The Canadian Soccer League is considered Canada's Professional League and was formed over 80 years ago. It's not at the MLS level, but it's an all Canadian league. The Montreal Impact and Toronto FC of the MLS both have teams in this league.
It was nice to be exposed to a high level of men's soccer again. I am returning to the OCAA College Men's game in the fall and it's important to stay familiar with that level of player and play.
The team has a lot of nice players at their disposal. Their fitness and technical level were clearly above that of their opponent but it was important for them to be on the pitch together, getting to know each other.
Because of the commitment level for CSL play it's difficult to lure some quality players away from the top senior teams because of work or family commitments. The level of play is still very good, but the league does have it's challenges.
I was impressed by how eager they were to counter attack in transition and how quickly the ball got forward when the chance was there. Their 1v1 defending and on-field communication were also noticeable in a positive way.
Being so early in their formation, you could see their team shape was a little out of whack but that will come with time. During this stage in their formation I felt it would have served them better to knock the ball around for the sake of knocking the ball around, drawing as many teammates as possible into the game and flow. There were situations where they had no play forward but tried to force it anyway. In a friendly like tonight, there's no need to force the issue if you're under pressure... just turn, use your support and knock the ball around until somebody has a play forward.
I look forward to running a few sessions for them over the next little while.
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