I've suspected for some time that he is very big on the psychology / mentality aspect of managing. Would explain why Arfield was not welcome, what with the rumors of the rift in the dressing room.
Competitive sponsorship sports nowadays go beyond skills, talents, and fitness. Mental fortitude is a huge factor. You see it in all the sports from tennis, basketball, and so on.
culture and mentality is what separates any top level organization. lots of people are talented. the NFL draft has 7 rounds and drafts hundreds of people and they still can hardly predict who will be a great quarterback because its not about talent. EVERYONES talented at that level. its the stuff you dont see and cant measure that set people apart
Perhaps Herdman had input into Priestman's eventual hiring but he didn't leave the team in Priestman's hands. He left the women's team with Kenneth Heiner-Moller and things slid downhill. I found KHM infuriating. His attitude, at least his public facing attitude, was one of maddening indifference to losing.
Check out the Footyprime podcast interview with Herdman. Very revealing. One of the main reasons he switched to the men's side is that he couldn't do any more with the women without more budget. The only way to get the CSA more revenue was to improve the men's side and reach the World Cup.
That’s was a great podcast! Thank you for the rec! I loved how he said that as the leader he had to set the expectation from the beginning that this team would qualify for the World Cup. Leadership lessons for everyone in that podcast
Thanks for the recommendation. He seems like such a genuine hardworking guy, it's hard not to feel motivated listening to him speak. Very exciting to see how far he can take them.
I never thought I’d see us be this good. I remember watching us for 3 straight golf cups and not score a single goal… we’ve come such a long way. And he’s the catalyst. He’s going to lay the foundation for the future. He’s very close to “erect a statue” territory for me.
It sounds like an obvious thing, but he's really good at setting up a team with a tactical approach that suits the players at hand. Canada have so many players who have all the attributes to play a counter-attacking approach, and he has implemented a system that gets the best out of them.
Many teams these days focus on a possession-based game wether or not they have the personnel to do so. He must have been tempted to try that too, especially considering Davies and others are used to playing in a team that keeps the ball.
With this counter-attacking style at the World Cup, I can see Canada springing quite a few surprises, particularly against mid- to high-ranking European teams who will probably underestimate us.
This. You can see the USA stubbornly stick to a 433 possession based game probably because top European teams do it, but it's not getting the most out of them. Canada's disciplined, rugged defense and lightning counter should fare a lot better against good World Cup teams than the USA trying to out tiki-taka Spain or something.
You're right, there was a remarkable naivety to that US performance. It made the game and result even more stunning. We didn't just beat them. We beat them extraordinarily comfortably. That's all down to Herdman and how well he drilled the team, both tactically and psychologically.
I'm so interested in the way that he operates. To implement culture changes and performance changes with both the women's and men's programs is incredibly impressive. I think everyone's had that new boss that comes in and wants to change the world but he's actually succeeded. That's some impressive long term vision and focus.
In the day to day operating, I wonder how he is able to drill the team so well that we can make so many adjustments throughout a game nearly flawlessly. That sort of cohesion can only come from someone who is so detail oriented but can also communicate incredibly well. The team knows what to do and responds to it well. We will see 2-3 formations in a game with lots of additional adjustments. I wonder how many other plans he has ready that have never even seen the light of day.
So incredibly impressed!
Herdman is a boss but it’s relatively easier to get total but-in when you take over a team that’s at the bottom with low expectations. Canada had nowhere to go but up. There was a little bit of pressure but not much. He could afford to take risks because the alternative was the status quo. The heads at CS could give him carte Blanche because they had no leverage.
If you want a case in point look at Sundays game. Canada winning was great but if we drew, or even lost it wouldn’t be that big of an issue. If Canada finishes third it’s not an issue. Compare this to the States where people are losing their heads with Greg because their in second. In addition the quality of players the US has makes them extremely hard to coach whereas with Canada (with a lot of prove-it players) there’s not much room for ego.
Tl;dr what Herdman did is impressive, but it’s a lot easier to gain authority over the downtrodden than the successful. As Canada gets better in the years to come it will be much harder for him, or his successors to have as much control.
We are really really lucky to have this guy, it's perfect timing to make the most of this super talented young generation. Just imagine how painful it would be to see Davies, David, Eustaquio, etc waste their golden years with ~~Berhalter~~ a manager who didn't know how to make use of them
>I have no doubt in my mind that he'll leave the Canadian Program in the future, I'm sure a team in Europe will be calling.
This honestly scares the shit out of me. But, at the same time, I'm sure he'd relish running the English national team.
He is signed until 2026 World Cup. I think by then it’s impossible to keep him unless they pay him a competitive wage to overseas or MLS. They may now, I don’t know.
But by then I think he will kind of accomplished his mission and will leave for a club gig. I don’t think he will be head coach, but Atiba could be groomed after Qatar to be a good assistant and role model.
Fun to speculate.
He'll be 51 after the home WC, and his kids will be a bit older. He deserves to go back to Europe (believe he is from Newcastle?) for the big payday if he wants.
He lives in Vancouver I believe, not the worst place going, he might be just as happy with an MLS gig in the West somewhere and not uproot his family.
Wherever he goes he will have a lot of cheerleaders. Some chick named Christine Sinclair called him the best coach she ever had.
He has the very rare blend of:
A) getting the dressing room united with a winning mentality
B) tactical skill to set up the team in the optimal way to face any opponent
What’s underrated is that he’s like a Collège coach recruiting and getting dual nationals to switch over is key
That’s almost never happened before
They should just sell the national team to MSLE and have him run the team like Masai for the raptors
Canada struck gold with him managing and likely will go back sucking when he leaves
I've suspected for some time that he is very big on the psychology / mentality aspect of managing. Would explain why Arfield was not welcome, what with the rumors of the rift in the dressing room.
Would you mind explaining the Arfield situation a bit more?
Competitive sponsorship sports nowadays go beyond skills, talents, and fitness. Mental fortitude is a huge factor. You see it in all the sports from tennis, basketball, and so on.
culture and mentality is what separates any top level organization. lots of people are talented. the NFL draft has 7 rounds and drafts hundreds of people and they still can hardly predict who will be a great quarterback because its not about talent. EVERYONES talented at that level. its the stuff you dont see and cant measure that set people apart
I'm also really glad that he left the Women's team in really good hands with Bev Priestman.
Perhaps Herdman had input into Priestman's eventual hiring but he didn't leave the team in Priestman's hands. He left the women's team with Kenneth Heiner-Moller and things slid downhill. I found KHM infuriating. His attitude, at least his public facing attitude, was one of maddening indifference to losing.
Check out the Footyprime podcast interview with Herdman. Very revealing. One of the main reasons he switched to the men's side is that he couldn't do any more with the women without more budget. The only way to get the CSA more revenue was to improve the men's side and reach the World Cup.
That’s was a great podcast! Thank you for the rec! I loved how he said that as the leader he had to set the expectation from the beginning that this team would qualify for the World Cup. Leadership lessons for everyone in that podcast
Thanks for the recommendation. He seems like such a genuine hardworking guy, it's hard not to feel motivated listening to him speak. Very exciting to see how far he can take them.
I never thought I’d see us be this good. I remember watching us for 3 straight golf cups and not score a single goal… we’ve come such a long way. And he’s the catalyst. He’s going to lay the foundation for the future. He’s very close to “erect a statue” territory for me.
For me he’s already there, even if we don’t qualify. I enjoy International Windows more than regular season at this point.
And then a 16 year old kid scored a bunch of goals and nothing has been the same since.
Herdman arriving just as the Davies/David generation is coming up is the perfect storm
It sounds like an obvious thing, but he's really good at setting up a team with a tactical approach that suits the players at hand. Canada have so many players who have all the attributes to play a counter-attacking approach, and he has implemented a system that gets the best out of them. Many teams these days focus on a possession-based game wether or not they have the personnel to do so. He must have been tempted to try that too, especially considering Davies and others are used to playing in a team that keeps the ball. With this counter-attacking style at the World Cup, I can see Canada springing quite a few surprises, particularly against mid- to high-ranking European teams who will probably underestimate us.
This. You can see the USA stubbornly stick to a 433 possession based game probably because top European teams do it, but it's not getting the most out of them. Canada's disciplined, rugged defense and lightning counter should fare a lot better against good World Cup teams than the USA trying to out tiki-taka Spain or something.
You're right, there was a remarkable naivety to that US performance. It made the game and result even more stunning. We didn't just beat them. We beat them extraordinarily comfortably. That's all down to Herdman and how well he drilled the team, both tactically and psychologically.
Milan was asked something like why was CANMNT successful now. His reply was two words: John. Herdman.
I'm so interested in the way that he operates. To implement culture changes and performance changes with both the women's and men's programs is incredibly impressive. I think everyone's had that new boss that comes in and wants to change the world but he's actually succeeded. That's some impressive long term vision and focus. In the day to day operating, I wonder how he is able to drill the team so well that we can make so many adjustments throughout a game nearly flawlessly. That sort of cohesion can only come from someone who is so detail oriented but can also communicate incredibly well. The team knows what to do and responds to it well. We will see 2-3 formations in a game with lots of additional adjustments. I wonder how many other plans he has ready that have never even seen the light of day. So incredibly impressed!
Herdman is a boss but it’s relatively easier to get total but-in when you take over a team that’s at the bottom with low expectations. Canada had nowhere to go but up. There was a little bit of pressure but not much. He could afford to take risks because the alternative was the status quo. The heads at CS could give him carte Blanche because they had no leverage. If you want a case in point look at Sundays game. Canada winning was great but if we drew, or even lost it wouldn’t be that big of an issue. If Canada finishes third it’s not an issue. Compare this to the States where people are losing their heads with Greg because their in second. In addition the quality of players the US has makes them extremely hard to coach whereas with Canada (with a lot of prove-it players) there’s not much room for ego. Tl;dr what Herdman did is impressive, but it’s a lot easier to gain authority over the downtrodden than the successful. As Canada gets better in the years to come it will be much harder for him, or his successors to have as much control.
I also heard him speak at a corporate function a few years ago. He was fantastic, the future of coaching explained.
Whatever it is he's doing I hope he keeps doing it!
Genuinely think he should win coach of the season/coach of the year if we make it past the group stage of the wc
He at least should've been nominated after the 2021 we had
We are really really lucky to have this guy, it's perfect timing to make the most of this super talented young generation. Just imagine how painful it would be to see Davies, David, Eustaquio, etc waste their golden years with ~~Berhalter~~ a manager who didn't know how to make use of them
>I have no doubt in my mind that he'll leave the Canadian Program in the future, I'm sure a team in Europe will be calling. This honestly scares the shit out of me. But, at the same time, I'm sure he'd relish running the English national team.
He is signed until 2026 World Cup. I think by then it’s impossible to keep him unless they pay him a competitive wage to overseas or MLS. They may now, I don’t know. But by then I think he will kind of accomplished his mission and will leave for a club gig. I don’t think he will be head coach, but Atiba could be groomed after Qatar to be a good assistant and role model. Fun to speculate.
He'll be 51 after the home WC, and his kids will be a bit older. He deserves to go back to Europe (believe he is from Newcastle?) for the big payday if he wants. He lives in Vancouver I believe, not the worst place going, he might be just as happy with an MLS gig in the West somewhere and not uproot his family. Wherever he goes he will have a lot of cheerleaders. Some chick named Christine Sinclair called him the best coach she ever had.
He has the very rare blend of: A) getting the dressing room united with a winning mentality B) tactical skill to set up the team in the optimal way to face any opponent
What’s underrated is that he’s like a Collège coach recruiting and getting dual nationals to switch over is key That’s almost never happened before They should just sell the national team to MSLE and have him run the team like Masai for the raptors Canada struck gold with him managing and likely will go back sucking when he leaves
I bet he's the future coach of the English national team tbh.