2023-06-21 07:24:39
A logical defeat given the soporific performance of the Canadian team, which seemed very far from the level required to hope to emerge a winner from this confrontation.
And that’s what bothers me.
This team has made incredible progress since the arrival of John Herdman in 2018, reaching the World Cup in Qatar and even seeing exceptional individual talent exported to the highest European level.
Successes and successes that have encouraged us to dream big, except that the reality has been quite different since November. And the final lost on Sunday evening leads us to question the coach’s philosophy.
First, in terms of tactical choices.
I was surprised to see Tajon Buchanan on the sidelines on Sunday night.
The one who seemed to be Canada’s revelation at the last World Cup ended up being a substitute for this very important final and which would have allowed us to erase 23 years of scarcity at the continental level.
A choice all the more losing as the offensive sector seemed to lack creativity throughout the meeting, against an American team which was rarely worried.
Cyle Larin and Richie Laryea
Photo : The Canadian Press / Nathan Denette
In addition, the connection between the two attackers Cyle Larin and Jonathan David seemed to show its limits.
How to explain that a boy like David, who was neck and neck in the scoring charts with Kylian Mbappé in Ligue 1 last season, is not able to exploit his full potential in the national team since the World Cup?
Services that contrast, for example, with those of Folarin Balogun.
The American striker from the Reims stadium, in Ligue 1, author of 21 goals this season, was in all the right moves thanks to the movements and creativity of his partners around him.
There are obvious dysfunctions that fall to the Canadian coach.
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These services push the players to play their own part, to the detriment of the collective influence.
The tenure of Scott Kennedy, who plays in the lower depths of the German division at Jahn Regensburg, did not seem to me at all justified because of his difficult performance.
More than that, it’s the lack of cohesion and tactical chemistry that bothers me the most watching this team play.
Alphonso Davies is a fabulous soccer player, certainly one of the best in the world today in his position. But for him to be able to give the maximum in the national team, he must be managed at the height of his talent.
Except that he overplays in an exaggerated way and that is not new.
The Canadian prodigy seems to have the impression of having to endorse the status of savior of the nation when the team is in difficulty.
Which leads him to play at the wrong time, or not to release the ball at the right time. A defect which is repeated and which deserves to be quickly corrected by the coach.
John Herdman has displayed great ambitions since his arrival. And to make them a reality, he must absolutely come to terms with the material he has before him, without finding any excuses.
This was one of his great strengths when he took office. A freshness that contrasted with the speeches of the past and which gave the impression that each player could knock down mountains by listening to his pre-match speeches or at a press conference.
Words and values that I haven’t found for many weeks, as if it seemed worn out by its function.
Yes, the federation should grant more resources to the Canadian team to support its development.
Yes, John, I agree with you when you criticize your team’s preparation conditions against those of the United States.
But that’s still an excuse…
Sunday we had a competitive team that didn’t show up and missed out on the event.
And those apologies, as good as they are, made me feel like I was going back 20 years. A time when the national team accepted defeat and seemed comfortable in its status as the minnow of the CONCACAF zone.
Those days are over, largely thanks to John Herdman, by the way.
He has given birth to unsuspected ambitions in us thanks to his work in the field and thanks to his communicative passion… except that he must continue to fully assume responsibility for his own dreams in order to offer us a competitive team in major events. -YOU.
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