KEY takeaways from the CanMNT's 0-0 draw with France
It was the statement performance they needed.
Just days after a second-half demolition at the hands of the Netherlands in Rotterdam, as the Dutch beat Canada 4-0 in their first game under new manager Jesse Marsch, Canada knew they needed a response in Marsch’s second game, a clash against France in Bordeaux.
Yet, that was much easier said than done, of course. Given that Canada had conceded four against a rotated Dutch side ranked seventh in the world, the expectations were low heading into a clash against a loaded French side ranked second in the world.
Even as it was announced that Kylian Mbappe would start the game on the bench for precautionary reasons for France, that sentiment didn’t dissipate, as their starting front four of Marcus Thuram (15 goals and 14 assists in all competitions for Inter in 23/24), Antoine Griezmann (24 goals and 8 assists for Atlético Madrid), Ousmane Dembélé (6 goals and 14 assists for PSG) and Olivier Giroud (17 goals and 9 assists for AC Milan) still had enough firepower to lay Canada to the sword.
Despite that, Canada held strong in the face of that challenge, as they ended up battling for a deserved 0-0 draw, in a match they could’ve gotten even more out of.
After looking open and exposed against the Netherlands, they were much more organized defensively, doing well to limit the dangerous French attackers to half-chances. In fact, the advanced stats showed that, as the best chance of the game went to centre back Dayot Upamecano, even despite the presence of Thuram, Griezmann, Dembélé and Giroud from the start, and Mbappe, Bradley Barcola, Kingsley Coman and Randal Kolo Muani off the bench.
With that, it offered a good glimpse of what this team can be under Marsch, who can look back on his first two games in charge with pride. Other than their second-half capitulation against the Netherlands, they kept clean sheets in the other three halves they played, already appear to have established a defensive identity, and were able to go toe-to-toe with two tough sides, getting knocked out against the Netherlands but standing tall to France.
Plus, with this France draw, he already has a statement result that he can use as a building block for what’s to come. Yes, it came in a friendly, and yes, it was just a draw, but for a team who had lost six of their last seven meetings with top-25 opposition from outside of Concacaf, a draw against a team of France’s calibre is worth celebrating.
Of course, what matters now is how Marsch builds off this. When looking back on his tenure, it’ll be hoped that this isn’t *the* statement result he and his team get, as they’ll be looking to get some big victories at this summer’s Copa América before they get set for a massive 2026 World Cup where a first-ever tournament win and a deep run are the goal.
After this draw, it will give them hope of being able to make some noise at Copa América despite under their new manager, which would give them something to build off of before the World Cup.
Because of that, while this result will certainly fill Canadian fans with pride and optimism before their Copa América opener against world #1 Argentina, the important thing will be to take the learning lessons from this game, good and bad, and now focus on that task. The short dress rehearsal is over, and now the show will begin.
“This is the start of the process for us, it's a positive experience,” Marsch said of the draw. “There's still a lot more to improve, there are a lot of little things happening on the pitch that I see that we can be better at, but the commitment from the guys, their desire to learn and to adapt to what I'm asking of them has been at a high level, and I’ve liked coaching them (so far).”
Here are some other thoughts from Canada’s draw with France in Bordeaux.
Canada finds balance in their defensive structure:
Canada’s defensive structure was much improved in this game, as Marsch appeared to make the necessary adjustments tactically from the Netherlands. He didn’t change much, per se - backing up his post-Netherlands sentiment that he wouldn’t need to “go back to the drawing board” tactically, but he still made some key adjustments.
To begin, Canada’s press appeared to be reined in, as they weren’t as gung-ho with their pressure. They still pressed, and did so a lot, but they avoided wasting needless energy in pressing just to press. They appeared to have clear signals and triggers, too, with one being when the ball went to France’s left centre back, William Saliba, and the other being whenever France got the ball out wide to their full backs. That last point is key - by pressing wide areas, Canada were able to set more realistic traps, allowing them to either force the French back or right into trouble, which is harder to do in the middle of the pitch. 
Then, when France had the ball in central areas, Canada did well to sit compactly in their 4-4-2, avoiding leaving the gaps that the Netherlands played through with ease in the second half, sitting back and limiting space by limiting the gaps between their front two and their back four.
Take a look at these images to get an idea of how compactly they sat, doing well to not get too stretched out and open. 
Those adjustments were key, as Canada’s defence was hardly breached in this game, other than a few routine mistakes that typically occur over the course of a match, such as a mistimed tackle or step. That they held France to 1.25 xG with no shots over 0.25 xG in value shows that.
“We tried to take some lessons from the game against the Dutch, because we felt like at times we got too stretched and their quality started to show that,” Marsch explained. “But for the most part, our tactical discipline tonight was very good, and we tried to be clear about the steps we needed to take to play better against these kinds of opponents, and we executed that much better today.”
David and Larin partnership leaves more questions than answers up front:
Canada’s attack, however, did struggle, finishing with just 0.19 xG on nine shots, with no shot being over 0.05 in value.
For what it’s worth, they did get into a few promising situations but were let down by the final pass or shot, with Jonathan David having a pair of moments he’ll want back from the second half, in particular, as he took a shot instead of feeding Stephen Eustáquio, and then was unable to find an open Jonathan Osorio on a cross where he could’ve also shot.
That’s encouraging because it’d be worrying if they didn’t have those moments and generated so little xG, but it still feels like they’ve got some key questions to answer in the attack.
Namely, the big one starts up front with David and Cyle Larin, as that partnership struggled across these two games. The numbers aren’t pretty for them in that regard, either, as David had just one shot and one chance created across both games, while Larin had just one shot.
When playing with two strikers, you’d hope they could find themselves more involved offensively, but that didn’t happen.
The xG #s are out from the #CanMNT's draw vs France (via WyScout):
— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) June 10, 2024
🇫🇷1.25-0.19🇨🇦
Upamecano (0.25) & Kolo Muani (0.20) had 🇫🇷's best chances off headers
This backs up a very strong 🇨🇦defensive showing vs a dangerous team; but shows the next step for Jesse Marsch - the attack pic.twitter.com/VUvDD7OopK
In particular, Larin struggled to get involved in both games, spending most of the game occupying the centre backs, whereas David was very active defensively and participated in Canada’s build-up. That’s worth noting as David has shown he can still do those two things and lead the line as a striker, but he was unable to get into the box as much with Larin occupying some of the spaces he likes to. That wouldn’t be a problem if Larin was more dangerous in the box, but given that he only had five touches in the box across two games (David had seven despite playing deeper), that wasn’t the case.
Because of that, it appears the Larin and David experiment has run its course against top teams. Given that neither has scored in Canada’s last seven matches against top 25 opposition from outside of Europe despite spending most of those games deployed together, this has been coming, to be fair.
Now, however, it’ll be interesting to see what Marsch could do to adjust alongside David, who he’ll want to find a way to get more out of in these games given that he’s shown for Lille that he can score against tough teams. Either he can look at pairing him with a different forward like Iké Ugbo or Theo Bair, who will offer more of a direct presence in the box for David to play off or find someone who can play underneath him, such as Jonathan Osorio, Junior Hoilett, Ali Ahmed or other.
It’s harsh to drop Larin out of the starting XI given his status as the CanMNT’s all-time top scorer, but if it means getting more out of David, it makes sense to do instead of just hoping one of the two catches fire when playing together. 
Ismaël Koné shines vs France, shows glimpse of potential:
Ismaël Koné has been linked to Italian giants Roma recently, and he showed why with his performance against France. In a midfield battle against Eduardo Camavinga, N'golo Kante and Griezmann, it was the 21-year-old Canadian who ended up dominating, putting in a big shift on both sides of the ball.
After there were concerns about how he’d handle the defensive demands of Marsch’s midfield double-pivot, those have gone out of the window, as he was also solid against the Netherlands and did well to build off that performance with his showing against France.
Offensively, he did well to control the tempo of the game and made himself available to play between the lines with his touch, dribbling and passing helping him out, in particular.
Arguably the best of his offensive skills, he continues to be an excellent ball progressor, too, unlocking several key attacking opportunities for Canada with his ability to drive the ball forward.
For a Canadian side who held way more possession in this game, that was key, as Koné helped them control the tempo when they had the ball.
Defensively, however, he was no slouch, either. He covered all sorts of ground, engaged in several tough defensive duels and was disciplined positionally, making sure he didn’t get dragged out by France’s midfield.
And that’s been the biggest area of growth he’s made lately. Ever since he burst onto the scene as a teenager with CF Montréal, his skills on the ball and in possession have wowed. He further showed that this year with Watford, scoring four goals and adding three assists in his first full season with the club.
Also, Ismaël Koné showed why a move to a top 5 league beckons. Held his own against some top names for the #CanMNT today
— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) June 9, 2024
Finished with 41/44 passes (93%), 1 chance created, 3/3 long balls, 1 shot, 1 dribble and won 9/14 duels in a strong showing from the 21 y/o
But if he can continue to grow defensively, that’ll increase his floor as a midfielder, helping him reach his high ceiling, which may lead him to a club like Roma, or elsewhere.
That’s what Marsch is imploring him to do, noting that he still sees more to come from Koné after the game, but it’s important to remember Koné is Canada’s second-youngest player in their squad from this camp so that growth will only come with time.
If he can continue to progress as he has, expect him to be a key part of this midfield for years to come under Marsch.
“He’s a young player, but he doesn't play like it,” Marsch said of Koné. “And that's key. I’ve tried to ask him what he thinks a young player is, because at 21 years old, for me, you’re developed as a real pro and can play with others. So I think he's taken on more responsibility and challenged himself to fit in with what we're trying to create, and he's had two really good performances for me.”
“Now, his fitness levels, his tactical concentration, his ability to sprint (and maintain it), all of these things need to improve, and if they do, his ceiling can be massive, but there's still so much work to do to get him to achieve the potential he has.”
Spare thoughts:
>The centre back pairing of Moïse Bombito and Derek Cornelius were excellent once again in this game, and had the support they lacked in the first game. In particular, the biggest thing that stood out was how disciplined they were defensively, as they were hardly caught out of position other than an early Cornelius lunge on Griezmann that he put behind himself quickly.
They didn’t need to make any big interventions or spectacular runs, because they were constantly where they needed to be, ready to put out fires and do what they needed.
Part of that was Canada’s structure, as Kamal Miller came in for Cornelius in the second half and didn’t miss a beat, either, but how Bombito and Cornelius (and Miller) operated within that structure is key.
Best performance since Belgium. Could have won it. Kone excellent. Bombito and Cornelius likely cemented their spots. Will do the team's confidence and belief in Marsch (who made good adjustments from NED) a world of good going into Copa America.#CanMNT
— Oliver Platt (@plattoli) June 9, 2024
In particular, Bombito continues to be a big revelation for Canada. Cornelius and Miller showing well isn’t a surprise, with Miller having 43 caps and Cornelius 20 caps, but for Bombito to enter this camp with four caps under his belt and put in the performances he had? Impressive.
For all of the talk of Bombito’s skillset heading into this camp, with his unique combination of size (6’3”), speed (clocked in as the fastest player in MLS this year) and passing making him an intriguing piece, it was his composure and mentality that stood out in this camp.
It feels like he’s certainly cemented his starting spot at centre back for Canada heading into the Copa América, where it looks likely he and Cornelius will look to build on their impressive chemistry to start, although Miller will continue to knock on Cornelius’s door and keep the competition open there.
>After Dayne St.Clair got a surprise start against the Netherlands, Maxime Crépeau got the net in this game, putting in a big shift, which included a late save on Mbappe to secure the draw. St.Clair was quite solid against the Netherlands but will want two of the goals back, especially after Crépeau was relatively flawless in this game.
Maxime Crepeau comes up HUGE on Kylian Mbappe late and the #CanMNT 🇨🇦 pick up a 0-0 draw vs. France 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/RJCMRKc3xQ
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 9, 2024
One can wonder if there will be an open competition between the two at Copa América, but it feels like Crépeau has the edge heading into that tournament after this camp, especially with his experience as Canada’s longtime #2. Plus, in terms of stylistic fit, Crépeau seems to have an edge, as Marsch noted afterwards, saying he felt Crépeau had a good performance tactically to go along with his saves.
“He made good saves, but his positioning throughout the night meant that he also put out a lot of fires on crosses and through balls,” Marsch said. “So it was a complete performance in terms of a tactical understanding, how to fit in the game itself, so he made things look easy, and it was a mature and clear performance from him.”
>Alphonso Davies spoke ahead of this camp of how Marsch has challenged him to simplify his game, and his performance against France was a good example of what that can look like.
He struggled in his dribbling, completing just 1/7 dribble attempts, but he completed 39 out of 42 passes (94%) and had several sequences like this one, where he just looked to take the ball and get it into the box. 
Then, defensively, he was a lot more composed, putting in a good shift against some tough assignments after struggling against the Netherlands’ Jeremie Frimpong on Thursday.
Yet, one thing to watch is the partnership Davies is forming with Liam Millar on the left side. Having spent most of the year as a wing back for Preston North End, Millar’s defensive responsibility ended up being a big asset for Davies, as he helped him defensively on a few occasions, even covering for him when Davies pushed forward.
It’s no coincidence that Canada didn’t concede when Millar was on the pitch, with the only time he came off being when Canada allowed four goals in the second half against the Netherlands, with Davies struggling defensively on a few of the goals. Might that have happened if Millar was there? One can only wonder.
Similar to how Davies and Sam Adekugbe formed a good partnership in World Cup qualifying, Davies and Millar could be a duo to watch on the flanks going forward.
>It’s going to be intriguing to see what happens at right back for Canada. Alistair Johnston was much better against France after struggling against the Netherlands, but Richie Laryea was also very good off the bench. It feels like that battle for minutes could end up being ferocious.
