3 KEY takeaways from the CanWNT's run at 2024 SheBelieves Cup
It was a heartbreaking end to the 2024 SheBelieves Cup for the CanWNT, as they fell to the US on penalties in the final on Tuesday in a repeat of the Gold Cup semi-final against that same US team from just over a month ago.
Both games that finished 2-2 before the US triumphed on penalties, there's a lot more to take away from this second matchup from a Canadian perspective, however, as they went toe-to-toe with the US throughout the 90 minutes.
After their first matchup was mired by wet conditions that essentially rendered the game unplayable for both teams, it was a much more true reflection of how these teams can match up, and Canada learned a lot about itself thanks to that.
Along with a frustrating but gutsy penalty shootout win over Brazil in the semi-finals, that gives Canada plenty to ponder as they get set for what’s next, which is the Olympics later this year.
And that’s everything they would’ve wanted from this tournament. Of course, a win would’ve been nice, giving them their first friendly invitational tournament win since 2016, but that was always going to be secondary to their main objective, which was to focus on their performances.
When considering that, make it mission accomplished for this Canadian team, who got two much-needed tier-one tests that they can now reflect on and learn from as they continue to prepare to defend their gold medal at the Olympics.
So with that in mind, here’s a look at what stood out from these two games for this Canadian team. 
Defence returns to top form:
To begin, if there’s one thing that head coach Bev Priestman will be pleased to see, it has to be Canada’s play at the back, as Canada was quite solid defensively across these two games.
They may have conceded three goals across those matches, yes, but don’t be fooled, as there was a lot to be excited about defensively.
And even when looking at the goals themselves, there wasn’t too much cause for concern, either. One goal came from a penalty conceded by Jade Rose against Brazil, as she made an uncharacteristically rash tackle in the box, while the other two came from two moments of quality against the US that led to Sophia Smith's brace.
Given that Rose did well to recover from that mistake, and that the US goals were more examples of the US’s quality than they were systemic defensive flaws, Canada won’t mind that. Seeing that they otherwise held Brazil to 1.09 non-penalty Expected Goals (xG), and the US to 1.26, those are very solid defensive numbers.
Especially given that they played with a lot more organization at the back across both games, doing well to limit dangerous chances from Brazil and the US, and that’s huge. That’s further reflected in the #s, as each team only had one non-penalty big chance in each game against Canada, who made sure that the 25 combined shots they faced across both matches were of the low-quality, low xG variety, which is exactly what you want in these sort of games.
Yet, that’s a credit to Canada’s defensive group, headlined by Kailen Sheridan in goal, and Rose, Vanessa Gilles and Kadeisha Buchanan in front of her, and the shift they put in.
Vanessa Gilles had a big performance at central CB for the #CanWNT/#CanXNT today, showing her importance:
— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) April 6, 2024
1 goal
4 shots
18/25 passing (72%)
2/7 long balls
18 clearances (!!!)
3 interceptions
2 tackles
6/8 duels won
The passing wasn't always sharp, but those defensive numbers😳 pic.twitter.com/XEcmyRkWqe
That started with Rose, Gilles and Buchanan, who did well to mop up a lot of the danger that they faced, even in the first half of the Brazil game where Canada experimented with a formation that opened up the game in front of their back 3 much more than they would’ve liked, or in the second half of the US game where they had difference-makers such as Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson, Jaedyn Shaw and Trinity Rodman running at them.
Doing well to play to their respective strengths, which for Rose is her speed, Gilles is her aerial prowess and Buchanan her 1v1 defending, they did well to use those skills within this set-up while remaining in sync as a unit. In particular, the US game was a great example of that, as each of the three thrived in that matchup, both as a group and individually.
Then, in the rare moments where they did get beat, Sheridan did well to bail them out on a few occasions, making huge saves in both games, which was a bonus. That’s key, as sometimes, you need your goalkeeper to step up in important moments, which Sheridan certainly did when she was called upon.
Through all of that, it allowed Canada to stay steady at the back throughout these two games, as they continue to be much more solid defensively since the World Cup.
There are still things to iron out, of course, as they got too stretched at times against Brazil, and were prone to dropping a bit deeper than they would’ve liked against the US, but other than small moments like those, they were quite solid as a whole.
Priestman will be pleased to see that, too, because if they’re going to have any chance at winning a gold medal, their defence needs to be airtight, something they didn’t have at the World Cup.
The xG #s are out for the #CanWNT/#CanXNT at She Believes Cup (via WyScout):
— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) April 11, 2024
xG
🇨🇦1.07-1.85🇧🇷
🇨🇦1.5-1.26🇺🇸
non-penalty xG
🇨🇦1.07-1.09🇧🇷
🇨🇦0.74-1.26🇺🇸
Shows how solid they were defensively given the opponents, but also that their attack could hit another level despite scoring 3
Forward battle remains unclear as ever:
And a big reason why they’ll be pleased to see their defence return to their usual form? It’s that they once again showed that they’ve got goals in this lineup, scoring three goals of their own across these two games.
As a result, they’ve now got 31 goals in 13 post-World Cup games, and have only been kept off the scoreboard once in that span, which came 10 games ago in a clash against Brazil in Montréal last October.
Once again, that shows that if their defence remains in decent form, they’ve got the offence to get something out of these games, instead of needing to fight for 0-0s.
Despite that, however, there remain questions to be asked up front. Namely, figuring out who the main sources of offence are, and what the depth chart looks like.
Adriana Leon certainly remains one of those key sources, as she scored a brace against the US to give her eight goals in 2024 and 10 goals since the 2023 World Cup, keeping her as Priestman's main offensive threat. After that, however, the scoring has been a lot more spread out, as Jordyn Huitema (x5), Cloé Lacasse (x3), Nichelle Prince (x2), Olivia Smith (x2) and Shelina Zadorsky (x2) are the only others to score multiple goals across those 13 games.
And, more interestingly, when narrowing the scope down to Canada’s games against top 15 opposition over that span (Brazil x3, Australia x2, US x2), in which Canada has scored 13 goals in seven games, Leon (x4), Huitema (x2) and Prince (x2) are the only ones to score multiple goals across those matches.
GOAL 🇨🇦
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) April 9, 2024
ADRIANA LEON OPENS THE SCORING FOR THE #CANWNT 🇨🇦
A bad mistake at the back by the #USWNT GK opens the door for Leon to finish easily 😎
🔴 Watch LIVE on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/U5a3xnQRqP
That’s not a bad thing, to be fair - it shows that between Leon, Huitema, Prince, Lacasse and Smith, there are plenty of goals to go around (with Leon, Huitema and Prince leading the way in big matches) and they all look to be favourites to all be included in the Olympic squad.
But after that, things remain unclear. Priestman had a good chance to evaluate some different faces with Prince and Smith out injured, but no one took a big step forward in their absence.
Because of that, it’ll be interesting to see how she sees this forward battle continue to shape up.
For example, after the aforementioned five, Evelyne Viens shows glimpses but remains in a battle for minutes, while Deanne Rose hasn’t quite looked up to her usual standard despite earning prime opportunities over the last two camps. Then, Clarissa Larisey and Marie-Yasmine Alidou are names who didn’t earn a look in this camp but have impressed in the past and could be names that earn longer looks.
Then, there’s also Janine Beckie, who got a glimpse out on the wing in her return to the Canadian fold after her injury, but spent most of her time at wing back, which seems to be Priestman’s preferred spot for her in this set-up.
And among that group, it’s hard to see how things will shake out in their race to make the Olympics (assuming that Leon, Huitema, Prince, Lacasse and Smith are all either locks are close to being considered as one).
Beckie is another lock, as she put up solid shifts in multiple positions in this camp to once again show her versatility, but beyond her, it’s hard to tell how things will shape up.
Bev Priestman:
— Benedict Rhodes (@BTFR17) April 10, 2024
"We had some really good spells but I'd love to see us do that more."
She says she's proud of the group for their performance. #CanWNT #USWNT #SheBelievesCup
Viens seems to be the logical frontrunner given her ability to be a constant threat in the box, but Priestman keeps turning to the speed Rose brings despite her struggles, and to be fair to Rose, she’s shown the value of that speed with a nice assist against the US this camp and her goal against Brazil in October. Alidou and Larisey also remain options, although their lack of minutes indicates their big chances may come after the Olympics.
For what it’s worth, Priestman seems to understand the questions she needs to ask up front, which is likely why she started Rose in both games to get an extended evaluation of her instead of getting a longer look at Lacasse, but things don’t remain much clearer than they did heading into this camp.
So look for Priestman to try and get some more clarity next camp. Even if that’s to run with the five of Leon, Prince, Lacasse, Huitema and Smith, which will require Prince and Smith to be back and healthy, that will at least indicate she feels that group will be enough, even if it feels like it could benefit from a Viens, Larisey, Alidou or someone of the sort to inject something different into the mix. 
3-4-2-1 yields value again, but a backup plan remains elusive:
It’s not anything new for Canadian fans, but this camp serves as a reminder of the importance of the 3-4-2-1 in the evolution of this team, especially when seeing how they looked when they strayed away from it.
That came in the first half of the Brazil game, where Priestman elected to try out a 3-4-3 with the four being deployed in a diamond shape.
A move that ended up being disastrous as Canada’s midfield got stretched wide-open, she corrected the error by returning to a 3-4-2-1 in the second half of that one and stuck with it the rest of the way to much more success.
This game is screaming out for the #CanWNT/#CanXNT to sub on a midfielder... or 2
— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) April 6, 2024
Just way too open in the middle right now, and Brazil is starting to really take advantage of the space there
Would've made more sense to have an Awujo and/or Grosso right now
Yet, this means that Canada now exits this window in the same position when it comes to their formation options as they did before the camp - they know they can mainly rely on the 3-4-2-1, as they showed by going toe-to-toe with the US in it, which is the exact test they needed.
Now, it feels like it’ll be a no-brainer for them to use the 3-4-2-1 at the Olympics, as that performance showed the value of that formation at both ends of the pitch, especially when they strike the right balance with their wing backs and midfielders, who made it tick in that US game.
But once again, they remain unsure of what their best option is in moments where they want to move away from that formation, be it for tactical reasons based on their opponent or due to personnel available to them.
There, Priestman will have an important question to answer heading into the next camp, and that’s to figure out what that alternative formation will look like.
For what it’s worth, the answer seems to be in midfield - the success of the 3-4-2-1 seems to come from the support that the wing backs and centre backs can provide to the midfield pivot, which was lacking in the 3-diamond-3 (which had just one natural midfielder in Jessie Fleming), while the 4-4-2 Priestman has also preferred seems to leave the midfield pivot too isolated.
In a three-player midfield formation, however, that support could be there, especially if Canada goes with a system that includes a #6 of either Quinn, Simi Awujo or Desiree Scott underneath Fleming and Julia Grosso, which would be huge for Grosso, in particular, given her struggles to fit into the 3-4-2-1.
But with Priestman mostly remaining hesitant with the idea of employing a similar triangle, choosing to go with a double-pivot underneath a #10 in the few occasions she’s deployed three midfielders at once, it’s hard to imagine her swaying from that if she were to return to that sort of set-up.
Yet, it feels like that inverted midfield triangle could be worth a try in some capacity, especially as they continue to find a secondary formation, something that may end up being needed at the Olympics.
