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Canada Soccer Part VII: Copa America Semifinal Edition

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Shame to go out on penalties like this after a pretty strong game. The team really lacks good finishers, way too reliant on defenders and midfielders to score this tournament.
 
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If a German had to be the hero, I'm extremely glad it was Ann-Katrin Berger.

She had a difficult club year, losing her starting spot at Chelsea. She's 33 but has never in her career been a starter for Germany until this tournament. She's beaten thyroid cancer two times and she got engaged a few months ago to Chelsea teammate Jess Carter (and they're now both playing in the US).

She's a legend, and I'm glad she got to be a legend today.
 
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f***ing Bev Priestloser and the Canada Soccer pretty much screwed us over. The 6 point deduction was huge as it forced them to play above their level for 2 games straight. They gave it a go today but they just didn't have the final runs to break through.

Securing 6 points would have at least allowed us to rest a few players for that Colombia game and limit the exertion. It makes all the difference in a short tournament like this.
 
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(major oversimplifications coming up)

my main thought watching this game today is simply that a huge component of the traditional, 'powerhouse in the men's game' European NTs having fully closed the gap/surpassed the teams that were earlier in investing in women's football (US, Canada, Japan, China, Brazil, etc) is technical ability. very good, tactical and technical youth development.

if canada could take a good first touch, they would've won this game 6-0. so many chances died at a bad first touch. if canada could take a good first touch and finish, they would've won this game 12-0. going from watching Spain play (and not play well) against Colombia to this, the difference in technical proficiency was absolutely enormous.

canada's game is still characterized by a chaos which simply does not characterize the game of the top top sides in the women's game today, and doesn't characterize the state of play in women's club football (the rise of which in europe being the main variable determining the relative plateauing of north american women's national teams and the rise of european ones). we're good enough in other ways that we can still play extremely well, and have played extremely well in this tournament (including today!). but unless something is done to address it from a development perspective, the technical gulfs will keep growing. i hope the growth of the NWSL helps in this regard.

canada have forwards (especially leon and beckie, but to a lesser extent prince and huitema) who are extremely adept at making space for others and (to a slightly lesser extent) chance creation. but if your entire forward line is players like that, then you're not actually gonna score because space is being made and no one is working with it! Viens is the closest canada has to a striker with pure striker instincts, but she's just not at the level. throughout the entire game all i could think to myself was "man if Canada had Sam Kerr this would be like 5-0 right now."

this was a really really good tournament for canada, for a lot of reasons. they fought insanely hard with their backs against the wall. they won games that in the last few years they would've absolutely lost. they looked creative and ambitious going forward. and (this to me is the most crucial) they established that they were still very good in the 'post-Sinclair era' even when canada soccer foolishness (continuing to do CWNT=Sinclair up until the day she retired, rather than publicly elevating younger players so that people knew the squad outside of Sinclair) risked people no longer caring now that Sinclair was gone.

but (despite the fact that the overall gulfs between the squads are smaller on the women's side), the technical discrepancy between Aitana Bonmati and any of Canada's women's midfielders or attackers is as big as the technical discrepancy between Kevin de Bruyne and any of Canada's men's midfielders. the development issues that create gulfs between our men's team and the better countries (even as our men's team is improving) are the same as those which have been creating gulfs between our women's team and the big european countries, even in a tournament where the women's team looks more creative than it has in a long time.
 
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Wee Baby Seamus said:
(major oversimplifications coming up)

my main thought watching this game today is simply that a huge component of the traditional, 'powerhouse in the men's game' European NTs having fully closed the gap/surpassed the teams that were earlier in investing in women's football (US, Canada, Japan, China, Brazil, etc) is technical ability. very good, tactical and technical youth development.

if canada could take a good first touch, they would've won this game 6-0. so many chances died at a bad first touch. if canada could take a good first touch and finish, they would've won this game 12-0. going from watching Spain play (and not play well) against Colombia to this, the difference in technical proficiency was absolutely enormous.

canada's game is still characterized by a chaos which simply does not characterize the game of the top top sides in the women's game today, and doesn't characterize the state of play in women's club football (the rise of which in europe being the main variable determining the relative plateauing of north american women's national teams and the rise of european ones). we're good enough in other ways that we can still play extremely well, and have played extremely well in this tournament (including today!). but unless something is done to address it from a development perspective, the technical gulfs will keep growing. i hope the growth of the NWSL helps in this regard.

canada have forwards (especially leon and beckie, but to a lesser extent prince and huitema) who are extremely adept at making space for others and (to a slightly lesser extent) chance creation. but if your entire forward line is players like that, then you're not actually gonna score because space is being made and no one is working with it! Viens is the closest canada has to a striker with pure striker instincts, but she's just not at the level. throughout the entire game all i could think to myself was "man if Canada had Sam Kerr this would be like 5-0 right now."

this was a really really good tournament for canada, for a lot of reasons. they fought insanely hard with their backs against the wall. they won games that in the last few years they would've absolutely lost. they looked creative and ambitious going forward. and (this to me is the most crucial) they established that they were still very good in the 'post-Sinclair era' even when canada soccer foolishness (continuing to do CWNT=Sinclair up until the day she retired, rather than publicly elevating younger players so that people knew the squad outside of Sinclair) risked people no longer caring now that Sinclair was gone.

but (despite the fact that the overall gulfs between the squads are smaller on the women's side), the technical discrepancy between Aitana Bonmati and any of Canada's women's midfielders or attackers is as big as the technical discrepancy between Kevin de Bruyne and any of Canada's men's midfielders. the development issues that create gulfs between our men's team and the better countries (even as our men's team is improving) are the same as those which have been creating gulfs between our women's team and the big european countries, even in a tournament where the women's team looks more creative than it has in a long time.
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I didn't read the whole post but I wanted to immediately comment that I found their first touch shockingly bad today. I am not a women's football guy though so I cannot comment on other instances.
 
Wee Baby Seamus said:
(major oversimplifications coming up)

my main thought watching this game today is simply that a huge component of the traditional, 'powerhouse in the men's game' European NTs having fully closed the gap/surpassed the teams that were earlier in investing in women's football (US, Canada, Japan, China, Brazil, etc) is technical ability. very good, tactical and technical youth development.

if canada could take a good first touch, they would've won this game 6-0. so many chances died at a bad first touch. if canada could take a good first touch and finish, they would've won this game 12-0. going from watching Spain play (and not play well) against Colombia to this, the difference in technical proficiency was absolutely enormous.

canada's game is still characterized by a chaos which simply does not characterize the game of the top top sides in the women's game today, and doesn't characterize the state of play in women's club football (the rise of which in europe being the main variable determining the relative plateauing of north american women's national teams and the rise of european ones). we're good enough in other ways that we can still play extremely well, and have played extremely well in this tournament (including today!). but unless something is done to address it from a development perspective, the technical gulfs will keep growing. i hope the growth of the NWSL helps in this regard.

canada have forwards (especially leon and beckie, but to a lesser extent prince and huitema) who are extremely adept at making space for others and (to a slightly lesser extent) chance creation. but if your entire forward line is players like that, then you're not actually gonna score because space is being made and no one is working with it! Viens is the closest canada has to a striker with pure striker instincts, but she's just not at the level. throughout the entire game all i could think to myself was "man if Canada had Sam Kerr this would be like 5-0 right now."

this was a really really good tournament for canada, for a lot of reasons. they fought insanely hard with their backs against the wall. they won games that in the last few years they would've absolutely lost. they looked creative and ambitious going forward. and (this to me is the most crucial) they established that they were still very good in the 'post-Sinclair era' even when canada soccer foolishness (continuing to do CWNT=Sinclair up until the day she retired, rather than publicly elevating younger players so that people knew the squad outside of Sinclair) risked people no longer caring now that Sinclair was gone.

but (despite the fact that the overall gulfs between the squads are smaller on the women's side), the technical discrepancy between Aitana Bonmati and any of Canada's women's midfielders or attackers is as big as the technical discrepancy between Kevin de Bruyne and any of Canada's men's midfielders. the development issues that create gulfs between our men's team and the better countries (even as our men's team is improving) are the same as those which have been creating gulfs between our women's team and the big european countries, even in a tournament where the women's team looks more creative than it has in a long time.
Click to expand...
Great write up, I totally agree. Technically we can't measure up to many and that gulf in talent is only going to increase as the Europeans continue to invest in the Womens game.

Hopefully with the creation of the The Northern Super League more Women will get good coaching and the game can continue to grow here. If not, I'm afraid we will never reach the heights of Tokyo again.
 
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robertmac43 said:
Great write up, I totally agree. Technically we can't measure up to many and that gulf in talent is only going to increase as the Europeans continue to invest in the Womens game.

Hopefully with the creation of the The Northern Super League more Women will get good coaching and the game can continue to grow here. If not, I'm afraid we will never reach the heights of Tokyo again.
Click to expand...
I mean, the Europeans have an existing development structure and they incorporated women into it.

We have sweet f*** all. It is already a miracle that, by caring about the women game before everyone else, we were able to get the success we got.
 
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I didn't see the transfer but Ethan Schilte-Brown left the U20'slast week and is with Kilmarnock. He was on the bench but did not feature yesterday. Another central defense prospect. Hopefully he will continue to grow in Europe.
 
Wanderers sold out a hot day in Halifax. They bookended two atrocious goals against, with some fantastic play and were deserved 3-2 winners.
 
robertmac43 said:
Big win too. Brings the bottom 4 closer together as we get into the second half of the season.

That final playoff spot could be anyones.
Click to expand...
Sean Rea made his debut. I had never seen him play and I was not thrilled that Coimbra was taken off for him on 56'. I changed my mind once I saw him.. he was on it from the get go. The CPL's version of Michael Owen. Very exciting and can hopefully push the Wanderers into a playoff spot.

They still have a u21 minutes issue to deal with. Alphonse did well at LCB in his first start.
 
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PanniniClaus said:
Sean Rea made his debut. I had never seen him play and I was not thrilled that Coimbra was taken off for him on 56'. I changed my mind once I saw him.. he was on it from the get go. The CPL's version of Michael Owen. Very exciting and can hopefully push the Wanderers into a playoff spot.

They still have a u21 minutes issue to deal with. Alphonse did well at LCB in his first start.
Click to expand...
Rea is the real deal. Hopefully he gets another chance to prove it outside of the CPL.

Class player.
 
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