GANGUE-RUZIC: The CanMNT show glimpses of 'Marsch-ball' - and the work that's still needed to master it - in Netherlands loss
It was certainly a cold welcome for Jesse Marsch in his first game as CanMNT head coach, as his Canadian side fell 4-0 to the Netherlands in Rotterdam on Thursday.
After a solid first half that saw both teams enter the break tied at 0-0, it looked to be smooth sailing for this Canadian side under their new coach to begin, however. Having quickly grasped some of the concepts Marsch had looked to implement tactically, such as their high press, direct play in the attack and compact defending, the first half was one they could be pleased with.
The Netherlands had generated some big chances, as one would’ve expected, but so had Canada, and other than a late Brian Brobbey breakaway from the Dutch in added time, there wasn’t anything that Canada needed to flag as particularly worrying as they headed into the second half.
DAYNE ST. CLAIR PREVENTS NETHERLANDS’ FIRST GOAL 👏🧤
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 6, 2024
Watch #CanMNT LIVE on OneSoccer 🔴 pic.twitter.com/hL42QwT5L6
That quickly changed in the second half, however, as Canada’s energy started to dip, while the Netherlands began to grow into the match. As a result, the hosts were able to break open the game in a 13-minute stretch that started in the 50th minute, as they quickly grabbed a 3-0 lead by the 63rd minute of play.
From there, Canada couldn’t refind what they showed in the first half, allowing the Dutch to grab a fourth before cruising to an eventual victory.
Despite that, Marsch remained optimistic in his post-game media availability, noting that he felt the scoreline wasn’t reflective of how his team played on the day.
“To walk away 4-0, I don't think that was indicative of the game,” Marsch offered. “I thought that in the first half, we represented ourselves and the version of football that I want the team to move toward quite well, and then what you saw in the second half is what happens when the Dutch start to crank up the heat a little bit, you can see their quality, and we got put under stress a little bit more, and that forced us into a few mistakes.”
“But I told the (group) that the first half and overall this was better than I had hoped, we knew we were going to have some big challenges against our first opponents, but we're going to learn from them. There are a lot of little things in there that I think we can change, adjustments to help us be more clear and simple in the way we want to play, but for a 4-0 match, I thought it was a pretty good performance.”
And that’s important to point out - this is far from the final version of this Canadian team under their new head coach.
At the end of the day, this was still a team playing just its first game under a new head coach after having had little preparation time together ahead of this match, one on the road against a top-ranked side.
Even if this wasn’t quite the Netherlands A-squad, it was a strong group, and they showed it with how they responded from their quiet first half with a good end to the game.
For a Canadian side also learning a new system on the fly, it was always likely that they’d get burned at some point in the match, especially against an opponent of the Netherlands quality. That ended up being proved true in the second half, in particular.
GOAL 🇳🇱🇳🇱🇳🇱
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 6, 2024
3-0 for the Netherlands: Wout Weghorst triples the lead off the rebound ⚽️
Watch #CanMNT LIVE on OneSoccer 🔴 pic.twitter.com/ioTEAovjvx
At the same time, while it’s far too early in Marsch’s tenure to see this result as a projection of impending doom, there is still a lot to dive into and analyze from this game - both good and bad.
To begin, there’s the good, which mainly originated from the first half.
Early on, Canada’s press looked organized and in sync, doing well to show off the hallmarks of Marsch’s Red Bull-inspired 4-2-2-2 set-up. From how the strikers led the press, to how the strong-side wingers pushed up when the ball was on their side, and to how the strong-side full backs and midfielders adjusted behind them, Canada managed to disrupt the Netherlands rhythm in possession for a good chunk of the first half.
Plus, they were able to take pressure off their midfield pivot, with a worry heading into the game being that Canada might get exposed in the middle by doing with just two midfielders against a Netherlands side playing with three, which didn’t really end up happening.
For a team onboarding that pressing system for the first time, that was all a surprise to see, as it was expected that the press would be haphazard and out of sorts early, which it mostly wasn’t through the first 45 minutes.
From there, another big positive was the play of Canada’s centre backs, as despite playing just their first game together, Moïse Bombito and Derek Cornelius put in a good shift throughout 90, with the score being an unfair reflection of their performance. As expected, Bombito’s speed was a huge asset, as he showed on a few impressive recovery runs, while Cornelius had some key interventions including a nice block off the line early on.
If anything, Canada’s bigger defensive struggles came from wide areas, especially in the second half, with Bombito and Cornelius not really to blame for any of the four goals.
Lastly, Canada’s direct offensive play led to some good glimpses in the attack, especially when it went through Isamël Koné, Jonathan David and Liam Millar, who were bright spots offensively in the first half. In fact, Canada’s best chance to score came when Millar, Koné and David linked up to set up a wide-open Cyle Larin in the first half, showing what that trio can bring.
Tale of 2 halves for the #CanMNT in their 1st match under Jesse Marsch
— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) June 6, 2024
1st half showed a glimpse of what the system can look like at its best
Then the 2nd half showed some of its limitations, where it can be exposed, and what happens if 🇨🇦can't maintain their energy levels
On the flip side, however, there’s a lot that Marsch will look back on and want to correct from this game, most of it originating from the second half.
The big one to start? Canada’s dip in energy in the second half, and how they adjusted to it. No doubt, a big question mark surrounding Marsch’s system would be if Canada could maintain it across a full game, and this match showed how tall a task that’ll prove to be, as Canada’s energy levels seemed to dip massively in the second half.
And, more worryingly, Canada never seemed to recover that energy, either. It’s one thing to have a dip in energy, which can happen, but despite using their full allotment of six substitutes, which saw Marsch freshen up five of his front six from the 4-2-2-2, Canada were still unable to bring those energy levels back up.
Part of that can be attributed to how good the Netherlands were in the second half, as they turned the tables on Canada and started to put them under pressure in and out of possession, but Canada were unable to step up in front of that challenge, either.
Then, elsewhere, some big hiccups were present in Canada’s marking, especially in wide areas. The first two goals are a great example of that, as they came off mistakes that Canada could’ve prevented.
GOAL 🇳🇱
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 6, 2024
We’re down 1-0...
Memphis Depay finds Jeremie Frimpong’s perfect cross to put the Netherlands ahead on the night ⚽️
Watch #CanMNT LIVE on OneSoccer 🔴 pic.twitter.com/rt4FSXZhYY
Appearing to use a tight man-marking system defensively, the Netherlands exposed that on both goals, with the first one coming off a cross where Alistair Johnston lost Memphis Depay at the back post after Alphonso Davies struggled to close down Jeremie Frimpong's cross, while the second goal came off a ball over the top that was only onside because Dominick Zator got too caught up on his mark and didn’t notice where the rest of his line was.
GOAL 🇳🇱🇳🇱
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 6, 2024
It’s 2-0 for the Netherlands as Jeremie Frimpong doubles the hosts’ lead ⚽️⚽️
Watch #CanMNT LIVE on OneSoccer 🔴 pic.twitter.com/Tyricvh55H
Two small mistakes, they could’ve made a big difference, helping keep Canada in the game long enough to turn things around, as after the second goal it felt like they were unlikely to come back from being 2-0 down.
Otherwise, the big worry was to see Canada struggle to generate much offence, finishing with just six shots, as they couldn’t turn most of their glimpses into chances.
Other than Larin’s big chance, he finished with just 31 touches and no other shots, while David was unable to generate a shot, and Tajon Buchanan had just 21 touches, that meant three of Canada’s most dangerous attackers were mostly kept out of dangerous areas. In particular, it puts the David and Larin partnership at risk, with this being another example of the duo being unable to impose themselves when starting in a big game, with Larin, in particular, struggling to find his feet in this game.
Those are all things Marsch will need to look at as he gets set for his second game in charge, which comes on Sunday against France. For example, he might be tempted to push Alphonso Davies further forward to help bring a jolt to the attack, while Larin might be usurped for a more creative piece that can supply David more service, be it Junior Hoilett, Jonathan Osorio or Mathieu Choinière, just to name a few.
At the same time, Marsch doesn’t have much else to tweak, as he can also look to the first half as a sign that his side did grasp his concepts for a decent portion of the game. Small changes will be needed to address some of the bigger issues at both ends, but he can also look back at the four goals and see correctable mistakes that his team can learn from.
And he seemed to share that perspective after the match. Ultimately, he knows it’s a process, and while his first game was a tough challenge, he can take several key lessons away - both positive and negative.
Because of that, he’ll look to take those lessons at heart and move forward. These losses can only be valuable if you learn from them, and Canada will now return to the drawing board to try and correct them, even if Marsch isn’t the biggest fan of that term.
“I definitely wouldn’t even use the phrase go back to the drawing board, I would just say that we need to make improvements in all of these areas, in fitness, our behaviours and tactical clarity,” Marsch said. “But again, because the Dutch are good at creating rotations, they have a lot of technical players and they have a lot of athleticism, they have a great combination of what it takes to play the game at the highest level, and that tested us at the highest level, and we held up pretty well in the first half, and had some really good stretches where I thought our football was good and our understanding of how to play in all phases of the game was quite good.”
“But then fatigue sets in, they start to put their foot on the pedal, and that creates more stress in our team, we become a little bit more passive, we invite a little bit more pressure, we make a few more mistakes, and they're ready to capitalize on them.”
“But now, next time that we're in a (tough) situation against a team like this, we'll understand it a little better, and then we'll be able to respond, and even when the game gets tougher, we'll be able to raise our level.”
