With Canada’s first two World Cup qualifying matches safely in the bag, armchair managers from coast to coast can throw up their legs and rehash the proceedings in their minds’ eyes. Manager Stephen Hart has already indicated there will be roster changes ahead but was unsurprisingly reluctant to say exactly which ones.
So who plays where when Canada reconvenes on October 7 to face Saint Lucia? For a squad lacking quality depth at almost every position it is bizarre that one of the most difficult selection choices may involve how best to fit the guy who's regularly playing club football at the highest level.
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Where and how does Marcel de Jong fit back into the lineup if he's available? Mike Klukowski has fallen somewhat from the pedestal he occupied when he was named to the all-tournament team at the 2009 Gold Cup. He’s since moved from Belgium to Turkey, where he plays with Josh Simpson at Manisaspor, but many supporters still view him as Canada’s best leftback going forward.
Yes, leftback. The position Marcel de Jong plays with his Bundesliga outfit Augsburg. The eternal argument about whether a manager should make the players fit the system or vice versa aside, can Canada really afford to omit a guy playing every week in the German top flight from its starting eleven?
I can offer two obvious solutions. Play de Jong at leftback and move Klukowski over to to the right of defence. But this requires deploying Klukowski out of position, and besides, David Edgar played pretty well out on the right against Puerto Rico last week.
There’s also the option of using de Jong in a defensive midfield role. He’s played there for Canada in the past (as well as out on the left of midfield). A solid midfield base made up of some combination of Julian de Guzman, Will Johnson, Terry Dunfied and de Jong frees up Atiba Hutchinson to become more involved in the attack, where many Canada supporters want to see him anyway.
Two possible solutions, neither perfect, to fit de Jong most effectively back into the lineup. Wouldn't it be nice if Canada's regular Bundesliger were a keeper? Or a target man that actually scores? A false nine? A bona-fide wideman?
Of course, like all problems the issue of where to stick de Jong may simply end up solving itself. A quick check of the records shows that the last time Hart was forced to incorporate both players in the same lineup was in a couple of friendlies at the end of 2009. And it was de Jong who played in midfield at that time.
Throughout 2010 and the early part of this year one of the two was always out of the Canada picture due to injury or family commitments. When Hart finally had both players again available for selection against the U.S. at the Gold Cup this June he started de Jong at leftback where he performed less-than-stellarly and suffered a serious injury. Thus Klukowski was called in to service for the final two games of that ill-fated tournament.
Time to channel your inner Stephen Hart. Do Klukowski's abilities on offensive and the natural link-up play he should offer with clubmate Josh Simpson on the left make him Canada's starter in that position? Would sticking de Jong in the centre of midfield where he can utilize his defensive strengths solve the problem adequately?