Can Canada keep winning without John Herdman? ‘They are SO dysfunctional!’ | ESPN FC

ESPN FC’s Herculez Gomez joins Sebastian Salazar on Futbol Americas to discuss manager John Herdman’s decision to leave the Canadian national team in favor of Toronto FC.
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[@Noirlore]

Was crazy because during qualifiers he was seen as amazing and the team was buzzing. Now a shambles

[@FelixCouples]

The team was buzzing and then woke politics poisoned the squad -from both within and from outside. Go woke, go broke.

[@Technical_ability_superiority]

The Canadian team overestimated themselves at this World Cup. They thought they were going to destroy Croatia so they went guns blazing, high pressure for 90 minutes and they got destroyed. After the game their coach and players didn’t shake hands with the Croatians and one of their players tried to pick a fight with Modric. That game destroyed their morale because they thought it would be an easy win.

[@cre8ivjay]

@@Technical_ability_superiority I am glad they had that fire. Most Canadians were aware that they were likely not going to make it out of their group. That said, it's hard not to see great success in this team and coach from a few years ago to now. It is sad to see Canada Soccer like this now though. The CSB/CSA deal needs to be scrapped and if it hasn't happened already, the CSA needs a complete retooling. As for a coach.. step one is getting their financials back in order (CSA/CSB deal needs renegotiating), then we can talk coaching. Personally, Canada should pay big dollars to someone who is less motivational speaker (which was great at the time), and move to someone who is a tactical clinician with heaps of experience. But yeah... address financial bananas first.

[@jaytse2269]

​@@Technical_ability_superiorityI don't think based on the tactics the employed they overestimated themselves at all. They knew they didn't have depth, they knew the defense was weak, they knew they couldn't "outskill" and hold the ball the way Euro teams tend to. They took chances by pressing and playing 100 miles/hour and simply ran out of gas on 4 days rest between games

[@noting7678]

This tell us more about Canada than anything else

[@FelixCouples]

Correct. It's a country led by complete imbeciles who are doing their best to turn a great country into Venezuela. Incompetence is quality that flows downhill.

[@Schweini_1983]

The answer turned out to be yes. Thanks to Jesse Marsch

[@martinmachalek2791]

Sick beats for this show

[@ezraezra2928]

Canada really disappointed in the last 2 World Cups, both mens and womens. They got grouped too early and played so badly.

[@Technical_ability_superiority]

They thought they would have a field day against Croatia. They thought the old slow Croatians wouldn’t be able to handle their physicality, speed and relentless high pressure. But it was totally the opposite, it was wave after wave of Croatian attack and they sliced Canada’s press like a butter knife.

[@krumbleme2]

Well done John. He took the CanMNT as far as he could given the federations circumstances...made lemonade out of a few choice lemons.

[@marcuslouison3998]

Horrendous analysis from Gomez. Pathetic. No real credit for how incremental Herdman was to turning that entire program around. Hope this was pro bono.

[@Technical_ability_superiority]

It’s not a one man job. He obviously got the right tactics for the group but Canada as a whole produced some excellent players like Kone, Eustaquio, Davids, David and Larin. They lack a look midfield controller however.

[@marcuslouison3998]

I didn't say it was on man job. All I said was he didn't give him adequate credit. @@Technical_ability_superiority

[@JDillaRobot]

This is so weird as a canadian and TFC fan, don’t know how to feel lol

[@FelixCouples]

What you should be feeling is that both the CSA and MLSE are the problem.

[@baldwinyeah7042]

Herdman did not leave for money reasons. Herdman was no longer the right man for what Canada wants to achieve going forward. He is great motivator but not high level tactician required to be a top tier team.

[@FelixCouples]

Although I can agree with that, do you really think the CanMNT will get a top tier manager while the CSA is near bankruptcy?

[@CrociatoAzzurro]

Disagree. Herdman knows the tactical side of the game very well.

[@TT-fq7pl]

@@CrociatoAzzurro So why is the best job he can get only coaching TFC?

[@CrociatoAzzurro]

@@TT-fq7pl If I had to guess, stands to reason he has an "in" with football in Canada. Also, because he's not a former player, he has less contacts. Not saying he is Ancelotti or Pep but the man knows his X's and O's.

[@Technical_ability_superiority]

@@CrociatoAzzurroIf he got his tactics right, at the very least he wouldn’t have gone with a high press against Croatia. He should’ve known what were Croatia’s strengths and weaknesses and opted for a mid-block

[@zacTFC]

Herc for CSA president!

[@ramshacklealex7772]

Which one, Soccer Canada or TFC?

[@danielkristjanson630]

Herdman got them through great qualifying but completely shat the bed with his embarrassing performance and behaviour at the WC. Any other international coach would have been replaced. Since then he's dropped the ball with terrible tactical decisions in multiple competitions. Canada soccer needs a total restructuring, but it was past time for him to go.

[@TT-fq7pl]

Absolutely spot on!

[@davidumana9861]

Huh? No he put on a show against Belgium and the players didn't finish not his fault. Croatia comments were a bit dumb and Morocco game was dead. You do you Canada have a tournament every year until the wc right? They have Copa America this summer, gold Cup which will be a bigger tournament a pre wc tournament with not only concacaf sides and then the wc. He went all out in the nations league because it was 2 games. And used more fringe players for the gold Cup because they were exhausted and let the main squad go on a short vacation. Which was deserved since the main squad cut it short for nations league. So it's. Not on him the federation failed him. They didn't even believe the nation would make the wc that's why we used the same kits for the tournament only nation with the same kits used to qualify. That's on the federation not on him. He had to do his own scouting and networking on his own 0 SUPPORT. This is just like when Vanney left. All the spoiled tfc fans so ungrateful for a legend like him. So not looking forward for the next donut to ruin our nation. He was one of a kind. Pure passion for this great nation and didn't deserve this treatment.

[@FelixCouples]

@@davidumana9861 I think the truth lies somewhere in between. Herdman did a lot with limited resources, but he also made some bad decisions over the past 16 months. So I think the CanMNT could flourish with a stronger manager, but they won't get such a manager and so his leaving could be a harbinger of a growing sense of decline.

[@Technical_ability_superiority]

@@davidumana9861The truth is Canada doesn’t have that much quality, even if he got out of the group stage they were going to face Brazil or France and get destroyed. His biggest error was going for a high press against Croatia because they sliced through it very easily. Canada thought Croatia was an easy opponent because they were old and slow but their technical ability wasn’t 10% of the bronze medalists

[@haaazzziiim]

Tomasz Radzinski

[@mikemurphy8996]

The U.S Women also held out for money.

[@FelixCouples]

yes but the difference is that the US Soccer Federation can afford to virtue signal whereas the Canadian Soccer Association cannot.

[@mikemurphy8996]

@@FelixCouples agreed. The U.S always seem to have unlimited funds when it comes to sports

[@FelixCouples]

Interesting how no pundits want to talk about the elephant that is in the room with Canada Soccer. They're a small federation without much funding mostly because soccer is about the 7th most popular professional sport in Canada. So along comes Wokeism and suddenly the CSA is now being demanded to provide equal salaries to the CanWNT even though their revenues are 1 to 2 orders of magnitude less. So Soccer Canada is being bankrupted - in part - by misplaced equity objectives. Wealthy football associations in the UK, USA. France and Germany might be able to afford to virtue signal about equity in women's soccer, but the CSA can't. One thing is certain: Canada is on track to being a BIG embarrassment in 2026 (and this includes embarrassing soccer infrastructure like BMO Field and training facilities around Toronto) when there was potential for just the opposite. Herdman jumping ship is a harbinger of the disaster that likely lies ahead. I believe Toronto is the 4th or 5th largest metropolitan area in N America and the economic engine of Canada, and yet it can't even compete with small USA markets for soccer infrastructure. Which reveals another big elephant in the room: MLSE is a behemoth that is very good at failing. Just look at the Toronto Maple Leafs. Surely if they were serious about Soccer, TFC wouldn't be playing in a city-owned amateur stadium like BMO Field. The CanMNT and TFC both are failing due to enormous incompetence in leadership. Kind of unfortunate as I was looking forward to the CanMNT challenging the USA and Mexico in the upcoming years. At this stage, that simply is not in the cards.

[@CrociatoAzzurro]

Oh man, this is so true. Golden opportunity to right the ship and the program goes backwards. Considering how shambolic TFC is, makes you wonder just how bad things are at the CSA. BMO will be an embarrassment for World Cup matches but keep in mind it will only get Group Stage, 1 QF at the very most.

[@m2leung]

Step 1: sell Insigne to Saudi Arabia for $50m, sell Bernadeschi to Saudi Arabia for $20m, sell Bradley to Saudi Arabia for $200.

[@haaazzziiim]

Too funny 😂😂😂😂