Canada v. China, Wed July 30 Moncton 8pm ADT

[Vic]

Another is he was hired to win the Cup in 2015 and is not about to risk blowing the team apart for the Olympics with a bunch of shock and drama caused by clear-cutting or slash and burning (on limited information).

There are two ways to look at it. One is he's a fool for not implementing massive change. Another is it's the intelligent move. It's pure opinion either way but I know which one I support.

That said, it will be interesting to see the subtle changes to system and starting 11. Those will be clues to what's down the road.

[Soccer9]

Another is he was hired to win the Cup in 2015 and is not about to risk blowing the team apart for the Olympics with a bunch of shock and drama caused by clear-cutting or slash and burning (on limited information).

There are two ways to look at it. One is he's a fool for not implementing massive change. Another is it's the intelligent move. It's pure opinion either way but I know which one I support.


That said, it will be interesting to see the subtle changes to system and starting 11. Those will be clues to what's down the road.

I think he is playing it kind of " safe" for the Olympics and will start a massive look at new players starting in the fall. Thats the word around...

[An Old Fullback]

Changing the subject a bit... I had the pleasure of attending the game in Moncton, and was very impressed with the women's team on what they did after the game. I know they did it in Vancouver as well, but for the east coast fans they came out, it was their first chance to meet the national team players, and the women were very accommadating. For at least a half hour, the players signed autographs with the fans that hung their jerseys, scarfs, programs, jackets etc over the stands, shook hands, shared the occassional photo etc. My daughter was with me, she didn't think she would get near the players, but ventured down to the front row and waited a bit, and the players went up and down the sidelines meeting the fans. Perhaps no big deal for many, but it was for the many that stayed around hoping to meet the players that they could only previously see on TV.

[Vic]

Thanks very much for sharing that. It's a win/win in both directions for the fans and players. It really helps everyone connect in a much richer and pardon the analogy but more beautiful way. It's also an example of the benefits of hosting a U20 and World Cup... a generation of young girls empowered by the experience. The trick now is to get all the marketing and community pieces into the boat to get the snowball really rolling.