by leafdolfan
Calling Stephen Hart "Canada's Tactical Genius" may be a little over the top, but Hart can take lots of credit for Canada's 1-0 win over Jamaica last night. The group of players that played last night were not any better than the players Mitchell was working with during World Cup Qualifying. They are certainly not a group of superstars, and individually none of them are near world class. The difference between last night and World Cup Qualifying was the style of football.
Under Mitchell Canada was playing a 4-2-3-1, a formation which often collapsed into nine or ten men behind the ball with a lone striker up top. Canada was defending poorly, and when they got the ball it was a direct style. Canada often tried to break out with pace and attack the opposing centre backs with balls through the middle. None of this worked and as a result Canada's midfielders would not have time to get out of the defensive third and the pressure was consistently being piled on. Last night was different.
Hart claimed he tried to go out playing a 4-3-3. It looked much more like a 4-5-1, or a 4-1-4-1 with De Guzman playing as the central defensive midfielder. The formation actually worked very well, Canada worked the ball around the midfield, often with De Guzman trying to stretch out the play and bring both sides into the play. Gerba was playing as the lone striker and played a lot with his back to goal, laying the ball back and trying to create an opening. As a result Canada kept very good possession of the ball throughout the first half. Canada looked good but were still lacking that little bit of creativity or flair in the final third.
Defensively Canada looked very good in the first half, and for most of the second half. They didn't throw in any rash challenges in the middle of the park and they allowed Jamaica to enter their half of the pitch. As soon as Jamaica tried to get through Canada's final third, the Canadian defenders were all over them. Jakovic in particular played a very good game in the centre of the defense. The patient defending was complimented by the possession style which allowed Canada to slow the play down. The defenders were playing the ball through De Guzman and allowing the play to build up instead of booting the ball down the pitch. Canada's defensive performance allowed them to play the game Hart sent them out to play.
In the second half things got a little shaky and only a few solid saves from Sutton kept Canada in the game. Hart then made two very astute substitutions. First he brought on Simpson who almost had an immediate impact, as his ability to beat a man opened up the second half right away. He slowly faded away and Hart made his second tactical change seventy minutes in, which turned out to be a game changer. He brought on Jackson to play upfront in a 4-4-2 with Gerba.
A 4-4-2 from the onset may have been overrun by a quick Jamaican team, having the extra midfielder really helped from the start. As the game progressed however the Jamaicans tired, and Hart chose to perfect time to attack the Jamaican back four. Jackson really opened up the field for Canada, and eventually a Klukowski cross made in through a tired Jamaican defense for Ali Gerba to finish. The change of formations payed off and led Canada to the win.
All in all Canada played a very smart game, and the same players that were embarrassed during World Cup Qualifying looked much better in a tactically sound formation. So a thumbs up to Stephen Hart and hopefully a good start to a great tournament for Canada.