Day-After CanMNT thoughts after an electric 4-1 Canada win over Panama at BMO Field
The CanMNT had a night to remember at BMO Field on Wednesday, as they picked up a massive 4-1 win over Panama to climb back into the top 3 of the Octo. Here are some day-after thoughts from that one.
It was a performance that you just felt was coming for this team.
After picking up 2 points from their first 2 games of this October window, having done well to earn 2 key away draws against two good sides in Mexico and Jamaica, the CanMNT were looking to finish this camp with a bang as they returned to BMO Field to take on Panama on Wednesday.
Facing off against a side sitting just 1 point ahead of them in the Octo standings, holding one of the vaunted top 3 spots that will send 3 CONCACAF teams to the World Cup in just a few months time, Canada had every incentive to beat Panama at home in this one, as they looked to reclaim one of those top 3 spots that every team wants to so desperately hold come March of 2022.
It wasn’t going to be easy, as Panama was fresh off of beating the United States at home in their previous game, and had arguably looked like the most impressive team of the Octo through 5 games, but Canada is no slouch themselves, something they looked to remind their Panamanian foes on Wednesday.
And to give them credit, they did just that, rolling to a dominant 4-1 win, one that put them back into a top 3 spot in the Octo after 6 games, all while serving a reminder to the rest of CONCACAF of what they’re capable of on their day.
Doing so in front of their biggest home crowd in nearly 5 years, and their biggest-ever crowd at BMO Field, Canada came to play for the 26 000+ that came out to see them on Wednesday, putting on a show that many who were in attendance won’t soon forget.
Thanks to that, Canada put themselves back in the driver’s seat in terms of their aspirations of reaching the 2022 World Cup, as they now sit with a cool 10 points through 6 games, placed just behind 1st-placed Mexico and the 2nd-placed US, who have 14 and 11 points, respectively, and just ahead of 4th-placed Panama and the 5th-placed Costa Rica, who hold 8 and 6 points themselves.
Seeing that the bare minimum in terms of expectations for Canada this Octo is to finish in the top 4, with the top 3 being the main goal, this Canadian side is right where they want to be with 8 games to go, setting them up nicely for an entertaining finish.
There are still plenty of tough games awaiting them, and their work is far from over, but they took a big step towards making their dreams a reality with this win over Panama, highlighting its importance.
It might not have been Canada’s most complete performance of this Octo, but it wasn’t far off of it, and it was certainly their most memorable, marking an exciting chapter on their ongoing journey towards Qatar.
Fans celebrate Canada’s victory over Panama on Wednesday (Keveren Guillou)
Offence gets overdue explosion:
And playing a big part in that excitement? A long overdue offensive explosion, as Canada scored 4 goals in a game for the first time in their last 10 games, having last done so against Haiti back at the Gold Cup earlier this summer.
They did get a nice 3 goal performance against El Salvador to close out the September window, but other than that, the goals have been hard to come by for this Canadian team as of late, at least compared to what we’ve been used to seeing from them this year.
To be fair, there are some almost unfair expectations on them to score goals, but that sort of pressure comes when you’ve got the sort of offensive talent that Canada has at their disposal, so that’s just the reality of their situation.
When you’ve got the likes of Cyle Larin, Jonathan David, Alphonso Davies, Tajon Buchanan and Lucas Cavallini, among many others, you are always going to be expected to score a fair number of goals, and Canada hasn’t exactly done that as of late.
To give them credit, it’s not as if they haven’t been trying, as they've certainly been creating chances at a good level as of late, but they just haven’t been able to finish them, making some wonder when an offensive explosion would come.
So in a sense, it maybe shouldn’t have been all that surprising to then see Canada find that breakthrough against Panama, as it certainly felt like it was one that was a long time coming for this team.
Just taking a quick peek at the stats from the Panama game gives an idea of how so.
Despite being out-possessed 57% to 43%, Canada outshot Panama 16 to 7, had 8 shots on target compared to their guests 2, and won the Expected Goals (xG) battle 1.81-0.8.
They also had 10 corners to Panama’s 1, created more big chances (3-1), and had more shots in the box (10-4), doing well to batter Panama in nearly every relevant offensive statistic.
So while a 4-1 scoreline was maybe a bit unfair to their visitors, Canada most definitely deserved a commanding result, and seeing that they were underperforming their xG by 2.25 heading into this game, this sort of explosion had been coming for a while.
They had to work for it, as it took for them to go down 1-0 inside 5 minutes to truly spring to life, and it took an own goal for them to open the scoring, but once they found their scoring touch, they were hard to stop.
Now, Canada will need to find a way to sustain this newfound offence, especially given how good their defence has been as of late, because if they do, they’ll be pretty hard to stop.
If not, though, some more frustrating results could await them, but even if they find a way to deliver just half of the offensive output that they put up against Panama on a consistent basis going forward, that should be more than enough to sustain themselves, as they’ll look to prove that this big performance wasn’t a fluke.
Canada’s new trio steals the headlines:
And one way for Canada to sustain these sort of offensive performances? More games like the ones that we saw from Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David and Tajon Buchanan, who combined for 3 goals and 2 assists on the night, and were directly involved in all 4 goals.
Along with a combined 9 shots, 9 dribbles, 4 key passes and 2 big chances, they certainly weren’t lacking for offensive output in this game, both in terms of what they created and finished.
Starting together for just the 3rd time with Canada, they looked like they’d been playing together for years, too, showing what they can do as a trio.
They might not have been deployed as your typical attacking trio, as Davies and David started up front with Buchanan filling in at wing back, before Canadian head coach John Herdman swapped Davies and Buchanan in the second half, but they certainly found ways to operate as one despite that.
From Davies’s dizzying dribbling displays, to Buchanan’s bright bursts from deep positions, combined with David’s smart and intricate hold-up play, it felt like all 3 players found a way to be involved in some way or another on every Canadian attack, making life tough for the Panamian defenders.
So if anything, the goals were just cherries on top of the proverbial cake, just giving them a due reward for the work they did all night.
Starting with Davies’s smart corner that led to the own goal, to his long and bursting run that ended up being Canada’s winner, along with Buchanan’s smart header for his team’s 3rd goal and David’s calm insurance marker, all goals were special in their own right, helping Canada find that offensive breakthrough that they’d long been craving.
They’ve still got a lot of work to do towards becoming one of the best trios in the region, but given that Davies (20), David (21) and Buchanan (22) are far from reaching their primes as players, they've still got a lot of growth to make both individually and as a group.
And that’s what’s so exciting about them. They’re all wildly talented as players, and take pride in representing Canada, so you know that this is just the start of what they’ll be doing together going forward.
So while they’ve still got a lot to figure out in terms of how they’ll operate going forward, along with a name, this feels like this won’t be the first time that we end up talking about the trio.
Looking back on this game, we might just end up remembering it as the DDB (DDT? TAJ?) coming out party, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for their country, helping them bust that aforementioned slump.
Tajon Buchanan, Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David celebrate a goal vs Panama (Keveren Guillou)
Depth the name of the game once again:
Otherwise, one big talking point heading into this game was concerning the supposed freshness of this Canadian squad, as a lot of their key players had accumulated heavy minutes loads in the first two games of this camp, which for a team already missing several key players, was concerning.
As one of the deeper teams in the region, you felt like if there was a team that could handle that, it was Canada, but at the same time, it felt like they were due to run out of gas at some point.
But then, as they did in the 3rd game of their September window, they managed to find a second wind, finding a way to overcome a very tired Panama team that tried to run the same team for most of the 3 games that they played.
Having had the fortune to insert a fresh Tajon Buchanan, Richie Laryea, Stephen Eustaquio, Kamal Miller, David Wotherspoon and Steven Vitoria into the squad, Canada were able to add enough fresh legs to inject a boost of energy to the likes of Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David, Jonathan Osorio and Alistair Johnston, who had all played at least 166 minutes out of a possible 180 through the first 2 games.
Thanks to that, they were able to push Panama into submission throughout the game, before scoring their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th goals between the 66th and 78th minutes, despite that being a time where conventional wisdom would suggest that Canada would be on the verge of a burnout.
But that’s the advantage that Canada has over other teams in this region, as they’re deep enough to handle everything that the Octo can throw at you without too much worry, which could give them a leg up as they near the key stages of this final round.
If needed, they can rotate without suffering a significant talent drop-off at most positions, allowing them to both keep players fresh while also putting their best foot forward in games.
In a dream world, you’d like to put your best XI forward every game, but due to how quick the games come up in these windows, along with other factors such as injuries, travel and prior workloads, that isn’t always possible.
So for Canada, the fact that they’ve got the depth to tackle those sorts of things is massive, as it could very well be the difference between them sitting where they are now and finding themselves closer to the bottom of the Octo.
Having dealt with injuries and other absences that would’ve sunk most sides, they’ve just managed to find a way to roll through the punches, and this win against Panama was the latest example of their ability to do that.
Looking Forward:
But now, the going is really about to get tough for Canada, as they’re truly about to find out how deep of a squad that they’ve got at their disposal.
In the next window, their lone double-window of this Octo, they’ll host Mexico and Costa Rica in Edmonton, before getting set to tackle the last 6 games of this round, which includes away days to El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama, with 2 home games against the United States and Jamaica squished in there.
While Canada has done well to nab 10 points from their first 6 games, picking up some big results at home against El Salvador and Panama, to go along with key draws in their two toughest away days of this round against the US and Mexico, that’s just the start of what awaits them as they near the halfway mark of this journey.
As they showed against Panama, when they’re on, it’s hard to keep them down, but the key will be to keep that momentum into the next window, where they can truly cement their position in a top 3 spot.
So now, it’ll be important for Canada to not get complacent with where they currently sit, and instead use that as fuel to continue to push towards their main goal, which is qualifying for a World Cup.
They’ve taken some big strides towards getting there, but the work is just getting started, so it’s imperative that they take what they started through the first 6 games and use it to help fashion a strong finish, one that will allow them to punch a ticket to Qatar in a few months time.
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Alphonso Davies celebrates his goal vs Panama (Keveren Guillou)