Canada Soccer Part VII: Copa America Semifinal Edition

[JunglePete]

In watching Belgium this window, they are going to play wide and have multiple options off that wide ball.... their movement looked very good and Meunier was a big part of their attack so dedicating someone to the hard miles of tracking back will be Adekugbe... KDB often picks up a first or second ball off the wide play and then he tries for the killer pass or works his own shot. Belgium are less likely to stand a ball up for Lukaku or Batshuayi like Uruguay did Nunez today.. They will look to play between the lines.

So it will be Johnston, Vitoria and Kamal... Adekugbe and there is a good chance they put Laryea on defensive task as the starter.

Best chance for offense is to press Belgium before they get a chance to organize ..
I agree with the poster that said attack would be the best approach.. bunkering is not it.. not this team and I am very ok with that. Let's go all in on the big stage and try and take it to these teams.

Let's unpack this...

First of all, playing defense doesn't mean park the bus and do nothing. It means making sure to play the offside trap while being defensively composed with awareness and that they all understand eachother. Discipline.

If you play offensive against a MUCH talented team, you'll get demolished. This is not Fifa. Our midfield is no match to theirs, so you can forget press before they can organize. They will organize and better than us. With better possession. Only our only realistic hope is to play counter-attacks and playing counter-attacks is playing defense.

Then, they have the best playmaker in the world today and one of the best all time. They won't just look to play out wide. They'll come from everywhere. Left, Right, Center.

Lukaku is known to be that holdup striker for Belgium. Batshuayi no, he's just a poacher and he's not important for their squad.


I also promise you there's no way Johnston play as CB to face Lukaku. I doubt Herdman thought of that, but let's say he had this idea in the back in his mind at 30% with how AJ looked vs Nunez it dropped to 0. Even if Henry is not fit or unavailable, you'll see a taller/stronger guy take his place.


Davies will be the LB vs Meunier, not Ade. Ade may make a cameo appearance.

 

[robertmac43]

Atiba training again for Besiktas. World Cup starts 50 days today!

 

[robertmac43]

Lots of Canadians playing in big games today!

 

[Peen]

Does anyone see us having a chance unless we get a result in the first game?

Feel like Croatia is the least winnable game for us given the form they are in, so not getting a result versus Belgium makes it extremely difficult/hope killing

 

[JianYang]

Does anyone see us having a chance unless we get a result in the first game?

Feel like Croatia is the least winnable game for us given the form they are in, so not getting a result versus Belgium makes it extremely difficult/hope killing

I'm trying to look at this as a bonus world cup. I didn't expect the youngsters to step up so quickly, and not just win a wc spot, but also finish top of the table.

My outlook was that the qualifying capmeign would set them up for the 2026 world cup, so to actually make the world here in 2022.... I'm just going in with no expectations, and see where the ride goes.

The clown show off the pitch has killed some of my zen vibes, but I'm still more or less trying to keep the same mindset as a fan.

 

[luiginb]

Lots of Canadians playing in big games today!

Eustaquio had the third highest rating for Porto on both whoscored and sofascore

 

[maclean]

Does anyone see us having a chance unless we get a result in the first game?

Feel like Croatia is the least winnable game for us given the form they are in, so not getting a result versus Belgium makes it extremely difficult/hope killing

I look at it as a result in any game is equally as unlikely, so there's not even much point in trying to pick out better or worse games. It's going to take a herculean effort plus a good dash of luck either way, and no team is perfect

 

[robertmac43]

Eustaquio had the third highest rating for Porto on both whoscored and sofascore

He has been in impressive form. Showing some maturity on the ball and is very press resistant on top of great defensive performances. He and Tajon both looked awesome yesterday.

 

[robertmac43]

Yeah, this guy will not be playing LB come the World Cup:

 

[al secord]

Yeah, this guy will not be playing LB come the World Cup:

Adekugbe's form as well makes it a no brainer

 

[Peen]

 

[JunglePete]

Yeah, this guy will not be playing LB come the World Cup:

Forget a new position, Let's hope he even gets to play at this point


Concussion may be one of the reasons Oso could miss the tournament as well..

 

[Pink Mist]

oh for f***s sake just our luck

 

[ahmedou]

Emotional Damage

 

[JunglePete]

Knock on wood but should Davies miss the WC, I am not worried one bit. We played so many qualifiers without him and we looked damn good. Matter of fact, we looked more organized when he wasnt playing because we knew we couldnt rely on him.

Obviously you want him there at all cost but Im not worried. We have immense mental strenght. Raheem Edwards whos been playing superbly can cover for Ade. Jo David will need to be a leader though. I do believe Phonzie will be there, maybe not starting all the games. Sucks it has to be Bellingham catching heat rn. Incredibly mature player. No way it was malicious.

 

[Pink Mist]

 

[Scouter]

Yeah, just the worst news.

 

[Tuggy]

I've seen various reports and some say he'll only miss one game. We'll see.

Still plenty of time till the WC to heal up.

 

[JianYang]

I've seen various reports and some say he'll only miss one game. We'll see.

Still plenty of time till the WC to heal up.

Well, hopefully you're right. It's not only crucial that he plays, but also that he has enough time to be in form.

I'm guessing Canada is going to have more guys not playing competitive league action prior to the world cup than the teams in their grouping, and that's as much of a concern for me as the disparity in quality to begin with.

 

[robertmac43]

At this point i'm not overly concerned about the injury. I think we see Phonzie in Qatar. I also totally agree with @JunglePete, this Canada team has played without Davies and stepped up before. I have total faith in them!

 

[robertmac43]

This would be a great infrastructure add and having a mainland BC CPL team would be awesome.

 

[robertmac43]

Update from Oso:

 

[ahmedou]

Arfield

 

[robertmac43]

Sounds like FC Edmonton may be going out of business. No official news yet, but it would be sad to see one of the founding members of the league gone.

Alan Koch has done solid job with that team despite all the issues, if they do go, i hope he finds another job in the country.

 

[Tuggy]