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This was supposed to be the best group of young players that Canada had ever assembled; a squad composed almost exclusively of players in professional club and academy environments. Qualification for the FIFA U20 Mens World Cup being held in New Zealand in May was supposed to be a question of when rather than if for Canada – little more than a formality. So when our under-20 mens team crashed spectacularly out of World Cup contention on Sunday – losing a must-win qualifying match to Cuba by a score of 2-1 – the inevitable question must be asked: Who is to blame? I dont blame the players for failing to qualify – they are just kids. They will probably be the first to admit that they didnt perform up to their abilities and while Im sure they worked hard and went into each game fully prepared and with the best intentions, for a variety of reasons, they didnt perform. I dont blame the coaches, either – although they will probably admit that they, too, could have made different decisions along the way that may have altered the outcome of the qualifying tournament. Coaches are the most self-critical group in soccer, and Im sure there will be many sleepless nights ahead for head coach Rob Gale and his team of assistants, questioning every decision they made along the way. I dont blame the Canadian Soccer Association – the target of every ill-informed critic whenever one of our national teams falls short of expectations – at least not directly. There is little more that the CSA could realistically be expected to have done to prepare this group of players for World Cup qualifying, and our governing body cannot be called out for every poor result in every age group with every national team that takes the field. But indirectly, our repeated failures in the international arena can only be fixed by the CSA – because they are the only entity in Canada that has the power to do what needs to be done to improve the development of players in our country. If these results were happening in hockey, we would have a national inquest broadcast live on every network from coast to coast. The phone-in lines of every radio show across the country would be lit up with callers demanding a change, demanding a fix. No stone would go unturned in our collective desire to right this wrong, to return Canada back to its rightful place atop the throne of the hockey world. Fans would storm the offices of Hockey Canada, demanding that a plan be put in place to restore our national pride. But this isnt hockey - and therein lies our problem. While soccer is the sport played most by Canadians, it does not hold our collective hearts. We do not have the same national passion for our international soccer results as we do in hockey. In fact, the news of our failure to qualify for the U20 World Cup will barely register on anyones radar. It has been four days since our mens U20 team failed to qualify for the World Cup – and not a single word has been written about it. The apathy towards our international results is why nothing is going to change. Youll never hear angry fans calling in to radio shows demanding that the coach who presided over our latest failure be fired. Youll never see angry fans protesting outside of stadiums demanding that the CSA do something – anything – to help the countless volunteer coaches who are trying to teach the next generation of Canadian kids how to play the beautiful game. When it costs $950 to take a Provincial B licence, it is little wonder that there are so few qualified coaches in Canada. Because this public pressure will never come, the CSA will keep its head down, do nothing, and wait for the few people who do care to simply go away. We do not have a soccer culture in Canada. Kids dont grow up dreaming of playing professional soccer, of playing in the World Cup or of winning the games greatest prize. They dont dream of pulling on the Canadian jersey and leading their country to glory on the international stage. Its a bit perplexing, really. Canadians love soccer – just look at the number of Canadians who passionately watched the World Cup last summer, or who watch the UEFA Champions League each year. Canadians just dont love Canadian soccer. Some people believe that this is because we lack our own domestic professional league. They believe that a top flight Canadian league – as opposed to what we currently have, which is three Canadian teams (made up of mostly American and foreign players) playing in an American league (MLS) – is the panacea that will fix our woes. That belief is very na?ve, because it is based on the assumption that the only way for Canadian soccer to succeed is to mirror what is done in other, successful soccer nations. The logic goes like this: Nations that qualify for the mens World Cup on a regular basis all have their own domestic professional leagues. Therefore, in order for Canada to qualify for the mens World Cup on a regular basis, Canada must have its our own domestic professional league. This train of thought is fundamentally flawed, though, because it fails to take into account a very important factor: We are a unique nation that requires a unique player development system. While we do need our own professional league in the long-term, forget about the top of the pyramid for the time being - the bottom of the pyramid is where the real problem lies. For decades, the CSA has taken a hands off approach to youth player development. There are many reasons for this, not least of which is our nationwide governance structure – an upside down mess that puts all of the power in the hands of the people at the bottom, rather than in the hands of those at the top. The byproduct of this governance structure is that is it virtually impossible for the CSA to mandate change – in large part because a significant portion of the CSAs operating budget comes from player registration dollars (which pass through the hands of the provinces on their way to the CSA). Because of this, the tail wags the dog when it comes to player development. The provinces, rather than the CSA, hold all the power. The provinces do what their districts want them to do; the districts do what their clubs want them to do; and the clubs do what their customers want them to do – which is rarely what is in the best interests of player development. The result of this is a broken, fragmented development system that has sunk to the lowest common denominator. Important player development decisions have been left to the provinces, districts and clubs to figure out, a method of self-policing that has failed miserably. The win-at-all-costs competition structure that has existed for decades in Canada has encouraged the hoarding of athletes with size, speed and strength, rather than the encouragement of skill in young players. While unqualified, untrained coaches failed to teach players the skills they needed to succeed in the game over the long-term, these coaches were allowed to thrive – to succeed, for lack of a better term - because they were able to recruit the biggest, strongest, fastest players needed to win in youth soccer. The success of these coaches masked the fact that their players failed to learn the fundamental skills required for long-term success in the game. For decades, we have been producing players who are technically, tactically, physically and mentally lacking the skills needed to succeed at the most competitive levels of the game. The proof has been there for all to see for years and years, yet the CSA has been powerless to address the underlying issues. Canadian teams – both male and female – have been routinely outplayed and overmatched technically, tactically, physically and mentally against countries with a fraction of our resources. Why? Because those countries – either through their existing footballing cultures or through proactive steps taken by their governing bodies - focused on teaching skills to their young players, and we didnt. We have done a terrible job of developing young soccer players in Canada, and a domestic professional league isnt going to fix that. If you disagree with that statement, if you think that a professional league will fix our player development woes, take a look at the current composition of our three Canadian MLS teams. Of the 26 players listed on the Vancouver Whitecaps senior roster, six are Canadian – only one of whom (Russell Teibert) played regularly in MLS last season. Of the 25 players listed on the Toronto FC roster, seven are Canadian – only one of whom (Jonathan Osorio) played regularly in MLS last season. Of the 29 players listed on the Montreal Impacts senior roster, seven are Canadian – only three of whom (Patrice Bernier, Maxim Tissot and Karl Ouimette) played regularly in MLS last season. If Canada, as a nation, was doing such a wonderful job of developing professional calibre players, why are these rosters not loaded with Canadians who are playing week in, week out? (Lets ignore the fact that in order for Canadas mens national team to be competitive at the international level, it must be stocked with players who are starring in MLS, rather than with players struggling just to get a game.) The problem isnt that we dont have our own professional league; the problem is that we dont produce players good enough to play professional soccer. And the solution to that problem lies at the bottom of the pyramid, not at the top. Until the CSA can wrap both of its hands around grassroots soccer and completely overhaul our player development system – and that incorporates a wide range of topics, from coach education to training curriculum to competition structures - nothing will change. We will continue to struggle at the international level, we will continue to produce a fraction of the players that a nation with our resources should produce, and we will continue to hang our heads in shame when we tell people we are involved in soccer in Canada. Cheap Authentic Nike Sneakers . And thats good news for Canada. Kelly, who plays No. 8 at the back of the scrum, is captain of the Canadian womens team. Cheap Nike Sneakers For Sale .6 seconds left to give the Toronto Raptors a 92-89 victory over the Boston Celtics in an exhibition game Wednesday night. http://www.cheapsneakersnike.com/. Toronto has lost six of its last eight games but is coming off Thursdays 7-3 victory at Kansas City. Juan Francisco and Colby Rasmus both went deep for the Blue Jays, who are second in the American League with 34 home runs on the season. Cheap Nike Sneakers . PETERSBURG, Florida – Heading into Thursday nights action, Dioner Navarro had caught 14 innings combined from starters Drew Hutchison and Mark Buehrle. Cheap Nike Sneakers Online .com) - Driphus Jackson had three touchdown passes, including two in a 19-second span in the opening quarter, to guide Rice to a 30-6 rout of Fresno State at the Hawaii Bowl.As I left the broadcast booth at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night, I took an elevator down to the main level with a family of four. They were energetic, full of smiles and happy with how their evening had gone. The teenage son turned to me and asked where I was from. I explained my reason for being there and he immediately wanted to know if I was surprised at the 3-0 defeat suffered by Toronto FC. His eyes widened when I said I wasnt. "I dont know too much about soccer but I was told tonight I was coming to see Salt Lake play the New York Yankees of MLS," he said. Minutes earlier, they were a part of a crowd that chanted overrated towards the opposition. Real Salt Lake fans know, more than most, what a competitive, perennial MLS Cup contender should look like and the jury in Utah was in. The verdict? Pretenders not contenders. For now. However, it is hard to think the management at the club didnt see this coming. It is, after all, only three games into the season following a massive overhaul. Just as expectations soared to ridiculous heights following the opening game win in Seattle, the reaction since this loss has been equally irrational. The biggest issue with Toronto FC through three games is not squad depth (this can be an issue for all in a salary cap league, plus Andrew Weideman was their fifth forward before Bright Dike got hurt and Kyle Bekker is their fourth central midfielder). The biggest issue with Toronto FC is not Doneil Henry, who was criticized in some quarters for giving away a first half penalty. He would go on to shine once again following the error. The two biggest issues with Toronto FC as March comes to a close is cohesiveness and a lack of tactical versatility. The first point can only come with time. Once again it was another new starting XI on Saturday and the team has yet to play back-to-back games with the same lineup from the start, and because of that, relationships within the team that need to gel for the collective to succeed, will take time. The second point, however, is one worth following closer than any other story around this team at the moment. Formations Real Salt Lake not only presented a good test as a unit on Saturday for the visitors, but also tactically in the shape they play in. Ryan Nelsen has said the formation is only really how you line up at the start but being a manager who wants to play two up top, he got a different look at how a 4-4-2 diamond works against his team. The Game Jeff Cassars RSL get their full backs forward more than most. I said that in the pre-game show on TSN and Nelsen certainly was aware of this heading into the game. This is how they get their width. However, it was the intelligent decision-making and movement from their midfield four that allowed them space to run into. Javier Morales ran the game for the home team. His lateral movement was magnificent drifting into pocketts of space unoccupied by TFCs midfield.dddddddddddd He made the move into the space to help ignite the play for the second goal. And then on a quick break for the third goal, he again found the space to send the ball over the top for Saborio. Nelsens team has struggled in possession through all three games and that is fine when you can transition and counter as effectively as they did in the first two games. However, against a midfield diamond, the outlets couldnt be found. Alvaro Rey and Mark Bloom were passengers during the first half while the two strikers never got any service. Yes, it can be said they needed to pass the ball better when they got it but the 4-4-2 shape they played really hurt them. Playing two quick, mobile strikers up top means they demand service. Michael Bradleys intelligent balls over the top caused RSLs centre backs some discomfort but the wide players (including full backs) just didnt get into advanced positions to provide crosses enough. Many funds have been given to Gilberto and Jermain Defoe and when they are fit, they will play, but the game was screaming out for an extra central midfielder to make up the numbers and here is the biggest conundrum the coaching staff has at the moment. Games are won and lost in transitions and in Bradley, they have a superior man for that role. However, when he, or his central midfield partner, started one in this game it often began with two wingers and two strikers 30-40 yards away. Defoe and Gilberto will not be left out and can cause massive issues when the game dictates it, matching up 2vs2 in areas, but the use of the wide midfield players can be modified. Bloom and Justin Morrow, just like Salt Lakes full backs, can get forward (it should be noted Bloom did just that when moved back there late in the match) to provide width and away from home, specifically, Toronto would be much better suited playing a narrower 4-4-2 diamond, giving Bradley more outlets around him. The American international is a real difference maker at this level and cannot be regularly concerned about the space in behind him because it pushes Toronto deeper and deeper. Yes, it is part of his job but not at the top of the list. Defoe and Gilberto are also not strikers that feast off crosses, although the Brazilian did excel in a number of aerial duels on Saturday. Bradley, of course, missed his midfield partner Jonathan Osorio on Saturday but the brilliance of Morales, combined with Torontos shape, meant little would have changed had the Canadian played. Once fit, against the leagues strongest teams, Osorio and Bradley should play just ahead of a more defensive-minded midfielder allowing them to have a much clearer job defensively and in transition. In the end, it was just one loss in March but as the club goes through a transition off the field, they need to find a way to ensure they can transition better on it. ' ' '