Beautiful Game dot CA

Cracking the National Team Problem Through Evolutionary Theory:

2009-11-13T07:03:00.003-05:00

The issue of our best Canadian players not willing to play for their national team is fascinating and sad stuff.

Players like Owen Hargreaves, Jonathan de Guzman and most recently Asmir Begovic, are pursuing their dreams (which I am a big proponent of) while the Canadian soccer establishment hasn't been able to crack the nut.

Given what I have said about how big the problem is, I suspect that the breakthrough - when it comes - will be a kind of evolution: maybe a concentration of more skilled players, more top-level coaches and more pro teams here will simply generate a new species - the Canadian who gets to play with the best possible club in the world but who doesn't even think about playing for a national team other than his own. This evolutionary theory - instead of hoping for a more powerful, better funded Canadian soccer bureaucracy - would also better address the whole issue of an absence of a soccer culture here.

I am kind of re-working my position on this issue. You see last night I had this realization that African players - many of them from impoverished countries and equally impoverished soccer federations - are deeply loyal to their national teams. In fact Africans are starting to get into the news because their big clubs are these days bemoaning the fact that they will be leaving mid-season for the Cup of Nations (Drogba of Chelsea is but one high-profile example). Most of these players don't even think twice about not representing their countries. In fact, in some cases I can recall players admitting that if they didn't play for their country their lives would be at stake!

And maybe that is to the point. As I thought through this African example I started by saying - "Wow, if an impoverished African federation can get players to come back from a club like Chelsea in the middle of the Premier League season, then the comparably affluent Canadian soccer federation should be able to do the same."

But then I realized that unbelievably we in Canada are the impoverished ones - because we are bereft of a soccer culture. We may have the price of a plane ticket for a player but we lack most of the intangibles that could entice a player back to his soccer home - including I suppose death threats! You know the more I think about the soccer culture void here, the less I am willing to blame people, even CSA people, even easy targets like former CSA head Kevin Pipe who was despised by Canadian players for years.

The anger is still there but having thought this through a bit more - the edge is off the anger. If there is no one person to blame, then there really can be no anger - just a problem to solve. A big problem mind you. But still just a problem.

Maybe it's a problem we need to forget about for a while and simply get on with becoming better players, coaches and teams and someday the nut will get cracked all by itself.

Remembrance

2009-11-10T20:08:00.010-05:00

I don't post to this blog very often. You can find me posting under this psuedonym on the international game, on the big leagues like the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A - but not on Canadian soccer.

I guess it doesn't seem to be as worth the time - especially when blogging is hardly my full-time job. I have two real jobs: teaching and raising a family.

I really would like to blog here more often. To be honest, I'm kind of fixated with the two domain names I own: beautifulgame.ca and thebeautifulgame.ca, among others. I've loved trying to get the great domain names ever since the Internet emerged those few short years ago. I've got a few good domain names - some of them footie realted - in my possession. I use the term "possess" but I hope I'm not like Gollum trying keep a "precious" ring. I like domain names because they represent ideas.

And - as my wife will atest with raised eyebrows - I am an ideas guy.

So - despite the fact that I am interested in the "idea" of Canadian soccer and more specifically the idea of the "beautiful game" in Canada, I still don't blog about it.

Not a big enough idea I guess. Not interesting enough.

One thing that does intrigue me though is coincidences. I love coincidences. I am not a conventionally spiritual person. Some people having even accused me of being an atheist, an agnostic, a... well you get the picture. Other people do know that I do hold the door open to special things that happen. I am always curious about why these special things - and especially coincidences - happen.

And the coincidence of the day for me revolves around Canadian soccer.

This morning I stayed home from my teaching job because my ten-year-old boy was sick with the flu. As a result, I ended up enjoying the luxury of a Starbucks coffee and Globe and Mail newspaper at our dinning room table with the morning sun streaming in. Despite having been an Internet addict for years and looking forward to a beautful digital media future, I still love the breadth of a good broadsheet: the way you can see the big picture of numerous articles side-by-side; the way you can turn a big page by hand and watch the text and pictures roll like a big, beautiful wave. You just cannot replicate this feeling with a computer. It really is a more pleasant way to read the daily news, than a computer.

So there I am flipping the pages of the broadsheet, sipping my coffee, listening to my son sniffle away while watching some mind-numbing content on the "Family" Channel, when I come across a soccer piece written by Paul James. Here is the online version. Paul James played on Canada's only ever World Cup team of 1986. And I played one season for Paul in 1989 when he was player-coach of the Ottawa Intrepid in the now defunct Canadian Soccer League.

Paul was a good player and a good coach and he and I get along but I have to say that as I read his words, I just keep shaking my head.

Paul's piece is about the defection of Vancouver-born Jacob Lensky to the Czech Republic's national team program. I have to say that Paul contradicts himself when he on the one hand calls Lemsky - and also Owen Hargreaves and Jonathan De Guzman - selfish for turning their backs on the Canadian national team and then proceeds to criticize the Canadian soccer system:

"Positive changes abound with Major League Soccer entering the landscape, but it is a drop in the ocean for what needs to be done. Canada has infrastructure problems that hinder the motivation for young Canadian players to keep playing the game at a significant level. The country’s philosophy of fun first is all well and good for the recreational level, but for the elite levels, a professional approach should be first."

Paul also admits that "Canada lacks a soccer identity."

And yet he still insists that "All certified coaches should be mandated to encourage players to play for Canada, not some other country."

As I read this, I shake my head and look over at my son on the couch.

I ask him how he's feeling, with one of those tragic H1N1 stories looming in my subconscious.

"Fine Dad," he says and goes back to watching TV.

My son is a pretty good young player. Not great but good enough to have recently been "identified" by the Academy Director of the Sunderland Football Club of the Premier League.

And I have to say that I am just like De Guzman's Dad and Hargreaves Dad: if my boy were ever good enough, I never advise him to play for Canada.

Why would I knowingly put him into anything - a neighbourhood, a school, a sport, a team - that lacks idenity, that lacks anything? Why would I give a child that I am trying to nurse back to health during H1N1 paranoia into something that "lacks"?

In fact - and I do admit to having this thought long before reading James' piece - I'd go for the best possible senario; isn't that what parents do?; I'd encourage my son to use his mother's English passport and give it a go with the Three Lions, like Hargreaves did. And it goes without saying I'd much rather have him play for Sunderland (or Bayern Munich or Manchester United - like Hargreaves) than settle for say - Toronto FC.

And I like TFC! I'm a season ticket holder.

But Paul doesn't see it that way. He calls Lemsky and Hargreaves and De Guzman, "turncoats". He therefore calls me and my son "turncoats".

I get up from my beautiful paper and my steaming coffee on this day off from work with my son. And I stand infront of a window that presents me with a wonderous downtown-Toronto-sunny-autumn-day-leaves-blowing-around-a-busy-street-scene: and I think about the word "turncoat" and I don't buy it.

I am not a turncoat.

I love Toronto.

I love Canada.

So what am I?

What is the truth?

I guess I don't love Canadian soccer.

Maybe that's it.

Maybe that's why I don't blog here much.

Maybe there is nothing much to say.

Maybe there is no beauty.

Hmm.

Maybe that's it.

No beauty.

We have a game. But we pretend to play it.

We pretend to coach it.

We pretend to organize it.

And people who want the real thing, true beauty, proper passion for the beautiful game - go abroad.

We have no beautiful game here.

It's a lie.

---

Whew. Got that off my chest.

I apologize to you the two-and-a-half people who are reading this post for that run-on thought. I haven't even brought in the coincidence part and you must be wanting to get your own coffee and newspaper. But wait it's evening now. A beer? Me, I'm sipping a nice little Chianti (Yes - it's foreign. But the Italians are good at wine. And at football/soccer/calcio. (Yes - I drink very little Canadian wine.))

The coincidence came tonight by way of an email from a friend who lives in my beautiful Toronto neighbourhood.

He alerted me to this piece, written by Jason de Vos, who is now a CBC match analyst but once captained the Canadian National Team and played my position - centreback.

De Vos' piece is entitled "The other side of the Asmir Begovic story" and seems to be written or posted on the very same day - Tuesday November 10th (the day before Remembrance Day) - as Paul James' piece.

(Fantastic - it's as if James and de Vos and their editors called each other up and decided to have a duel.)

Goalkeeper Begovic became infamous this year for turning his back (another turncoat!) on Canadian soccer by choosing instead to play for Bosnia - a team which then had a chance to qualify for the South African World Cup.

In his piece, de Vos seems to take a more balanced approach than James. And I guess the big difference between the two pieces is that de Vos actually went to the trouble of talking to Begovic.

Funny what a little player-to-player heart-t0-heart can turn up.

It turns out that Begovic could have gone to play for the England U21s (they were very interested) but chose Bosnia only AFTER Canada failed to communicate with him for over a year.

So let me re-state this for emphasis: he could have gone to play for glorious England but he actually chose his birthplace (Bosnia) because Canada FAILED to communicate with him.

Here's what de Vos says of that outcome:

"We don't have enough talented players in our system to let the ones we do have slip through our fingers. Begovic wanted to play for Canada and is exactly the kind of player that we should have done more to keep hold of. "

De Vos's approach to a similar issue, a similar question, on the very same day, the day before we remember our fallen soldiers - is quite different from that of Paul James.

I wonder why that is?

Where are they coming from?

James (currently a coach/manager) is quick to use the military word turncoat, while de Vos' (currently a journalist) first instinct is to talk to the player.

Maybe this is a good lesson for me too.

I've been inside the system as a player and as a coach. I didn't accomplished as much as James or de Vos but I did suffer a lot from what I thought was a dysfunctional soccer system; I sufferred enough to quit playing, quit coaching, get angry, start stockpiling domain names and start ruminating about beauty, the ideal.

I need to remember this stuff though. And I should be weary of the ideal.

I was a soccer soldier once. And I loved it plenty despite all of the problems. But I hated it too. And now I have a son. A future soldier, a future suitor to the beautiful game.

I really shouldn't impose my baggage on him when the time comes, if the time comes.

So what should I do?

I think that if a club comes calling, a country comes calling for him, I won't decide, I won't judge.

What I'll do is ask him. ("How are you feeling son?" "Fine Dad.")

It's his game.

His country.

His life.

And only he can bring all three of those things together and make them beautiful.

That would make for a nice "coincidence".

So, yes, I'll talk to him. That's what I'll do. That's the healthy thing to do.

And maybe by the time my son's old enough, we won't be remembering turncoats but instead be cheering on players who've chosen for themselves an improved Canadian soccer system they can serve with pride and trust.

Demographic becoming focused on soccer

2008-11-22T17:40:00.002-05:00

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

2008-10-29T07:08:00.004-04:00

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

2008-10-08T07:13:00.001-04:00

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

2008-09-23T06:41:00.004-04:00

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

2008-09-08T16:12:00.005-04:00

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.

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

2008-08-25T07:49:00.003-04:00

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

2008-08-21T16:08:00.006-04:00

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

2008-08-20T18:30:00.002-04:00

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

2008-08-13T19:42:00.007-04:00

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.

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

2008-08-13T17:56:00.004-04:00

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

2008-08-11T07:46:00.000-04:00

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

2008-04-20T10:53:00.000-04:00

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