
303abuser I appreciate your enthusiasm, I really do. But you (and a lot of Canadians) were saying the same thing 18 months ago and we know how that worked out. I haven’t watched them play more than a few minutes since, but every time they look like a glorified mls team. I hope they prove me wrong, I’m just not holding my breath.
I’m by no means claiming that they’re going to beat on Brazil or Argentina in any consistent basis.
We’re finally producing players that play in the top leagues in Europe on a consistent basis and that’s only growing.
Like it or not, the MLS (and to a smaller extent the CPL) has been responsible for a lot of our players going to Europe.
A thread with Loopy and Hugo about football. S to the….
loopdokter Yeah, maybe. I’ll just take a wait and see approach, I’m not overly invested in the whole thing.
Smallman1 Those were the best days of his life
you must be on Cloud Number Nine with that one
11 days later
- Edited
So Canada put up a fight, but the end result was a 2-0 win for Argentina. All commentary seems to agree that Canada are able to compete at this level.
Once again we played a pretty solid first half and let it fall apart a bit in the second.
The good… Maxime Crépeau - our keeper - had a hell of a game and stopped Messi cold three times. Our centreback Derek Cornelius showed his mettle as well. I also felt Liam Millar played a hell of a game and hopefully he’ll get a shot at a bigger team than Preston North End. Jacob Shaffelburg came on to replace a rather invisible Tajon Buchanon and immediately started wrecking havoc on the right side of the pitch. I hope he has a chance to play in Europe if he continues playing like he has for us. Argentina genuinely struggled with our pace and high press. We had a decent number of chances to score.
The bad… Clinical finishing has been problematic. We’ve played three games against three of top teams in the world and can’t seem to score - despite us having one of the best attacking players in the COPA with Jonathan David. Obviously that’s a problem. We had multiple shots last night and they were either straight at the keeper or just wide of goal. Stephen Estaquio had a great opportunity to score and headed it straight at the keeper. Cyle Larin put a header above the crossbar when completely unmarked that felt like it should have gone in if it had been from a better striker. I’m stating the obvious, but if we want to get out of the group and beat Chile and Peru, we need to score.
Our back line - whilst improving - is still the biggest question mark. Several times we were caught out and paid the price as a result. Ismaël Koné had a couple of critical errors that lead to a wide open opportunity for Argentina. Moïse Bombito looked a little stunned at centreback a few times and was caught out of position. More than once Maxime Crépeau had to step up and save our bacon. Argentina were able to rip our back line apart at key moments and prove why they’re the reigning COPA America and World Cup champions. We need to be better and someone needs to step up and be more vocal who should be where and when. It felt like communication was lacking at times.
Alphonso Davies has had several ho-hum games the past three matches, and this was one of them. He needs to be better and play like he plays for one of the best club teams in the world.
I remain hopeful that we’ll get out of the group. Chile and Peru are beatable. We had quite a few flashes of brilliance, but our inexperience by some of our younger players showed at key moments.
loopdokter We’ve played three games against three of top teams in the world and can’t seem to score - despite us having one of the best attacking players in the COPA with Jonathan David. Obviously that’s a problem.
Not sure David is all that to be honest, the fact you can’t score probably underlines.
Not quite the end product you’d expect from his all-round play
loopdokter Liam Millar played a hell of a game and hopefully he’ll get a shot at a bigger team than Preston North End
Keep up loopy - he’s already joining Sheffield United.
Mad_Cyril Not sure David is all that to be honest, the fact you can’t score probably underlines.
Not quite the end product you’d expect from his all-round play
Agree on David - I’ve never been impressed with him and it’s not surprised me big clubs have steered clear so far. I’ve never noticed anything special to his game. There have been some rumblings of Utd and Spurs considering him this summer, though there often are, and I’d hope Utd look elsewhere.
Sounds like Canada are a lot better than England tbf
hugopal Agree on David - I’ve never been impressed with him and it’s not surprised me big clubs have steered clear so far. I’ve never noticed anything special to his game. There have been some rumblings of Utd and Spurs considering him this summer, though there often are, and I’d hope Utd look elsewhere.
There seems to be rumblings of him moving to the Prem the last three summers and it’s yet to happen.
Personally I’d like to see him move to an upper tier Bundesliga team from Lille. I’m not quite sure he’s ready for the Prem yet despite his scoring acumen in Ligue 1.
Millsy Sounds like Canada are a lot better than England tbf
They’re certainly more exciting to watch with Marsch at the helm than Southgate at England.
- Edited
Mad_Cyril Not quite the end product you’d expect from his all-round play
I will give him credit though… He tracks back unlike a lot of strikers. He’s not afraid to get stuck in defending, so I can see a lot of teams being interested in that quality from a striker who also scores goals at the club level. He does so for Canada too but it’s been a while and that’s been when we’re playing smaller opponents we should be scoring against anyway.
loopdokter We watched different games apparently. I’ll agree that the keeper played really well, a few miscommunications aside, and they look like an athletic group, which made up for a lot of mistakes against a far better side.
The fact is that they defended poorly, midfield swung between indecisive and panic for the entire game, and they’re a team without a 9 or 10. Argentina jogged through that game and they could because Canada was never a threat going forward.
They look far better than a decade ago, but it’s still a long, uphill battle to any sort of relevancy. And yes, they were far more fun to watch than England, but that’s a really low bar at the moment.
loopdokter
Got loads of energy, looks good on the ball, just lacks end product.
Decent for Canadia, not what we need at Old Trafford.
Would probably score for fun in the Bundesliga.