Demographic becoming focused on soccer

Mike Toth of Sportsnet shines a light on the future of "football" in this country. He says that the Grey Cup and the CFL are over-rated and that soccer will be king:

"But in a new Canada that features a huge immigrant population, hockey is becoming less and less popular. Many newcomers, in fact, can't even afford to think about registering their children in expensive minor hockey programs.When it comes to football, meanwhile, newcomers are inclined to celebrate the exploits of Ronaldo and Kaka from the more "beautiful" game.Some of the powers-that-be in Canadian hockey are just starting to recognize the changing face of our nation. The Leafs, for example, staged a free exhibition game this season to try and captivate a young multicultural demographic that's becoming increasingly focused on soccer, basketball and mixed martial arts."

So, despite the economic downturn, hold on to those TFC season tickets. In the long-run they might be worth more than Leafs season tics.

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CSA has no real plan for beauty

The CSA has announced a new strategic plan:

"The strategic priorities have been established to help the Association achieve specific milestones for 2013. Those milestones include greater revenue streams (a $25-million annual budget), triumphs for the national teams (FIFA World Cup qualification for the men and a FIFA or Olympic podium finish for the women), the promise of another FIFA tournament (FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015), and the registration of more Canadians playing the beautiful game (a million players by 2013)."


But to us the new plan sounds just like the old plan. The organization is not risking anything of it's own or creating anything of it's own. It is once again piggy-backing on others: on registered players, on revenue from a FIFA tournament, on revenue from qualification.

Bumping the budget up to 25 mil sounds great but how do you do that when the men's and women's teams have never "trimphed"? The way it works in the real world is that you risk something up front in order to create the quality you need to win or achieve something.

In recent years, the only groups that have been willing to risk anything for the sake of the "beautiful game" have been Canadian players who have correctly sought their training and opportunities abroad and Canada's emerging professional teams (TFC, Impact, Whitecaps).

The fact of the matter is that given the current and future lack of courage from the CSA - the only thing that will make the strategic plan work is if the young Canadian men playing abroad come home to lead Canada to Brazil in 2014.

But even that seems like a pipe dream given the CSA's unwillingness to splash-out the cash for a big time manager.

My advice to Canadians? Completely ignore the CSA.

If you're a player - dream about playing in Europe or for an MLS team (not for the Canadian national team).

If you're a fan - support your old clubs abroad and your new clubs in Canada, and quietly applaud our boys who are bravely and bolding pursuing the beautiful game on other frontiers, instead of paying lip-service to the phrase that captures the essence of soccer.

What Jim Brennan is talking about

Dale Mitchell is a nice fellow. Bobby Lenarduzzi is also a nice fellow. Both have managed Canada. There have been many nice fellows - as well as not so nice fellows and not so competent fellows - in the CSA coaching and management ranks over the years.While the entire country is currently gushing about the marketing success of Toronto FC (not the on-field success though) and the prospect of Vancouver and Montreal joining the MLS - people forget that apart from the arrival of the MLS - very little has changed in Canadian soccer. The only meaningful development has been the long-awaited flowering of Canadian soccer talent abroad - which has given us almost a false hope about our national team prospects. False hope could turn into real hope rather quickly if the CSA invested in the management of it's national team. It really would be a small investment - even if they hired an expensive, internationally renowned manager - compared to the pie-in-the-sky idea of building success through grassroots. We have to face the fact that at both the grassroots level and the national team level our coaching and managing of players is at a very low level. To endure this at the grassroots level - given how immature our soccer culture is here and how expensive it would be to develop players here properly - is one thing. But to waste the improving national team talent - that has been developed abroad - is simply lacking in vision and courage. Having spent time in various capacities in the Canadian soccer system - I can imagine what Jim Brennan is talking about. Mitchell is not a bad fellow - he just isn't good enough to lead Canada to the World Cup. Nor are most of the people in the Canadian soccer establishment. What Canada needs to do is invest in a proper coach and give him the money to run a World Cup qualifying campaign properly. Otherwise - things could get worse quickly. Yes - there is something worse: players like Brennan and the more talented ones abroad could start to retire from the cause in droves. And then we'd be back to square one: a soccer hinterland occupied by a bunch of aimless footballers who - admitedly - love the beautiful game but who never have the real opportunity of achieving one of the great footie dreams: winning a World Cup.

The difference between the Impact and TFC

Let's get this out of the way first: I am a happy Toronto FC season ticket holder. I am happy to have professional soccer in our beautiful, big city.

However, for me the future of TFC promises more of the past when it comes to Toronto sports franchises - no proper commitment to winning - not like in Montreal - where either people seem to think differently or organizations are set up better for winning.

I just read a Montreal Gazette interview with Montreal Impact owner Joey Saputo in which Saputo reveals his greatest fear and the secret behind the success of his franchise:

"Greatest fear?...Not being successful at what I do. I like to go into everything knowing that I'm going to succeed. My biggest fear is thinking it's not going to happen..."

I just don't imagine anybody at Toronto FC being capable of making such a statement.

And of course we all know that it's Saputo's Impact that's in the Champions League and not Richard Peddie's or (fill-in the blank's) TFC.

Unless TFC changes something - it's organizational structure or it's leadership - I expect that trend to continue into the future: Montreal will win more than Toronto.

And I'll still be a TFC fan - just not has happy as I could be.

Because we all know that winning is beautiful.

Poor Pitches, Poor Preparation, Poor Results

Canadian National Team head coach Dale Mitchell made a lot of noise about the pitch at BMO Field in Toronto prior to and after their 1-1 World Cup Qualifying draw with Jamaica - but he ended up with a worse pitch in Montreal and a worse result.

The Canadian Press reported, "It was an entertaining game with chances at both ends despite a bumby pitch torn up with divots after a day of heavy rain."

But it's the worst looking pitch I've ever seen for a major match in Canada.

It was truly amateur.

But the pitch in the end didn't favour one team over another. Certainly not ast much as an artifical pitch would have favoured Canada. Why doesn't Canada use BMO Field as an advantage?

Probably because they are generally not sophisticated in many areas of managing a successful national team.

Apart from pitch selection - another area they are woeful in is the politics of referee selection.

How on earth is a Costa Rican referee considered a "neutral" when Honduras is playing? Canada should fight this.

In football the idea of "neutrality" is most dependent not on actual bias - or cheating on the part of the referee - but on style of play. And sure enough we saw a Latin American style match played in Montreal which saw Radzinski stretchered off and Patrice Bernier sent off.

Here's what Bernier thought of the refereeing:

"The second one was a foul, but there's no way it was a yellow card...the Central American referees are going to be even worse when we play down there."

How can we be so naive? Will CONCACAF consider it neutral to have a Costa Rican in charge in Honduras as well?

True neutrality in refereeing would see us bring in referees from the other federations.

And speaking of naive, let's not even speak of Canada's tactics, or mental preparation. Sure we play better football now (thank goodness, finally) but that's only because Europe is producing our players for us now. Where we broke down was on the tactical level; we fell apart when Honduras forced us to play their game. Where was our adjustment? Where was our cleverness? Where was our will to win?

I do think Honduras were full value for their win.

But we too easily allowed them to play the kind of game they wanted.

I honestly believe that Canada - now that they have talent being produced for them by Europe - have a very easy answer under their noses to qualify for the World Cup - they need to hire an experienced, successful - and - expensive coach.

But that money and the effort it will take to make the decision will be far easier than the over-rated notion of a grass-roots revolution in Canadian soccer.

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Getting into a World Cup is now even easier than we think. Only problem is that we are not "thinking" to well as a organization - still.

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Red Herring

Full Time has reported that Canadian National Team coach Dale Mitchell would rather not have his team play in Toronto due to the artifical turf.

But I think that "the pitch is the same for both teams and down the road could even prove a big advantage for Canadian teams attempting to qualify. For me the turf issue distracts too much from the performance issues surrounding both Canada and TFC. The big story for me is Canada not getting the critical three points against Jamaica. Same goes for TFC - who in my mind should be focusing more on a play-off spot than on the turf. Re TFC/MLS - in what other league in the world do you see a team transfering one of their best players (Edu) in the middle of the season - during a play-off run - and then saying they'll use the money to buy a field rather than new players? It's absurd. So - while it is an issue - the turf is really more of red herring. Canada and TFC have other fish to fry."

Better football - but a poor result

National team coach Dale Mitchell doesn't seem to be as worried as I am about Canada not getting three points in their first World Cup qualifying match at home to Jamaica:

"And I think it's the same start as we had in 1986, when we qualified...That's what we told the players after...If we can play like that in the next five more games … I think we'll have a chance in every single game. I think the games will be close ones."

I guess it's his job to be positive. He wouldn't have much to gain now if he started publicly expressing his disappointment. But the reality is that Canada's chance to qualify took a huge hit with their loss of two points.

I can be positive about something though - Canada is playing the best style of football it's ever played. Could it be true then that "Canada plays the beautiful game".

Parents out there - keep sending your boys abroad. They learn about beauty. They bring back beauty. And that's good for Canada.

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It's the way I like to play

Canadian national team player Dwayne De Rosario, prior to the team's absolutely critical World Cup qualifier against Jamaica:

"It's the best (Canadian) team I've played with...I enjoy playing with them because it's the way I like to play...the ball is mostly on the ground. We like to create great chances. Defensively we're solid. The guys want to play, they enjoy playing the game and they play at a high level."

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BMO "Football" joke

We shouldn't get to worked up about this - or should we ?

The Toronto Argonauts "football" team of the Canadian "Football" League wants to get in on the action at BMO Field.

I don't see this happening in the end. Perhaps Argo owner, Howard Sokolowski, is simply using BMO as a bargaining tool of some sort.

Here's what he says:

"The mayor has been very helpful...He wants to please soccer and football fans together. There's no reason they can't coexist. This isn't the Hatfields and the McCoys, but I'm not sure [MLSE president] Richard Peddie feels that way."

Of course Peddie doesn't. Nor do those of us who live for the beauty of our beautiful game. For me it would be utterly unacceptable to see "fooball" lines on BMO Field and to have the configuration of the pitch altered - except for the purpose of housing more "soccer" fans.

My prediction? If the Argos are actually serious about their attempt to ruin BMO Field - they actually won't survive long enough to see the changes happen and TFC will be such a strong pressence on the Toronto sports scene that they will simply buy-out the stadium partners (municipal-provincial-federal) and expand for the sake of "soccer" alone.

In what is looking more and more like a soccer-future in Canada - "Canadian football" - poses no serious threat.

It is to be laughed at. A joke.

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This debate won't be the equivalent of the Hatfields and the McCoys because that implies that both sports franchises - like the two families - are equal rivals. And that simply isn't the case.

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Possession

I really like Jason De Vos as a soccer commentator. He is perhaps better as a commentator than he was as a player. And he wasn't too bad a player by Canadian standards. Though he did play a lot of his footie with what could be considered less than "technical" UK teams - not to mention really poor Canadian national squads. Maybe it is his playing experience that caused his recent outburst against Canada's Women's Team manager Even Pellerud - an outburst that really impressed the Globe's William Houston:

"It's an outdated style of football...Against the best teams of the world, it doesn't work...Pellerud's team plays a direct, long-ball game rather than a possession game...If you play against teams that are maybe tactically naive, who are in their infancy... that will work for a period of time..But against the best in the world, the likes of Sweden, the United States, Norway, Germany and Brazil, that's not going to work...I don't for a second believe that the Canadians aren't good enough to play a possession style of football...It all comes down to the philosophy of football they're being coached to play."

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A beautiful opportunity

Jonathan De Guzman is famous/infamous in Canada for having turned his back on the Canadian national team but we have always supported him and other Canadian players who have done for themselves what Canada could not do for them.

And now - with the Olympics here - and De Guzman playing a part in it - his decision appears to have been a wise one. Here's how he feels about playing for Holland at the Olympics:

"This is a step right onto the A selection...I think every time you get the chance to show your skills, you have to show it, and these are the tournaments to show them because not just Holland's watching, the whole world is watching. It's not just a great opportunity ... it's a beautiful opportunity."

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Canada Plays The Beautiful Game

This blog will examine the pursuit of the beautiful game in Canada.