ANALYSIS: How Cyle Larin finally worked with Jonathan David up top for Canada
Cyle Larin's meteoric rise up the Canadian men's scoring charts wasn't always assured.
The Besiktas striker, then at Orlando City in MLS, made his national team debut but quickly fizzled out of the starting picture, as form and function saw his contributions limited to playing support roles when required.
But, in the years since John Herdman has taken over, Larin has emerged a behemoth up top for Les Rouges, a fact particularly evident today as Canada defeated the United States in World Cup Qualifying off the back of his marvelous go-ahead goal.
Besides making history and becoming the new all-time top scorer for the Canadian men's national team, Larin answered another question often levied against him and his compatriot, Jonathan David:
"We've been wondering, you know - can they play as a two? Can they really combine in the right kind of ways?" asks OneSoccer analyst Oliver Platt.
"They did it really brilliantly on that first goal, but just as important for Canada today? Those two put in such a shift off the ball as well," he continued.
"If you're going to play with two strikers up top, they can't just be all-out attacking players and stand on the last defender throughout the game; they've got to contribute when you don't have the ball."
RELATED: King of the roost, Cyle Larin sets new Canada all-time top scoring record vs. USA
Check out the video (above) to see Kristian Jack and Platt break down Larin and Jonathan David's combination play even further.
Canada returns to World Cup Qualifying action on February 2, 2022 (8PM ET / 5PM PT), taking on El Salvador to wrap up the first of two qualifying windows of the year.
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