Canada’s Priestman must balance Sinclair’s swan song with team development

Spare a thought for Bev Priestman.

The coach of the Canadian women’s team finds herself in a bit of a predicament ahead of a pair of international friendlies versus Brazil on Oct. 28 in Montreal and Oct. 31 in Halifax.

On the one hand, Priestman’s team doesn’t have many opportunities to play against top-level opponents ahead of next February’s CONCACAF W Gold Cup, the top international tournament in North America. Brazil is No. 9 in the FIFA world rankings, one spot above Canada, so this two-game series is vital to the Canadians’ preparations for the Gold Cup, as well as next summer’s Paris Olympics.

On the other hand, Priestman has to give playing time to Christine Sinclair on her farewell tour. In case you somehow missed it last week, Canada’s iconic captain announced she planned to retire from the national team at the end of this year. That means these matches versus Brazil, as well as a pair of games against Australia in B.C. in early December, represent Sinclair’s international swan song.

There’s no denying that age has caught up with the 40-year-old Sinclair, and that she is no longer invaluable to Canada’s chances for success on the pitch like she used to be. In last month’s important Olympic qualifying playoff, she was limited to a 30-minute cameo off the bench in Canada’s 2-1 home win over Jamaica in the second leg. Having Sinclair play a limited role in such an important series would have been unthinkable even two years ago. 

Under normal circumstances, she might not even play against Brazil. But these aren’t normal circumstances. Priestman can’t bench Sinclair. She’ll have to play some part in these friendlies.

Without the pressure of having to prepare for next year’s Gold Cup or Olympics, unlike her Canadian teammates, Sinclair said she can just go out and enjoy these last four matches of her international career. 

“I’m not trying to make a team; I’m not trying to make a roster or lineup. It’s freeing to just come back to my routes of just playing for the love of it and enjoying the time with my teammates. It’s a unique opportunity to play games at home,” Sinclair told reporters on Thursday.   

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One of Priestman’s challenges against the Brazilians will be balancing the need to accommodate Sinclair with pushing her team in a new tactical direction.

Priestman favoured a fluid 4-2-3-1 formation in the buildup to and during this summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Although the personnel changed from time to time, the front four usually featured Sinclair, Jordyn Huitema, Adriana Leon and Jessie Fleming, while Priestman relied on a double pivot, normally Quinn and Julia Grosso, to hold things down in central midfield. 

But in last month’s matches against Jamaica, Priestman set her team up in a fluid 3-4-2-1/3-5-2 formation that allowed her to shoehorn 20-year-old Jade Rose (Harvard University) into the starting 11 alongside veteran centre backs Kadeisha Buchanan and Vanessa Gilles. North Carolina Courage defender Sydney Collins also excelled in a midfield role, while Cloé Lacasse and Ashley Lawrence provided Canada with attacking width while being deployed as wingbacks. 

The change in formation allowed the Canadians to seize control in the middle of the park against the Jamaicans, dictate the pace of the match and attack with more purpose. Now it’s time for Canada’s tactical evolution to continue against a top-quality opponent in Brazil, with the possibility of Priestman giving some minutes to other players. 

“We evolved overnight between the World Cup and September. I do wonder if we could’ve evolved earlier; that’s a question I’ve got to keep asking myself, but I definitely think we’ve evolved. We’ve got some young talent that is coming through who are performing at the highest level, and that’s nice,” Priestman said.

“If I look at our Olympic squad from 2021, it’s very different. I think the number of players that we’ve had in (camp) since, the players we’ve had in the lineup, it’s very different. We’ve obviously had a whole host of injuries, but I think that the lineup at Paris 2024 will be totally different, we’re a team that has gone through different experiences.” 

One of the players who could be a part of a “totally different” Canadian team in Paris is midfielder Emma Regan, who plays for HB Køge in the Danish topflight. Regan, a 23-year-old from B.C., made her senior team debut on Oct. 8, 2018, in a 12-0 win over Cuba at the CONCACAF Women’s Championship while she was still a freshman at the University of Texas. That was her only cap to date.  

Five years on, Regan has been named to Priestman’s 26-player roster for the games against Brazil. Her recall comes at a time when the Canadians are lacking midfield depth, mostly because of the continued absence of veteran Desiree Scott due to a lingering knee injury. 

Regan is noted for her versatility as a defensive midfielder, but she can also be deployed anywhere across the back line, and she is in the middle of a strong first season as a pro with Køge. With Scott expected to be out for a little while longer, these games give Regan a chance to impress Priestman and push for a regular spot in the team going forward. 

“There are positions where we need to assess depth and I can describe Emma as the ultimate professional playing full-back and a 90-minute player but now plays in the midfield and plays with real technical ability and a really intelligent player,” Priestman said. 

She added: “Regan has been playing the defensive midfield, No. 6-type role you expect from a Desiree Scott-type player. We need depth from that role, and this is a good opportunity to assess her.” 

Goalkeeper Melissa Dagenais is also part of this latest Canadian squad, having earned her first call up while in the middle of an impressive NCAA season at the University of Miami. Dagenais, a native of Saint-Hubert, Que., likely won’t play in these two games with three other goalkeepers in camp, including starter Kailen Sheridan. But Priestman is thinking long term.

“We just see the potential and the ceiling for Mellisa (as) quite high. Big goalkeeper, great reach — all the attributes are there. So, we wanted to invest in the future and have a chance to assess her and see what she looks like in our environment,” Priestman explained.

More from Sportsnet

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Sinclair’s determination to win is what Canada will truly miss most

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