A PLACE in the knockout rounds of the Euro 2024 finals in Germany eluded Andy Robertson and his team mates last month.
Yet, there has been one Scot who has experienced all of the drama, tension and excitement of being involved in the latter stages of a major international football tournament this summer.
Stirling-born Ewan Sharp has been in the Canada dugout at the Copa America in the United States during the past four weeks and has helped a country which was written off before the opening game to defy expectations and make it all the way through to the semi-finals.
Sharp, who manager Jesse Marsch appointed as his assistant and head analyst back in May, was devastated when they were beaten 2-0 by defending champions and favourites Argentina in front of a crowd of 80,102 in the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Tuesday night.
However, he still relished being on the sidelines during a match against the World Cup winners, who had Julian Alvarez, Rodrigo De Paul, Angel Di Maria, Alexis Mac Allister and a certain Lionel Messi in their starting line-up, which was beamed live to millions across the planet.
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“It has definitely been pretty cool,” said the former Lokomotiv Moscow, Manchester United and Leeds United coach in his broad Scottish accent during a Transatlantic telephone conversation earlier this week. “We were always ambitious. But to get to the semi-finals against the world champions was special.”
The 31-year-old has not dwelled for long on the disappointment. He has been working tirelessly since the final whistle blew in the last four encounter to ensure that Canada bow out on a high this evening with a triumph over Uruguay in the third place play-off in the Bank of America Stadium in North Carolina.
“A lot of what I do is match planning and opposition analysis,” said Sharp. “I have a really good understanding of what Jesse wants, of how he wants the team to play and of what messages he wants to get across to the players.
“But I also understand Jesse’s training methods and the different ways we can get our principles and tactics across to the players. So I help plan and deliver training and work with players on an individual level to communicate what we want.”
He added: “We have a small staff compared to a lot of the franchises and clubs I have been at and Jesse is very hands on. But we have all pitched in, worn different hats and taken on different responsibilities.
“I was on the bench for the first three matches, but for the quarter-final against Venezuela I went up high in the stand and helped to give a tactical view of what was going on. That allowed me to prepare the half-time video.
“We presented tactical adjustments that we wanted, showed spaces we could exploit and highlighted things we could improve upon. In the second-half, I was on the bench thinking about substitutions to affect the game and instructions to help the guys out on the pitch.”
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It all proved invaluable to Celtic right back Alistair Johnston and his compatriots - they beat their South American rivals in a penalty shoot-out to progress further.
All of this begs a couple of questions. Who the hell is Ewan Sharp? And how on earth did he end up as the right hand man to Jesse Marsch with Canada at the Copa America?
The former Stirling Albion and East Stirling youth has a fascinating story to tell. His tale highlights how much football has changed in the modern era. It underlines that not having played professionally is no impediment to reaching the upper echelons of the game as a coach. And it shows that Red Bull does indeed give you wings.
He won a sports scholarship to Mercyhurst University in Pennsylvania when he left Wallace High School back in 2010 and spent four years playing in the United States as he studied for his BA in Business Sports Management. He had hoped to get picked up by an MLS franchise after he graduated. But when no offer was forthcoming his focus changed.
“I knew I wanted to be involved in football so I decided to get into coaching,” he said. “But I thought, ‘Okay, what can I do to differentiate myself and give me an opportunity without a playing background?’ I recognised that video and data analysis was becoming a bigger and bigger part of the game so I started to educate myself on the tools clubs were using to do that.
“I developed those skills as I did a Masters degree in Chicago. I spent a couple of years working with a college team as a coach and video analyst. From there, I got an opportunity to go to New York Red Bulls and work with their second team.
“I quickly became part of the Red Bull playing style and system. Right away, I recognised what they were trying to do, it resonated with me, I had a connection with it. The high-energy, intense football fitted with my personality and how I saw the game.
“In my opinion, a modern day coach is a coach who uses video, but who is also able to work with players on the training ground. In this day and age, every team is using video to communicate with players. It is a new trend. Coaches have to be comfortable using video and putting messages across. It is about combining the technical side with the football side. I feel I am maybe ahead of some people with that.”
Sharp came to the attention of the visionary German coach Ralf Rangnick, a pioneer of “gegenpressing” and the individual who is widely credited with popularising zonal marking, when he was in New York. The former Hoffenheim, Schalke 04 and RB Leipzig manager was the Red Bull director of football at that time.
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“I learned a lot from Ralf,” said Sharp. “He spent some time with us reviewing the work we were doing, providing some feedback and helping with some ideas about the style of play.
“I got to know him and he saw what I was doing. I think he liked the way I worked, my knowledge of the game, my understanding of the style of play, my connection with his ideas.
“Ralf called me in 2021 and asked me if I wanted to go to Russia and join him at Lokomotiv Moscow. But I was only there for six weeks in total. After three weeks, he told me he was getting the job with Manchester United and asked me if I wanted to go with him. I jumped at that opportunity.”
Rangnick’s time as interim manager at Old Trafford was turbulent and his team ended up finishing sixth in the Premier League.
Still, Sharp loved working at one of the biggest clubs in the world, dealing with players like Bruno Fernandes, Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford, Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho and coming into contact with his legendary countryman Sir Alex Ferguson.
“It was amazing,” he said. “I started learning from Ralf the day I got to Red Bull. But there were so many little things that I learned from working with him at United.
“Sir Alex was always around after the games. He would congratulate the staff on wins and performances. He was very friendly. It was brilliant to be around him and feel the influence which he had there. It was really cool to be part of that.
“The pressure didn’t feel that different to what I had been used to. But I tried not to pay too much attention to what was going on outside. For me, the challenge was working with the best players in the world. It was such a high level. You had to be on top of your game every day.”
Being involved with Canada manager Marsch, who he teamed up with again during a difficult spell at Premier League strugglers Leeds in the 2022/23 season, in a Copa America semi-final against Argentina this week did not faze Sharp in the slightest.
“With a player like Lionel Messi, you have to give him special attention,” he said. “But there are a few things you have to adjust in every game based on the opposition’s strengths. You are always aware of who their dangerous players are and how to limit their influence on the game.
“It was multiplied ten times against Argentina and Messi. But it was also about how to take away Julian Alzarez on one side, how to get around Rodrigo De Paul, how to watch Alexis Mac Allister and his movement.”
Canada contained Argentina until half-time. But in the second-half Alvarez and Messi netted and they were unable to respond. So what does the future hold for Sharp after this evening? He is one Scot who will definitely be at the World Cup in North America in two years’ time.
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“Having a World Cup on home soil and having games in Toronto and Vancouver will be amazing to be a part of,” he said. “It is about developing between now and the World Cup, having total alignment, getting the squad as strong as possible, making sure that we are flying in 2026.”
And beyond that? “Right now, I am focused on Canada and am enjoying the role,” said Sharp. “I am ambitious, but I am not in a rush. One day, though, I would like to be a head coach.
“I always try to learn from the head coaches I work with. I think, ‘Okay, why did they do that? Could I do that? What makes them so good at this? What do I need to develop?’ When you work with Jesse or Ralf you see such a high level of leadership and management. It is something I would definitely like to do. It is a goal and I am going to keep working towards it.”
The level that Ewan Sharp has reached in the world game since leaving Stirling suggests that is an eminently achievable objective.
