Well he's from England, that's literally his home country. That's not exactly a questionable career move in terms of ambition and heart, especially if it meant inroads towards eventually getting the men's job with England too. It's a BIG leap of logic to suggest that he determined that the Canadian women weren't good enough and that that was the reason why he was considering a move to England.
And you still haven't addressed my point about the quality of players he had to face while he was the coach of the women's team. Especially the Americans, since you brought them up.
I'm telling you what John Herdman thought about the women's team when he left. He thought the team achieved all they could. The original core led by Sinclair either retired or their play was declining. The young players coming up weren't showing well.
I don't blame Herdman for leaving or looking for new challenges and opportunities. My point is that he made a determination that his core of women he had weren't good enough to achieve beyond what they already had. Which as you know was two bronze medals. The team had peaked. Bev Priestman three years later takes largely the same group that Herdman deemed not good enough and won a gold medal with them. And she had arguably a weaker core than he ever did. She did not have Matheson, Tancredi or even a 33 year old Christine Sinclair. Let alone Christine Sinclair in 2011/2012 when she was the best player in the world.
I'm pushing back on your narrative that John Herdman is some soccer messiah in Canada. He's done a great job and I hope he stays until 2026. The women achieved their greatest success without him. And with the men's team, many of the key players were already there.
The US women were much better in 2012 than the team we saw in 2021. That's fair. The 2021 US team still beat the Netherlands in the Olympic quarters, who were arguably the strongest team. Canada got good results against all of the top teams in the tournament. Bev Priestman did a very good job.
Yes, John Herdman is a great recruiter and motivator. He's a perfect national team coach. Players go to war for the guy. I know information about the women's team mostly. He got Steph Labbe back who almost quit after the Carolina Morace debacle. She was done. He also convinced Josee Belanger to come back as well. She also quit the Nat team after Morace tenure with the team. He's very good.
Speaking of Morace, she was the one who really challenged Sinclair to improve her fitness levels and really try to be the best player in the world. Does Morace get credit for Sinclair becoming the best women's player and helping Canada win a bronze a year later?
To me Herdman is a good cook who has all the right ingredients and he's stirring the pot just right. Benito Flores and Stephan Hart never had those ingredients. But they also aren't the coach Herdman is. Herdman doesn't achieve what he has with the players Stephen Hart had to choose from.
