Introduction

This is the Northern 90 Podcast with Pat Sweet, Episode 21.

Welcome to the Northern 90 Canadian Premier League Podcast, covering the beautiful game in the great white north. For more Canadian Premier League content, head over to Northern90.ca. That’s Northern Nine Zero dot ca.

Welcome

Hello, Canada, and welcome to the Northern 90 Canadian Premier League Podcast!

I’m your host, Pat Sweet.

In this week’s episode:

  • I go deep into the league’s stats to sort out what the CPL’s best teams are doing that nobody else is.

Announcements

  • AMA with Kurt Larson – https://Northern90.ca/AMALarson
    • What it’s about
    • 100 seats
    • July 24, 7PM EST
  • Something special in the works for people who want live events and to go deeper into the CanPL.

Results

League Play

  • Wanders fell to Cavalry 0-1
    • Nice goal by sub Oliver Minatel in the 85th minute
  • Pacific 2 – Forge 3
    • Brace by Tristan Borges
    • All goals in the 2nd half
    • Watch the highlights for Borges’ 2nd goal, and the Fisk/ Blasco set piece at the end.
  • York 9 FC 2 – FC Edmonton 1
    • Awesome counter attacking goal by Aparicio and Telfer

Of note: Almost 2.5 times as many fans in Halifax this weekend as in Langford or North York.

Canadian Championship

  • Halifax 2 – Ottawa Fury 3
    • Back and forth game
    • Halifax tied it up twice
    • Bona should have tied it up, but it was offside
  • York 9 FC 2 – Montreal Impact 2
    • York had two very pretty goals in this one
    • Also gave away two goals
    • Bad foul in the box by Ingham
  • Cavalry FC 0 – Vancouver 0
    • Marc dos Santos very complimentary of the CPL side
    • Equestrian activities before the match – bad pitch

News

Transfers

  • Emery Welshman may be leaving Forge FC for Isreali Side Hapoel Haifa.
    • No details – and Forge is saying that the deal isn’t done
    • FC Cincinnati have the final call
    • Israeli league starts in August
    • Northern Tribune suggesting that former TFC and Sigma FC product Mo Babouli would be a likely target.
    • https://northerntribune.ca/emery-welshman-hapoel-haifa/
  • Stephen Hoyle and Valour FC agree to part ways
  • Valour FC sign Jose Galan to a multi-year contract
    • 33
    • Midfielder
    • Spanish
    • Ryan Brandt reporting that he’s played in 12 countries
    • Could possibly line up as a D-mid
    • Possibly to help offset the issues with midfielder Josip Golubar

CONCACAF’s Suprise World Cup Qualifying Arrangement

  • On Wednesday, CONCACAF changed the rules on how teams would qualify for World Cup
  • Top 6 teams by FIFA rankings in June 2020 will play in a hexagonal round-robin. Top three qualify automatically.
  • Fourth team enters a playoff against a team from the group ranked 7th to 35th
  • This second group will be split into 8 groups who will play a round robin.
  • The winners of each will then play home and away knock-outs.
  • THAT winner will play the fourth place finisher.
  • Criticised for being complex, and for overemphasizing FIFA rankings at a point in time.
  • Canada were ranked 8th in the region in June.
  • https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobbymcmahon/2019/07/10/mexico-and-usa-fastrack-surprise-concacaf-announcement-mens-world-cup-2022/#6f0ca171145c

OneSoccer

If you like the headlines, check out the Northern 90 Supporters Group!

Next up – the spring season’s top headlines.

What Separates the Best from the Rest

  • Cavalry and Forge Used Subs
    • Both teams used every available sub every game
    • So did Valour
  • Cavalry was the median for touches over 10 games
    • 6291 for Cavs
    • 5700 for FCE
    • 6786 for Pacific
    • Cavs picked their moments and hung on to the ball when they needed to
  • Cavs and Forge middle of the pack for passing accuracy and passes completed
    • Cavs: 78.3% accurate
    • Forge: 77.8%
    • Balancing tough balls with playing it safe
    • Pacific FC had best accuracy (82.8%) and most passes completed (3962). Didn’t help them.
  • Cavalry had average chances created – middle of the pack at 77.
    • York 9 was the best at 100
    • When you compare those chances to goals scored, Cavalry was best in the league with a 19.5% conversion rate. Better chances? Better shooting boots? Who knows.
    • Forge FC was second best at 15.9%
    • Valour and York 9 had the two highest chance creations, with the worst two conversion rates at 8.8% and 7% respectively
  • Cavs and Forge took their shots from closer and put them on frame
    • Cavalry was 3rd for shots, 1st for shots on target (51)
    • Forge was 5th for shots, 2nd for shots on target (45)
    • Cavalry was 1st for shots inside the box with 91.
    • York 9 had most shots, 3rd most on target, and 2nd most from inside the box.

This is what the numbers said, but what do you think? Leave me a note in the show notes, or on social media!

Next up, the mailbag:

Mailbag

You know how this works – you send me mail and messages and I read every single one of them. If what you send is extra good I read it on the podcast.

  • Last week’s question: Who’s the MVP of the spring season?

  • Stanley Stan voted for Borges for obvious reasons, which had some additional support.
  • Also a couple of votes for Carducci.

 

  • Welcome to:
    • Jonnie
    • The Firths and De Carolis’ who I met after a recent Wanderers game
  • Leave a comment at northern90.ca/episode21
  • Write to me at pat at northern90.ca
  • Fire me a note on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram @northernninety

 

The Week Ahead

Tons of soccer!

  • CanPL
    • Three mid-week games
      • Wanderers visit Hamilton
      • York 9 hosts Pacific
      • FC Edmonton welcomes Valour FC at Clarke Field
    • Three more games this weekend
      • Forge v Valour
      • Pacific takes on their coastal rivals Halifax out west
      • Cavalry plays against York 9 in Hamilton

Announcements

Outroduction

That’s all we’ve got for the show today.

If you liked the show, don’t forget to subscribe to it, and when you do leave an honest review. That helps me make the show better and others find it.

Also, if you’ve been enjoying this show, you should join my supporters’ group. When you join you get a weekly newsletter with curated CPL content, access to a members-only Facebook group, contests, giveaways, fantasy leagues, all sorts of good stuff. And it’s free. Check it out at northern90.ca/join.

Thanks so much, Canada. Have a great week.

Credits

Featured Image

Photo by William Iven on Unsplash

Intro music

Move Like This by spinningmerkaba (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: Texas Radio Fish, Alex Beroza, and Snowflake

CPL Headlines Music

Calm the F*** Down by Broke for Free (c) copyright 2010 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.

Main Content Intro Music

260809 Funky Nurykabe by spinningmerkaba (c) copyright 2010 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.

Mailbag Music

I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque

Outro music

Urbana-Metronica (wooh-yeah mix) by spinningmerkaba (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: Morusque, Jeris, CSoul, Alex Beroza