The Footie Fool

As much as we hoped and prayed for a miracle, it never came. In the end, beating, or even drawing Mexico in Mexico was just too much to expect. But we can take some positives away from this result.

1. There is decent officiating in CONCACAF. Full marks to the T&T ref who made good calls and let the players play. And seeing 2 Mexicans getting booked for simulation was PRICELESS, something you never see in CONCACAF. And talk about balls, to book Blanco on his 100th and final international cap for Mexico in front of a Mexican crowd? Can we get this guy for Honduras next month?
2. Mitchell can make subs that change the game. Bringing on Hume for the ineffective Nakajima-Farran (he still might be nursing the effects of an injury), Gerba and Occean changed the shape of the game and we finally saw Canada take some offensive control of the game. It was almost enough to pull out a draw. And i know there are a few who are saying why didn’t we start the game the way we finished it. Well, I think if that would have happened we would have been slaughtered, and we are now in a situation where goals and goal differentials may matter a great deal (see below scenario). So, I think 4-5-1 and fall back defending was a good tactical option by Mitchell in this case. Sure, not what we like to watch, but sometimes you gotta grind, especially playing a bona fide World Cup champion contender like Mexico at home. I’m not saying Mitchell is the guy here. If we don’t qualify for 2010, then he is toast. And we need to find some serious coin for a replacement that can take our talent to the next level.
3. Hirschfeld is the keeper. If only he was the starter for Cluj, or had even a few games under his belt, I am sure Mitchell would have given him a long, hard look to start for the Jamaica match. How things might have been different.
4. Klukowski and Serioux are the real deal. In this campaign, both have delivered for Canada. Last night, in the first half especially, Serioux looked like a man possessed. Okay, he always looks like a man possessed (I saw an interview with him once where he said his pre-game ritual was banging his head against a concrete wall just prior to taking to the field), but last night he was extra-possessed. And Klukowski shaking off not one, but 2 knocks and kept on ticking.
5. In my last post I said Gerba was like Hume – a power sub that causes problems for tired defenders with his size. Last night illustrated that perfectly.
6. Hume’s distribution from set pieces is killer. He consistently delivers from dead balls like no one else on the team.
7. Rob Friend just isn’t doing it for Canada in the formation we are playing. His talents are being wasted in a 4-5-1. He really needs someone else to be playing alongside him to be effective. I believe he plays alongside a second attacking forward with Borussia Mönchengladbach, where he scores goals.

We can still do this, but we need some luck and results to go our way. Here is a very realistic scenario, provided by squizz over on the V’s board.:

Matchday 4:
Canada def. Honduras
Mexico def. Jamaica
Standings: Mexico 12 – Honduras 6 – Canada 4 – Jamaica 1

Matchday 5:
Canada – Mexico draw
Honduras – Jamaica draw
Standings: Mexico 13 – Honduras 7 – Canada 5 – Jamaica 2

Matchday 6:
Canada def. Jamaica
Honduras – Mexico draw
Standings: Mexico 14 – Honduras 8 – Canada 8 – Jamaica 2

At that point, it’s goal differential. To me, this looks like a very do-able situation. So there is no question in my mind 4-5-1 has to go and we need to score goals in the next 3 games. But the hope for South Africa is still alive.

For more on the game:

• If it wasn’t a WCQ match, to pull a result like we did last night against Mexico in Mexico would have been a good result. The Full 90 agrees.
• There is much less optimistic math over at Canada Kicks.
• Inside Soccer has some quotes from Dale Mitchell about the lose.
• Canada succumbs to Mexico from the CBC