TORONTO – Like a school teacher who wants to bring out the very best in an under-achieving student, Canadian men’s team coach Octavio Zambrano recently gave Jonathan Osorio some extra homework.
By challenging Osorio to add more defensive and combative elements to his style of play, Zambrano is hoping the Toronto FC star will become a more well-rounded midfielder.
An attacking player with creative instincts, Osorio has been working on it in training this week with the Canadian team, and Zambrano will be looking to see how he applies it in a game situation when Canada hosts Jamaica in Saturday’s international friendly at BMO Field.
[relatedlinks]
Zambrano sees great potential in Osorio, a 25-year-old Toronto native who has struggled for playing time this season with TFC. At the same time, though, he believes Osorio still needs to put in some work to become a complete midfielder – someone who can create, and help defend.
“Jonathan is someone that I am hoping develops into a player that I think, and we all think he can be,” Zambrano said. “He’s not yet that player because of circumstances around his playing time [at TFC], and perhaps the position he’s being he asked to play. We’ve had a long conversation with him about perhaps changing some elements of his game, his positioning on the field, and the things that he needs to bring into the game to be more of an impact player.”
The Canadian coach stated he’ll be watching Saturday’s contest from the touchline with great interest, and he’ll be paying particular attention to Osorio to see how he influences the game after being given this special assignment.
“It’s going to be an very interesting moment when he gets on the field and I’ll be able to assess whether he has embraced those challenges that we gave him and what he still needs to do to improve,” Zambrano said. “Technically, he’s a sound player, a guy with an attitude that bodes well for the kind of football that we want to play. But there are some things that I need to bring into his game.”
Since debuting for the national team four years ago, Osorio has earned 17 caps, 10 as a starter, with one goal and three assists. He’s largely been deployed as an attacking midfielder for both club and country during his career. He’s excelled at times while doing it, but not consistently, and Zambrano believes he’s been miscast, to a certain degree, by previous coaches.
That’s why he’s asking the TFC man to tweak his game a little bit.
“Right from the beginning, he’s been used as a ‘number 10,’ in a midfield attacking role, a typical ‘number 10’ who can bring teammates into the game, and play that through ball and final pass, and connect the dots,” Zambrano said.
“It’s not that he can’t do those things, but I think he needs to be a little bit more physical in midfield. He needs to be able excel not only on the offensive side, but also on the defensive side. He needs to battle more for the ball, be more of a two-way midfielder with responsibilities to get the ball back for the team.”
Make no mistake, this is a big opportunity for Osorio to impress Zambrano, who took over the coaching reins back in March. Osorio was hardly used at this summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, as he was limited to a single substitute appearance, totalling 25 minutes, in Canada’s four games.
Competition for starting positions and playing time with Canada, especially in midfield, is fierce with the recent additions of Scott Arfield and Alphonso Davies. A regular starter with TFC last season, Osorio has started just five games campaign, playing a meagre 646 minutes.
Even though he’s only made one appearance for Canada under Zambrano, Osorio likes what he’s seen so far under the new coach.
“He’s really trying to change the culture of our team, change our mentality, and how we play,” Osorio said. “He’s trying to give us confidence to play more attacking, to trust ourselves and believe in our ability, and I think he’s done a very good job of instilling this belief in us that we can compete with better teams in CONCACAF.”
NOTES: Jamaica is 57th in the current FIFA world rankings. Canada is 95th, sandwiched between Cyprus and Zambia… Jamaica defeated Canada in the quarter-final of this summer’s Gold Cup. Canada earned a 3-1 decision over Jamaica in a friendly at BMO Field on Sept. 9, 2014, the last time they squared off in Toronto… The Reds’ previous game at BMO Field was Sept. 4, 2015 when it earned a 3-0 win over Belize… Former national men’s team stalwart Paul Stalteri will be honoured as a member of the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame as part of Saturday’s pre-match festivities.
[snippet id=975617]