I am really angry at the lads not being focused on closing out this match. I just don't understand where there heads are at. And for the love of god, how can Tani miss so many opportunities? Agreed Ismael is looking very good in spells.
@@djknox2 Tani is a first year MLS pro. He's good physically but very very raw. Don't expect too much from him yet, he's not even close to the level of someone like Balogun for the US.
@JJDTV96 Did Alistair Johnston need to be removed in a 1-1 tie at the 62 minute mark? Was he the best person to take off at that point in a 1-1 tie? I liked bringing Davis on, but there wasn't anyone else who could have left? Also, as to not finishing off, can we give our opponents credit for doing things that weren't expected? We had a shot get past the keeper, and a defender quickly heading across the front of the net prevented a goal. This is "Canada can't close out games", and not "imaginative playmaking"? That was a definite scoring chance that the keeper was unable to prevent! Let's give a lads a little credit for what they are doing!
I have a number of "biggest takeaways" from the match. 1. Folks that are sports fans but haven't been soccer fans due to the lack of Canadian success have become interested in this team. That's huge! If only they could have managed the game at the end and taken home the bronze. 2. $6 million USD of participation and prize money has been earned. How they distribute this cash is very important. A 3rd place finish would have gave them another million. 3. I am excited for the next Shaffelburg / Kone. Who will it be? How good will Du Fougeroulles be in 2 years? Where do players like Ugbo, Hoilett and Adekugbe fit? 4. Did this tournament help convince a dual to join Canada? A rising team. A coach whose style meshes well with the team. Home soil World Cup? Canada has to pounce and get a great player or two. 5. When the CPL is mentioned by players and the coach during success at the COPA, the CPL needs to react positively. The top is dependent on everything below it and the CPL plays a huge role. Quebec needs teams. Younger Canadians need to be given opportunities and the CPL teams need to build strong feeder systems. 6. In step with the CPL, proper stadiums and fields need to be put in place. 7. Canada needs to find opportunities to take advantage of their success at COPA. They need to find creative ways to make $$ off of this and promote their players. Money is the straw they need to stir their drink. We need great competition and lots of it on home soil. 8. The team can not let off of this momentum as they did in the final 5 minutes of this last game. They can't dip. They have to maintain momentum, build on it and make their success normal rather than a 1 off. What a ride it has been! It sure shows how success breeds success. By advancing from the group stage, Canada got more time together. They ended up with 6 games instead of just 3. They earned more money. Those extra 3 games were like a whole other tournament for Canada. So proud of them!
Overall Canada's team "Came of age" in this tournament. Kone, Shaffelburg, Choiniere, De Fougerolles, Bombito, Cornelius, Ahmed showed tremendous growth in their games and the future for all of them looks incredibly bright. Davies now realizes he doesn't have to carry the team entirely on his back for Canada to succeed. Credit to Marsch for in a short period of time putting these players and others in a position to show their talents and succeed if not ultimately win the big prize. Canada finishing 4th in their debut Copa America is nothing short of phenomenal. By the way the USA has never finished higher than 4th in any Copa America they have entered. So it's a big feather in Canadian soccer's cap to achieve this result. Can't wait for Nations League and the Gold Cup to see how the team progresses further. Onwards and Upwards ! Cheers !
Great comment. I agree with it all. I think it's good that a fair chunk of the usual 11-15 players appear to have people behind them who might be able to challenge them for minutes going forward. I really liked what I saw from many of the MLS guys in this game. Their passing, speed and decision making was solid throughout most of the match. I really hope we can get some better friendlies between now and 2026 off the back of that performance. It would be good to invite some South American or Asian nations to the Gold Cup as well.
My biggest takeaway is thinking about how this CMNT has gotten better under Jesse Marsch each game... Going back to the first friendly against the Netherlands to last night's epic performance (they're best in the Copa), I can see they are growing and learning together by leaps and bounds... I'm very proud of this team... The last time we played Uruguay (2 years ago), I remember being just happy and satisfied to watch them lose 2-0 in a friendly... Two years ago, losing 2-0 in a friendly was "a win," because it amounted to a learning experience for inexperienced Canadian soccer players who don't get a chance to match up against players of such quality, as Uruguay... So, after last night, we're no longer just "happy to be here", we know our CMNT lads can match up against some of the greatest teams in the world and push them to brink... Even my mother is proud of these guys...
Biggest takeaway has got to be that 3 in the midfield is a lock. As you said, Josh, it's understandable that Marsch just didn't know the player pool enough to be confident, but this match alone proved that Osorio, Ahmed and Choiniere are fully capable of supplementing Eustaquio and Kone in the middle, and that we have enough talent and depth to reliably field 3 in the middle. We'll need to scout a young CDM and ideally a proper CAM, but we have all that we need right now.
How about Ali Ahmed?!! Overshadowed a bit by Kone's massive performance, but Ahmed has to be the one that made the biggest leap/impression. His first start under Marsch and he absolutely killed it. Clearly showing himself to be a key component of these next few years.
He's already ahead of Liam Millar in the squad for me. Much better composure when playing the final ball, which is impressive considering how young he is.
I'm pretty optimistic about this team. It was just last fall when they had a friendly against Japan, and they were completely dominated. They looked so bad! And this team, just eight months later, looks like a totally different animal.
I am so proud for the boys, I am genuinely happy we got this far this means a lot for Canada and for the fans. I also have to say it is heartbreaking that we just cannot finish or close out games. I don’t think it has anything to do with Jesse Marsch & his coaching, I strongly believe we are not hungry or desperate enough. We need to be bigger than the moment. We have the talent, the speed, the physicality, the play making…We just need our boys to become men who execute every chance they get.
Josh I love your takeaways, and I think you are better than most of the talking heads. My key takeaway is that under Jesse marsch system it doesn’t seem to matter who is substituted. Everyone looks like they belong. All tournament and the early friendlies have shown this. For a big tournament like the World Cup this will be essential to win the whole thing. After this tournament I do believe this team will be capable to win the whole thing
This was like a non hockey nation like Morroco putting a hockey team together with a new coach, then being invited to a World Cup tournament and barely losing twice to Canada but beating Sweden, Checkz & losing in overtime shootouts to the USA & Russia. Phenomenal job & only the beginning of a new soccer power house nation...😊
That last 5 minutes destroyed me. And I knew it was coming cause of the team's history of this. Just such an unprofessional way to finish out that match. Maybe it's the consequence of having a bunch of very raw players that came through non-traditional pathways? They haven't had the basics wired into their brain from a youth level the same way players from true football nations have? Idk. If we didn't play the last few minutes and stoppage time of halves our results would be SO much better over the last few years...
So very painful to see that unfold. They were ALMOST there. Seems it was clearly a mistake not to bring in Eustaquio to see out the end of the game. I thought for sure he was coming in. Ahmed could have stayed in. Tough to criticize Marsch though cause he looks like a genius after this tournament.
Yeah, I won't critize Marsch too much cause it's been an issue since before his time, including multiple times last year in the Gold Cup under Herdman. I doubt Marsch is telling them anything but to lock it down defensively in those moments...
How many times now have we seen the over-the-top pass? When Uruguay, Argentina does it, it ends on the feet of their forwards. When we do it, it doesn't. CMNT needs to work on their shape for both these situations
My takeaways: Max Crepeau is and should be our #1 keeper going forward. Second, as much as I love Phonzie, I wouldn’t have him take penalty kicks. He’s missed several significant ones (last night, against Belgium in the World Cup). That is not one of the best parts of his game. He does not take penalty kicks at Bayern. Third, there is absolutely no dropoff when Larin is not in the lineup. Fourth, execution in the final third needs to get better. Fifth, I’m looking forward to getting Adekugbe back from his injury. He’s a wonderful wingback. Finally, I don’t think that Marsch incorporated Davies into the attack nearly enough.
Good job Canada. But let's not get carried away as world heavyweights. Run's are up and down. Consistency is key. Uruguay unfortunately were not at their best. What you don't understand is that Uruguay play's with grit. It's not the first time Uruguay had to suffer in order to get a result... Wish Canada further success 🎉
Josh, regarding formation, consider this; The 4-2-3-1 is great, but based on the current player pool, isn't a 4-1-4-1 a better fit for the immediate? The 4-2-3-1 obviously plays 2 midfielders further back and 1 attacking midfielder higher up, but the 4-1-4-1 would put Eustaquio in the CDM and allow Kone and Choiniere (or Ahmed) to play as 8's. The fact that Bombito is so comfortable/experienced with the ball at his feet means he can function as a faux midfielder in the back if necessary, carrying the ball forward a bit with Eustaquio while Cornelius truly locks down the back and is the one looking for balls over the top. And they can do all this without committing to much forward and being exposed. How 'bout this as an ideal lineup when everyone is healthy; David Davies. Kone. Choiniere/Ahmed. Buchanan Eustaquio Adekugbe Cornelius. Bombito. Johnston The squad beyond this reveals there is enough depth to easily field 5 strong subs into this same formation and/or rotate who starts in tourney play. For me, this formation seems killer for our present group of players. It would move into a 4-3-3- in attack.
I think with this pressing style rotation is key in tournaments, you could see in the semifinal game we looked tired and we had one less day of rest than Argentina. Players like Schaffelburg tire quickly, imagine if we had Buchanan in the lineup as a sub.
@@pauldorn4422 That's it - there's already enough depth to rotate more than we did in this tourney and be stronger for it. And Marsch will certainly make it a priority to bolster that depth. He'll be working on it immediately. Looking very, VERY good as we head towards '26.
anyone who played youth soccer in 🇨🇦 knows the skill, passion, intensity, and detail, us canadians have the ability to play at. finally it looks like the federation has done their job to get our mens national team back to a respectable level. god bless canada soccer ❤❤
It opened up the passing game and gave way to many good chances. Oso, Ahmed and Choinière were awesome and complemented Kone very well. This is the formation they should go forward with. More IQ, more passing and controlling the midfield.
Crepeau would not have allowed that first goal. Players in positions of finishing who can't finish. There were moments of one-touch two-touch passing but too few to consider instinctual. We seem to like our evolution difficult and slow. Two nice goals was a positive. Preparation is our greatest weakness and that's never the player's fault. Let's not pride ourselves at having finally reached the level of world soccer mediocrity and consider taking the sport by the ⚽️'s. 🇨🇦 Go Canada!! 🇨🇦
So stoked that Kone got his breakout game. I predicted it before the tourney and it seemed like it was going to pass him by. Credit to Marsch for managing him perfectly to enable him to come back and get last night's performance. I had been thinking we might see Kone hit one from outside the box. The bicycle kick was even better. Marseille feeling really happy they locked him down before that performance.
Club World Cup in U.S.A will mean that Gold Cup either wont take place or will be a B squad tournament as European players cant play on both torunaments. This was the best chance to show the world tbey can beat a top 10 team. Very dissapointed with last ten minutes if the team not to see this out.
