Canada’s Conundrum: Where does de Guzman play?

This piece could be titled ‘Can Canada clone Julian”?

At the Gold Cup, Canada showed flashes of brilliance using both a distributor – playing in front of the back four – and a creative attacking midfielder. Playing this arrangement Canada thumped Guatemala 3 – nil in what was perhaps the finest display in the history of the National Team.

Since the Gold Cup, the quest has been to find a similar arrangement without the defensive problems presented by Martin Nash in the distributor role. The only conclusion to reach at this point, is that Julian de Guzman is the best option at both positions.

In the first matches following the Gold Cup, Patrice Bernier and Daniel Imhof were used in a position similar to Nash, but neither acquitted themselves well as a distributor. Both seem better suited to the defensive midfield spot now ably filled by Atiba Hutchinson.

Against Estonia, de Guzman began the game operating in the distributor role, with Radzinski as the creative player in the hole behind Ali Gerba. After the break, de Guzman moved forward as Bernier checked-in and Radzinski slid into a wide position. Neither partner proved a useful complement to de Guzman.

So, what is left to try?

Bring in young player? In the not too distant Will Johnson may fit well in the attacking role. Tyler Hemming may well develop into an option as a distributor; he is composed on the ball and moves it around well. Its not beyond the realm of possibility that either could find themselves in the squad, but neither offers much comfort as a starting option.

Dwayne De Rosario as an attacking midfielder? He is the only player with skill to match de Guzman. He often plays in a central attacking role with his club. And Canada has good options to fill his role on the wing in Issey Nakajima-Ferran and Josh Simpson.

This set-up would look like this:

Nakajima-Ferran----------------------------Radzinski
-------------De Rosario----------------Hutchinson
----------------------------de Guzman

This squad may be questionable defensively, but no more so than the one that went the first 45 against Estonia. It also allows for a straight substitution – like Imhof for Nakajima-Ferran – to bolster the defense.