Following a 1-0 victory over Peru on Tuesday night, their first-ever victory at a Copa América, Canada go into their final group match against Chile on Saturday with destiny in their hands.
A win, and they reach the quarter-finals, while a draw could be enough as well if Peru fail to beat Argentina. But as this potentially historic match looms, how exactly Canada approaches the crucial clash remains a subject to consider.
Through four matches in charge of the Canadian men’s national team over the past month, Jesse Marsch has made just one outfield change to his starting XI, bringing in Richie Laryea in place of Tajon Buchanan for Tuesday’s match against Peru.
After an uneven performance in the heat of Kansas City, however, there is a lot for Canadian men’s national team coach Jesse Marsch and his staff to ponder going into their final group game when it comes to how they deploy the team. Making sense of the unique chaos of that game isn’t easy, but it will be up to this Canadian team to quickly figure out some of the underperforming aspects of their game so far this tournament.
Here are five pressing questions facing Canada ahead of their group stage finale against Chile.
Should Jacob Shaffelburg start?
Whenever Jacob Shaffelburg steps onto the pitch right now for the Canadian men’s national team, he is a difference-maker. Be that his goal against the United States in extra time of the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup quarter-final, scoring late against Trinidad and Tobago in the Copa América qualifying play-offs, the number of chances he created against Argentina or most recently, his assist and overall performance against Peru.
Through two matches at Copa América, Shaffelburg has an assist, 0.68 expected assists and three big chances created while showing he can be effective on both flanks. With that sort of impact in just 76 minutes played off the bench, it stands to reason that he has earned himself a spot in the starting lineup. Canada having that sort of impact from the start of matches could make their attack significantly more dangerous.
Giving Shaffelburg a start, however, doesn’t come without its risks. For one, there is plenty of proof of concept in his effectiveness off the bench against tired defenders. There’s certainly an argument to be made that with so many other questions facing this team right now tactically and player-wise it is worth maintaining the one aspect of the Canada attack that is working, supersub Shaffelburg.
What Marsch decides to do with a player who has been his biggest offensive weapon so far this tournament is a key question heading into the Chile contest.
How should Canada line up out wide?
While Marsch added just one new player to the starting eleven against Peru, it did have a pretty significant impact on how the rest of the team lined up. Richie Laryea’s deployment as a left-back saw Alphonso Davies played further forward up the left flank for the first time under Marsch, while Liam Millar switched out to the right.
While worth a try in theory, it didn’t entirely pan out in practice, as Laryea and Davies struggled to get on the ball or find chemistry down the left, while Millar hardly got into the game out on the right, making just 18 touches before being removed at the half.
Does he reunite the Millar-Davies partnership which has shown glimpses of excellence against three world-class opponents? Or does he perhaps try Shaffelburg in front of Davies, a pairing that certainly proved to be an issue for Peru in the second half.
And what of Tajon Buchanan, who again struggled to make a significant impact off the bench in 24 minutes against Peru. While Buchanan’s confidence appears to be low at the moment, he is still one of Canada’s most talented player and capable of winning a match for them . There are a lot of different ways that Marsch can use his width against Chile, but he will certainly need to find a way to make it more effective than it was against Peru.
After Koné’s struggles against Peru, what should Canada do about their midfield?
In 45 minutes against Peru on Tuesday, Ismaël Koné looked far below his usual standard. His usually exemplary touch on the ball was off, while his decision-making seemed to melt in the Kansas City heat — looking to play forward far too quickly and regularly rushing the play.
There’s no doubt that this has been a period of Koné’s career full of potential distractions, and his club future has been the source of many a headline. It looks as though that is finally resolved, with multiple reports that he is headed to join Roberto De Zerbi’s Marseille side in Ligue 1.
Koné didn’t exactly have his best game against Argentina either, which begs the question of what Canada should do in midfield. The experienced Jonathan Osorio was solid in the second half against Peru, and could come into the starting lineup to form a midfield three for the first time under Marsch. Against Chile’s three in midfield this could be a prudent approach.
Doing so would bring with it its own set of questions — namely what other position does Canada sacrifice in order to bring in another central midfielder. There are also a few players who are bigger wild cards but could pay off if given an unexpected start, like Ali Ahmed or Mathieu Choinière, but both have seen little to no action so far under Marsch.
At the end of the day, there is no way that Koné should come out of this team if he is fit and available. But perhaps giving him and Eustáquio some further support in the centre of the park is the best way to augment their performances. The good news, after playing just 45 minutes against Peru, is Koné should be physically prepared for Saturday’s match.
How does Canada manage the game better against Chile?
During a chaotic first half against Peru on Tuesday, Canada looked absolutely overwhelmed. They were outshot 5-1, lost 56 per cent of the duels (including 78 per cent in the air) and struggled to hold onto the ball for large stretches of the opening 45 minutes.
Battling through that adversity and still getting a win was an important moment of progress for this group. Nonetheless, it is also something they will have to quickly learn from if they want to advance from this tournament.
Chile possesses far more dangerous attacking players than Peru, so allowing them to build momentum like Peru did would almost certainly sink Canada — even with more heroics from Max Crépeau. Instead, Canada needs to find ways to be energetic and goal-dangerous from the start, and put some uncertainty into how Chile approach the match.
Fitness becomes a factor as well. After the tremendous heat of Kansas City, followed by what is expected to be similar conditions in Orlando on Saturday, Marsch and his staff need to be smart about recognizing which players have the physical capacity to play significant minutes in what will be another gruelling affair.
The biggest thing for Canada, especially early on in this match, however, will be how they manage the ball. Against Peru in the first half they looked to be far more verticle than they needed to be instead of slowing the match down and removing the pressure on them that was mounting. Better decision making will almost certainly lead to better results.
Can Canada be more clean and clinical going forward?
Canada finally scored their first goal under Jesse Marsch on Tuesday, but once again questions about their attack will persist going into their final group match at the 2024 Copa América.
Four of Canada’s five shots, and 1.81 of their 2.01 expected goals against Peru came after the red card — and before that, they did little to threaten Pedro Gallese’s net.
So far through four matches under Marsch, Canada have rolled out the same two-striker setup with Jonathan David alongside Cyle Larin. Defensively and tactically, the pair have been outstanding, but neither has really been able to find much joy in front of the net. David’s goal came on his only shot attempt of the match against Peru, something that will need to change if Canada are to get out of this group.
The replacement isn’t obvious if Marsch chooses to move away from Larin for a match. Tani Oluwaseyi came off the bench and while exciting was anything but clinical, missing two big chances, valued at a combined 0.83 expected goals, in less than ten minutes of action. Despite scoring 15 SPL goals for Motherwell this season Theo Bair hasn’t played for Canada since 2020, while at just 21 Jacen Russell-Rowe is unlikely to start a game of this magnitude.
Perhaps, if they do decide to bring the national team’s all-time leading goalscorer off the bench it should be in favour of having true wingers instead, a position where Canada has more depth of options, and allowing Jonathan David to operate alone up top.
