Steven Sandor's Blog, page 92

Giveaway after giveaway: Eddies offer up their worst performance of the NASL season

Eddies keeper Tyson Farago can’t stop the penalty kick. PHOTO: TONY LEWIS/FC EDMONTON

In his early days as FC Edmonton manager, Colin Miller presided over some very poor defeats.

But, in his eyes, Sunday’s 2-0 loss at home to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers trumped them all.

“That’s as bad as we’ve played since I’ve been manager,” Miller said after the match.

“The players let themselves down. And if they’ve left themselves down, they’ve let me down.”

The Eddies produced more turnovers than you’d find in a bakery. And, they really only created one scoring chance of note — and that came in the second half with the Eddies already down a goal. And, in true comedy-of-errors style, sub Hanson Boakai and winger Lance Laing got in each other’s way when the ball sat in the Fort Lauderdale penalty area with keeper Josh Ford down and out on the turf.



The Eddies had no shots on goal in the first half. The Strikers defended deep, not allowing the home side to unleash its counterattack. Strikers coach Gunter Kronsteiner hailed his team for perfectly sticking to the game plan and taking three points out of what he called one of the hardest places in the league to come in and win.

The Eddies No. 1 keeper, Matt VanOekel, failed his fitness test Sunday morning; his hip-flexor injury wouldn’t allow him to play. John Smits, the former Eddies No. 1 who has slipped to No. 3 on the depth chart, was out with an elbow problem.

So Tyson Farago — who was named to the NASL team of the week in his only previous start, against Atlanta at the end of the 2014 season — was given the nod, with young Christian Kaiswatum making the bench as the back-up.

Farago and centre back Albert Watson were the only FCE players on the pitch who, in the coach’s estimation, would get passing grades. And he said he expects the reserve players to be ready to impress in this week’s training sessions as some of Sunday’s starters might be grabbing the bench in the team’s next match.

Farago could do little on either of Stefano Pinho’s goals. The first came from the penalty spot; the second came from a point-blank-range effort that was put into the top of the goal.

The penalty came in the second half, after central defender Kareem Moses was called for taking out Stefano in the area. Moses protested that he got all ball, as he slid to cut out the cross from winger Walter Ramirez. The fact that the ball went off Moses and well outside the area gave credence to his claim that he got the ball first. But referee Pierre-Luc Lauziere disagreed, and pointed to the spot.

Maybe, just maybe, it would be easier to argue the call if the whole sequence that led to the challenge in question wasn’t set up by such a brutal Eddies’ giveaway. But Ramirez was set free on the wing to make that cross after a terrible turnover from Eddies’ midfielder Thiago de Freitas, who, under no pressure at all, presented the ball to the Strikers.

Minutes after that play — and after de Freitas had coughed up the ball a couple of more times — his coach had seen enough and subbed him off. Winger Dustin Corea, who had got a goal and assist the week before against Carolina and was named the NASL team of the week, also got an early yank. The Winnipeg native was called into make a couple of good saves to keep his team jn it as it left itself short in the back. His best came as he raced across the goalmouth to stop Dani Sanchez’s close-range volley.

“They just hit us on the counterattack and stretched us wide,” Farago said.

But, the Strikers finally got that second goal late in the second half. And, it came on a two-on-three break; while the Eddies had sacrificed a defender, they still had enough at the back to deal with a two-man rush. But, Stefano was able to get the ball in the middle of the area to seal the three points with his second goal of the game.

Had the Eddies been able to get the three points, they would have vaulted into fourth in the NASL combined table — and into a playoff spot. Instead, they sink to sixth, behind Fort Lauderdale on goal difference, two points behind the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

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After rough spring, Eddies return to their stingy defensive ways in the fall

Colin Miller

The NASL spring season: Despite boasting the second-most potent offence in the league, FC Edmonton finished second last in the table, because it allowed a league-worst 22 goals in 10 games.

And, in the fall? The Eddies are the only team in NASL to allow an average of less than a goal per game; FCE has conceded just eight times in nine matches. And the defensive turnaround has put the Eddies in second place in the fall table, and just two points out of fourth in the combined standings. That fourth spot would likely represent the final post-season spot.

So, why the turnaround? The Eddies made really only one major defensive change between the spring and fall seasons — and that was the acquisition of Brazilian Thiago de Freitas as the holding midfielder. But there’s no way that the Brazilian should get all the credit for the worst-to-best defensive changeover.

According to the coach, a lot of sweat equity was poured into the improving the play in the back.

“To be brutally honest, I gave them a bit of a blast at the start of the fall preseason,” said coach Colin Miller. “I took the goalkeepers aside and said it wasn’t acceptable. And I took the rest of the group aside and said it wasn’t acceptable. I didn’t blame any one particular person for it, or any particular group, it was as a team that it was not acceptable, the goals that we were giving away. And then we worked their arses off. We worked them on a daily basis on the principles of defending. Pressing the ball, winning the ball as early as we could. We’re seeing that, now. We haven’t let up on that in the fall season.”

But Miller said the intensity was there in the spring, but that massive mental errors played parts in many opposition goals.

And, the coach noted that his players are professionals. They saw the videos of the goals conceded. And they were embarrassed.

“In the spring season, if we had defended like the Eddies of old, we could have been the best team in the league,” said Miller.

And the coach is happy that the defenders are creating chances for offensive counterattacks. There’s no better example than the second goal the Eddies scored in last weekend’s 3-0 win over Carolina. A set-piece attempt was cut out, and de Freitas pushed a quick outlet pass up the field, and it set up a two-on-one break for the Eddies. Lance Laing eventually scored on the break.

Keeper Matt VanOekel, who took a lot of the heat for the team’s poor spring goals-against total, said the turnaround has been a team effort.

“I think we’re all just clicking. The team is playing well from the front to the back. We know what our roles are and our responsibilities are. We didn’t have the spring season we wanted to. During that second preseason we worked hard on the defensive shape and getting everyone sharp and ready to go.”

The Eddies will host the Fort Lauderdale Strikers Sunday at Clarke Field; the Eddies beat the Strikers at Clarke in the spring season, then played them to a draw in Florida earlier in the fall season.

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Floro has talked tough in past, but can he twist arms to help the Olympic roster?

Canadian men’s national-team coach Benito Floro has bared his teeth a couple of times over the past year.

He’s lamented how MLS teams do their best to prevent Canadian players from being called up for national team duty, while American stars are always made readily available, no matter how meaningless the friendly (CLICK HERE).

He’s expressed his disappointment in the Canadian MLS teams, when it comes to how they’re doing when it comes to giving minutes to Canadian players (CLICK HERE).

Now, we might see if the barks end up with a bite. Canada will play its round-robin games in the Olympic qualifying tournament Oct. 1-6. There will, no doubt, be a camp before that. Floro spoke about the tournament on Tuesday and, through quotes released by the Canadian Soccer Association, we see he’s already prepping for fights with quite a few MLS clubs.

“We are expected to know soon if coaches from European and MLS clubs are going to allow us our players to at least attend all the games and whether it’s possible for them to attend the pre-tournament camp,” Floro said. “We trust that the Canadian USL teams are going to allow players to attend the camp and in all the games. If clubs don’t allow several players to attend the games, it will be much more difficult for us. We hope the clubs will allow all the players with us.”



Since the tournament will be held on American soil, the focus will be more on the MLS clubs than the European clubs when it comes to releasing players. The tournament would require players to make short flights to Kansas City for the opener.

Floro has already expressed his displeasure at his relationship with MLS teams. He’s stressed how few Canadian players get minutes from Canadian MLS teams. Will that put the MLS clubs in between rocks and hard places? For example. if the Whitecaps aren’t starting young Canadians, how could they refuse if Floro wanted them for Olympic duty? A refusal would smack of hypocrisy. The same standard could be applied to the Impact, who aren’t in the habit of starting Canadians.

Of course, Cyle Larin, all of 20 years of age, would be the most interesting wild card of all — and he doesn’t play for a Canadian MLS team; he plies his trade for an American MLS side. Does Orlando City want to lose the forward for the tournament? Of course not. But should there be significant pressure on the club to let Larin go? If the program wants him, there should be. And it should come from MLS itself.

And, while Floro didn’t mention the NASL in his quote, it’s worth noting that the teams in that league arguably under more big-game pressure in October than the MLS teams will. The NASL overall table is very close at the moment, and only four teams make the post-season in that league — compare that to MLS, where more than half the league makes the playoffs. October NASL games are more meaningful than October MLS matches.

When we see the Olympic roster, we’ll see of Floro’s been able to back his tough words with the ability to twist arms.

CANADIAN SOCCER. CANADIAN STORIES. TRY THE FREE PREVIEW TODAY.

Quintessentially Canadian Power Rankings, MLS Week 24/NASL Week 18

Kyle Porter

The most interesting moments for Canadians in either MLS or NASL didn’t come in league play; they came in the first leg of the Amway Canadian Championship final.

The Whitecaps handed starts to Russell Teibert and Kianz Froese in Montreal on Wednesday; meanwhile, Wandrille Lefevre started for the Impact. And, most interesting of all, was that Canadian Anthony Jackson-Hamel came on for the Impact as a sub and scored the tying goal as the teams finished the first leg at 2-2.

Alas, for the sake of this chart, we only count league minutes. And that’s where homegrown minutes played continue to plunge in both leagues where Canadians are treated as domestics on Canadian teams, but as foreigners on American sides (And Americans are domestics on both sides of the border).

Quietly, Atlanta Silverback Kyle Porter has taken over as the Canadian who has seen the most minutes in 2015, either in NASL or MLS.



MLS AND NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS (MLS AFTER 24 WEEKS, NASL AFTER 18 WEEKS):

1. Kyle Porter, ATL, NASL, 1445 (18)

2. Eddie Edward, FCE, NASL, 1380 (16)

3. Jonathan Osorio, TFC, MLS, 1373 (19)

4. Ashtone Morgan, TFC, MLS, 1329 (16)

5. Cyle Larin, ORL, MLS, 1293 (19)

6. Mallan Roberts, FCE, NASL, 1260 (14)

7. Carl Haworth, OTT, NASL, 1257 (16)

8. Mason Trafford, OTT, NASL, 1170 (13)

9. Adrian Cann, SAS, NASL, 1080 (12)

10. Tesho Akindele, FCD, MLS 1005 (19)

11. Nana Attakora, SAS, NASL, 971 (11)

12. Julian de Guzman, OTT, NASL, 895 (11)

13. Will Johnson, POR, MLS 890 (10)

14. Russell Teibert, VAN, MLS, 889 (17)

15. Dominic Oppong, ATL, NASL, 846 (13)

16. Mauro Eustaquio, OTT, NASL, 754 (11)

17. Allan Zebie, FCE, NASL, 752 (11)

18. Karl Ouimette, NYRB, MLS, 698 (10)

19. Marcel de Jong, SKC, MLS, 634 (9)

20. Sam Adekugbe, VAN, MLS, 615 (7)

21. Frank Jonke, FCE, NASL, 614 (11)

22. Michael Nonni, FCE, NASL, 562 (11)

23. Sadi Jalali, FCE, NASL, 513 (8)

24. Wandrille Lefevre, MTL, MLS, 450 (5)

25. Maxim Tissot, MTL, MLS 368 (8)

26. Drew Beckie, OTT, NASL, 343 (7)

27. Patrice Bernier, MTL, MLS 340 (13)

28. John Smits, FCE, NASL, 315 (4)

29. Kyle Bekker, FCD/MTL, MLS, 313 (8)

30. Hanson Boakai, FCE, NASL, 254 (8)

31. Jay Chapman, TFC, MLS, 186 (89)

32. Patryk Misik, OTT, NASL, 166 (5)

33. Kianz Froese, VAN, MLS, 162 (7)

34. Anthony Jackson-Hamel, MTL, MLS 115 (6)

35. Philippe Davies, OTT, NASL, 104 (5)

36. Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare, MTL, MLS, 18 (2)

37. Bruno Zebie, FCE, NASL 13 (1)

38. Jordan Hamilton, TFC, MLS, 4 (1)

MLS AND NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIAN MAYBES — PLAYERS WHO COULD BE ELIGIBLE FOR CANADA, BUT ARE ELIGIBLE FOR OTHER NATIONS AND HAVE NOT COMMITTED TO CANADA (MLS AFTER 24 WEEKS, NASL AFTER 18 WEEKS):?

1. Ethan Finlay, CLB 1967 (24)

2. Steven Vitoria, PHI 990 (11)

TEAM RANKINGS, MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2015 (INCLUDES BOTH SUREFIRES and MAYBES); RANKED BY AVERAGE MINUTES PER GAME:?

FC Edmonton, NASL, 5673/19 GP (298.6) (-10.5)

Ottawa, NASL, 4689/18 GP (260.5) (-4.6)

Toronto FC, MLS, 2892/23 GP (125.7) (-2.5)

Atlanta, NASL, 2291/19 GP (120.6) (-1.7)

San Antonio, NASL 1951/17 GP (114.8) (-1.5)

Columbus, MLS, 1967/24 GP (82) (NC)

Vancouver, MLS, 1666/25 GP (66.4) (-3)

Montreal, MLS, 1291/20 GP (64.5) (NC)

FC Dallas, MLS, 1319/23 GP (57.3) (-1.9)

Orlando City, MLS, 1293/25 GP (51.7) (+0.6)

Philadelphia, MLS, 990/25 GP (39.6) (+2.1)

Portland, MLS, 890/25 GP (35.6) (+2.1)

New York Red Bulls, MLS 698/23 GP (30.3) (+2.7)

Sporting Kansas City, MLS, 634/22 GP (28.8) (-1.4)

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Eddies thrash Carolina 3-0, but it could have been much, much worse

Carolina keeper Akira Fitzgerald makes a save on FCE winger Lance Laing. PHOTO: TONY LEWIS/FC EDMONTON

You could make a strong case for Akira Fitzgerald’s inclusion in the NASL Team of the Week.

Without the stellar play of the Carolina keeper, the RailHawks would have lost to FC Edmonton by a more lopsided scoreline than Sunday’s 3-0 result at Clarke Field. Make no mistake; a 3-0 loss was a scoreline that flattered the visitors, who have become all too used to hidings on the Clarke turf.

In the previous four games against the Eddies, the RailHawks surrendered 13 goals. And Carolina could have been on the wrong end of a 6-0 or 7-0 score on Sunday,

Thanks to a combination of generous giveaways and slack defending by the visitors, the Eddies had a three-goal lead at halftime, thanks to goals from Tomi Ameobi, Lance Laing and Dustin Corea, the latter’s first NASL marker. But, consider that Fitzgerald stopped Laing on a breakaway, after the Eddies’ left winger blew around Chris Nurse, Carolina’s tough-as-nails holding midfielder who was shuffled to right back on Sunday. As well, Ritchie Jones had an effort go off the crossbar. Consider that the RailHawks gifted the ball to the Eddies in the final third time and time again through the first half.



“We gave the ball away, and they put it in the net,” observed RailHawks coach Colin Clarke.

The first goal came courtesy of a brutal giveaway by Carolina midfielder Wells Thompson, who was subbed off before the 20-minute mark. Corea picked up the ball and threaded through to Ameobi, who rolled the ball into the corner of the goal.

Corea said that he and Ameobi had spoken during practice about making just that kind of play; Corea said that he likes to cut in off the wing and then look for that through ball.

The second goal came after midfielder Thiago de Freitas broke up a Carolina set piece. The RailHawks were slow to react to the turnover, and de Freitas released Laing with a quick pass. For half the length of the field, Laing and teammate Ritchie Jones had a two-on-one break. Laing opted to keep the ball, cut across the top of the Carolina box, and then placed a shot inside the post.

Another giveaway allowed Corea to get the ball and fire a left-footed shot inside the post, his first for the Eddies.

Despite the 3-0 lead, FCE coach Colin Miller complained that his team “started the game like pensioners.” He felt that the Eddies were giving away the ball too easily.

“If we’re playing a team that’s on top of their game we’re going to get punished.”

Miller felt the team played much better in the second half; ironically, the Eddies didn’t add to their lead in the half in which their play actually improved. But, it wasn’t for want of trying. The Eddies had chance after chance; and, credit to Fitzgerland, even with the points all but lost for his team, he hung in and put on a goalkeeping clinic.

He made a great stop on Daryl Fordyce, then another save on a point-blank chance from Laing. But it didn’t stop there. He made a save-of-the-week candidate stop on Jones, flying to his left to stop a strike. He made another save on Laing, then gathered in a shot from Ameobi, when the FC Edmonton forward had the presence of mind to swing at a loose ball in the penalty area while he was laying flat on his back.

Miller said it was important for his team to be “ruthless,” to not allow the RailHawks any glimmer of hope for a comeback.

The only downer for the Eddies was that, late in the game, Sainey Nyassi had to come off after he stepped on the ball and fell awkwardly on what looked to be clean breakaway on goal.

Now, the Eddies have scored 16 times in their last five games against the RailHawks.

A pizza franchise gives free pies to ticket holders each time the Eddies score three times in a home game. That pizza firm might want RailHawks games to be exempt from this promotion in the future.

The Eddies moved up to second place in the NASL fall table, four points behind the Ottawa Fury, which lost its first game of the fall campaign on Saturday.

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Coaching, ambition are key factors in why parity exists in NASL

In the NASL combined standings, only six points separates the last-place San Antonio Scorpions and fourth-place Minnesota United.

If there was ever a sign of parity in a sports league, that’s it.

But, the funny thing is, there shouldn’t be that much parity in the NASL. While by no means are the teams spending millions of dollars on salaries, there is no salary cap. And teams like the Atlanta Silverbacks and Carolina RailHawks come nowhere close to the budgets of the New York Cosmos or Tampa Bay Rowdies. This is a league — despite its official second-division status — that advertises itself as the home of laissez-faire competition, and its hardcore evangelical supporters pooh-pooh the Animal Farm salary cap of MLS (where all teams are equal, but some are more equal than others).

FC Edmonton is right in this mix, two points out of what is likely the fourth and final playoff spot, with 12 games to go. On Sunday, the Eddies begin a spell of four out of the next five games at Clarke Field; they’ll host the Carolina RailHawks, who are one point up on Edmonton in the overall table.

With the standings being so tight, coach Colin Miller said the team has to treat its remaining schedule like “12 Cup games.”

Miller said the NASL is proof that money doesn’t always buy success. He saw the budget-challenged Atlanta Silverbacks come into Edmonton a couple of weeks back and win (impressively, at that).



On Wednesday, Miller watched the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Kilmarnock, which ended up tied 2-2. And he said that game works as a perfect analogy for the NASL.

“On one side, you had all the millionaires on Celtic, and then you had the Kilmarnock players, who are basically fighting for their livelihoods. And Kilmarnock gave them all they could handle; just because you spend all the money, it doesn’t mean you have success.”

Miller said there are three categories of teams in NASL, the big spenders (think New York, Minnesota and Tampa Bay), the mediocre spenders (FC Edmonton and Ottawa fit in here) and the budget-challenged teams (like Atlanta and Carolina). But he said that the ambition of the players acts as a great equalizer. There are a lot of players in NASL who want to prove points about themselves. There are lots of players with chips on their shoulders.

“For sure, there are lot of players in NASL who have been in MLS or want to get into or get back to MLS,” said Miller. “Or, they want to go on to another level in their careers. And we encourage that at the Eddies, we want players to see this as a way to develop their careers, no matter where they want to go on to.”

And, with so many players wanting to prove themselves, you get lots of gritty performances that can cancel out the presence of the big-salary players.

The other parity factor is the relatively small size of the league and the closeness of its coaching fraternity. It’s hard for any team in this league to do something that catches the rest of the league off-guard. After all, despite grand plans for growth and expansion teams coming in over the next several years, the current roster of teams stands at 11.

“Teams in this league are prepared very well,” said Miller. “You know that when you play against Carolina this weekend, you are going against a well-prepared team, and (Carolina coach) Colin Clarke is one of the best in this league.”

Sainey Nyassi, an MLS veteran who also spent time in Finland, agreed that coaching plays a big part in NASL’s parity.

“The teams are very well prepared for each other. When it comes to formations and preparing teams, there’s very little difference between this league and MLS. Whenever the teams face each other, the coaches have the players ready so they know how to stop each other.

“If you look at it, you had New York on top (in the spring season) and where are they now? And you had Ottawa near the bottom (in the spring) and now they are at the top (of the fall season standings). Everybody in this league talks about Minnesota, they are the supposed to be the best team in the league. We played them last week and, yes, they dominated in the first half. But then, in the second half, we showed we could play against them or against any club.”

That game ended 1-1.

In NASL, the winners of the spring season (Cosmos) and fall season (Ottawa leads) get the top two seeds in the post season. The three and four seeds go to the next-best teams in the combined standings.

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NASL Commissioner’s pro-rel comments don’t mean “going up, going down” happening anytime soon

Bill Peterson

OK, promotion-relegation evangelists, breathe. Try it. OK. Now, do it again. Through the nose, out the mouth. (Or is that the other way around? You can tell my yoga experience comes entirely through my wife coming home and telling me how her session went, while I nod “uh-huh.”)

By now, you may have heard that NASL Commissioner Bill Peterson gave an interview to the Telegraph’s Bob Williams (CLICK HERE), in which the interview subject reiterated his staunch support of promotion and relegation. He was quoted as being ready to “take action” on promoting and relegating teams.

OK, breathe again. You can do it.

Now, Peterson has never been shy about sharing his personal visions for the game of soccer in North America. In April, in what a lot of my readers thought was an April Fool’s joke, he said that, if he had his way, roster quotas would be eliminated — and that NASL teams could sign the players they so wished, no minimum number of Americans and/or Canadians required. (CLICK HERE for that story).

When he spoke in April, the commissioner was speaking of what amounted to a Christmas wish; it wasn’t something he could make a reality on his own. Why? Because the roster rules aren’t entirely up to him. The roster limits are defined by the United States Soccer Federation and, to a lesser extent, the Canadian Soccer Association. (“Lesser extent” because the rules allow Americans to be domestics on Canadian teams, but don’t reciprocate that courtesy to Canadians on American teams.)

How does that relate to what he said today? Well, much like his comments on the import rule, promotion-relegation isn’t something he can do on his own. In fact, on Monday the league office confirmed to me today that it’s not something that’s been discussed internally. Basically, what the commissioner was saying is that it would be nice to have discussion about promotion and relegation — which is a lot different than having promotion and relegation.



And the league confirmed that no one has even begun the discussions about the logistics that would come with promotion and relegation in NASL. The league understands that it’s not cut and dried, because — as of 2016 — it will have teams from three separate federations on board. There will be American teams, Canadian teams and a new team from Puerto Rico. Yes, PR is an American territory, but it has its own national team and soccer federation; so, in the soccer world, it’s as separate from the United States as Wales, England, Northern Ireland and Scotland are from each other.

So, that’s the question. If, let’s say, FC Edmonton and Puerto Rico were to finish in the bottom two NASL spots, where would they be relegated to? To the NPSL, which isn’t sanctioned in Canada, for example? Would NPSL teams be delighted to get the joy of road trips to Edmonton and Puerto Rico? (Heck, the CSA only sanctioned the three Canadian MLS-affiliated USL teams after some real hand wringing, and pledges to not allow any unaffiliated USL teams.) How could a Canadian team be promoted into NASL? What if an American team finished in last and a Canadian team was poised to take its place? Would it make American sponsors happy if the Cosmos or Tampa Bay Rowdies were to be replaced by a team from Winnipeg? If only Canadian teams could replace Canadian teams, could either Ottawa Fury or FC Edmonton be relegated — even if the teams finished 1-2 in the NASL combined standings?

This is not nearly as easy as promotion or relegation where a national division one and national lower divisions exist. In those cases, it’s straightforward. A German team is replaced by a German team. A French team by another team from France.

Et cetera.

And we’re not even getting into the logistics of the Canadian Professional League, who we’re waiting on to confirm that they’re on board to play. (For the record, FC Edmonton has reiterated its allegiance to the NASL; there’s no discussions of the team leaving NASL for the CPL. And league officials reiterated to me Monday that the league still sees plenty of growth potential in Canada for NASL, and that the Canadian market is very important to the league.)

In the end, what we have is three federations, multiple international leagues (stress on “international”) and various sanctioning bodies.

Until these questions are answered with something a bit more substantial than the normal slogans from the promotion-relegation set, all we have is the commissioner of the league’s personal opinion on the business of soccer. For sure, Peterson wants to end protectionism and wants to give teams the rights to win promotion.

Whether those things actually happen is entirely another discussion. And it’s not one the NASL has had, yet.

CANADIAN SOCCER. CANADIAN STORIES. TRY THE FREE PREVIEW TODAY.

Quintessentially Canadian Power Rankings, MLS Week 23/NASL Week 17

Mauro Eustaquio

Over the weekend, the Canadians MLS and NASL teams combined started a total of just six Canadians. (edited)

The Ottawa Fury and Toronto FC started two each; FC Edmonton, one. Montreal Impact, one. As per the new normal, the Whitecaps went with an entirely foreign starting XI.

And, Canadian minutes are trending downward throughout MLS and NASL. The top five teams, in terms of giving Canadians playing times, were all down like a bad day on the TSE.

Good news? Mauro Eustaquio scored his first NASL goal, as Ottawa remained the hottest team in either of North America’s top two divisions.

Currently, there are only eight Canadians who have got over 1,000 minutes of playing time each in either MLS or NASL this season. To put that in perspective, 1,000 minutes is just a little more than 11 full games.



MLS AND NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS (MLS AFTER 23 WEEKS, NASL AFTER 17 WEEKS):?

1. Jonathan Osorio, TFC, MLS, 1373 (19)

2. Kyle Porter, ATL, NASL, 1355 (17)

3. Eddie Edward, FCE, NASL, 1290 (15)

4. Mallan Roberts, FCE, NASL, 1260 (14)

5. Ashtone Morgan, TFC, MLS, 1258 (15)

6. Carl Haworth, OTT, NASL, 1255 (15)

7. Cyle Larin, ORL, MLS, 1226 (18)

8. Mason Trafford, OTT, NASL, 1080 (12)

9. Adrian Cann, SAS, NASL, 990 (11)

10. Tesho Akindele, FCD, MLS 989 (18)

11. Nana Attakora, SAS, NASL, 971 (11)

12. Julian de Guzman, OTT, NASL, 895 (11)

13. Russell Teibert, VAN, MLS, 889 (17)

14. Dominic Oppong, ATL, NASL, 846 (13)

15. Will Johnson, POR, MLS 803 (8)

16. Allan Zebie, FCE, NASL, 740 (10)

17. Mauro Eustaquio, OTT, NASL, 664 (10)

18. Marcel de Jong, SKC, MLS, 634 (9)

19. Sam Adekugbe, VAN, MLS, 615 (7)

20. Karl Ouimette, NYRB, MLS, 608 (9)

21. Frank Jonke, FCE, NASL, 607 (10)

22. Michael Nonni, FCE, NASL, 562 (11)

23. Sadi Jalali, FCE, NASL, 513 (8)

24. Wandrille Lefevre, MTL, MLS, 450 (5)

25. Maxim Tissot, MTL, MLS 368 (8)

26. Drew Beckie, OTT, NASL, 343 (7)

27. Patrice Bernier, MTL, MLS 340 (13)

28. John Smits, FCE, NASL, 315 (4)

29. Kyle Bekker, FCD/MTL, MLS, 313 (8)

30. Hanson Boakai, FCE, NASL, 254 (8)

31. Jay Chapman, TFC, MLS, 186 (89)

32. Patryk Misik, OTT, NASL, 166 (5)

33. Kianz Froese, VAN, MLS, 162 (7)

34. Anthony Jackson-Hamel, MTL, MLS 115 (6)

35. Philippe Davies, OTT, NASL, 104 (5)

36. Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare, MTL, MLS, 18 (2)

37. Bruno Zebie, FCE, NASL 13 (1)

38. Jordan Hamilton, TFC, MLS, 4 (1)???

MLS AND NASL MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIAN MAYBES — PLAYERS WHO COULD BE ELIGIBLE FOR CANADA, BUT ARE ELIGIBLE FOR OTHER NATIONS AND HAVE NOT COMMITTED TO CANADA (MLS AFTER 23 WEEKS, NASL AFTER 17 WEEKS):

?1. Ethan Finlay, CLB 1967 (24)

2. Steven Vitoria, PHI 900 (10)???

TEAM RANKINGS, MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2015 (INCLUDES BOTH SUREFIRES and MAYBES); RANKED BY AVERAGE MINUTES PER GAME:?

FC Edmonton, NASL, 5564/18 GP (309.1) (-26.7)?

Ottawa, NASL, 4507/17 GP (265.1) (-4.8)

Toronto FC, MLS, 2821/22 GP (128.2) (-0.6)

Atlanta, NASL, 2201/18 GP (122.3) (-4)

San Antonio, NASL 1861/16 GP (116.3) (-1.8)

Columbus, MLS, 1967/24 GP (82) (+0.4)

Vancouver, MLS, 1666/24 GP (69.4) (-3)

Montreal, MLS, 1291/20 GP (64.5) (-1.1)

FC Dallas, MLS, 1303/22 GP (59.2) (NC)

Orlando City, MLS, 1226/24 GP (51.1) (3.6)

Philadelphia, MLS, 900/24 GP (37.5) (+2.3)

Portland, MLS, 803/24 GP (33.5) (+2.5)

Sporting Kansas City, MLS, 634/21 GP (30.2) (-1.5)

New York Red Bulls, MLS 608/22 GP (27.6) (+1.7)

CANADIAN SOCCER. CANADIAN STORIES. TRY THE FREE PREVIEW TODAY.

Miller upbeat about draw after Eddies’ nightmarish trip to Minnesota

FCE’s Ritchie Jones battles Minnesota Juliano Vicentini. PHOTO: NASL

For FC Edmonton, a game at Minnesota United represents the shortest road trip it goes on all NASL season long. It’s a direct flight from Edmonton to the Twin Cities.

So, the last thing you’d expect is a travel nightmare. But that’s what happened to the Eddies ahead of Saturday’s 1-1 draw in Minnesota. The team showed up at Edmonton International Airport Friday at 6:30 a.m. The players and coaches all cleared customs. Then, they were told that, because of mechanical issues with the plane, their flight wouldn’t leave on time. Because they’d all gone through customs, they didn’t want to take the chance, leave the departures area, and then have to go through all the lineups and searches again.

So they waited. And waited. Waited some more. And when they were done waiting, they were told to wait a little longer.

Their flight didn’t leave for about another 12 hours.

No word if Tom Hanks will play FCE coach Colin Miller in the Edmonton version of The Terminal.

So, given the fact that his team’s pre-game schedule was totally messed up, Miller took the positives from Saturday’s 1-1 draw.



“Credit to the guys. Not one of them moaned or complained [in the airport]. It shows the character of the guys that we have. We didn’t get to Minnesota till around 9 p.m. last night.”

Referee Daniel Radford was made (in)famous when his notebook was torn up by Sounder Clint Dempsey, in a U.S. Open Cup match in three Seattle players were sent off in a loss to the Portland Timbers. He was assigned last night’s match.

Right after the halftime kickoff, he awarded Minnesota United; but, a worthy-of-debate moment came in the 61st minute, when he decided against sending off Minnesota defender Aaron Pitchkolan for what looked to be goal-scoring-chance-denying foul on Tomi Ameobi.

Ameobi had the ball, and pushed it past Pitchkolan and looked to be clear in on goal. Pitchkolan tripped Ameobi, preventing the breakaway.

But Miller said Minnesota could also point to Radford’s decision to not send off Eddie midfielder Cristian Raudales, who got away with a couple of questionable fouls after he’d already seen a yellow card. Miller allowed “that Cristian could very well have been sent off. So it went both ways.”

Both United and the Eddies — the two highest scoring teams in NASL coming into this weekend’s action — were coming off midweek matches. The first half saw little in terms of great scoring chances being created. The best opportunity of the half belonged to the home team; Yago Silva placed a nice ball into the FCE penalty area for teammate Juliano Vicentini. But Vicentini blasted over the bar. The Eddies were able to get the ball on the counter several times; but, as Miller noted, the final balls weren’t great.

But, the scoreless draw was broken just seconds after the start of the second half. Yago got the ball in the box, where he was met by Johann Smith, who put his shoulder into the attacker. Yago went down, and Radford pointed to the spot. Was it a fair shoulder challenge? Not in Radford’s book. Christian Ramirez, NASL’s 2014 leading scorer, converted from the penalty spot.

After Minnesota took the lead, the Eddies began to look dangerous on the counter, and Laince Laing looked to be more dangerous down the left side. The game opened up.

“What we saw were two teams going for it,” said Miller. “Minnesota are a great side. And we went at it. To me, what a great advert it was for the NASL.”

After the Pitchkolan trip, Minnesota keeper Mitch Hildebrandt made a diving stop of Thiago de Freitas’s free kick.

But, not soon after, the Eddies had their equalizer. Laing rambled down the left and squared the ball for Ameobi, who bundled the ball across the line.

Laing then led another counterattack; he came down the left with the ball, and Sainey Nyassi was flying in off the right wing. Laing’s far-post cross was too heavy, and Nyassi couldn’t get there.

“Laing was right to cross the ball, he brought the goalie out, but it was just too heavy,” said Miller.

Then, off a goalmouth scramble, Minnesota had the last chance to win it, with Ramirez actually getting in the way of a shot from Vincentini.

“Yes, they had some chances, and we dodged some bullets,” said Miller. “They had spells of possession where they were dangerous. But, we also created some great chances, and I can say that maybe it’s two points dropped for us. But, this is a very tough place to play and the guys went through a lot.”

The Eddies are now seven points behind fall-season leaders Ottawa Fury, who spanked Indy Eleven 4-1 on Saturday. In the combined standings, the Eddies are two points behind Minnesota for the fourth and final post-season spot. The Loons have a game in hand, but there is a lot of soccer left to play.

Eddies break losing streak, shut out Indy

Albert Watson leaps to score FC Edmonton’s first goal. PHOTO: TONY LEWIS/FC EDMONTON

FC Edmonton snapped a two-game losing streak with a 2-0 Wednesday over the Indy Eleven.

But, Indy Eleven coach Tim Regan felt that, with his club trailing 1-0 in the second half, that the momentum had shifted in favour of the visitors. He felt that the equalizer was coming.

In the 64th minute, forward Charlie Rugg took on Eddies defender Albert Watson in the penalty area. The ball came up and hit Watson on the arm. Referee Dave Barrie shook his head as Rugg lobbied for a penalty call.

Just minutes later, with the Eddies on the break, Lance Laing took on Indy fullback Judson McKinney in the penalty area. The ball came up and hit McKinney on the arm. This time, Barrie pointed to the area. Tomi Ameobi, who missed on a couple of chances earlier in the match, converted from the spot to give the Eddies an insurmountable lead.

Regan said the second goal changed the momentum.



“There were two hand balls. One got called. One didn’t. That’s soccer,” Regan said.

Watson — who scored the opening goal off a corner — said Barrie was right not to call a penalty against him. “The arm was at my side, the ball hit me from two yards away.”

In his mind, it was ball to arm, not arm to ball. Barrie obviously agreed — but didn’t feel that way about the McKinney incident.

But it needs to be noted that the Eddies carved out more scoring chances on the day. And, even if those calls had evened out, the Eddies were still another goal to the good.

Regan allowed that his Eleven side was “overrun” in the first half. A dreadful giveaway from Indy’s Don Smart led to an FCE break — and, eventually a corner kick. Laing took the corner, and Watson leaped to make solid contact with the ball. It flew into the top corner.

Not only did the Eleven make a hash of the set piece, the fact that the Eddies even had a corner was because of soft play from Smart.

The Eddies should have been up a couple going into the half. A deft pass from Dustin Corea split Indy’s central defenders and sent Ameobi in alone. With keeper Keith Cardona at his mercy, Ameobi fired the ball wide.

Early in the second half, Ameobi headed a cross from Laing just over the bar.

Eddies Coach Colin Miller said his team deserved the three points on the day — and was proud of how the club rebounded after surrendering an injury-time game-winning strike Sunday against league-leading Ottawa.

Watson said that the Eddies did the simple things well.

“We got back to doing the basics that eluded us in the last game,” he said.