Herdman's slight of hand
Canada is dreadful in Nations League Final. Let's talk about that.
There may still be a few people out there that are holding on to the idea that John Herdman and the CanMNT are above criticism based on their play to get to Qatar.
Getting to a World Cup for the first time since Brian Mulroney was Prime Minister was a big deal, after all. So much so that there are many fans who, in fact, believe that a second last place finish in Qatar is nothing to worry about. Many more still will place any blame on the CSA if Canada fails to grow and build upon the success it has already had.
Certainly, that’s the angle Herdman was pushing fans towards after the abjectly terrible performance the team had against the USA in the Nations League Final. Instead of owning any of the responsibility for the result, Herdman went out and had a drop-the-mic performance in the post game.
“We brought a World Cup to our country and we’re not serious about winning it,” Herdman said, putting extra emphasis on the winning it part. “We’ve got to get real, and quick,” he added, a comment directed to the CSA, for more funding.
Say what you want about Herdman: he knows how to direct a narrative. For those of us that have covered Herdman for years, the post-game remarks were familiar. The tactic of turning attention onto himself for something he said — while at the same time inflating the player’s performance in the game that had just ended (and not ended well) — is Herdman 101. He did it with the women and we are seeing it now with the men.
If you are being charitable, you can suggest that he’s doing it to protect the players. A less charitable interpretation is that it’s to take attention away from his own performance. Could be a bit of both.
Regardless, it works. Most of the reporting today is about the words he directed to the CSA. Very little attention is on the abjectly terrible performance the team had against the USA in the Nations League Final. In the immediate aftermath of the game, you actually were starting to see some negative attention being put towards the tactical choices made and the player’s execution. That stopped as soon as Herdman went after the CSA though.
Here’s the thing: There is a conversation to be had about how the CSA could better support all of its programs, including the men. It’s one we will probably have more than a few times in this summer of soccer we just started. However, the CSA could have handed Herdman a billion dollars last week and it seems unlikely that it would have made much difference against the USA last night.
Canada was, simply put, played off the pitch. They were out coached, out thought and out hustled all night in a game that really should have mattered more to them than the Americans. That out hustled part is what burns the most this morning.
In the end, it was yet another case of Canada disappointing. Something that has become common in the 15 months since March 27, 2022. Canada’s record since qualifying for Qatar is just 6W 7L 1D. Even that makes things look better than it has been. There have been, at most, six games that you could call “big” in that time. Really only four — yesterday and the three in Qatar — that were undeniably big.
At best they are 2-4. I think we can mostly agree that the oh-for in the three games in Qatar and the Final last night are more troubling than the two wins against Panama in the semi-final and Honduras in the Nations League Group Stage are reassuring. That’s especially the case if you are thinking about being a factor outside of the region, as Herdman is telling us to. In all four of those big game loses the team has been outcoached. They’ve been naïve, even. However, far from learning from the experience they had at Qatar, yesterday was arguably the worst game of the four.
So, let’s spare some thought to this today as we debrief the Nations League and prepare for a Gold Cup (and then games to qualify for the 2024 Copa America in the fall). Rather than yelling at the clouds about the systemic issues that can’t be fixed overnight, let’s look at the immediate stuff that can be addressed.
Like the coaching choices. Spending money to bring Phil Neville in for some reason. Not starting Tajon. Waiting until the 60th minute to make a change last night. Etc. Etc. Etc.
Herdman is absolutely right that we need to think bigger. Doing so means critically evaluating his role in things too.
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