Brennan Calls Out the CSA
Jim Brennan has launched a scathing attack on the Canadian Soccer Association and national team coach Dale Mitchell. It seems Jimmy B is a little peeved that he didn't get a phone call to tell him he wasn't part of the upcoming squad to face Honduras and Mexico. John F. Molinaro has the scoop at CBC.ca. Here's a couple of highlights from the Toronto captain's comments to the press yesterday:
"I spoke to officials here at Toronto FC, my family and friends, and decided that it was best that I step down from the national team while the current manager is in place"
"There are a few people who shouldn't be there, there are a few people on the bench who shouldn't be there. When this World Cup campaign is over, I think a lot of players will come out and say how they feel, but they can't right now because of the situation."
"I have all the time in the world for Stephen [Hart] and Nick [Dasovic] … [But] there are a couple of people in the organization that you think, 'should they really be there?'"
Be sure to click the link provided above because there's much more.
I've have some mixed feelings about this outburst. On one hand, I applaud any effort by a Canadian player to call out how crappy the set-up is at the CSA. There's only two ways we're ever going to see change to our soccer governing body. They are the following:
i) Players harshly criticize the powers-that-be to the media, who report on those criticisms and add their own columns and commentaries routinely to apply pressure. Awareness is a good way to get the ball rolling on total structural change to the game in this country.
ii) A storming of the CSA by a populous armed with pitchforks and torches.
No one wants to see that second option. So Brennan's comments - in my book - are welcome.
On the other hand - last time I checked - Canada's actually still in this thing, despite all the doom and gloom. Yeah, I don't really think they'll qualify. But I'm saying there's a chance.
And if there still is a chance, it's not really the right time to throw the coach under the bus and perhaps further unsettle the squad - especially when he's getting criticism from almost every corner of the Canadian soccer media. Perhaps waiting until they are mathematically eliminated would have been more helpful to the cause.
De Guzman vs De Guzman
Hat tip to reader Kevin Smith for pointing out to me that Feyenoord and Deportivo La Coruna were drawn together in Group H of the UEFA Cup, because I sure of hell wouldn't have checked. In case you haven't figured it out yet, this means we could potentially see a Julian v Jonathan De Guzman battle.
Uefa.com took some time and wrote a little piece about the possibility.