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Jonathan David has always done things his own way.
As a teenager he scored hat-tricks for fun in youth soccer in Ottawa, resulting in multiple Canadian MLS clubs offering him a spot in their academies. But he wanted to go straight to Europe. So he did, moving from the Ottawa Internationals to Belgium’s Gent in 2018, before joining Lille in 2020.
David then patiently waited for the right opportunity to emerge for the next step of his career, perhaps staying at Lille for longer than expected through his five-year contract.
Meanwhile, the spotlight grew, brightening this summer due to interest from the Premier League (his representatives have held talks with Chelsea), and even more so after he scored the goal sealing his country’s 1-0 win over Peru at Copa America — Canada’s first major tournament win in a generation.
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Further attention is unavoidable. Not that he craves it.
At Copa America, one of the biggest tournaments he has played in, requests for interviews are often met with a smile, wave of the finger and shake of his head. Though when asked about speculation about his future, he did give an answer: “I’m still under contract. I have one more year. As of now, I’m a Lille player.”
As of now.
David is undoubtedly aware his next career step will come this summer. He appears destined for the Premier League, a league very few Canadian national team players have reached before.
Is he ready?
Whether it is his pure goalscoring, the quality he shows off the ball, or his composure in difficult moments, this season at Lille and this summer at Copa America has proven David is ready for the Premier League.
David celebrates scoring for Lille last season (Erwin Scheriau/APA/AFP/Getty Images)
Asked about his club future, the 24-year-old says he would like to play for a club like Barcelona one day.
“You always want to play with the best players,” he said.
His goal-scoring suggests he is heading in the right direct. Since landing in Europe aged 17, he has reached double figures in each of his last six domestic league campaigns, averaging 16.8 goals per season in the Belgian and French top divisions.
His arrival at Lille coincided with a shock title win, partnering Turkish striker Burak Yilmaz at the top of a 4-4-2. Since then, his role has adapted to an all-action lone No.9 under Paulo Fonseca, bearing the brunt of goalscoring responsibility while also dropping deep to link with creative midfielders and help move his team up the pitch.
David’s goals come from a variety of situations, helped by the fact he is so two-footed. Since joining Lille, he has scored 22 goals on his weaker left and shown his ability to finish from tight angles and awkward positions.
“If you want to be a top striker, you have to be able to shoot and be very good with both feet so players can’t anticipate what foot you’re going to use,” David told Canadian media last June. “So that’s why I’ve worked on both feet. I’d say my left foot is pretty good but I think I can still get better.”
It also makes him much more dangerous from close range, able to react to a variety of rebounds, cut-backs and crosses to finish first time on either foot.
As we can see from his shot evolution chart below, most of David’s work takes place within the width of the six-yard box, with a noted increase in his average shot quality last season.
Zooming out, his underlying numbers look encouragingly sustainable.
The graph below compares his goal-scoring rate (blue line) with his expected goal-scoring rate (red line) based on the quality of opportunities falling his way, both excluding penalties. Not only does it show that David generally out-performs his expected output, but that the number of chances falling his way are steadily increasing.
Both are signs that he can maintain a healthy scoring rate, particularly in a prolific chance-creating team.
Perhaps he can do so by maintaining the straightforwardness that has become a hallmark of his game.
“(David) brings a nice simplicity,” Robyn Gale, former Canada men’s national team mental and cultural manager, said of David during ahead of the 2022 World Cup. “Anytime I’ve had him tell me about a goal he scored, it’s very simple. He’s like, ‘I noticed the goalkeeper shifted this way. So I placed the ball there.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s simple.’ And I think he just brings a nice presence and simplicity to the pitch.”
That simplicity was never more evident than in his goal against Peru.
“In this situation, I’m just thinking that I have to put (the shot) on target,” David said, shrugging his shoulders.
Much of David’s appeal to the biggest clubs will be his ability to drop deep and help progress play. His pass completion of 82 per cent was only bettered by a handful of strikers in Europe’s top five leagues last season, and he can bring other attacking players into the game with flicks and tricks around the box.
Against Peru for example, his touchmap shows that he likes to combine with midfielders. Yet, with four touches in the penalty area and a break-away goal, that doesn’t always come at the expense of a striker’s presence.
For Canada, there is no doubt who his strike partner is and will be for the duration of Copa America: Mallorca’s Cyle Larin. Larin and David are number one and number two in Canadian all-time scoring, with 26 of David’s 27 goals for Canada coming in competitive matches.
“We’re just (playing) closer together now,” Larin said about David. “The more that happens, the more I think we can score more goals and be connected.”
That stability of a near-constant partner up top means they have come to understand each other’s movements almost intrinsically. Larin and David were two of three players who got touches on the ball in the build-up to David’s goal against Peru.
Yet what David does off the ball that should garner as much attention as his goalscoring. David has developed traits that make him more than just a poacher for goals. He might not be front and centre with every play for Canada, but he is still one of the team’s most intelligent players.
Maybe that manifests in sniffing out the right areas to exploit and set up team-mates. Maybe that’s executing new Canada head coach Jesse Marsch’s press to make himself valuable defensively. Against Peru, David showcased defensive actions that were on par with some of Canada’s best defenders.
David reads the game on a level that has consistently earned him praise both behind the scenes and in public from the Canadian team coaching staff. “(David) has such a unique mentality to never stop,” Marsch said. “He doesn’t take breaks on the pitch, he’s never caught by surprise. Even on a day where it’s very hot, you can see that he can cover the ground. He’s makes some defensive plays at the end of the match, all the way back in our box.
“And then his ability to slow the game down and make final plays is ultimately what his real talent is. But I think a lot of people may miss the fact that he’s so clued in every moment that nothing really slips by.” Marsch coveted David when he was Leeds United manager in 2022.
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By evolving into a multi-dimensional player, David may have set himself up for the Premier League this summer in a way he has not in the past. “He gives the team what the team needs in the moments of the game,” said Canada team-mate Jonathan Osorio. “And he’s smart enough to realize that. That’s a superstar.”
Indeed, this summer feels like the one that David launches into a new orbit by joining the a club with more reach globally, and with more challenges to present on the pitch. And who David is off the pitch could help equip him for the unique intensity that comes with playing in the Premier League.
Still known colloquially throughout Canada’s team as “Iceman,” a name given to him by former Canada coach John Herdman, David takes the highs and lows of life as they come with a consistently measured demeanour. He keeps anxiety not at arm’s length, but rather so far out of sight he would need to squint to see it.
“John is always Jonathan David, you can’t rattle him,” said Gale. “He operates on his own rhythm.”
“(David) has been the same person since he’s been a kid,” Theo Bair, the Canadian forward who grew up playing against David in Ottawa, said. “He doesn’t talk too much, he’s unbelievably fast and is always a good finisher. And he will continue to be.”
As part of Marsch’s overhaul of Canada both tactically and otherwise, and with a focus on youth and preparation for the 2026 World Cup, Canada’s head coach has named David to his leadership group. It’s an interesting step considering how introverted David can be, in the best sense of the term. It puts David on the precipice of having to speak to far more people, with a sense of responsibility he said he wanted ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
So much has changed for David on and off the pitch between the World Cup to this summer.
That newfound responsibility could help him with the next stage of his career.
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(Top photo: Candice Ward/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)
Source link : https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5600601/2024/06/29/chelsea-jonathan-david-canada/
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Publish date : 2024-06-29 10:34:12
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