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Posted by
Steve Bottjer,
July 5, 2013 |
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Email Steve Bottjer
Twitter @BottjerRNO |
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With the news on Friday that the Canadian Soccer Association has hired Spaniard Benito Floro as the new Men’s National Team Head Coach, the CSA has not only hired a soccer mind of tremendous experience and pedigree, they have appointed a man who has the potential to be a game changer for the national team program.
“Benito Floro is renowned for his tactical and strategic approach to the game and his influence in implementing a more attacking style of football in Spain,” Canadian Soccer Association President Victor Montagliani said. “We are confident he will provide a strong leadership in the development of Canada’s Men’s game, as well as complement and elevate the work that our technical department, lead by Tony Fonseca, is already doing.”
Floro becomes the first national team head coach hired from outside the CONCACAF region since German Holgier Osieck, who lead Canada to the 2000 Gold Cup title.
“He is first class and really knows his stuff,” Montagliani said. “One of his nicknames is ‘Philosopher’. Let’s face it, the football world is one where you are hired to be fired, like in any sport. But at every organization that he has left, everybody has said that he is a first class individual.”
In terms of his background, Floro appears to check off all the boxes that most people were looking for in a new national team head coach, with the exception being that he has not previously worked as a coach at the International level.
According to Montagliani, that isn’t an issue.
“Let’s be honest, look at the clubs that he has coached,” Montagliani added. “When you stand on the sidelines of Bernabeu and you are coaching a Clasico, I’m not sure if coaching a national team is that intimidating.”
At the press conference to announce the hiring, Montagliani was candid in stating that he sees the Spaniard as more than just a coach and someone who can positively transform the organization from top to bottom via developing Canada’s young players and having a firm tactical vision for how all of Canada’s national teams will play to developing and educating Canadian coaches and administrators.
“The reality is that he is here to get results,” Montagliani said. “Results are measured in many different ways, but I think now with three very strong and knowledgeable people (Floro, John Herdman and Tony Fonseca) at the helm of our technical committee, I don’t think we have ever had this sort of technical strength in our association.”
“One of the things he did emphasize is that he wants to work with Canadians and that it is also about leaving a bit of a legacy here,” Montagliani continued. “One of the things we are short on in this country is coaches. Tony Fonseca already had plans to shore up the coaching development, so we can now push forward in developing more coaches. He is going to be looking for Canadian coaches to work on his staff. That’s one of the things we looked at. We didn’t want 6-7 foreigners coming in as a whole staff. To me, that’s not really going to serve any benefit. We understand that they are always going to come with 1 or 2 of their own staff and that’s fine and he has come with one. That’s one of the things he mentioned very early on in the process, that he wants to work with Canadian coaches.”
With such a large, difficult and wide-ranging job ahead of him, an obvious question that comes to mind is whether or not the 61 year old Floro will have the energy and patience to see through such a gargantuan project. Thus, the role of Montagliani will be almost important as Floro’s with respect to ensuring that the Spaniard will have the support and resources necessary to do things the way he wants to do them.
“If you look at most of the national team coaches, they are of a certain age,” Montagliani said. “I think he has come full circle. The day to day rigor of coaching a club is not easy and I think if you are too young it probably isn’t good to coach a national team. I think you need to be of a certain age and a certain vintage, in the sense of having enough experience in the game. I think he is at that moment in his career. If you look at the coaches that were on the benches at the Confederations Cup, they are 64 and 62. Ironically, when he was at Real Madrid, the guy that was underneath him that he mentored was Vicente del Bosque.”
According to Montagliani, hiring someone as renowned and respect as Floro will pay dividends on and off the pitch in a multitude of ways.
“One of the things that I think this does is it changes the ability and accessibility of Canada into a different world,” Montagliani said. “A lot of doors are now open. How Benito came to me was through my connection and friendship with the Spanish Federation President. He told me that he thought he had someone who would be perfect for Canada and we sat down and that’s how it started. It changes the landscape for Canada in a lot of ways and opens a new door to the world for us.”
Floro will officially start on August 1st, but will attend the Gold Cup as an observer.
“Right after the Gold Cup, Benito will sit down and look at the Gold Cup performance and not necessarily just the results,” Montagliani stated. “He will also have a first-hand look at the players. Then he will plan for the rest of 2013 – we have five FIFA dates coming up in the fall and we’re already working on opponents for those days – and he is working with staff to see what kind of opponents we can get for September, October and November. He will also work on planning for 2014 as well.”
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