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  • Justifying Osorio's omission


    Duane Rollins

    On the surface, it’s easy and understandable to be frustrated or angry at Floro for not calling Osorio in. Some might even argue the manager’s position is untenable.

    After the roster came out today CSN reached out to a few people close to Floro to try and get an understanding of why he continues to shut Osorio out. Surprisingly, the closer people are to the team the less frustrated they are by his omission. That’s not to say that Osorio’s talent isn’t appreciated, but rather to say that there is a belief by many that this is an issue of fit as much as it is about a personality conflict.

    That said, there is a personality conflict. It started at the Gold Cup when Osorio was perhaps a little too petulant in reacting to being subbed off. However, it’s been suggested that if the issue was just that incident it would have been resolved by now. Although no one will or can say with certainty, the suggestion is that there is more at play than what the fans have seen. Since Floro won’t speak directly about it (he’s been asked and he simply says he has players in front of him and he remains in the pool) we really are only getting the player’s side (expressed by his TFC teammates, as often as by Osorio himself).

    However, it’s been suggested to me that the bigger issue is that Floro does not see Osorio as a fit in the system he believes Canada needs to play to have a chance at success. What Osorio does well would be wasted in a set-up designed to play tight and controlled. He’s a player that wants to attack and play creatively. He excels at such a role in Toronto.

    Unfortunately, Osorio’s weaknesses fall on the defensive side of the ball. Floro’s system exposes those weaknesses. He simply isn’t a starter in such a system (it’s debatable whether he starts in any system in what’s a fairly stacked midfield, actually).

    Some fans have argued that Floro should recognize what Osorio’s potential is and work him into a system. It goes without saying that such a system would be more attack minded than the way Canada has been playing under Floro to date.

    Fans are free to hold the opinion that Canada should be playing more open, but frankly it’s irrelevant to the conversation at hand. Floro disagrees and he’s not going anywhere. Time will tell if it's successful.

    So, once you acknowledge that Osorio isn’t going to start in the current set-up you can start to understand Floro’s thinking on omitting him completely, even if you disagree.

    He doesn’t see him as a starter and he likely sees his attitude as a problem if he’s not starting. Here is where fans need to put a little blame on the player himself. It was Osorio that made it an issue when he reacted poorly to being subbed out. That shouldn’t be a death sentence to his national team career, but it also shouldn’t be passed over as irrelevant.

    National teams aren’t all-star teams. There is a certain amount of team building that goes into selections. That might mean that some intangible factors go into selecting the non-starters. It’s not that farfetched to think that Floro believes that Osorio isn’t suited to be on the roster unless he’s starting. Again, Osorio didn’t due himself any favours with his reaction to being taken off.

    As it relates to this camp and an omission from a B side that he clearly would have been one of the most talented players in, one individual put it like this: If you aren’t going to use him against Mexico why waste a spot that can be used to look at a player you might?

    A strong argument can be made that Osorio should be available as an attacking option off bench, even if you don’t start him. I agree, but only if he’s a positive influence in that role. We’d all like to think he would be, but none of us really know for sure (and the only piece of evidence we have suggests he might not be). Remember, Osorio has never played a reserve role in his career. He’s been a regular starter since his rookie season.

    Osorio is too talented to ignore forever. Everyone hopes he can be reintegrated into team sooner rather than later. However, upon close examination the reasons for his exclusion aren’t as absurd as they are being made out to be. And, not to belabour the point, but it’s not unreasonable to suggest that Osorio might need to take some initiative to repair his relationship with Floro as well.

    NOTES:

    -- Kyle Bekker’s inclusion continues to confuse fans. It was explained to me like this: “Bekker is super talented. Only guy Canada has who can ping a ball 40-50 yards with either foot.” It was further explained to me that he’s not looked at as starter, but rather as a late sub with an eye to get him a dead ball situation. He is Canada’s best free kick taker.

    Not all of the scouting report was rosy. Bekker was said to be weak on the ball and lacking in “hunger.”

    -- The debate over Osorio’s exclusion has taken attention away from Iain Hume’s return. It will be interesting to see how his Indian SuperLeague success translates to international play.

    Full line-up:

    1- GK- Maxime Crépeau | CAN / Impact Montréal

    2- FB- Nik Ledgerwood | CAN / FC Edmonton

    3- FB- Samuel Adekugbe | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC

    4- CB- Doneil Henry | ENG / West Ham United

    5- CB / M- Adam Straith | NOR / Fredrikstad FK

    6- M- Julian de Guzman | CAN / Ottawa Fury FC

    7- M- Iain Hume | Unattached

    8- M- Will Johnson | CAN / Toronto FC

    9- F- Cyle Larin | USA / Orlando City SC

    10- M- Kyle Bekker | CAN / Impact Montréal

    11- M- Issey Nakajima-Farran | MAS / Terengganu FA

    12- CB- Wandrille Lefèvre | CAN / Impact Montréal

    13- M- Jamar Dixon | FIN / FF Jaro

    14- M- Marco Bustos | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC

    15- CB / FB- Steven Vitória | POR / Benfica

    16- M- Kianz Froese | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC

    17- M- Marcel De Jong | USA / Sporting Kansas City

    18- GK- Tyson Farago | CAN / FC Edmonton

    19- F- Caleb Clarke | Unattached

    20- FB / CB- Karl W. Ouimette | USA / New York Red Bulls

    21- CB- Mallan Roberts | CAN / FC Edmonton

    22- GK- Callum Irving | USA / University of Kentucky

    23- F- Tesho Akindele | USA / FC Dallas



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