Steven Sandor's Blog, page 29

Canadians come oh so close to breaking long winless streak against the USA

Go into the Canada Soccer database, and you’ll find that the last time the Canadian women’s national team beat the Americans was back in the 2001 Algarve Cup. Charmaine Hooper scored twice and a youngster by the name of Christine Sinclair got a goal.

There have been some draws, that painful semifinal loss in the 2012 Olympics and, more than a few lopsided losses.

Maegan Kelly, a 25-year-old from Kansas City, who, thanks to her family ties, had the necessary paperwork to make her Canada debut, came oh so close to ending that streak Thursday night at BC Place. Kelly got into the American penalty area, then popped the ball over keeper Alyssa Naeher. The ball bounced once and headed for the far corner.

The. Ball. Went. Off. The. Post. (Presented in a way that you can read that out loud in your best Steve Armitage voice).

So, Kansas City Kelly didn’t get what would have been such an ironic winning goal and winless-streak breaker. Still, Canada can take a lot of positives from the 1-1 draw. After giving up a rather silly first-half goal to Alex Morgan, the Canadians were willing to try and stretch the field in the second half and pressed the Americans deep. They created turnovers. When Adriana Leon scrambled home the equalizer to end a mad sequence, it felt like it was coming. The scramble began with a Rebecca Quinn header that forced Naeher into a save, then Quinn taking the rebound and driving it off the bar. Finally, Sinclair got to the ball and launched yet another Canadian attempt towards goal that Leon touched across the line.

“She told us she was gonna score,” Canadian women’s national team coach John Herdman said of Leon, who came in as a first-half substitute. “She saw it, said it, and done it.”

The Americans got the first-half opener after a long diagonal ball down the right side, but the Canadians still had plenty of defenders in the middle of their own penalty area to deal with the situation. The ball bobbled into that spot, but Shelina Zadorsky whiffed on a chance to head the ball away. So, that gave Morgan a chance, and it deflected off Quinn before going in.

Teenager Jordyn Huitema, though she didn’t get a shot on goal after coming in with just seconds left in the 90, gave Canadian fans yet another glimpse on why she could become a folk hero.

American defender Kelley O’Hara came over Huitema’s back, made contact twice as she landed on the Canadian teen, and did a great sell job to somehow get the U.S. a free kick. Huitema got up, got on with things, despite a deep cut over her eye. As she finally went down to get treatment, she was smiling. She chuckled as the trainers bandaged her noggin.

I would cue all the Don Cherry superlatives, but you’re already hearing them in your head.

The Canadians face the Americans in San Jose on Sunday, and odds are the winless streak will continue. But this is one the Canadians will feel they should have won, in front of more than 28,000 fans at BC Place.

The Canadian women’s team is at the upper tier of national teams. The final step is to show the big bully on the block that it can be beaten. Canada is still trying, though the gap does look to be closing.

“We are not going to throw away our season because of rumours” — Marc Dos Santos preps Deltas for NASL final

In the late summer, the San Francisco Deltas’ Canadian captain, Nana Attakora, suffered what everyone but him thought was a season-ending knee injury. He needed surgery on his right knee.

Since the spring, the players and staff of the expansion Deltas had been hearing rumours that the team’s 2017 season in NASL would be its only season in NASL. Then, came news that the NASL itself would be fighting for its survival, a battle with the United States Soccer Federation that is still making its slow journey through the American court system.

Injured and with nothing certain after the season, it would have been oh so easy, heck, it would have been predictable, for Attakora to declare that he was shutting himself down for the year, and he’d be back at it in 2018.

But, no, Attakora told his coach, Marc Dos Santos, that he’d return in 2017. That he would come back to captain the Deltas. And that’s what he did; he returned just before the end of the regular season, played in the playoffs, and will be with the team when they contest the NASL championship Sunday, at home to the New York Cosmos.

For Dos Santos, who was just named the NASL’s coach of the year, Attakora’s drive is a representation of the team spirit that exists within the Deltas.

“Nana is our team captain, he is important to how we play with three at the back, and his character, well it means a lot,” said Dos Santos. “He had a small surgery and everyone thought he’d be out for the season. He said to me that he would be back and even I did not believe him. The fact that he came back not only shows his qualities as a soccer player, but as a human being.”

Dos Santos, the Deltas’ Canadian head coach, could have as many as four of his countrymen on the field for the final. Joining Attakora is Kyle Bekker, who has enjoyed a breakout season in midfield, along with defenders Maxim Tissot and Karl Ouimette.

The Cosmos have Canadian Dejan Jakovic in the lineup.

The NASL recognizes Canadians as domestics on the rosters of all its teams.

Of course, there is no escaping the bittersweet feeling that comes with this final. The Deltas were not part of the NASL ultimately rejected application to the USSF for Division-2 status in 2018. On Nov. 15, win or lose, the Deltas coaches and players are expecting to all join the ranks of the unattached.

“One hundred per cent it is not easy,” said Dos Santos. “Maybe something will happen. We still have hope until it is confirmed. But the writing is on the wall and it is not an easy position to be in. But i have to say that, through this all, the people in the club have been fantastic.”

And, through the year, Dos Santos said his team has followed a simple do-or-die philosophy that mimics the tough-as-nails attitude of their captain.

“We are not going to throw away our season because of rumours,” said Dos Santos.

Two years ago, Dos Santos led the Ottawa Fury into a NASL championship game. The Fury lost to the Cosmos. But he said there’s really nothing much to compare the final from two years ago to Sunday’s game. He said that finals are often decided by a simple lapse in concentration, something out of the ordinary. And the Cosmos of then aren’t the Cosmos of now; there are a few holdovers, such as keeper Jimmy Maurer, midfielder Andres Flores and defender Carlos Mendes — but the likes of Marcos Senna and Raul are gone.

“You can’t take things that happened in one final and apply them to another final,” said Dos Santos.

Fury re-signs players for second USL season

The Ottawa Fury began the process of building (or rebuilding) its roster for the 2018 season, and threw some water on the rumour mill in the process.

On Thursday morning, the team announced that Canadian keeper Callum Irving, local fullback Eddie Edward, Canadian forward Carl Haworth and Steevan Dos Santos, the team’s leading scorer, would all be returning for 2018.  The club announced that Sito Seoane, Sergio Manesio, Azake Luboyera and Jimmy Sanon would also be returning in 2018.

But, for those talking about a Canadian Premier League start in 2018 — and making the assumption that the Fury would or could be part of that — the most important part of the team’s statement is this…  That the players are signed for the “club’s second season in USL.” That means, yes, the Fury have indeed let the world know that USL is where the team will be in 2018.

The team moved from NASL to USL ahead of  the 2017 season, and missed the USL playoffs this season.

“I’m very pleased that we have these eight players returning for next year,” said interim general manager and head coach Julian de Guzman in a release issued by the club. “These players were key components of the foundation we wanted to build last season and will help us take great strides forward in 2018.”

Will Garde break the Impact’s “new season, new coach” jinx?

“He’s a proven winner. He’s one of the most decorated players in MLS. He has a game plan he wants to build and he’s not going to take shortcuts in doing it. It’s the type of person that we want.” — Montreal Impact owner Joey Saputo, in August 2011, on the hiring of Jesse Marsch as head coach

“This is the result of a lengthy search process. We wanted to take all the time necessary to ensure we hired the right candidate and it is a process that I do not want to repeat any time soon.” — Joey Saputo, in January 2013, announcing the hire of Marco Schallibaum.

“[Klopas] has been there before,” Saputo said. “He’s had some success at it before, so I see no reason as to changing Frank at this particular point in time. I want to give him the opportunity to build the club that he wants to build.” — Joey Saputo giving coach Frank Klopas a vote of confidence during the 2014 season.

“Mauro has been with us 23 years, For me, there’s no limit when it comes to his role as coach or within this organization. This is not a standard contract – two, three, four, five years, options, etc. I see Mauro as a part of this organization. He’ll have his chance. … We’ll work together to build and keep building. We’ll give him patience and time to put together what he wants to put together.” — Joey Saputo, in November 2015, on the decision to make Mauro Biello the team’s full-time coach.

“We believe Remi Garde’s tremendous experience, his vision and knowledge of the game and his intimate understanding of youth development will give this club a new start at every level.” — Joey Saputo Wednesday afternoon as the team unveiled Remi Garde as the latest head coach.

In 2012, the Montreal Impact hosted Olympique Lyon for a summer friendly. The game was decided in penalties, with the French side getting the decision.

OL’s manager at the time was Remi Garde; the former Arsenal defender/midfielder had taken over the club in 2011 and would remain their until 2014, when he took a break from management for family reasons.

After the game, Garde was pleasant about the experience, stating that North American soccer was coming a long way, he was impressed by the level of play — frankly, the kind of stuff we hear from almost every European or South American club coach after their clubs play friendlies against MLS squads.

Garde won a French Cup with the club, but he couldn’t lift the team to the kind of league successes it had when it dominated Ligue 1 for the first decade of the 21st century. Garde ran the academy at OL before moving to the role as manager. He enjoyed a storied career at the club as a player.

Now, five years and a little bit after that Impact/OL friendly, Garde is back in Montreal, as the new coach of the Montreal Impact. He comes to Montreal after a rather unsuccessful, short term as manager of Aston Villa, a club he couldn’t save from relegation. Aston Villa won just three of 23 games when he was in charge in 2015-16. (Mind you, that Villa squad was so bad, you could have put Jose Mourinho or Alex Ferguson or brought back Gusztav Sebes from the dead and they wouldn’t have done any better.)

Garde has coached in some of Europe’s biggest arenas and a has a great track record when it comes to working with young players. The question, as it is always is with the Impact, is how patient the owner will be when it comes to the coach. Saputo says that he understands that the club will have “a new start at every level.” But that means growing pains. It means displacing old ways of thinking and doing things. And it takes times, heck, years, for a new boss to finally feel like everything at the club is being done as he wants. Is Garde really the face of the new Impact, or is he simply the subject of the annual change-of-coach conference (stay tuned for the 2018 edition)?

When he spoke at Wednesday’s press conference, Garde came off as conciliatory. He said he want to work with the current academy staff, and that, in his words, he’s not going to start a “witch hunt.”

When it comes to treatment of officials, Toronto FC flirts with disaster

Before I get into the meat of this column, I wanted to start with this disclaimer.

I know the quality of refereeing in North American soccer is poor. PRO, the organization that administers officials in MLS and games on American soil in USL and NASL, needs to do better. In Sunday’s second leg of the Eastern Conference semifinal between Toronto FC and New York Red Bulls, referee Chris Penso didn’t have a great afternoon. He called back what should have been a tying goal for TFC , calling Jonathan Osorio for, well, something, as New York keeper Luis Robles was fumbling the ball across his own goal line. He also wasn’t too happy that Victor Vazquez tried a quick free kick and stuck it in the New York net — and demanded a retake.

Toronto lost on the day, 1-0, but still won the series on the strength of two away goals in the first leg.

I’ve seen some dreadful refereeing errors in all three of the leagues I’ve mentioned. And the quality of officiating from Canada Soccer-assigned refs in USL and NASL matches on Canadian soil hasn’t been better.

But, now I’ve put that disclaimer out there, it also needs to be stated that in no way do referees deserve to be disrespected. They don’t deserve to have their notebooks torn up, they don’t deserve to be bumped, swarmed or grabbed. Referees are in a no-win situation in North America; the get very little professional support, they hold other jobs, they don’t get the chances to  develop like refs in other countries do and, well, the pay and travel are crap.

We know Toronto FC is going to face The Team Soon to Be Formerly Known as the Columbus Crew in the Eastern Conference Final. We know that, because of cards they so very deservedly earned, Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore won’t be available. The major parts of TFC’s strike force did not really shower themselves in glory on Sunday.

Altidore got into what was a running feud with New York’s Sacha Kljestan, a skirmish that began in the wake of an incident between Giovinco and Red Bulls defender Tyler Adams. It was a flare-up in what was an ugly game in the rain between two teams who clearly don’t like each other. This game wasn’t pretty. This was a contest of throw-ins and free kicks and had no flow whatsoever.

Kljestan and Altidore argued. They went chest to chest. Kljestan shoved the much bigger Altidore, and Altidore went down to the turf with pure CONCACAF aplomb. Both players got yellows.

But neither gave up their running feud, and both were off after an incident at halftime in the tunnel that, well, we’re still hearing about in dribs and drabs.

As well, Giovinco picked up a yellow for protesting after he went down, well, pretty easily. That yellow earned him a suspension for game one against Columbus. Giovinco had felt earlier in the game that he was fouled, that the Red Bulls (and Adams, especially) were getting away with fouling him. He felt he should have earned a penalty.

In the game, though, both players continued what has been a troubling pattern with Toronto FC this season. In the first half, after not getting a call, Giovinco came at Penso from behind and grabbed the referee by both shoulders in attempt to spin him around and yell in his face. And he got nothing for it. Penso took it.

Another referee might have pulled out a red, and no one would have complained.

Before being sent off, Altidore went over to the fourth official and put his hands on him in an attempt to complain.

It’s not the first time with TFC. There is swarming, there is a feeling that players can go out and touch the referee. And the fact that they go and do that is proof that they don’t respect Michael Bradley, their captain. It’s the captain who should be handling these protests to the officials, if there is going to be one. 

Instead, this is a team that gives the impression that they can protest to referees with impunity.

Both of these players will miss a game. But, sooner or later, their actions are going to lead to red cards. Their actions will cost TFC. At some point, the Reds are going to need to learn to rein it in when it comes to how they interact with officials. That’s got to come from coach Greg Vanney. That’s got to come from Bradley.

The truth is, our sport is still in an incubation stage in North America. We have yet to find a way to develop referees. The ones we have make mistakes.  One thing we can’t do, though, is show that we tolerate players — especially those who don’t have armbands — touching refs, swarming refs. If all we do is show a lack of support for referees, the cycle doesn’t break. Young referees choose not to go forward in the game, the refereeing pool dwindles, and the quality doesn’t improve.

Fans expect a better level of officiating. And as hard as it may be at times, we should also expect players to treat the officials we have with some modicum of respect.  After all, discipline is one of the things your club and supporters for you to have.

FC Edmonton owner Fath hopeful NASL can still salvage Div-2 status after U.S. court defeat

FC Edmonton owner Tom Fath expressed his disappointment after an American judge rejected NASL’s plea for an injunction that would have allowed it to keep Division-2 status for next season.

And, despite what looks to be a severe blow to the league, Fath would not close the door on FC Edmonton’s participation in NASL, if the league was to find a way to continue.

“I was very disappointed in the initial decision to not sanction NASL as a Division-2 league, because it should be,” Fath said Saturday. “And now I am very disappointed that the injunction didn’t go through. Now, the league will look at options, we’ll be looking at the next steps.”

Judge Margo K. Brodie issued her ruling Saturday morning. In September, the United States Soccer Federation’s executive voted 9-1 to not sanction the league as Division-2 for next season. The league took its case to court, but, ultimately, Brodie denied the injunction, stating that the league “has not made a clear showing of entitlement to relief.”

The league had previously stated that it would not continue into 2018 unless it got the injunction. NASL has operated as a Div-2 league since it launched in 2011.

FC Edmonton, as the lone Canadian team in what is currently an eight-club circuit, was not part of the NASL governance committee that decided on the suit. After all, it would be inappropriate for FCE to push forward on a suit that targeted another country’s soccer federation, just as it would not be the New York Cosmos’s place to, say, sue the Canadian Soccer Association.

But, Fath said he would not close the door on participating in NASL for 2018 if the league finds a way to continue.

“I’d really hope that the USSF can take the next steps and meet with NASL. After all, the NASL has done so much for pro soccer over the last several years. I am hopeful we can find a way forward and continue on as a Division-2 league.”

The court heard that the Eddies were not included in the league’s proposal for 2018 as initially presented to the USSF.  Now, of course, that didn’t mean the Eddies were out for sure — the team could confirm its membership at a later date.

Also, the San Francisco Deltas, which won’t continue under current ownership after this season, was not part of the NASL, while expansion teams in San Diego and Orange County were. Plus, in court, there was discussion that North Carolina FC would follow the Tampa Bay Rowdies and Ottawa Fury as teams that jumped from NASL to the USL, the other USSF-sanctioned Div-2 league.

Meanwhile, Fath has been going to the meetings of the Canadian Premier League, which has sanctioned teams in Winnipeg and Hamilton, a club in Halifax that’s securing a stadium deal, a group in Surrey, B.C. looking to put together a stadium plan and  owners looking to kick off a franchise in Saskatchewan. The question with CanPL is if the league will indeed kick off right after the 2018 World Cup is done, or if it will need to wait till 2019. The league’s president, Paul Beirne, has stated that “you only get one chance to make a first impression” and that the league won’t launch unless it’s truly ready to go.

While Fath has been going to meetings, he has not confirmed nor denied that CanPL is the team’s future destination. Nor would he confirm nor deny that the team might not survive.

Currently, all Eddies players are still under contract. No one has been  released from the club. The earliest a contract will expire is Nov. 15.

One shot on target over two playoff legs: An embarrassment for the Whitecaps

I wonder what was going through Stefan Frei’s mind over the two legs of the Seattle Sounders Western Conference playoff triumph over the Vancouver Whitecaps.

After all, the Sounders goalie had a lot of time to think and walk around and ponder his existence. Was he wondering what he was going to binge watch on Netflix? Imagining his next haircut? Trying to recall the Swiss starting XI from the 1994 World Cup? Figuring out the meaning of life, the universe and everything?

He certainly didn’t have to worry about the Whitecaps. Over two legs, the Whitecaps generated but one shot on target. That “scoring attempt” came in the 65th minute of Thursday’s second leg in Seattle. Christian Bolanos’s harmless header fell straight into Frei’s arms. 

And that was it. The full sum of the Whitecaps, ahem, might, through two legs of soccer.

Make no mistake, one shot on goal over 180 minutes is embarrassing. It’s as bad as losing 10-0. You can point to the fact that forward Yordy Reyna didn’t start the first leg and might not have been healthy for the second. But, at some point, you need to make a pass. You need to take a chance. You need to get a cross or a set piece in that clears the first defender.

In the second leg, after going down 1-0 to a 56th minute goal from Clint Dempsey, we were subjected to watching the Whitecaps defenders scramble to stop a Sounders attack and either make a poor pass attempt to the midfield or just hoof the ball up the field.

Yes, coach Carl Robinson’s tactics were an issue. The Whitecaps isolated their forwards; Fredy Montero was left on the periphery for two games. But, wow, there was also a lot of players who couldn’t win 50-50 battles against the Sounders, the wingers failed to get past the Sounders fullbacks. When you need players to reach back, there was nothing but resignation. You didn’t see any Whitecap on the field displaying the body language that would suggest they they were the least bit desperate.

And Frei could have gone up in the stands, grabbed a beer, and watched it all.

Dempsey had a brace on  the night. Yes, there will be those who will wonder if Dempsey should have been playing at all, after MLS’s Disciplinary Committee decided to not add any games to the mandatory one-game suspension he received for the red card on the final day of the regular season. But, when the other team can only bother to get one shot in 180 minutes, complaining about Dempsey’s participation, well, seems kinda moot.

Dempsey’s opener came after Cristian Roldan’s clever back-heeled flick got him the ball at the top of the box. He shuffled the ball to his left foot and picked the corner.

His second goal, in the 87th, saw him outleap Whitecaps defender Jordan Harvey to get on the end of a Victor Rodriguez cross.

Credit Seattle for defending deep and holding the line. Credit them for winning ball after ball in the midfield. Credit them for getting to every long ball hoofed up the field by Harvey and Marcel de Jong. But, come on, with no invention, no willingness to take risks, the Whitecaps can only resign themselves to the fact they did very little to try and change the momentum.

Last year, the Sounders won MLS Cup in a game in which they did not get a shot on goal. So, the Whitecaps tried to out-Sounder the Sounders over these two legs. It was awful to watch, a dreadful advertisement for MLS. There are probably people who are out buying New York Cosmos jerseys and “Rocco is Right” T-shirts based on those 180 minutes of soccer.

TFC begins its attempt to defy history with a win over the Red Bulls

In the previous 21 MLS seasons, only six times has the team with the best regular-season record gone on to win MLS Cup.  And it’s only happened twice in the most recent 14 campaigns.

In MLS history, only twice has the team that lost the previous season’s MLS Cup final gone on to win the championship the next season.

Let’s face the facts: The MLS Cup format favours the team that needs to get hot just to get to the post-season, and then enters the playoffs playing its best soccer of the year. History shows us getting on a streak is a better formula than winning the Supporters’ Shield and being on cruise control heading into the post-season.

So, despite a record-setting campaign, a student of MLS history would suggest Toronto FC, by winning the Supporters’ Shield in a season following an MLS Cup-final loss, well that’s a double-whammy. That’s sticking your middle finger right up into the faces of The Fates.

Let’s crunch some numbers. Based on the previous 21 seasons of MLS history, Toronto FC’s odds to win MLS Cup in a year

a) it finishes first overall;

b) lost a final the season before;

Well, they should stand at about… 2.86 per cent. For the math geeks, that’s (six double winners/21 seasons) x (two winners coming off MLS Cup losses/20 seasons).

Luckily for Reds fans, soccer isn’t played in a lab. And, if any team is going to defy the odds, this special team just might. Yet, here comes another historical caution: This year, the Reds broke the 1998 Galaxy’s record for points in a season. In 1998, that then-record-setting Galaxy team didn’t even make it to the MLS Cup final.

Toronto’s playoff campaign began Monday in New York, er, New Jersey – and the Reds did not show indications that they would become just another historical footnote. They beat the New York Red Bulls 2-1 in the first leg of their playoff series. Now, the Red Bulls know that to survive, they need a bare minimum of two goals at BMO Field. They need to open up and attack, and thus leave themselves open to the lethal finishing of Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore, and the deft playmaking of Victor Vazquez.

“You know, we like having them (the road goals), but there’s still 90 minutes to play, and we’ll find out how big of an advantage they are once we get to the end of the next game,” said TFC coach Greg Vanney. “But it’s good to go home with some advantage and now it’s important that our group realizes, as they did when we came in, that they’re only halfway there, and they still have a lot of work to do to try to close this out.”

And, if anyone is going to beat the TFC juggernaut, the team has to play as close to mistake-free soccer as possible. The Red Bulls did not do that. Just eight minutes in, Red Bulls keeper Luis Robles made an absolute hash of a low cross from Altidore; inexplicably, he parried the ball straight out from his goal. The ball came to Vazquez, who deposited the absolute gift from the New York keeper into the goal.

After the match, Red Bulls coach Jesse Marsch defended his keeper.

“I don’t know, maybe he could have punched it a little more, but I mean, we lose a bad ball, we get beat too easy,” he said. “It’s a good whip ball in the box. Those are ones that always are difficult for goalkeepers to deal with. You know, and then it winds up going to their guy, and then you have a good finisher in Vazquez when he collects the ball, and he does a good job.”

The Red Bulls tied the game right before halftime on a Daniel Royer penalty; but TFC got its second road goal — and what might be the dagger plunged into the heart of the Red Bulls — thanks to a bending free kick from Giovinco. But, as good as the free kick was, Robles has to take some of the blame. He set up for the free kick cheating right up against the far post, giving Giovinco all of the near-post side of the goal to shoot at. There’s no way on a Giovinco free kick that a keeper can cheat that badly and give up that much of the goal.

Well, take that, soccer gods. Round one to TFC.

Intrinsically Canadian Power Rankings: The Final Countdown

Well, that’s it. With the NASL regular season coming to a close this past weekend, we’re now at the final instalment of the Power Rankings for 2017.

So, now that we’re done, let’s compare 2017 to 2016.

Canadians who appeared in MLS in 2016 (20 teams): 24

Canadians who appeared in MLS in 2017 (22 teams): 27

Canadians who appeared in NASL in 2016 (12 teams): 22

Canadians who appeared in NASL in 2017 (eight teams): 17

(note, in 2017, NASL began counting Canadians as domestic players on both American and Canadian teams, the same practice that has  existed in USL for years)

Canadians who appeared in USL in 2016 (29 teams): 104

Canadians who appeared in USL in 2017 (30 teams): 74

(loss of FC Montreal really impacted the number of Canadian minutes played in USL)

 

MLS MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Cyle Larin, Orlando, 2169 (28)
Will Johnson, Orlando, 2057 (26)
Patrice Bernier, Montreal, 1801 (27)
Tesho Akindele, FCD, 1511 (29)
Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, Montreal, 1146 (21)
Anthony Jackson-Hamel, Montreal, 1137 (21)
Raheem Edwards, TFC, 1062 (22)
Jonathan Osorio, TFC, 1060 (27)
Alphonso Davies, Vancouver, 1053 (26)
Tosaint Ricketts, TFC, 1003 (22)
Samuel Piette, Montreal, 960 (11)
Marcel de Jong, Vancouver, 779 (13)
Russell Teibert, Vancouver, 731 (12)
Jay Chapman, TFC, 385 (12)
Louis Beland-Goyette, Montreal, 293 (6)
Ashtone Morgan, TFC, 283 (5)
Maxime Crepeau, Montreal, 270 (3)
Richie Laryea, Orlando, 250 (12)
Jordan Hamilton, TFC, 142 (8)
Wandrille Lefevre, Montreal, 103 (3)
Ben McKendry, Vancouver, 90 (1)
Maxim Tissot, D.C. United, 90 (1)
Brian Wright, New England, 45 (2)
Tyler Pasher, Sporting KC, 45 (1)
David Choiniere, Montreal, 34 (3)
Kwame Awuah, NYCFC, 26 (4)
Shamit Shome, Montreal, 8 (1)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, MLS MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

Montreal, 5752/34 (169.2)

Orlando City, 4476/34 (131.6)

Toronto FC, 3925/34 (115.7)

Vancouver, 2653/34 (78)

FC Dallas, 1511/34 (44.4)

D.C. United, 90/34 (2.6)

New England, 45/34 (1.3)

Sporting Kansas City, 45/34 (1.3)

New York City FC, 26/34 (0.8)

 

NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Drew Beckie, Jacksonville, 2281 (28)
Mason Trafford, Miami FC, 2169 (26)
Ben Fisk, FCE, 2150 (29)
Karl Ouimette, San Francisco, 2016 (23)
Kyle Bekker, San Francisco, 1998 (28)
Dejan Jakovic, New York, 1980 (22)
Allan Zebie, FCE, 1781 (22)
Nik Ledgerwood, FCE, 1615 (21)
Nana Attakora, San Francisco, 1440 (16)
Tyson Farago, FCE, 1395 (16)
Maxim Tissot, San Francisco, 1239 (20)
Mauro Eustaquio, FCE, 1115 (18)
Ben McKendry, FCE, 1052 (15)
Adam Straith, FCE, 949 (11)
Nathan Ingham, FCE, 675 (8)
Abraham Dukuly, FCE, 54 (4)
David Doe, FCE, 33 (4)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, NASL MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

FC Edmonton, 10819/32 (338.1)

San Francisco, 6693/32 (209.2)

Jacksonville, 2281/32 (71.3)

Miami FC, 2169/32 (67.8)

New York, 1980/32 (61.9)

 

USL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Callum Irving, Ottawa, 2880 (32)
Ryan James, Rochester, 2773 (32)
Mastanabal Kacher, Colorado Springs, 2710 (32)
Mallan Roberts, Richmond, 2667 (30)
Jordan Murrell, Reno, 2369 (27)
Ryan Telfer, TFCII, 2113 (29)
David Norman Jr., WFC2, 2057 (26)
Jamar Dixon, Ottawa, 1879 (28)
Tyler Pasher, Swope Park, 1873 (24)
Eddie Edward, Ottawa, 1867 (23)
Zachary Ellis-Hayden, OCB, 1843 (24)
Marco Bustos, WFC2, 1813 (21)
Amer Didic, Swope Park, 1811 (21)
Kadin Chung, WFC2, 1809 (24)
Terran Campbell, WFC2, 1788 (25)
Daniel Haber, Real Monarchs, 1779 (29)
Jordan Dover, Rochester, 1740 (23)
Bradley Kamdem Fewo, Rochester, 1725 (24)
Angelo Cavalluzzo, TFCII, 1710 (19)
Jordan Schweitzer, OCB, 1699 (24)
Chris Nanco, Bethlehem Steel, 1622 (27)
Liam Fraser, TFCII, 1576 (20)
Shaan Hundal, TFCII, 1531 (22)
Carl Haworth, Ottawa, 1504 (21)
Thomas Gardner, WFC2, 1408 (21)
Skylar Thomas, Charleston, 1225 (21)
Gloire Amanda, WFC2, 1218 (27)
Ben McKendry, WFC2, 1203 (14)
Alessandro Riggi, Phoenix, 1195 (20)   
Matthew Baldisimo, WFC2, 1187 (23)
Sean Melvin, WFC2, 1170 (13)
Julian Dunn-Johnson, TFCII, 1088 (13)   
Sergio Camargo, TFCII, 1082 (18)
Chris Serban, WFC2, 1062 (17)
Mark-Anthony Kaye, Louisville, 1011 (19)
Luca Uccello, TFCII, 1005 (15)
Malik Johnson, TFCII, 1000 (19)
Richie Laryea, OCB, 999 (12)
Mark Anthony Gonzalez, Swope Park, 978 (19)
Michael Cox, OCB, 922 (17)  
Paris Gee, Tulsa, 876 (19)    
Aidan Daniels, TFCII, 873 (16)
Kyle Porter, Tampa Bay, 863 (11)  
A.J. Gray, Phoenix, 824 (23)
Jordan Hamilton, TFCII, 733 (9)  
Dominick Zator, WFC2, 685 (8)
Michael Baldisimo, WFC2, 596 (12)
Adonijah Reid, Ottawa, 582 (12)
Ashtone Morgan, TFCII, 554 (7)
Marco Carducci, Rio Grande Valley FC, 540 (6)
Mackenzie Pridham, Reno, 488 (15)
Anthony Osorio, TFCII, 467 (7)
Dante Campbell, TFCII, 412 (11)
Darrin MacLeod, Swope Park, 360 (4)  
Maxim Tissot, Richmond, 340 (4)
Matthew Srbely, TFCII, 275 (4)
Jay Chapman, TFCII, 270 (3)
Josh Heard, Bethlehem Steel, 261 (16)
Brett Levis, WFC2, 239 (5)
Aron Mkungilwa, Ottawa, 233 (4)
Patrick Metcalfe, WFC2, 222 (4)
Marco Dominguez, FC Cincinnati, 189 (5)
Brian Wright, Tulsa, 186 (3)
Marcel DeBellis, Richmond, 180 (2)
Wandrille Lefevre, Ottawa, 180 (2)
Rocco Romeo, TFCII, 180 (2)
Daniel DaSilva, TFCII, 94 (2)
Raheem Edwards, TFCII, 90 (1)
Mark Village, WFC2, 90 (1)
Mele Temguia, FC Cincinnati, 62 (1)
Thomas Meilleur-Giguere, Ottawa, 59 (4)
Noble Okello Ayo, TFCII, 19 (1)
Nicolas Apostol, WFC2, 17 (1)
Noah Verhoeven, WFC2, 16 (1)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, USL MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

WFC2,16580/32 (518.1)

TFCII,15072/32 (471)

Ottawa, 9184/32 (287)

Rochester, 6238/32 (194.9)

Orlando City B, 5463/32 (170.7)

Swope Park Rangers, 5022/32 (156.9)

Richmond, 3187/32 (99.6)

Reno, 2857/32 (89.3)

Colorado Springs, 2710/32 (84.7)

Phoenix, 2019/32 (63.1)

Bethlehem Steel FC, 1883/32 (58.8)

Real Monarchs SC, 1779/32 (55.6)

Charleston, 1225/32 (38.3)

Tulsa, 1062/42 (33.2)

Louisville City, 1011/32 (31.6)

Tampa Bay, 863/32 (27)

Rio Grande Valley FC, 540/32 (16.9)

FC Cincinnati, 251/32 (7.8)

 

Let’s face it, we all KNEW Seattle-Vancouver was gonna end in a 0-0 draw

“You miss 100 per cent of the shots you don’t take.” — Wayne Gretzky

“Shots are for losers.” — Rumoured new Seattle Sounders motto

It lurked on my PVR. I went to a Jesus and Mary Chain concert Sunday night, so I recorded the first leg of the Western Conference playoff between the Seattle Sounders and the Vancouver Whitecaps.

I was nervous when I set the recording. I was worried I’d come back home to a late-night viewing of what could be one of the most awful games I was ever going to see.  I remember the last time the Sounders played a post-season game in Canada; that was last year’s MLS Cup, a wretched affair that saw Seattle park more buses than a transit strike. Famously, or really (in)famously, the Sounders won MLS Cup in penalties, in a game in which they did not register a shot on target.

So, as the JAMC drove through an ear-splitting main-set closer of “Reverence,” the bright lights reducing them to shadows on stage, I checked Twitter to see that, yes, the Whitecaps and Sounders had played to a scoreless draw.

I would have bet the farm on that result going in. Let’s face it, we all knew this was exactly what was going to happen.

But, I went through the game tape anyways; to see that the best scoring chance of the game was, well, a near own-goal, with Whitecaps defender Kendall Waston pounding a clearing attempt off his own crossbar.

In the end, Seattle was credited with one shot on goal — a Chad Marshall header that was hit pretty well right at keeper Stefan Marinovic. Marshall did well to leap over Whitecap Tony Tchani and head to ball down to force Marinovic to make an awkward save on a ball driven into the turf; but this was a shot that any MLS keeper has to stop.

But, let’s face it, for Seattle in the playoffs, Marshall’s header was an offensive explosion.

This is a Sounders team that, for years, fell flat on its face in the post-season. Then, the Sounders embraced a cagey approach under coach Brian Schmetzer and found success.

Maybe, in Seattle, the game will open up. It has to open up right? That’s what we keep telling ourselves. Yet, we’re all really thinking that we’re going to be at 0-0 going deep into extra time.