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So on Tuesday night there were two games in the Gold Cup but I trust that most of my readers watched the Canadian game. With that in mind I am not overly going to discuss the events of the game but will instead focus on my feelings and reaction to the game, and Canada's Gold Cup effort as a whole.
The short version is that Canada needs to be better then they were the last three games. The team that we saw against Ecuador showed potential and showed the ability to get forward but the team that showed up the last 3 matches looked completely unthreatening and at times they seemed lost for what they were doing. The 4-5-1 seemed to me to be the root cause of the problems because when Hart was forced to make changes, mainly not playing Jackson alone up top, things picked up a bit. It is actually a bad thing that Canada was at its very best in the second half of the US game because Ali Gerba was brought on. If we are counting on Ali Gerba, still, to score goals then this world cup qualifying campaign is going to be a tough one.
The fact is that Canada played 3 matches in the Gold Cup and the only time that they scored was from 2 soft penalties. They created very little from open play and maybe it was the game plan, or Atiba Hutchinson missing two matches, or maybe it is that Canada continues to lack a constant scoring threat from the striker position. The teams leading scorer on the current roster is Dwayne De Rosario, with 15 goals, and he so often gets lost in games going long stretches without making any impact. There is no one on this current team that you can count on to score with any regularity. We have some decent midfielders, good enough to compete with out teams in CONCACAF I would say but the other areas need to be improved. I have high hopes for Jackson but the truth is that he has a lot to learn and the system in place under Stephen Hart is not the right fit for him. If you watch how Norwich use him, which works well, you can see how he is capable of being an effective attacker but for Canada he was often isolated and out matched by larger defenders. Rob Friend and Ali Gerba on the other hand I do not have any confidence in at all. I hear Friend can be good but have limited exposure to him for his club but again he is poorly used in Hart's tactics. There is also Ricketts but I am going to reserve judgement on him since I have seen almost nothing of him and his few appearances for Canada have seemed decent but not enough to get a true sense.
The other issue that Canada faces is they lack that killer confidence. They go into games against the USA overwhelmed and play like they are afraid of getting beaten and then when they do get scored on they struggle to find an answer. Then even when we get ahead like we were against Panama there is this sense that the team are not strong enough to know how to hold on to that lead. The best teams know that the easiest way to hold a lead is to push back against the team rather then just packing it in where you are basically just waiting for the other team to create chances and potentially score. The goal that Canada conceded was quite unlucky but it was nothing less then Panama deserved as they had been taking the game to Canada for some time. Would of course not have been an issue if Canada had converted some chances in the first half. Now Canada has an average back line at best so that is never going to help and by the end of this Gold Cup they didn't have 4 players fit to play in their natural positions in the back line which is not going to help but maybe Hart should have brought another defender along for the tournament rather then someone like Pacheco just to pick a name.
The other area of the team that I was most concerned about going into this Gold Cup was in goal. Hirschfeld has had a couple of great performances for Canada in the past but is not consistent enough to rely on in hopefully a long qualification run. I was though pleased with what I saw from Milan Borjan. He displayed good positioning, good judgement, and the ability to stop shots. You can still tell that he has not been around top clubs and can use a fair bit of refinement but he has the potential and I was pleasantly surprised by that.
So Canada is now out of the Gold Cup and the next stop for the Men's National Team is World Cup qualifiers this fall. The draw will almost certainly hand us something easy in the opening round of play but my fear is that we will win that without making the needed changes. For me Hart needs to prove that he can get away from always using the 4-5-1 and have some tactical flexibility. He needs to change something and get the team to the point where it is scoring goals from open play against the Panama's and Guadeloupe's of the world. It is alright to be kept off the score sheet when you are up against a keeper like Tim Howard, who is class, but against other teams we need to find a way to manufacture goals. I can not sit here and offer a solution, if I could I would be coaching at a high level, but I can say that in my opinion if Hart does not show the willingness and ability to mix it up this fall then it should cost him his job. We should be winning these early qualifying games no matter what, that is not good enough though. Canada needs to be using these games to get much better. We have to be in the top 8 teams and CONCACAF and I would like to see us go far in qualifiers, even if the World Cup is still a distant dream, but based on the Gold Cup performance we have a long way to go to prove that we are right with the second tier of teams in the region.
The American team also played last night and to be fair they were terrible. They have been poor all the way through the group stage and seem to be a long way from hitting their stride. For me, and I have heard a few others saying this, they have only made it out of the group stage because of their natural talent and having some of the best players in the tournament. If you look at how Mexico has preformed and look at the States then they have a lot of work to do if they want to overcome Mexico at some point and potentially win this thing. Clint Dempsey was at the centre of the Americans bad play in the group stage as he seemed to just not be sharp at all and wasted chance after chance after chance with him being at his worst last night. Dempsey should have had a hat trick and put the game beyond a doubt for the US but instead he got nothing. Canada may be the team going home but the Americans have underachieved just as much and could be joining Canada in the coming days.
So with no more Gold Cup for Canada what do you have to look forward to? Well Canada is about to enter in to two more competitions in including the U-17's and then the Women's World Cup later this month. Personally I am very excited for the WWC and think that Canada are a team that can turn some heads.
I will try to cover that tournament and preview it in the coming weeks as well as continuing with some Gold Cup coverage and TFC coverage. Going to be a great summer for soccer in this country!
The short version is that Canada needs to be better then they were the last three games. The team that we saw against Ecuador showed potential and showed the ability to get forward but the team that showed up the last 3 matches looked completely unthreatening and at times they seemed lost for what they were doing. The 4-5-1 seemed to me to be the root cause of the problems because when Hart was forced to make changes, mainly not playing Jackson alone up top, things picked up a bit. It is actually a bad thing that Canada was at its very best in the second half of the US game because Ali Gerba was brought on. If we are counting on Ali Gerba, still, to score goals then this world cup qualifying campaign is going to be a tough one.
The fact is that Canada played 3 matches in the Gold Cup and the only time that they scored was from 2 soft penalties. They created very little from open play and maybe it was the game plan, or Atiba Hutchinson missing two matches, or maybe it is that Canada continues to lack a constant scoring threat from the striker position. The teams leading scorer on the current roster is Dwayne De Rosario, with 15 goals, and he so often gets lost in games going long stretches without making any impact. There is no one on this current team that you can count on to score with any regularity. We have some decent midfielders, good enough to compete with out teams in CONCACAF I would say but the other areas need to be improved. I have high hopes for Jackson but the truth is that he has a lot to learn and the system in place under Stephen Hart is not the right fit for him. If you watch how Norwich use him, which works well, you can see how he is capable of being an effective attacker but for Canada he was often isolated and out matched by larger defenders. Rob Friend and Ali Gerba on the other hand I do not have any confidence in at all. I hear Friend can be good but have limited exposure to him for his club but again he is poorly used in Hart's tactics. There is also Ricketts but I am going to reserve judgement on him since I have seen almost nothing of him and his few appearances for Canada have seemed decent but not enough to get a true sense.
The other issue that Canada faces is they lack that killer confidence. They go into games against the USA overwhelmed and play like they are afraid of getting beaten and then when they do get scored on they struggle to find an answer. Then even when we get ahead like we were against Panama there is this sense that the team are not strong enough to know how to hold on to that lead. The best teams know that the easiest way to hold a lead is to push back against the team rather then just packing it in where you are basically just waiting for the other team to create chances and potentially score. The goal that Canada conceded was quite unlucky but it was nothing less then Panama deserved as they had been taking the game to Canada for some time. Would of course not have been an issue if Canada had converted some chances in the first half. Now Canada has an average back line at best so that is never going to help and by the end of this Gold Cup they didn't have 4 players fit to play in their natural positions in the back line which is not going to help but maybe Hart should have brought another defender along for the tournament rather then someone like Pacheco just to pick a name.
The other area of the team that I was most concerned about going into this Gold Cup was in goal. Hirschfeld has had a couple of great performances for Canada in the past but is not consistent enough to rely on in hopefully a long qualification run. I was though pleased with what I saw from Milan Borjan. He displayed good positioning, good judgement, and the ability to stop shots. You can still tell that he has not been around top clubs and can use a fair bit of refinement but he has the potential and I was pleasantly surprised by that.
So Canada is now out of the Gold Cup and the next stop for the Men's National Team is World Cup qualifiers this fall. The draw will almost certainly hand us something easy in the opening round of play but my fear is that we will win that without making the needed changes. For me Hart needs to prove that he can get away from always using the 4-5-1 and have some tactical flexibility. He needs to change something and get the team to the point where it is scoring goals from open play against the Panama's and Guadeloupe's of the world. It is alright to be kept off the score sheet when you are up against a keeper like Tim Howard, who is class, but against other teams we need to find a way to manufacture goals. I can not sit here and offer a solution, if I could I would be coaching at a high level, but I can say that in my opinion if Hart does not show the willingness and ability to mix it up this fall then it should cost him his job. We should be winning these early qualifying games no matter what, that is not good enough though. Canada needs to be using these games to get much better. We have to be in the top 8 teams and CONCACAF and I would like to see us go far in qualifiers, even if the World Cup is still a distant dream, but based on the Gold Cup performance we have a long way to go to prove that we are right with the second tier of teams in the region.
The American team also played last night and to be fair they were terrible. They have been poor all the way through the group stage and seem to be a long way from hitting their stride. For me, and I have heard a few others saying this, they have only made it out of the group stage because of their natural talent and having some of the best players in the tournament. If you look at how Mexico has preformed and look at the States then they have a lot of work to do if they want to overcome Mexico at some point and potentially win this thing. Clint Dempsey was at the centre of the Americans bad play in the group stage as he seemed to just not be sharp at all and wasted chance after chance after chance with him being at his worst last night. Dempsey should have had a hat trick and put the game beyond a doubt for the US but instead he got nothing. Canada may be the team going home but the Americans have underachieved just as much and could be joining Canada in the coming days.
So with no more Gold Cup for Canada what do you have to look forward to? Well Canada is about to enter in to two more competitions in including the U-17's and then the Women's World Cup later this month. Personally I am very excited for the WWC and think that Canada are a team that can turn some heads.
I will try to cover that tournament and preview it in the coming weeks as well as continuing with some Gold Cup coverage and TFC coverage. Going to be a great summer for soccer in this country!
