Canadian soccer is still reeling from the massive shake-up earlier this week. In an unprecedented move, John Herdman left his post as the head coach of the women’s national team to become the bench boss for the men.

The ripples from that decision will be felt for some time. The change came as a surprise for several reasons. Many expected Herdman to remain with the women’s team until the end of this four-year cycle, after the 2020 Summer Olympics. Herdman has talked about his 10-year plan for the team since he came on to the scene in 2011.

Herdman was linked to the vacant coaching position for the women's national team in his native England in 2013. Shortly after those reports came out, he signed an extension with the Canadian women's team until 2020. Last fall, rumours once again began to swirl about Herdman becoming the new coach for England.

“There's been a lot of opportunities through this period of time,” Herdman told TSN on Saturday. “In 2013, there was a great opportunity to move on in the women's game, go back home, but it didn't feel at that time that we put the country down better than we found it. We had a one-off success [at the 2012 Summer Olympics], and the goal was to get back-to-back podiums. The goal was to leave an EXCEL system that was producing more [Christine] Sinclairs more often.

“But the time felt right, now. It's seven years on. And sometimes as a leader, you know it's time to put this thing down.

“There has been some opportunities throughout this year. The England opportunity was interesting, but Canada is where I want to be. It's as simple as that. This country is where I want to be, it's where I want my kids to grow up. I feel I have started to get to understand this country.”

Perhaps the most puzzling aspect of this overhaul for the women's team is the timing. The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup is roughly 18 months away, with qualifying set for this October. The Canadian women are currently ranked fifth in the world and are poised to make a serious run at the championship.

Now they face a massive upheaval, and if Twitter is any indication, the change at the helm came as a considerable shock to many of the players.

Sinclair initially tweeted that she was “speechless.” She later clarified that Herdman had contacted her with the news before the official announcement was made. Goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé and full back/midfielder Ashley Lawrence simply tweeted emojis expressing their surprise (Lawrence later deleted the tweet). No players were made available for comment.

“The news came quick, as everyone was aware,” Herdman said Saturday. “I think the most important thing this week has been the players. There's been some deep connections built over a period of time. It's been tough. They've been my biggest priority this week, making sure I've connected with every one of them, and continuing the connections as both of us work through what's been a really sad and tough week in many ways.”

Whether the players knew ahead of time or not, the fact remains that for many of them, Herdman is the only coach they’ve known at the senior level. This includes many of Canada’s youngest and brightest stars, like Lawrence, Kadeisha Buchanan (Canadian Player of the Year in 2017), midfielder Jessie Fleming, and forward Janine Beckie, who led the team with eight goals last year.

Coaching changes are a regular occurrence in sports, but questions remain about why Canada Soccer would choose to overhaul its most successful and lucrative program to gamble on a coach who has no experience in the men's game.

“Coming into this particular role, it's a role that I understand. It's international football,” Herdman said. “I'm dealing with a group of players that are coming in with a collective vision of being in service to their country. This is representing your flag; this is representing Canada. And that's what I thrive on. That's what I want to be part of, for sure.

“There's elements I'll be learning on the job, and that's part of it for any coach. But when you talk about gaining respect, it's about being very clear on a vision, being very clear on your tactical approach, and then being very clear that everyone's important in this journey.”

While Herdman’s successor, Kenneth Heiner-Møller, isn’t new to the women’s squad (he has been on the coaching staff since 2015), there are uncertainties about what he will bring to the program and if he will want to implement systematic changes.

He was the long-time head coach of the Danish women’s national team from 2006 to 2013. He elevated the team to No. 6 in the world rankings, an all-time high for the country, and guided them to the semi-finals of the 2013 UEFA Women’s Championship.

But those achievements come with asterisks. Under Heiner-Møller, Denmark fell out of the top 10 in the FIFA rankings for the first time since the system was introduced in 2003. The Danish side won only one game in the aforementioned Women’s Euro 2013, defeating France on penalties in the quarter-finals. Now, Heiner-Møller is tasked with not only replacing one of the most successful coaches in Canadian soccer history, but also contending for a world title in just over a year.

Right now his first test as head coach will be the Algarve Cup, which begins on February 28.

Herdman insists he isn't concerned about the team he's leaving behind.

“We're business as usual on the women's national team side,” he said. “My previous assistant coach, Kenneth Heiner-Møller, is now in the hot seat. I'm working with Kenneth and the staff to ensure that we're delivering on some of the outcomes that we've set up for this particular quarter.”

There are some similarities between this regime change and the one that led to Herdman’s immediate processor.

Even Pellerud was Canada's beloved coach for nine years, leading the women's team to unprecedented success, including a fourth-place finish at the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup. When he announced his retirement after the 2008 Summer Olympics, Sinclair said that Pellerud had “changed all [their] lives.” Earlier this week, Sinclair tweeted that Herdman had changed soccer in Canada and her life.

Pellerud's departure led to Carolina Morace taking over in 2009. She attempted to implement a more technical approach, stressing advanced tactics over Pellerud's dump-and-chase style. While she succeeded in improving Canada's world ranking from 11th to sixth, she is perhaps most associated with the team's disastrous showing at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, where they failed to make it out of the group stage and finished last in the tournament. She resigned shortly afterwards, leaving a demoralized team in her wake.

That's where Herdman entered the picture, and the rest is history. Herdman reinvigorated a broken team, led them to an unexpected bronze medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics, and changed the landscape of women's soccer in the country.

Canada Soccer is clearly hoping Herdman can weave the same magic for the men's team, which is why they've taken such a large risk. But the similarities between now and seven years ago don't quite stack up.

While the women's team was emerging from a particularly low point when Herdman took over, they were still one of the top 10 teams in the world. The men, currently ranked 94th in the world, have never come close to these heights.

Here's another number: 1986. This was the last year the men's side appeared in a World Cup. Despite the women's team's shortcomings in 2011, they are almost always contenders in every major tournament.

And, of course, Herdman had the benefit of having one of the best women ever to play the game on his roster. Canada's historic success at the 2012 London Olympics was due largely to Sinclair, who broke the record for most goals scored in the Olympics for women's soccer with six, including her legendary hat trick against the United States.

The men's team doesn’t have a Sinclair.

None of this means that Herdman or Heiner-Møller won't have success with their respective teams, but both have trials to overcome. One must emerge from the shadow of his predecessor, and the other is tasked with turning the 94th-best team in the world into a contender. But Herdman isn't afraid of the challenge.

“To take a men's team to a World Cup will change this country forever. To have that opportunity at this stage of my career, and to be able to do that in Canada, and do it in a country I feel like I've got a good feel for, this is the right time.”