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Canadian coach John Herdman faces his old team in a clash of differing styles
The Canadian women's soccer team takes on New Zealand Thursday night (9 p.m. Eastern, TSN) in their second match of the Women's World Cup, and the coaches on the sidelines are very familiar with each other. Canadian head coach John Herdman, who's been crucial to the turnaround of this program, was coaching New Zealand before taking the Canadian job in 2011, and the Ferns are now led by his former assistant, Tony Readings. What's perhaps even more intriguing than simply the Herdman-Readings connection is how the teams' different strategies may play out.
Both teams were involved in 1-0 matches in their opener, with Canada edging China on a Christine Sinclair penalty in stoppage time and New Zealand falling to the Netherlands on a 33rd-minute strike from Lieke Martens, but Herdman has said that he wants his team to go for more goals. Meanwhile, Readings' team has struggled to score recently, failing to notch a goal in pre-tournament matches against Spain, the U.S. and Japan, but they can be deadly on the counterattack. If Canada does press forward the way they'd ideally like to, that could create chances for both sides. Of course, Herdman said Wednesday at his pre-match news conference that his team will be ready for that counter:
For the Canadian coach, if the Kiwis aren't a one-trick pony, they're a two-trick pony. And Canada can beat them, as long as it doesn't help New Zealand by making mistakes, something Herdman called providing "loaded guns."
"That's what they want. They want you to over-play in areas and hit you on the counter-attack with (striker) Hannah Wilkinson who's their main goalscorer. They've got one specific tactic that they play, a diagonal ball in behind your fullback and centre back every single time. And all of their goals either come from a set piece or that pass to Wilkinson.
"So if you stop Wilkinson .... you'll deal with it. If you can nail them on set pieces you can deal with them. So outside of that (if) you don't give them a loaded gun, which is what we nearly did to China — give them silly little mistakes that cost you at the international level — we'll come through this game with our six points (in the standings)."
While Canada-China also saw the Canadians controlling the possession and the Chinese trying to take advantage on the counterattack, there's reason to believe this one may be more open. The Chinese team was so defence-oriented that they only kept a few players high up the pitch, clogging the area near their own box and creating congestion for Canada's midfielders and strikers, but also reducing the effectiveness of their own counterattacks. Indeed, most of China's relatively-few chances came from defensive misplays by Canada, with a few poor passes from defender Lauren Sesselmann particularly exploited; there wasn't a great deal of end-to-end action on their part, and the amount of players they had defending (and had defending well) made it difficult for the Canadians to generate much either.
Canada should be better on the attack now they have their World Cup legs under them, and New Zealand isn't as renowned for its defending as the Chinese team. The Ferns also appear more willing to actually throw resources into their counterattacks, which makes some sense; Readings reportedly likes going for goal, and the Ferns are eager to get their first-ever World Cup victory in this, their fourth appearance in the tournament. Readings has said they're gunning for top place in the group and that they want to dictate to the opposition. That could mean that they try and go for goal out of the run of play, not just on counterattacks.
Several players could be particularly crucial for Canada Thursday night. Sinclair is certainly the most-feared Canadian goalscorer, and she'll be eager to add to her international total, but if she's closely marked the way she was against China, she may need to embrace more of a playmaking role and perhaps some quick give-and-goes. Midfielder Sophie Schmidt will need to step up if Sinclair's held in check, and she's proven to be both brilliantly creative and a solid goalscoring threat, even from distance. There's a wide cast of Canadian wingers who could have an impact, and swinging the ball out wide and back in again may be crucial to breaking down New Zealand's defence if they do decide to crowd their own 18-yard-box. Canada's offensive players will have to be careful not to turn the ball over in a way that lets the Ferns have a quick break, though. On the defensive side, midfielder Desiree Scott will be critical to stopping counterattacks, and Sesselmann will have to have a better and more careful game.
There's a lot of talent on this Canadian squad, but New Zealand's optimistic about the way their team's been building towards this. If they prove willing to open up the play, either on the counterattack or with their own attempts to control possession, we could see a thrilling offensive contest. We'll see how Herdman and his squad fare against his old team, but all indications suggest we'll see a good match.
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