Steven Sandor's Blog, page 34

Anthony Jackson-Hamel making the case he’s Canada’s best striking option

Well, you have to thank coach Octavio Zambrano for going with Anthony Jackson-Hamel as Canada’s striker in the first half of Saturday’s friendly against Jamaica, and then going with Cyle Larin in the second half.

By giving each player 45 minutes at BMO Field, Zambrano gave the critics and the pundits a perfect opportunity to compare and contrast Canada’s two main striking options.

In his half of work, AJH continued the narrative from his MLS season with the Montreal Impact; that he can make major hay out of minimum minutes. He scored and set up a goal, as Canada won 2-0.

AJH made clever runs away from the ball, and was dangerous throughout his 45 minutes. In just 588 minutes of action with the Montreal Impact this season, he has seven goals. That’s a return rate of better than a goal per 90 minutes.

The first goal was served up on a platter. Jamaican defender Jermaine Taylor put the ball right on the foot of Canadian winger Junior Hoilett. Then, Hoilett put the ball into the box for Jackson-Hamel to tap into the goal.

It looked easy, but credit to the Canadian striker for recognizing the chance was coming after the giveaway, and getting into the right spot for Hoilett to find him.

The second goal was sublime. After a good spell of possession from Atiba Hutchinson, the ball went to Samuel Piette — who played one of his best games in a Canada shirt. Piette then played the ball to Jackson-Hamel who, with his back to goal, recognized that Jonathan Osorio was in prime position to make a break. AJH back-heeled the ball into Osorio’s path, and the Toronto FC midfielder doubled Canada’s lead.

Minutes after Larin came in, he also got a gift-wrapped chance thanks to a Hoilett cross; but, as has been the unfortunate pattern with Larin in Canada’s matches, a good chance didn’t even result in a shot on goal. The ball was skied over the net.

Through the rest of the half, we saw Hoilett and Raheem Edwards on the other wing take low-percentage shots rather than play the ball forward for Larin, who simply wasn’t making the same incisive runs as Jackson-Hamel. Actions do speak louder than words, and judging by the actions of his teammates, the trust level for Larin isn’t the same as it is when AJH is at the top of the attack.

Larin also was slow in his off-the ball runs; there were a couple of attacks where Hoilett looked to Larin, but the forward simply couldn’t time his run or shake a defender.

When they play for Canada, it looks like AJH is the player linked with big-money moves to Europe, and Larin is the one struggling to get minutes with his MLS side. Funny, that.

Yes, it can be argued that Larin had the disadvantage of playing on a Canadian side that was reduced to 10 men after Alphonso Davies, who had just come on as a sub, kicked Damion Lowe in the face after the two had gone to ground.

So, there’s that.

With the Gold Cup down and World Cup qualifying for 2022 still years away, there’s plenty of time for Zambrano to try and come up with his depth chart for when the games actually matter again. So, at this stage, no one is going to win or lose a job. But, for now, we have to say that Canada looks much better going forward when Jackson Hamel is the man leading the charge.

Doe, Dukuly make the moves from FCE Academy to the first team

Teenagers David Doe and Abraham Dukuly are the latest to make the jumps from FC Edmonton’s Academy to professional contracts.

The players were signed Monday by FC Edmonton, but the deals were not announced until Wednesday afternoon because the contracts took time to be cleared by NASL’s head office.

Dukuly, an attacking midfielder, was one of FC Edmonton Academy-laden Team Alberta’s best players at the recent Canada Games. Doe is a striker with pace.

“They are now in a fantastic environment everyday, a very challenging environment,” said FCE coach Colin Miller. “It’ll be about consistency in the training sessions.Can they consistently do well every day in training? And, when they are having a down spell, how quickly can they recover from that? Player development is all about consistency and these young players have come in and done very well, so far.”

The two have been training with FC for the past month, and Miller complimented the “enthusiasm and energy” Dukuly and Doe have already brought to the first team.

“I’m excited to see David, he’s a handful already to play against,” said Miller. “He’s a strong centre forward with good pace.”

He said that, years ago, the coaching staff saw Dukuly and “recognized the talent the boy had at a very young age.”

“It was on and off for my whole academy year,” said Dukuly. ”That was my goal [making the FCE roster] at the beginning, when I was in Grade 9. I’m going into Grade 12, now. I feel like confidence was the key. And then I performed in the Summer Games, which is the biggest youth tournament you can be in here in Canada.

“It was the best tournament I’ve been in, the best environment I’ve been in, in all of my soccer career. It was fun.”

Of course, it helped that Jeff Paulus, who runs FCE’s Academy and serves as first-team assistant coach, was the man pulling the strings for Team Alberta, as well.

“Jeff lets me express myself, do what I can, because he believes in me,” said Dukuly.

And how does he describe his game?

“I’m flair. I like to take on players one v one. If I can isolate you one v one, I will. And I’m technical at times, too, and I can use my pace when I need it.”

Doe recalled how he felt when he got the offer.

“I knew two weeks ago, when I got home from practice,” Doe said. “Jeff asked me, ‘how do you feel about a first-team contract?’ And I was pretty excited, my whole family was excited for me.”

Doe played under coach Paul Stalteri at Canadian U-17 evaluation camps in 2016. He knows he’ll have to be patient for his chance to come with FC Edmonton’s first team. But he’s anxious for the chance to step up.

“When the other players don’t perform as good, and the coach needs someone to step up and perform, I’ll be there.”

Miller believes June loss in Puerto Rico was the catalyst for FC Edmonton’s change in fortunes

It’s a relatively small sample size, but FC Edmonton has been more successful on the road than at home so far this NASL season.

The Eddies have played two road games, and won both of them, scoring five goals in the process. In three home games, the Eddies have a loss and two draws, and have scored three times, total.

So, with FCE heading southeast to take on North Carolina FC this weekend, will it be a case of road-field advantage?

“It might be a different mindset,” striker Tomi Ameobi, who scored in Saturday’s 2-1 win in San Francisco. “We know that we’re underdogs away, obviously that takes a bit of pressure off of us and we can play more free. But, picking up wins in this league on the road, as you know, is pretty hard. We’ll take as many wins as we can get.”

Coach Colin Miller looks back to a June 3 loss at Puerto Rico as the turning point for the Eddies. FCE was hammered 3-0 in the Caribbean that night, and Miller called it the worst performance by the Eddies since he took over as coach before the 2013 campaign. But, just days after that stinker, the Eddies went into New York and beat the Cosmos 4-2; the Eddies lost a couple of more road games after that, but were competitive in those games. And, in the fall, they’re two for two so far.

“I think the catalyst was the poor performance down in Puerto Rico, for everyone, not from any one particular player,” said Miller. “And I made the players watch that performance, that 45 minutes [first half] in particular, because I couldn’t bear to watch 90 minutes of it. I turned the volume down and made them watch that. I think that was the catalyst for the New York Cosmos result. We went from Puerto Rico being a horrendous performance into the New York Cosmos and winning, 4-2.

“And I think that mindset away from home has carried over in the majority of the games we’ve played. We have no fears going away from home, because the team is well-organized, the team is fit and we have pace in the team that will hurt any team in this league on the counterattack. I think it’s a combination of recognizing that I went crazy after that Puerto Rico game, thankfully I haven’t had to go crazy since then. The team has played well and been consistently good, but the difference is now we’re putting the ball in the back of the net and looking dangerous on the counterattack.”

Intrinsically Canadian Power Rankings: MLS Week 25/NASL Week 22/USL Week 23

There were some notable performances for Canadians this past week in the three Div-1 and 2 leagues in North America.

FC Edmonton’s Allan Zebie scored his first NASL goal, and it stood as the winner as the Eddies defeated the San Francisco Deltas 2-1 in the league’s unofficial Canadian derby; the Deltas played three Canadians in the game and are coached by Canadian Marc Dos Santos.

Tesho Akindele scored for FC Dallas in a midweek 3-3 draw against Houston. And Michael Cox scored twice for Orlando City’s B side in a USL thrashing of Mark-Anthony Kaye and his Louisville City side.

Finally, it should be mentioned that the Whitecaps, who are far behind the Impact and Toronto FC when it comes to giving playing time to Canadian players in 2017, gave 208 minutes to Canadians in this weekend’s 2-1 win over Orlando City.

Here are this week’s rankings:

MLS MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Will Johnson, Orlando, 2000 (24)
Cyle Larin, Orlando, 1887 (23)
Patrice Bernier, Montreal, 1326 (19)
Tesho Akindele, FCD, 1215 (24)
Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, Montreal,  1017 (16)
Raheem Edwards, TFC, 929 (17)
Alphonso Davies, Vancouver, 726 (18)
Jonathan Osorio, TFC, 646 (20)
Tosaint Ricketts, TFC, 644 (17)
Anthony Jackson-Hamel, Montreal, 588 (14)
Russell Teibert, Vancouver, 545 (9)
Marcel de Jong, Vancouver, 365 (8)
Jay Chapman, TFC, 361 (10)
Samuel Piette, Montreal, 349 (4)
Louis Beland-Goyette, Montreal, 193 (4)
Ashtone Morgan, TFC, 193 (4)
Jordan Hamilton, TFC, 120 (7)
Wandrille Lefevre, Montreal, 106 (3)
Maxime Crepeau, Montreal, 90 (1)
Ben McKendry, Vancouver, 90 (1)
Maxim Tissot, D.C. United, 90 (1)
Richie Laryea, Orlando, 64 (7)
Brian Wright, New England, 45 (2)
Tyler Pasher, Sporting KC, 45 (1)
David Choiniere, Montreal,34 (3)
Kwame Awuah, NYCFC, 2 (2)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, MLS MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

Orlando City, 3931/26 (151.2)

Montreal, 3680/25 (147.2)

Toronto FC, 2903/27 (107.5)

Vancouver, 1724/25 (69)

FC Dallas, 1215/25 (48.6)

D.C. United, 90/27 (3.3)

New England, 45/25 (1.8)

Sporting Kansas City, 45/25 (1.8)

New York City FC, 2/26 (0.1)

 

NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Drew Beckie, Jacksonville, 1649 (20)
Kyle Bekker, San Francisco, 1444 (19)
Allan Zebie, FCE, 1387 (17)
Mason Trafford, Miami FC, 1359 (17)
Nana Attakora, San Francisco, 1350 (15)
Ben Fisk, FCE, 1310 (14)
Dejan Jakovic, New York, 1170 (13)
Karl Ouimette, San Francisco, 1117 (13)
Adam Straith, FCE, 949 (11)
Nik Ledgerwood, FCE, 829 (12)
Maxim Tissot, San Francisco, 709 (10)
Mauro Eustaquio, FCE, 600 (11)
Tyson Farago, FCE, 585 (7)
Nathan Ingham, FCE, 495 (6)
Ben McKendry, FCE, 238 (5)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, NASL MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

FC Edmonton, 6393/21 (304.4)

San Francisco, 4620/21 (220)

Jacksonville, 1649/22 (75)

Miami FC, 1359/22 (61.8)

New York, 1170/21 (55.7)

 

USL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Callum Irving, Ottawa, 2160 (24)
Mastanabal Kacher, Colorado Springs, 2117 (25)
Mallan Roberts, Richmond, 2037 (23)
Ryan James, Rochester, 1963 (23)
Jordan Murrell, Reno, 1742 (20)
Ryan Telfer, TFCII, 1720 (23)
Amer Didic, Swope Park, 1541 (18)
David Norman Jr., WFC2, 1460 (19)
Daniel Haber, Real Monarchs, 1438 (23)
Bradley Kamdem Fewo, Rochester, 1408 (19)
Jordan Dover, Rochester, 1391 (18)
Kadin Chung, WFC2, 1385 (18)
Liam Fraser, TFCII, 1385 (17)
Zachary Ellis-Hayden, OCB, 1352 (18)
Thomas Gardner, WFC2, 1343 (20)
Eddie Edward, Ottawa, 1341 (17)
Tyler Pasher, Swope Park, 1260 (17)
Angelo Cavalluzzo, TFCII, 1260 (14)
Jamar Dixon, Ottawa, 1255 (20)
Ben McKendry, WFC2, 1203 (14)
Marco Bustos, WFC2, 1200 (14)
Jordan Schweitzer, OCB, 1194 (18)
Terran Campbell, WFC2, 1174 (18)
Chris Nanco, Bethlehem Steel, 1128 (18)
Shaan Hundal, TFCII, 1079 (16)
Carl Haworth, Ottawa, 998 (13)
Mark Anthony Gonzalez, Swope Park, 925 (17)   
Gloire Amanda, WFC2, 918 (21)
Richie Laryea, OCB, 909 (11)
Sergio Camargo, TFCII, 898 (14)
Matthew Baldisimo, WFC2, 891 (17)
Luca Uccello, TFCII, 859 (12)
Sean Melvin, WFC2, 810 (9)
Skylar Thomas, Charleston, 749 (15)  
Malik Johnson, TFCII, 714 (15)   
Michael Cox, OCB, 710 (13)   
Kyle Porter, Tampa Bay, 697 (9)  
Dominick Zator, WFC2, 685 (8)
A.J. Gray, Phoenix, 673 (16)
Mark-Anthony Kaye, Louisville, 647 (12)  
Julian Dunn-Johnson, TFCII, 638 (8)  
Alessandro Riggi, Phoenix, 599 (11)
Chris Serban, WFC2, 582 (10)
Aidan Daniels, TFCII, 577 (11)
Paris Gee, Tulsa, 565 (13)  
Jordan Hamilton, TFCII, 554 (7)
Marco Carducci, Rio Grande Valley FC, 540 (6)
Ashtone Morgan, TFCII, 374 (5)
Mackenzie Pridham, Reno, 340 (11)  
Maxim Tissot, Richmond, 340 (4)
Dante Campbell, TFCII, 337 (10)
Anthony Osorio, TFCII, 315 (5)
Aron Mkungilwa, Ottawa, 233 (4)
Josh Heard, Bethlehem Steel, 201 (10)
Marco Dominguez, FC Cincinnati, 189 (5)
Brian Wright, Tulsa, 186 (3)
Jay Chapman, TFCII, 180 (2)
Wandrille Lefevre, Ottawa, 180 (2)
Michael Baldisimo, WFC2, 175 (6)
Adonijah Reid, Ottawa, 156 (5)
Matthew Srbely, TFCII, 95 (2)
Marcel DeBellis, Richmond, 90 (1)
Raheem Edwards, TFCII, 90 (1)
Patrick Metcalfe, WFC2, 73 (2)
Mele Temguia, FC Cincinnati, 62 (1)
Brett Levis, WFC2, 29 (1)
Nicolas Apostol, WFC2, 17 (1)
Thomas Meilleur-Giguere, Ottawa, 1 (1)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, USL MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

WFC2,11942/25 (477.7)

TFCII, 11075/25(443)

Ottawa, 6324/24 (263.5)

Rochester, 4762/23 (207)

Orlando City B, 4205/25 (168.2)

Swope Park Rangers, 3726/24 (155.3)

Richmond, 2467/25 (98.7)

Reno, 2082/23 (90.5)

Colorado Springs, 2117/25 (84.7)

Phoenix, 1272/21 (60.6)

Real Monarchs SC, 1438/24 (59.9)

Bethlehem Steel FC, 1419/24 (59.1)

Tulsa, 751/23 (32.7)

Charleston, 749/25 (30)

Tampa Bay, 697/24 (29)

Louisville City, 647/23 (28.1)

Rio Grande Valley FC, 450/23 (19.6)

FC Cincinnati, 251/25 (10)

 

Zebie’s goal the difference as 10-man Eddies beat 10-man Deltas

Sometimes it’s easy to pick out the dominant storyline from a game, and build a narrative from there.

But, there were so many wild swings in FC Edmonton’s 2-1 win at San Francisco on Saturday night, it’s hard to know where to begin.

Allan Zebie’s first goal as an Eddies stood as the winner;
In a card-heavy game, both FCE’s Karsten Smith and Delta Kyle Bekker were sent off in the second half;
San Francisco hit the woodwork twice, and Tom Heinemann — who has put more daggers in the hearts of FC Edmonton than any other NASL forward over the years — missed three point-blank chances.

From the get-go, this was wild, end-to-end stuff, and a 2-1 scoreline didn’t really do it justice. But the Eddies are now undefeated in four, and can boast eight goals for in their five fall-season matches. Not bad for a club that finished bottom of the league in goal-scoring for the spring season.

But, to the match itself. Just a few minutes into the match, and defender Karsten Smith, in for the injured Albert Watson, was given a yellow by referee Alex Chilowicz for a kick to Dagoberto’s midsection. Some refs would have pulled out a red for the infraction; but, so early in the match, Chilowicz decided to give Smith a bit of a longer leash.

Things, though, got even more interesting when Smith was called for going over Heinemann’s back; he got a talking-to from Chilowicz rather than a second yellow, and it was clear that FCE’s defender was leading a charmed life to that point.

The Eddies then took the lead at the half-hour mark on the counterattack. After a Deltas’ attack was dispersed, Dustin Corea took the ball up the middle of the field and played the ball forward for Tomi Ameobi, who made a clever turn and then put a low shot past San Francisco keeper Romuald Peiser.

“This was the Eddies of old,” FCE coach Colin Miller said after the match. “We knew we had to set our stall to be reasonably difficult to break down, and hit them on the counter.”

Heinemann had an open header to equalize in the 35th minute, but put it just wide. Now, Heinemann is a man who, as a Whitecap, Fury and Rowdie, scored goal after goal against the Eddies. Seeing him miss a chance was a sight to see.

But more misses would come in the second half.

Before that, though, Shawn Nicklaw’s volley off a corner kick could have stretched the Eddies’ lead to two, but he was denied by a sprawling save from Peiser.

Before the half ended, it was Eddies’ keeper Tyson Farago with the heroics, leaping backwards to claw Tyler Gibson’s looping header off the line.

Thirty second into the second half, and Heinemann missed again from close range, this time putting an inch-perfect cross from Pablo Dyego over the bar.

In the 53rd, minute, Heinemann put a shot off the post when it was easier to score, after a deft pass in the box from Dyego.

Finally, in the 62nd, San Francisco tied the match on a penalty from Dagoberto. Chilowicz ruled that Jackson Gonalves had been shoved to the ground by, of all people, Smith. Yes, the contact was minimal, and Jackson went down in true I’ve-been-shot CONCACAF fashion; but Smith, it could be argued, shouldn’t have even been on the pitch.

But, two minutes after the equalizer, the Eddies rallied to take back the lead. After a scramble in the box and a fumble from Peiser, Zebie put away the loose ball — his first NASL goal.

“At times, [Allan] gets in around the goal, a bit like [Shamit Shome] did for us last year,” said Miller. “He gets his chances but can’t score. I think that range was perfect for Allan and, anytime we have Allan up on the goal-line scoring goals is a good sign. I thought his overall performance alongside [Ben] McKendry was immense.”

The Eddies, though, didn’t take to prosperity all to well. Minutes after taking the lead, Smith once again took down Dagoberto, and this time Chilowicz wasn’t in a charitable mood. Smith got his second yellow and the Eddies were down to 10 men.

Yet, the Deltas didn’t keep the advantage for long. Just 12 minutes after being introduced into the game from the subs’ bench, Canadian Kyle Bekker was shown a straight red for a tackle from behind on Pape Diakite.

The game had more twists. There were football lines on the Kezar Stadium grass, and Farago was fooled by them in the 79th minute. He brought the ball out of his box with his hands before proceeding with the drop kick; the football lines provided the illusion that he was still inside the penalty area.

But the ensuing free kick from Dagoberto went off the wall.

Still, one more twist to the tale; a shot from Dyego came crashing off the bar. The rebound came to the head of Dagoberto, but Farago was in the right place at the right time for a desperation save.

Whew.

With “a lot of great memories” from his time coaching Canada’s U-17’s, Fleming moves to FCE

This coming Monday, Sean Fleming will sit down with FC Edmonton coach Colin Miller and assistant Jeff Paulus, who also directs the team’s Academy. Fleming will also meet with parents of some of the Alberta Capital Region’s  best soccer prospects.

Fleming will be on day one of his new job, running the U-16 program for FC Edmonton’s Academy.

Fleming, who led Canada’s U-17 team through four World Cup cycles, and qualifying for two U-17 World Cups, left the Canadian Soccer Association last December, though he still works with the CSA for coaching courses. Fleming said the parting was a mutual decision.

“I had four cycles with the U-17s, we got to World Cups, and everything has its time,” Fleming said. “Definitely, there are a lot of great memories.”

What did Fleming take away from those international tournaments? That Canada has a long way to go.

“The two World Cups were just a great level of football,” he said. “Argentina, we saw England with Raheem Sterling. And we saw just how far along some of these kids are.”

Now, he’ll take those experiences and translate them to his new job. How did he get the job with his hometown team? He knew Paulus well from the National Training Centre, and there was a dialogue that opened between Fleming and FCE.

“We kept in touch and, as the season went on, some things came into play,” said Fleming.

And Fleming said the U-16 level is critical. Many kids come in at this level not really knowing the kind of commitment needed to make it up to the U-18 level, to get on the national program’s radar, to make it to professional football.

“And a lot of it is off the pitch; that’s where they need to show the discipline and commitment,” said Fleming. “It comes with understanding the need for proper sleep, nutrition on top of the 90 minutes of training per day.”

And, when he ran Canada’s U-17 program, he said that “some, not a lot” of the kids didn’t yet have a grasp of what it took to make the steps to the  next level.

“But you can’t blame the kids,” he said. “It’s a matter of what they knew. This level is a big jump for many players.”

Intrinsically Canadian Power Rankings: MLS Week 24/NASL Week 21/USL Week 22

There’s no doubt that Toronto FC’s rise to the top of the MLS standings has become the most compelling story in the league.

But we’d be remiss in our duties at The 11 if we ignored the fact that the number of minutes for Canadian players at TFC has dwindled over the last couple months. At the end of May, TFC was averaging over 130 minutes per game of playing time to Canadians. At the end of June, that number had gone down to just over 121 minutes. Now it’s down to just under 111 minutes per game. This past weekend, in a 3-1 over Chicago, Canadians Jonathan Osorio and Tosaint Ricketts came in as subs near the end of the game; no Canadians started.

While TFC trends down and Vancouver, well, has never really got to a height from which to trend downwards, Montreal is at over 145 minutes per game of action to Canadian players. Anthony Jackson-Hamel scored his seventh goal of the season for the Impact this past weekend. Not bad, considering he’s only started five games….

… And then you realize all three Canadian teams are still behind Orlando City when it comes to giving playing time to Canadians.

Here are this week’s rankings:

MLS MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Will Johnson, Orlando, 2000 (24)
Cyle Larin, Orlando, 1842 (22)
Patrice Bernier, Montreal, 1260 (18)
Tesho Akindele, FCD, 1052 (22)
Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, Montreal,  1017 (16)
Raheem Edwards, TFC, 929 (17)
Alphonso Davies, Vancouver, 664 (16)
Tosaint Ricketts, TFC, 634 (16)
Anthony Jackson-Hamel, Montreal, 553 (13)
Jonathan Osorio, TFC, 536 (18)
Russell Teibert, Vancouver, 433 (7)
Jay Chapman, TFC, 350 (9)
Marcel de Jong, Vancouver, 275 (7)
Samuel Piette, Montreal, 259 (3)
Louis Beland-Goyette, Montreal, 193 (4)
Ashtone Morgan, TFC, 193 (4)
Jordan Hamilton, TFC, 120 (7)
Wandrille Lefevre, Montreal, 106 (3)
Maxime Crepeau, Montreal, 90 (1)
Ben McKendry, Vancouver, 90 (1)
Maxim Tissot, D.C. United, 90 (1)
Richie Laryea, Orlando, 64 (7)
Tyler Pasher, Sporting KC, 45 (1)
Brian Wright, New England, 37 (1)
David Choiniere, Montreal,34 (3)
Kwame Awuah, NYCFC, 2 (2)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, MLS MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

Orlando City, 3886/25 (155.4)

Montreal, 3489/24 (145.4)

Toronto FC, 2772/25 (110.9)

Vancouver, 1460/23 (63.5)

FC Dallas, 1052/23 (45.7)

D.C. United, 90/25 (3.6)

Sporting Kansas City, 45/25 (1.8)

New England, 37/24 (1.5)

New York City FC, 2/25 (0.1)

 

NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Drew Beckie, Jacksonville, 1649 (20)
Kyle Bekker, San Francisco, 1432 (18)
Mason Trafford, Miami FC, 1359 (17)
Nana Attakora, San Francisco, 1350 (15)
Allan Zebie, FCE, 1297 (16)
Ben Fisk, FCE, 1220 (13)
Dejan Jakovic, New York, 1170 (13)
Karl Ouimette, San Francisco, 1043 (12)
Adam Straith, FCE, 949 (11)
Nik Ledgerwood, FCE, 829 (12)
Maxim Tissot, San Francisco, 619 (9)
Mauro Eustaquio, FCE, 599 (10)
Tyson Farago, FCE, 495 (6)
Nathan Ingham, FCE, 495 (6)
Ben McKendry, FCE, 148 (4)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, NASL MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

FC Edmonton, 6032/20 (301.6)

San Francisco, 4444/20 (222.2)

Jacksonville, 1649/21 (78.5)

Miami FC, 1359/21 (64.7)

New York, 1170/20 (58.5)

 

USL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS

Mastanabal Kacher, Colorado Springs, 2117 (25)
Callum Irving, Ottawa, 1970 (22)
Mallan Roberts, Richmond, 1947 (22)
Ryan James, Rochester, 1873 (22)
Jordan Murrell, Reno, 1652 (19)
Ryan Telfer, TFCII, 1630 (22)
Jordan Dover, Rochester, 1391 (18)
Liam Fraser, TFCII, 1385 (17)
Daniel Haber, Real Monarchs, 1371 (22)
Amer Didic, Swope Park, 1361 (16)
Eddie Edward, Ottawa, 1341 (17)
Zachary Ellis-Hayden, OCB, 1325 (17)
Bradley Kamdem Fewo, Rochester, 1318 (18)
David Norman Jr., WFC2, 1304 (17)
Thomas Gardner, WFC2, 1298 (19)
Kadin Chung, WFC2, 1250 (16)
Ben McKendry, WFC2, 1203 (14)
Angelo Cavalluzzo, TFCII, 1170 (13)
Jamar Dixon, Ottawa, 1120 (18)
Jordan Schweitzer, OCB, 1104 (17)
Tyler Pasher, Swope Park, 1080 (15)
Shaan Hundal, TFCII, 1079 (16)
Terran Campbell, WFC2, 1057 (16)
Chris Nanco, Bethlehem Steel, 1052 (17)
Marco Bustos, WFC2, 1020 (12)
Richie Laryea, OCB, 909 (11)
Sergio Camargo, TFCII, 898 (14)
Mark Anthony Gonzalez, Swope Park, 865 (15)   
Luca Uccello, TFCII, 859 (12)
Matthew Baldisimo, WFC2, 845 (15)
Carl Haworth, Ottawa, 818 (11)
Gloire Amanda, WFC2, 783 (19)
Sean Melvin, WFC2, 720 (8)
Kyle Porter, Tampa Bay, 697 (9)  
Dominick Zator, WFC2, 685 (8)
A.J. Gray, Phoenix, 673 (16)
Michael Cox, OCB, 665 (12)
Skylar Thomas, Charleston, 659 (14)  
Malik Johnson, TFCII, 647 (14)      
Julian Dunn-Johnson, TFCII, 638 (8)  
Paris Gee, Tulsa, 561 (12)  
Aidan Daniels, TFCII, 554 (10)
Mark-Anthony Kaye, Louisville, 542 (10)  
Marco Carducci, Rio Grande Valley FC, 540 (6)
Alessandro Riggi, Phoenix, 517 (10)
Jordan Hamilton, TFCII, 466 (6)
Chris Serban, WFC2, 402 (7)
Mackenzie Pridham, Reno, 340 (11)  
Maxim Tissot, Richmond, 340 (4)
Dante Campbell, TFCII, 335 (9)
Anthony Osorio, TFCII, 315 (5)
Ashtone Morgan, TFCII, 284 (4)
Aron Mkungilwa, Ottawa, 233 (4)
Marco Dominguez, FC Cincinnati, 189 (5)
Josh Heard, Bethlehem Steel, 187 (9)
Brian Wright, Tulsa, 186 (3)
Jay Chapman, TFCII, 180 (2)
Wandrille Lefevre, Ottawa, 180 (2)
Adonijah Reid, Ottawa, 156 (5)
Michael Baldisimo, WFC2, 151 (5)
Matthew Srbely, TFCII, 95 (2)
Marcel DeBellis, Richmond, 90 (1)
Raheem Edwards, TFCII, 90 (1)
Patrick Metcalfe, WFC2, 73 (2)
Mele Temguia, FC Cincinnati, 62 (1)
Brett Levis, WFC2, 29 (1)
Nicolas Apostol, WFC2, 17 (1)
Thomas Meilleur-Giguere, Ottawa, 1 (1)

 

TEAM RANKINGS, USL MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2017

WFC2,10834/23 (471)

TFCII, 10625/24 (442.7)

Ottawa, 5829/22 (265)

Rochester, 4582/22 (208.3)

Orlando City B, 4043/24 (168.5)

Swope Park Rangers, 3306/22 (150.3)

Richmond, 2377/24 (99)

Reno,1992/22 (90.5)

Colorado Springs, 2117/25 (84.7)

Real Monarchs SC, 1371/23 (59.6)

Phoenix, 1190/20 (59.5)

Bethlehem Steel FC, 1329/23 (57.8)

Tulsa, 747/22 (34)

Tampa Bay, 697/24 (29)

Charleston, 659/24 (27.5)

Louisville City, 542/21 (25.8)

Rio Grande Valley FC, 450/22 (20.5)

FC Cincinnati, 251/24 (10.5)

 

Eddies can’t take full advantage of numerous chances, settle for draw with PRFC

The good: For the fourth straight NASL fall season match, FC Edmonton wasn’t shut out. That’s a good trend for the lowest scoring team in the league in the spring season.

The bad: Some themes we’ve seen over and over again this FCE season played out once again Sunday at Clarke Stadium, as the Eddies had to settle for a 1-1 home draw with Puerto Rico FC. The Eddies, who have kept just one clean sheet all season, gave up a goal that will make the defenders cringe when they see the video. And, in the second half, the Eddies had a series of point-blank chances that ended up going anywhere but across the goal line. In yet another game, the Eddies didn’t take full advantage of their numerous chances.

“Another day, we win 2-1 or 3-1, but we have to take the positives out of this, and keep getting to the good places,” said Eddies midfielder Ben Fisk, whose goal gave the home side the lead just before the stroke of halftime.

Puerto Rico FC coach Marco Velez made just one change to his team’s lineup, despite having played Wednesday in Jacksonville. The Eddies hadn’t played since two Fridays ago.

Chances were at a premium in the first half, but the Eddies broke the deadlock thanks to some inspired interplay between Tomi Ameobi and Fisk. Ameobi, out on the left side,  kept the ball from going into touch, barely, and then spun and blew past defender Phanuel Kavita. He then squared the ball from Fisk, who placed a shot with enough power that it still went in, even though PRFC keeper Trevor Spangenberg got a hand to it.

“I busted a gut to get there,” Fisk said.

But, Puerto Rico tied the game early in the second half; Conor Doyle was left wide open in the penalty area to head home. It was all too easy for the PRFC forward.

“We gave the ball away and nobody picked up,” admitted FCE coach Colin Miller. “We were Santa Claus again.”

And, then, cue the Eddies’ second-half chances to win the game;

PRFC’s Walter Ramirez cleared a header from Eddies defender Albert Watson off the line.
FCE’s Dustin Corea had a chance to score, but his shot was cleared off the line by Kavita; the defender didn’t know much about it, the ball just hit him as he tried to cover for Spangenberg, who had made the initial save;
Watson looked to have Spangenberg at his mercy, but Keita lunged in with a saving block;
And, just before the final whistle, Spangenberg leaped to get his fingers to a Jake Keegan header that was dipping in under the bar.

And, just before the game came to a close, FCE captain Nik Ledgerwood picked up his second yellow after a clash of heads with Doyle. And, PRFC forward Giuseppe Gentile left the game on a stretcher after a challenge from Mauro Eustaquio that referee Carol Anne Chenard deemed worthy of a yellow card.

Ledgerwood will miss next Saturday’s match at San Francisco due to the mandatory suspension and then will be out for Sept. 2 at North Carolina FC for national team duty.

Miller said he was disappointed that the Eddies once again had to settle for a draw despite scoring first.

“That’s two games in a row we’ve been up 1-0 at halftime,” he said. “That’s four points lost.”

 

Canada’s roster: Hutchinson’s back, two players could make national-team debuts against Jamaica

Atiba Hutchinson’s time for thinking is over. Canada’s veteran midfielder will make his return to the national side.

Hutchinson, who, despite being in his mid 30s, is still in prime form for Besiktas, is part of coach Octavio Zambrano’s roster for Canada’s Sept. 2 friendly against Jamaica.

After Canada was eliminated from qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, the Brampton, Ont. native chose to take some time away from the national side to ponder his international future. He was not part of the 2017 Gold Cup team.

Hutchinson will provide a veteran presence for a team that is filled with young prospects.

While Hutchinson and the recall of Will Johnson are a nod to the old guard, for Amer Didic and David Choiniere, Canada’s Sept. 2 friendly against Jamaica could mark the next steps in their young careers.

Both were named to coach Octavio Zambrano’s roster for the match at BMO Field. The pair are the only first-time callups in the squad; both could get their first full senior caps in the match against the Reggae Boyz. Keeper James Pantemis has been previously named to a Canadian senior roster, but has yet to get his first “A” cap.

Choniere is a product of the Montreal Impact Academy and has seen limited time with the Impact in MLS action this season. Didic is a graduate of FC Edmonton’s Academy, who later went to Baker University and forced his way onto Swope Park Rangers,  the USL affiliate of Sporting Kansas City. He then got a call up to Sporting Kansas City for CONCACAF Champions League matches in 2016, then was signed to an MLS contract earlier this year. Didic is a fine example of a player who didn’t have a high national profile when he was a teen, but simply refused to give up on his dream.

CANADA

1- GK- Simon Thomas | NOR / FK Bodø/Glimt

2- FB- Nik Ledgerwood | CAN / FC Edmonton

3- CB- Manjrekar James | HUN / Vasas Budapest

4- FB- Michael Petrasso | ENG / Queens Park Rangers

5- CB- Dejan Jaković | USA / New York Cosmos

6- M- Samuel Piette | CAN / Impact Montréal FC

7- FB- Samuel Adekugbe | SWE / IFK Göteborg (on loan from Vancouver Whitecaps FC)

8- M- Will Johnson | USA / Orlando City SC

9- F- Tosaint Ricketts | CAN / Toronto FC

10- M- David Junior Hoilett | WAL / Cardiff City FC

11- F- Cyle Larin | USA / Orlando City SC

12- M- Alphonso Davies | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC

13- M- Atiba Hutchinson | TUR / Beşiktaş JK

14- M- Mark-Anthony Kaye | USA / Louisville City FC

15- CB- Amer Didic | USA / Sporting Kansas City

16- F- Anthony Jackson-Hamel | CAN / Impact Montréal FC

17- FB- Marcel de Jong | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC

18- GK- Jayson Leutwiler | ENG / Blackburn Rovers

20- M- Raheem Edwards | CAN / Toronto FC

21- M- Jonathan Osorio | CAN / Toronto FC

22- GK- James Pantemis | CAN / Impact Montréal FC

23- M- Tesho Akindele | USA / FC Dallas

24- M- David Choinière | CAN / Impact Montréal FC

25- M- Jay Chapman | CAN / Toronto FC

Farago’s field-length kicks add new wrinkles to FCE’s attack

When it comes to goalkeeping, stopping shots is what makes the highlights and game reports. We talk very little about the other things that come with the position, namely playing the ball. From goal kicks to handling pass-backs, the keeper is required to make good decisions when the ball comes to his feet.

But, in the past, I’ve seen keepers lose their jobs because of their inability to play the ball out of the back.

This brings us to FC Edmonton keeper Tyson Farago. When it comes to a heavy kicking foot, the only NASL keeper I can remember hitting the ball for the same kind of distance as Farago does was Daniel Illyes, who played for the Atlanta Silverbacks in 2012 and ‘13. Matt VanOekel, the Eddies starter in 2015 and ‘16, could hit the ball really well, and he was the best in the league at it last season. But Farago’s delivery borders on ridiculous. Think, Mighty Steel Leg from Shaolin Soccer.

Last week, Farago launched 80-yard kick after 80-yard kick into the heart of the New York Cosmos defence, daring the centre backs to get decent first touches to the rockets being fired at them. And, often, the ball would be tracked down by the Eddies forwards and resulted in good looks on goal. Tomi Ameobi got a couple of clear breaks on goal after long Farago bombs down the field.

So, when will Farago decide “hell with it” and try to score from nearly 100 yards away?

“I always talk about it during practice,” Farago said with a smile after Friday’s training session. “One day, the wind will be right, the moons will align, and I’ll connect with one and catch the keeper off guard.”

We can talk all we want about tiki-taka football, but route-one soccer will always have its place. And a good team will be one that can vary its attacks; it can play on the ground, but, if things get too congested in the middle of the park, it can also spring a ball over the top and try to get behind the defenders.

Farago said that having strikers Ameobi and Daryl Fordyce at the top of the formation makes it all the more effective to go over the top.

“With the height of Tomi and Daryl really add to it,and the pace of the both of them, they really run off each other and it’s definitely a weapon to utilize and we took advantage of it (last) Friday there. It was a great advantage in the game.”

It might be more difficult this weekend for the Eddies to deliver the over-the-top ball. Puerto Rico FC is in town this weekend to face FC Edmonton (1-1-1 in the fall season), and feature one of the biggest lineups in NASL. Heck, PRFC looks more like a rugby team.

“They are a big side,” said Eddies coach Colin Miller. “They’ve got some great athletes on their team, but I saw some things Wednesday night when they played against Jacksonville, areas that we can expose and we’ve worked on that a little bit here this morning as well. I think it will be an entertaining game, Puerto Rico have shown already with wins away from home that they don’t sit back and defend. “

And, while PRFC, who currently lead the NASL fall standings, played in Jacksonville heat on Wednesday, Miller said the Orange Agents might recover better than most NASL teams.

“I think between the two of us (PRFC and FCE), we’ve easily got the best Air Miles in the league  and possibly the continent. They’re used to travelling. It doesn’t faze their players at all.”

FCE winger Sainey Nyassi suffered a knock to the head in training earlier this week. Miller said that it will be a “game-time decision” whether or not Nyassi makes the squad for Sunday.