MONTREAL – One of the Canada Men’s National Team left backs played for the Impact in last Saturday’s 2-0 win against San Jose.
He’d also played left back at New England the week before, after Krzysztof Król was ejected.
‘He’ is Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé. Midfielder Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé.
“I’ve played [midfield] almost all my young career, since I was 12, 13 years old,” Gagnon-Laparé told reporters on Saturday. “It’s a more natural position for me. As it happens sometimes, you need to adjust quickly and that’s what happened tonight.”
The adjustment was seamless. Earlier this month, Gagnon-Laparé joined the Canada team led by head coach Benito Floro, who thinks his best position is left back. The 19-year-old’s one start with the Reds was at that position in a 1-1 draw against Moldova last year. Though he played no part in Canada’s 3-1 win against Jamaica on September 9, Gagnon-Laparé played left back in training.
Chances are Impact head coach Frank Klopas will contribute to Gagnon-Laparé’s transition, though removing him from midfield altogether seems far-fetched. Not only has Klopas spoken to Floro about it, but he is evidently high on the youngster.
“For a player his age to show so much composure, maturity and confidence, it was great to see. The games that he’s played, he’s been fantastic,” Klopas said postgame, referencing not just the win against San Jose but also the midfield shifts Gagnon-Laparé put in at New England and in a 1-0 CONCACAF Champions League win against New York.
Added Gagnon-Laparé: “Right now, it’s going well, so obviously [Floro] will be glad to see I’m getting playing time at that position, because he knows that next time – if I go back to the national team –, I’ll have improved the fundamentals.”
Wandrille Lefèvre, who has seen the most minutes of Montreal’s eight Homegrown Players, himself moved from his natural central midfield role to center back – though at club level only. Mainly impressed by Gagnon-Laparé's reading of the play, Lefèvre thinks it can work out in his case as well.
“Sometimes, I’d see the ball come and ask myself ‘What’s going on?’ but he wouldn’t: he chests it, put it on the floor, and the quality of his first pass out of the back is better than average due to his midfield background,” Lefèvre said. “He put some good balls in on the wings, in the middle, diagonals. His play is technically expansive enough that he can do well.”