KEY TAKEAWAYS: Ice-cold Jonathan David helps win battle of wits vs. Peru | VAMOS! Presented by Degree
Through the first 45 minutes of the CanMNT’s Copa América clash vs Peru, it was far from a vintage Jonathan David performance, as he had just 19 touches, no shots and no touches in the box.
For a player who only needs one moment to decide a game, that was worrying to see, especially given that it was coming amidst one of the worst halves Canada had played in a long time. He was running hard, as were his teammates, but other than that, there wasn’t a lot to be pleased with from Canada’s perspective.
Be it due to the heat in Kansas City, where the game was played, or Peru’s physicality, which was expected after their head coach Jorge Fossati promised his team wouldn’t back down, something was off with Canada’s play.
From their inability to string together extended sequences of possession, as they completed just 79% of their first-half passes and only held 48% of the ball at half time, to a lack of involvement from their attackers like David, as they had just one shot and five touches in Peru’s box as a team, and an overall lack of defensive organization in their play, Canada looked far from the team that had just gone toe-to-toe with world #1 Argentina days prior in their Copa América opener.
In fact, they were lucky not to be down a goal or two at the break, as goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau had to bail them own with a couple of saves, including a fantastic 27th-minute stop on Peru’s Piero Quispe that could’ve all but ended Canada’s game with how they were playing.
As a result, it put a lot of pressure on head coach Jesse Marsch, who faced a tough decision at the break. Unlike in the first three games he was in charge of, where Canada had made it to half time feeling pretty good about themselves, it felt like they needed quite the wake-up call if they were going to get anything out of this game.
That wasn’t lost on him, however, and he responded by making three bold changes, inserting Jonathan Osorio, Jacob Shaffelburg and Kamal Miller for Ismaël Koné, Liam Millar and Derek Cornelius. Given that the three he took off were some of his best performers since Marsch took charge, it was a bold move, yet it sent a clear message - the first half wasn’t good enough. And to be fair, the fact that he took off one player from the backline, one from out wide and one from in the midfield shows that it was as much a move designed to jolt the team as it was one to single out any struggling players.
And through those fresh legs, Canada grew in the second half. They still didn’t quite look at their best, but they started to hold onto the ball a bit more through the composure added by Miller and Osorio, which led to their big game-changing moment in the 59th minute, which came when Shaffelburg was taken out with a tough challenge by Miguel Araujo, who was eventually sent off after a VAR review.
After dodging a red card in the first half following a headbutt from Marcos Lopéz on Alistair Johnston, Peru weren’t so lucky on Araujo’s tackle, meaning they had to play the last 30 minutes with a player down. Naturally, that gave an edge to Canada, who all of a sudden had a bit more space to play with, as Peru had defended them resiliently up until that point, clogging up space out wide and centrally in a compact 5-3-2 that sometimes became a 4-4-2.
And that’s where David came back into play. Having survived the half time lineup purge, likely due to his ability to break a game open at a moment’s notice, he finally got the moment he was waiting for in the 74th minute.
After Cyle Larin had done well to recoup the ball after Canada had defended a corner, he managed to look up and pick out Shaffelburg, who had begun to run in behind the right side of Peru’s defence. Having received that ball in stride, he did well to look up and find David, who had joined him to create a 2v1, playing an inch-perfect pass right into his feet.
There, David did what he does best.
After controlling the pass with his first touch and then pushing the ball forward with his second, he made sure his third touch would be the decisive one, as he slipped the ball past an onrushing Pedro Gallese with a soft touch, sending the ball into the net with a shot that just narrowly kissed the post before bouncing in for his 27th with Canada.
This is what you want from Jonathan David in these games. Top-class finish from someone who needed that, as he'd had 1 goal in his last 8 appearances for the #CanMNT
— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) June 25, 2024
And Jacob Shaffelburg... might this have been enough to earn him a start on Saturday?pic.twitter.com/dbD3U60VEc
Arguably his biggest goal of the 27, it was huge for his team as it was their first goal in four games under Marsch, while also giving them the lead at a crucial moment.
Plus, once that lead was intact, they’d make sure to see things over the line from there. They were made to work for it, as Christian Cueva was robbed by Crépeau on a shot in the box in the 91st minute, before Crépeau then denied Paolo Guerrero on a free kick in the 95th minute, but Canada did see things over the line in the end.
And that’s massive. It might not seem like much, as in the end, Canada won a game they were favoured to win, but it’s how they won that’s important.
Certainly, they would’ve much preferred to have won with a much more confident and assured showing, instead of struggling as much as they did, but by winning ugly, they checked off a key box in their growth - an ability to win scrappy games where it comes less down to talent and more to mental toughness, which Canada had to show in spades.
In a game like this, they could’ve easily drawn or lost, which could’ve put them in a pretty tough position to make a run in this tournament, as a draw would’ve lowered their chances of reaching the knockout stages in the last game, while a loss would’ve eliminated them altogether.
Now, with a win, they control their destiny heading into their final group stage matchup, a clash against Chile in Orlando on Saturday, with a win and likely even a draw being enough to get them through, and that’s a big thanks to this gutsy win.
🇦🇷 beats 🇨🇱 1-0, and that's good news for the #CanMNT, who head into the final matchday of the group stage in control of their destiny
— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) June 26, 2024
A win vs 🇨🇱and they're in. A loss and they're out
A draw, and they're in if Peru loses/draws vs🇦🇷 (if they win it goes to the tiebreaker #s)
Ultimately, in tournament soccer, it isn’t about playing the best soccer or putting in good performances - doing so helps, no doubt - but at the end of the day, it’s about managing moments and securing results.
Too often, Canada has been unable to get those coveted results in these sorts of games, even when they’ve played well, so for them to be on the other side of that equation is a new feeling. It’s not one they’ll want to replicate, of course, as they’d ideally like to win while playing at their best, but that they got a win like this against an experienced Peruvian side can’t be ignored.
Yet, this is a sign of how far this young team has come. Instead of getting rattled after their slow start, they kept at it and did what they needed to in order to win. From Crépeau’s clutch saves, some big headers at the back from Moïse Bombito, some key recoveries in midfield from Stephen Eustáquio, some nice crosses from Shaffelburg, and of course, David’s finish, Canada managed their big moments, something they might not have done in the past.
So while they’ve still got plenty more growth to come, especially in terms of getting these sorts of results over the line against top sides, a major tournament win against a scrappy and experienced 31st-ranked Peru is nothing to scoff at, giving them something to build off of going forward.
"Yeah, I look at the result and I know that the guys are excited to make history,” Marsch said after the match. “So that was a big moment. But I look at it more as the situation that the team was in. It was hot. It wasn't easy. First half we have a good start. But then Peru started pushing us and, you know, I said to them at halftime that, you know, we were in a difficult match and we knew that.”
“But the key was that so far we were bending but not breaking. And we talked about wanting to make a big statement, to make history to show that we're ready for bigger challenges. And we responded in the second half in a really good way."
But a big credit has to go to David for his goal, and what it represents. Having entered this game with only one goal in his last eight games for Canada, just one career goal against non-Concacaf opposition to his name for Canada (coming in a September 2022 friendly vs 48th-ranked Qatar), and yet to score at a World Cup or Copa América in four previous appearances in those competitions, there was pressure on him to step up and find the net in this game.
Given that all he’s done at the club level is score these past few seasons, sitting as one of the best in Europe at finding the net, it was hoped he could step up and help Canada’s offence come alive under Marsch.
So while this goal might evoke a sentiment of “about time” for David given his pedigree, it feels unfair to drop that label on him with a goal like this. Certainly, the emotion this goal emitted was more of relief than celebration, but it’s important to enjoy what this means for David - he finally got over a key hump that was slowing him down.
Having put in some excellent performances off the ball for Canada as of late, asked to do some tireless running and help out in the build-up, the pressure was also on David to find the net on top of that, and that had to have been wearing on him.
Therefore, now that he’s gotten this goal, watch out. If there’s one skill that David has shown to have at the club level, is how he responds to adversity, often putting together his best stretches of play for Lille off the back of some of his worst slumps.
Because of that, look for David to use this as a catalyst to find some form under Marsch. Having fittingly become the first to score under Canada’s new manager, further showing his importance to this team, he’ll now look to build on that and demonstrate why he can be so crucial to this Canadian team on his day. 
What should Marsch do vs. Chile?
Now, the big question for Marsch will be to see how he adjusts to this game, as he and his team get set for a massive clash against Chile.
For example, it’ll be intriguing to see how much he takes away from some of the performances his players had off the bench, because while it can be argued that someone like Shaffelburg benefitted from coming on against tired Peruvian legs, one can also only wonder if the jolt he brought can be bottled and produced from the beginning of the Chile game if he starts.
At the same time, it’s also hard to imagine benching someone like Koné just because he was off his usual standard in the first half against Peru, as one imagines he could be crucial in breaking down Chile’s midfield, and he’s not usually one to dwell on poor showings.
Because of that, it’ll be intriguing to see how Marsch handles some key lineup battles, as some names have looked good off the bench and might be knocking on the door to start, while some starters could also be set to rebound despite struggling from the start.
From there, that leads to the biggest question Marsch faces heading into the Chile game - how to jolt his team’s attack. Ultimately, Canada got the goal they needed, but they still only had five shots against Peru, and just one in the 60 minutes they played 11 v 11, which is less than ideal.
The xG from this game was 🇨🇦2.01-0.62🇵🇪, but shots were 🇨🇦5-9🇵🇪, SOT were 🇨🇦2-4🇵🇪 and 4/5 of those shots (and 1.81 of that xG) came after the red card
— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) June 26, 2024
Shows the struggles that the #CanMNT had on the ball, and why it's the biggest area Jesse Marsch needs to focus on and fix
Especially for a team with just one goal in their last four games, it seems like a jolt might be needed to get the team going offensively. Especially after seeing David score a true striker's goal as he did after spending most of the last few games playing deeper, finding a way to replicate that sort of opportunity for him more regularly has to be a priority.
It may lead to some tough decisions, as the front two of David and Cyle Larin have continued to put in a shift defensively together and it would be harsh to sacrifice Larin to push David further forward, but that’s the kind of decision Marsch will have to ponder as he looks to get more out of his attack. Especially after Larin missed two big chances in the Peru match, one can only wonder what David could’ve done with those opportunities, and if Larin might just need a match as a supersub against tired legs to reset himself offensively, having now scored just one in his last 10 for Canada.
Ahead of a match where every moment will be crucial, those sorts of decisions will be key, making it interesting to see what Marsch does.
