Canada’s elimination from 2015 Gold Cup has both reinforced some things while also raising some concerns when it comes to the Canadian Men’s National Team program. Here are some things I took away Canada’s display at the tournament.
Important players getting meaningful minutes
One of the major positives to come away from the tournament is seeing certain players receive important minutes and show Canada has a few options it can rely on, particularly goalkeeper Kenny Stamatopoulos, defender Dejan Jakovic, fullback Marcel de Jong, midfielder Adam Straith and winger Maxim Tissot.
While the likes of Milan Borjan, Doneil Henry, Atiba Hutchinson and Will Johnson are all first choice players for Canada, and will give Canada a rise in quality when they return to the fray, it was nice to see these players step up and contribute when given the opportunity.
In the case of de Jong, having been injured and seen limited time with Sporting Kansas City, it was nice to see him get time of the field in competitive games. Straith playing in the midfield as a converted central defender is a nice fill in option to have, adding to the core group of Hutchinson, Johnson, Samuel Piette and Julian de Guzman. Although Tissot only played in the final match, he showed enough in his time that he could be a great fit on the wing in Benito Floro’s 4-1-4-1/4-3-3 formation.
Being reactive vs. proactive
One of the main criticisms I have of Canada during the Gold Cup was its tendency to always react to what the opponent was doing, often when it was too late to make a desired impact, rather than dictate how the game would play out.
This was particularly true in the Jamaica match, where the Reggae Boyz has 16 shots on goal (according to CONCACAF.com) and forced Canada on its heels for much of the match after realizing they weren’t going to impose themselves and it led to an injury time goal.
This is an area where Canada will need to improve when they resume 2018 World Cup Qualifying, and not just against smaller island nations like Dominica, as playing as they did in this tournament will simply not be good enough. At certain points during the match against Costa Rica you could see that the team were dictating terms (even with giving up 14 shots), so it’s definitely within them do so, but it’s about sustaining it for longer periods and getting more shots on target.
Kenny Stamatopoulos
Of all the Canadian players within the squad, it’s Stamatopoulos in goal that has seen his stock rise the most. Yes he faced far too many shots and made that one error when punching the ball that almost led to an own goal, but were it not for his performances in all three matches Canada would have surely given up more than one goal in three matches. Knowing there’s a strong option behind Borjan is a good sign when 2018 World Cup Qualifying, especially when the European soccer season begins again, as there will be more matches to the schedule for players.
Benito Floro’s puzzling line-up selection
Another concern coming out of the Gold Cup was the puzzling player selection from Benito Floro, particularly in the areas of attacking midfield when the need for a goal was a high priority.
Bringing the likes of Russell Teibert and Jonathan Osorio off the bench, benching Cyle Larin in favour of Marcus Haber against Costa Rica and Simeon Jackson not seeing the pitch in any of the matches left me scratching my head. I’m not sure if it has to do with confidence, fitness or if it was purely tactical.
I for one hope it’s not a confidence issue, that Floro and these players still have a good working relationship and they will see major minutes in future matches. The regression of Cyle Larin throughout the tournament, going from starting, to being subbed at half-time to not starting and being a late game substitute was particularly glaring. One would hope that the miss against El Salvador didn’t play a factor in this, as it would only serve as a shot to his confidence after being on such a high for club and country.
All of that being said, I think the talk about firing Floro after this tournament is short sighted, misguided and foolish considering World Cup Qualifying only just begun. This tournament was used for Canada to get meaningful matches against good CONCACAF opposition, and while they didn’t perform well enough in those matches to advance, Floro should be judged on the games that actually count.
Canada hosting 2015 Gold Cup for first time
Finally seeing this tournament on home soil is probably the most important takeaway. While it would’ve been a bigger event had in not been played alongside the 2015 Pan Am Games, the match against Costa Rica was by far the most exciting of Canada’s three matches and the best it has played against a major opponent in some time. While I have my doubts that CONCACAF will stray from putting all the games back in the U.S. next time around, it would be nice to see Canada host more games in the future whether they be in Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver.
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