Richie Laryea battling for Canada minutes with Alphonso Davies among others: ‘They understand their roles’
The Canadian men’s national team has a lot of versatility in wide areas, thanks to the likes of Richie Laryea and Alphonso Davies being capable of playing multiple positions.
In Laryea’s case he can play on both wings or at both fullback positions, while Davies can play left back or left wing. That makes both key parts of Jesse Marsch’s plans for this summer at the World Cup.
On Friday, ahead of Canada’s friendly at BMO Field against Iceland on Saturday, Marsch was asked specifically if the left wing role belongs to Ali Ahmed going forward after his strong start to life at Norwich. The Canada boss’ response offered some insight into several wide positions.
“I think he is,” Marsch said about Ahmed being the first-choice left winger. “Obviously there’s been a lot of talk like ‘When Alphonso comes back, what am I gonna do with Richie?’, right? But the reality is that the competition in the team is is really steep now so I think we have a lot of a lot of possibilities of how we can use guys to get the best out of them and to benefit the team the best.
“Ali has certainly grown a lot, understands exactly how we want to play, as does Richie.”
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Davies moving from the left back position he plays for Bayern Munich to the left wing when he plays for Canada has long been a point of discussion around Canadian soccer circles. Laryea, a natural right back, has often filled in at left back over the past year while Davies has been out injured, but would lose his spot to the Canadian captain.
At right back, Alistair Johnston is back as well and Niko Sigur has emerged as another strong option, while Canada’s attack is crowded by quality options as well. Laryea won’t be dropped from the squad entirely given how good he has been for Canada over the past several years, but Marsch has some difficult decisions to make about where Laryea and several other Canadians will fit in.
For the March friendlies against Iceland and Tunisia, Laryea will play a key role as both Davies and Johnston miss out on the games through injury.
“I think the I’ve told the team this, obviously I want to get everybody healthy, but I’d be comfortable playing the matches tomorrow, because I know they know how we play, who we are, what our mentality is, what our identity is. They understand their roles, they understand the tactics, they understand the principles, and so it’s a it’s a really nice feeling to have as a coach, to know that we have players that are intelligent and gifted and understand who we are and what we are and are able to execute it.
“They love the challenge that they have each time they’re together, to come back together, reintegrate to all of the things that we try to do, and then show it again and try to do it even better than they did last time.
“What more can you ask for from a coach? Ali and Richie are two great examples of that for me.”
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Laryea was sitting next to Marsch as he answered the question about Ahmed, and again when a reporter followed up by asking what the plan might be going forward for himself. Marsch acknowledged Laryea’s versatility, recalling using him at left back, right back, further up the wings or even in attacking midfield if the situation calls upon it like it did at the 2024 Copa America.
He said that Laryea “always finds his way on the pitch” because of his mentality and intelligence make him an important cog wherever he lines up.
“It’s mostly because I understand that his maturity and his understanding of what it takes is at the highest level,” Marsch said about moving Laryea around into different positions. “We’ll see, still we have like, ‘This is our backline, and this is what our midfield would look like’, but we’ve got to get guys fit, and we’ve got to get them in top form, and we’ll have that. We’ll have time to get together, and we’ll have weeks together, but then we’re going to have to see how everything’s coming together, and the guys that have earned the opportunity based on the time we’ve been together, along with what it feels like, where they are in that moment.
“Those guys are going to earn the right to get on the pitch and then help us be the best team we can be, and the other guys are going to have to be ready to be off the bench on certain days, start certain days. I think our team’s selflessness and desire to be successful as a group is so high that they accept and commit to whatever role they’re given on the day, and whether that’s left back, right back, off the bench, starting, whatever. We have commitment in this group.”
Laryea is undefeated in three matches at BMO Field with Toronto FC this season, and will be looking to keep that up on the very same pitch with Canada over the next few days. Iceland is the opponent on Saturday and Tunisia is up next on Tuesday, with both teams presenting different challenges for Canada.
His quality and tenacity will be important against both, and into this summer, when Canada will also kick off its World Cup at BMO Field.
There is plenty of football to be played between now and then, but these two matches are the priority, and the last chance to impress Jesse Marsch on the international stage before he picks his World Cup roster.
