How do you prepare for a tournament like the Gold Cup? It’s unique: cross-continental travel, short turnarounds with plenty of squad rotation required. Canada’s men’s side kicked off pre-camp this week, as head coach John Herdman is set for his first major tournament as gaffer of the men’s side of the national program. "You have to get the timing right of pre-camp," Herdman explained. "Give the players the time off and the chance to rest and recover from their seasons, while not giving them too long that become detrained." Their preparations include one friendly; on June 9 in Los Angeles against Trinidad and Tobago, a team at the opposite side of the knockout bracket, meaning they could only meet in the final on July 7. "Everything comes down to that tactical cohesion. Ten days of preparation to get them on the core principals," Herdman said. "Then, it’s three games in eight days." Three games in eight days. It’s the crutch of the tournament for Herdman. In a harsh, somewhat-typical Gold Cup schedule, Canada has to play three group-stage games, in three different time zones, from June 15 to June 23. The Canadian team will cover 3,900 km in just over a week when it faces Martinique, Mexico and Cuba in Califonia, Denver and Charlotte, respectively. "The tournament schedule is interesting for us. It’s a bit of a beast," Herdman said. "You have to look at all three games together. You have to look at Martinique, then you have to think about when you’ve played Mexico in heat, on a quick turnaround, at altitude. And then you’re going into a match against a game against Cuba that will probably decide the game, you’d imagine. "The minimum is to get out of the group stage and then roll with what the tournament throws at you." The expanded 2019 Gold Cup will feature 16 teams drawn across four groups, four more sides that competed in 2017 when Canada made it as far as the quarterfinals and future runners-up Jamaica. Herdman’s squad includes seven Gold Cup debutants: Noble Okello, Zachary Brault-Guillard, Marcus Godinho, Kamal Miller, Jonathan David, Liam Millar, and Derek Cornelius. "[It will be] 37 days if we go all the way together. It comes down to what that’s going to look like, and some of the elements of our culture we can use to keep it fresh and make sure the players enjoy it and stay focused and motived." As for what pre-camp will be like for Canada’s 23-man squad, Herdman has gone for a, uh, militaristic feel, if only for "a little bit," with a Canadian Armed Forces veteran with 12 years of experience in mental toughness and leadership training. "There will be someone from the military spending a little bit of time there...to put them through some adversity together." Could a mini boot camp make for ideal preparation? We’ll see this summer.

Continue reading...