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Octavio Zambrano


RJB

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I thought this deserved its own thread...

 

Sources: Octavio Zambrano to be named Canadian men’s soccer team coach

 

The Canadian men’s soccer team has finally found a new coach.

Multiple sources confirmed to Sportsnet on Wednesday that Canada Soccer has hired Ecuadorian Octavio Zambrano to take over as coach of the men’s side, bringing with him two or three assistants from South America to round out his staff.

Canada Soccer will officially unveil Zambrano as the men’s coach on Friday morning at a press event in Toronto. 

Canada has been without a coach since Benito Floro did not have his contract renewed last September following the Reds’ elimination from 2018 World Cup qualifying. Michael Findlay has served as interim coach since Floro’s departure.

Zambrano, 59, previously coached the LA Galaxy and New York MetroStars in MLS. He has never taken charge of a national team.

Canada Soccer had no comment when reached by Sportsnet.

Edited by RJB
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On 12/27/2016 at 9:34 PM, RJB said:

We will either hire a Canadian, or a someone who is 60+ and currently unemployed, or someone that none of us have thought of.

He certainly isn't the first two, but I don't recall his name being mentioned which ticks the third option.  

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11 minutes ago, Dominic94 said:

Our saviour at last

This is either extremely sarcastic or naive. Either way, get a grip pal.

Zambrano had some success in the early years in MLS, then he kind of floated off into obscurity before returning as an Asst. at SKC. His last stint at El Nacional in Ecuador is the only decent work he's gotten outside of the US. I've got to say, i'm not overly impressed with his resume but i'll give him a chance.

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I don't know enough to forge a thoughtful opinion, but I'm very excited that at least we've gotten our man, can analyze his tactics, and hopefully we will see a more attacking style of play - for better, or for worse. While he may have never coached at the absolute highest level, I hope his time in different areas of the world will have done well for his exposure to different types of players and implementing different tactical styles. 

Being a Canadian football fan is hard enough as there's usually very little to look forward to, at least now the CSA have thrown us a bone and we can be excited to analyze and dissect something (I sure hope he takes set piece defending seriously ;) )

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43 minutes ago, jpg75 said:

This is either extremely sarcastic or naive. Either way, get a grip pal.

Zambrano had some success in the early years in MLS, then he kind of floated off into obscurity before returning as an Asst. at SKC. His last stint at El Nacional in Ecuador is the only decent work he's gotten outside of the US. I've got to say, i'm not overly impressed with his resume but i'll give him a chance.

Chill bud, I'm not criticizing his appointment, I think and hope he can lead us back the WC, we've got some attacking talent now, worried about our Defenders.

 

i really hope he can recruit whatever dual nationals we have, Floro did well there. If he has the same success I'll be thrilled, I hope the team plays a more attacking style though and that he uses Osorio.

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Never heard of him, but my initial thoughts are one of relief that we're taking the Gold Cup seriously enough to have this guy in place before it starts.

I have a bit of trepidation that this guy doesn't have any prior national team coaching experience. The assistant coach actually seems like he has a higher pedigree in terms of clubs coached. Interesting that this was reported first in the Italian press earlier this month and nobody seemed to have spotted it.

 

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40 minutes ago, Complete Homer said:

Doesn't seem to have an awful resume, lots of CONCACAF experience, decent win rate. 

Maybe not my first choice but I'm satisfied on a cursory look

Transfer Markt has his last two gigs averaging under 1.2 points a game (one it seems debatable if he was the manager or not....also Transfer Markt).

Edited by matty
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Another interesting tidbit on his time in Ecuador:

In Ecuador, Zambrano has been suspended for six months (since last June) for declaring that several players who played as juveniles in the national tournament were actually of legal age. He made the complaint weeks before it is discovered that the Tricolor qualified the U-17 World Cup with at least three footballers who have adulterated their ages. (D)

http://www.eluniverso.com/deportes/2015/12/30/nota/5319934/octavio-zambrano-vuelve-dirigir-deportivo-pereira

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Assuming a big swerve doesn't come on Friday, I'm glad we have a coach in place for the Gold Cup. As well, I don't come in with any expectations (good or bad) on the appointment.

But make no mistake, this hire won't change the fortunes of our national team drastically. Sure, the result could be a more attacking style of play, and rosters that don't have massive question marks, and starting 11's that don't have 5 CB's in the lineup. The talent pool that Canada has to draw from is the biggest reason as to why we fail in every tournament, at every level in the men's game.

Until that changes, it's status quo in terms of results in my book. Unless this country has developed and cap tied some players with some real quality on the pitch (e.g. if Davies continues to progress as he has the last 18 months), we'll be sitting here making the same points when the next coach is hired.

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We are in a unique position where we have some good attacking players (Hoilett, Arfield, Larin, Akindele), and perhaps the CSA decided it was the right time to bring in an attacking oriented coach. If we can bring Davies into the fold sooner rather than later, and perhaps Tabla as well, we will not only have some young, respectable attacking depth, but a coach who's teams have a reputation for scoring goals!

 

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Well he has a very good winning  record in the MLS looks like his teams did well in the regular season and did ok in the playoffs so he can win, not a bad choice if this is true I think he is qualified to coach Canada has a decent record.

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