JOHN HERDMAN APPOINTED CANADA’S NATIONAL TEAM BOSS
Rundown is going to break away from the norm to add in a headline story that Canada Soccer has announced that John Herdman, who has coached Canadian women’s national team since 2011, will replace Octavio Zambrano as the head coach of the men’s national team. Kenneth Heiner-Moller, Herdman’s assistant with the CanWNT, will taking over the head coaching position on the women’s side.
“We welcome John to this new role as he brings his success aligning Canada Soccer’s women’s national team program over the past six years and his world-class technical coaching abilities to continue delivering results for Canada Soccer for the men’s national team program,” said Canada Soccer president Steven Reed in a statement. “… On behalf of Canada Soccer, we would also like to thank Octavio for his contributions over the past year and wish him well in his future endeavours.”
Herdman, a native of England, took over as coach of the CanWNT in 2011 following a five-year stint leading the New Zealand women’s national team, whom he coached in two World Cups and at the 2008 Summer Olympics. During his tenure in Canada, Herdman guided the team to back-to-back bronze medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, as well as the quarterfinals of the 2015 World Cup in Canada.
“It is easy to point to John’s record with Canada to demonstrate his effectiveness as a high-performance coach, in earning back-to-back Summer Olympic medals he’s achieved in team sport something no other coach in Canada has done in over 100 years,” said Canada Soccer general secretary Peter Montopoli. “What makes him exemplary though, is his work ethic, his passion, his preparation and his attention to detail.”
Zambrano departs the CanMNT after 10 months in charge. He found early success with the Under-23 national team before leading the senior side to the quarterfinals of the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup for the first time since 2009. His final games in charge were a 2-0 friendly win over Jamaica on Sept. 2, 2017, followed by a 1-0 friendly loss to El Salvador just over a month later.
“It’s a great honour to join the men’s national team program and I want to thank Canada Soccer for this opportunity to grow and develop the sport in this country through a one country, one system approach,” said Herdman. “Working with Canada Soccer’s women’s program, and the remarkable players and staff who have made the past six years so incredible has been an absolute privilege, and I am confident the team and entire national women’s team program are in excellent hands with Kenneth and Bev [Priestman, new assistant coach].”
“In taking on the roles of men’s program director and men’s national team head coach, I am keen to put a lasting mark on a program full of potential with as we work towards the ultimate goal of representing Canada on the world’s biggest stage at the FIFA World Cup.”
In an announcement for the upcoming squad for a Canada U23 camp, several MLS talents have received the call including Vancouver Whitecaps rising star Alphonso Davies, goalkeeper James Pantemis, defender Thomas Meilleur-Giguère, midfielders Shamit Shome and David Choinière of the Montreal Impact, in addition to FC Dallas forward Adonijah Reid.
RAPIDS SIGN TWO
Colorado Rapids have finalised the signings of US international and Monterrey left back Edgar Castillo, as well as Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Jack Price, to continue their squad rebuild under new coach Anthony Hudson.
Price, 25, came up through the Wolves academy and joined the club’s first team in 2011. After featuring regularly for the club for three consecutive seasons, Price has seen his playing time decrease this year for a club that holds a 12-point lead in the English Championship. Overall, he’s appeared in five league games this season and made four starts in the Carabao Cup. Price was teammates with former Rapids forward Kevin Doyle at Wolves.
Castillo is a 31-year-old left back from Las Cruces, New Mexico, he has 18 international caps with the US national team, but has played sparingly for Monterrey over the last year and a half.
DYNAMO KEEP VETERAN AJ DELAGARZA
A.J. DeLaGarza’s 2017 season came to an unfortunate end when he tore his ACL right before the MLS Cup Playoffs but he may get more opportunities to play in the postseason with Houston after the Dynamo announced that they have re-signed the veteran defender.
DeLaGarza was a key part of Houston’s resurgence after arriving in a draft-day trade with the LA Galaxy prior to the 2017 season. The 30-year-old right back started 30 of the Dynamo’s 34 regular-season games, finishing second on the team with 2,623 minutes and registering three assists as Houston made the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
DeLaGarza had spent the previous eight seasons in LA, emerging as a stalwart on the Galaxy backline and playing a pivotal role in their MLS Cup wins in 2011, 2012 and 2014. He enters the 2018 season needing to play 128 minutes to reach 20,000 for his career and 16 appearances to reach 250 career games played.
Any Other Business…
ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle reports LA Galaxy have signed goalkeeper David Bingham and midfielder Servando Carrasco to new contracts… Schalke are keen on DC United academy product Eryk Williamson… Arda Turan is the latest out-of-favour European star to be linked with a move to Chicago Fire.
