The case against John Herdman
There are no free passes in international football
Let me start by making it clear: this is not a drive-by hitjob on John Herdman. I’ll tell you the conclusion before I even get through the first paragraph, actually. Herdman has done enough in the lead up to Qatar to continue in the job post Qatar.
Most people agree with that assessment. I asked my Twitter followers today what they thought, and the response was pretty loud. In Herdman they trust.
When 86.1% of soccer fans agree that a manager deserves more time, you can say that he is popular.
That’s fine. I get it. The Canadian program was pretty terrible not that long ago. Getting to Qatar seemed an impossible dream and the good vibes are still flowing.
If you are sensing a but coming, you’re right…
BUT, I think it’s a mistake to give Herdman a free pass just because he got the team to Qatar. Additionally, I think it’s possible that a manager can become too comfortable in his job and that can, in turn, lead to a decrease in performance.
It’s also true that very few managers in the international game can sustain success over two cycles. That’s just not the typical way things play out.
With that in mind, it would be a mistake by the CSA to not put Herdman through a full review and to evaluate whether he is the right person to lead this team into 2026. We are only going to get one shot at hosting a World Cup, after all. We owe it to ourselves to make sure we are set up for success.
With that in mind, here is the case against John Herdman continuing as manager following this World Cup:
He had a terrible performance at the World Cup
It may seem too obvious to point out, but Canada didn’t get a point. We joined the oh-for club, which is not a club you want to be a part of. Only 15 countries are members in the 32-team era.
Sure, you can argue that they played well for stretches of each game, but you don’t get any points for that. A World Cup is about managing the moments and Canada simply failed to do that. Yes, they were inexperienced at this level and young, but so is this USA team — a team Canada outperformed over the year prior to the World Cup — and they managed their way out of a tricky group.
As for the woulda-coulda-shoulda argument of “if they make the penalty everything is different”, I don’t disagree, but I also think Herdman has part of the blame there.
Why is he not managing the team in that moment? A left-back that has taken two penalties in his life before should not be taking that kick. That’s Jonathan David’s ball. He is the guy best positioned to take the penalty. As manager, Herdman should have made it clear.
By not doing so he’s failed both David and Davies (by putting him in a position to fail through a lack of direction). Davies is a great player, but he’s a young player. He should not be allowed to make that call on the pitch.
Because it was the biggest moment in the World Cup for Canada, and it was the moment that sent us down a losing path.
There’s not another country on earth that plays this sport that would not be asking questions of Herdman for that moment. So, it’s fair we do too.
His record in big moments is overblown
Many people are going to point at his time with the women’s program as evidence that he has what it takes to get the men over the top. So, let’s examine his time with the women carefully.
Yes, there were two bronze medals. That means, of course, that there were also two Olympic semi-final loses. (Ducking) The 2012 medal was particularly, well, lucky. I don’t take joy in pointing this out, but they finished third in their group in London, played a decent game against Team GB in the quarters, lost to the United States and then defended for the entire game against France before scoring at the death to win a game that they had no business winning.
Flags fly forever and all that, but the performance in London was not one that matched the results.
They were better in Rio, but they did untimely lose in the semis again.
Herdman also had a home World Cup as well, where Canada struggled to score throughout, and failed to win against both the Netherlands and England, two teams that they had previously beat consistently.
Overall, Herdman certainly didn’t do a bad job with the women, but he also didn’t do as good a job as people claim. When he left for the men’s program there were a lot of people around the women’s program who were excited to see what they might be able to do under new leadership.
Of note: Bev Priestman was who lead them to gold in Tokyo and has them looking as good as ever in the lead up to Australia/New Zealand.
Is he better suited at building a team up than getting a team over the top?
That last point makes me wonder if Herdman’s strengths might be best suited to taking teams that are at a low point and building their confidence back up while establishing a winning culture.
When he took the women’s program over, that’s where they were. The previous manager, Carolina Morace, left the program in shambles. To use a term that wasn’t used then but describes her leadership pretty well, she was toxic and the program looked lost.
Herdman was a breath of fresh air and he deserves all kinds of credit for getting them back on track. He’s done the same thing for the men now. We should thank his for that, but we should also ask ourselves whether those skills are the same as what’s needed to take a good team and make them a great team.
As stated, Herdman has done enough to continue on now. However, I don’t think he should be given carte blanche to go to 2026. I would like to see him prove that he can win with this group in a tournament. Specifically, I think he should be expected to put Canada in a position to win the 2023 Gold Cup.
I’d give some flexibility for bad bounces, bad refereeing and bad luck, but they need to be a legitimate factor next summer.
If they aren’t…then we need to revisit this conversation while there is still time for a new manager to come in and lead the team to 2026.
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An excellent column, with you at your socratic best. Thing is, I have the impression that the only person at Soccer Canada capable of conducting a similarly frank post mortem is John Herdman! They should hire Steve Caldwell to evaluate Herdman's performance; he's qualified, experienced, and hard-nosed.