Jesse Marsch, new Canadian national team men's coach, has work cut out for him

A chance to work with an exciting player pool was one of the reasons Jesse Marsch agreed to become the new coach of the Canadian men’s soccer team.

But given Canada’s poor results in the aftermath of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Marsch, a 50-year-old American with an impressive resume, will have his work cut out for him, even as he takes charge of a side brimming with hugely talented youngsters.

The Canadian squad boasts an exciting core of stars still in their early- to mid-20s —most notably Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich), Jonathan David (OSC Lille), Tajon Buchanan (Inter Milan) and Ismaël Koné (Watford) — who should fully hit their stride together by the time the country co-hosts the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Ultimately, that’s what tempted Marsch to take on this Canadian project.

“What drew me immediately was the player pool, and the potential of these players,” Marsch told Sportsnet. "I think there's a good balance of some now-experienced players that have had big successes and big experiences in their career, along with some young dynamic players that have big potential. And, now, it'll be my job to kind of piece it all together in a way that can help us be successful in two years."

Before the home World Cup, there’s plenty of work to do for Marsch, who’s been out of a job since February, when he was dismissed as manager of Premier League club Leeds United. It’ll be a baptism of fire for the former MLS coach of the year as he has very little time to settle in with the Canadian team.

First on the agenda is a pair of high-profile international friendlies versus the Netherlands (June 6 in Rotterdam) and France (June 9 in Bordeaux). Both teams occupy spots in the top 10 of the world rankings, well above the 49th-ranked Canadians.

After that, the Copa América looms where the Reds will face Lionel Messi and reigning World Cup champions Argentina in the tournament’s opening match on June 20 in Atlanta, followed by group stage encounters against Chile and Peru.

“I'm excited more than anything just to get on the pitch with the guys and get to work and start the process of helping them develop into the team I want them to become,” Marsch said.

Much bigger challenges await Marsch beyond this summer. It’s fair to say that the shine has worn off the Canadian men’s team since its fabulous run through the Concacaf qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The team bowed out in the first round of the tournament in Qatar on the back of three consecutive losses, and was eliminated after its first two games and managed to score only a single goal.

Results since Qatar haven’t been much better. The Canadians put in a meek performance in losing to the United States in last year’s Concacaf Nations League final. They followed that up with a tepid run to the quarterfinals of the Gold Cup, where they once again lost to the U.S. A two-legged, aggregate defeat to Jamaica in November meant it didn’t even qualify for the final four of this year’s Nations League.

Marsch has to get this team back on track after losing its way since John Herdman’s surprising departure last summer. The American coach did a fair bit of research into the Canadian men’s team in preparation for the interview process for the job and learned some things that he feels need to be addressed if the team is going to be competitive at the World Cup on home soil.

While not looking to reinvent the wheel or force Canada into a major tactical shift, Marsch recognizes the team can’t always put its collective head down and aggressively run straight at opponents. Instead, it has to learn to have greater control, slow the game down at times and show greater discipline in its buildup play, something that Herdman wasn’t too keen on.

“A lot of the goals we conceded were almost self-inflicted wounds," Marsch explained. "Losing bad balls in the buildup, playing backwards to the goalkeeper, creating stress and pressure from the opponent and then being forced into mistakes. So, we have to create some buildup and in-possession themes that are really clear, and then encourage them to play forward to be brave and not invite pressure from the opponent."

At the same time, Marsch’s views of the game and how it should be played meshes perfectly with a Canadian team noted for its athleticism, power and pace.

He doesn’t want to change that. Canada has to continue to rely on those attacking strengths, but become much more dynamic in applying them, according to Marsch.

“I looked at the last year and a half of games, and I think maybe one goal was scored on an attacking transition,” Marsch said. "And with such an explosive front group, I think that we've got to tilt the bar a little bit to now be more compact, but being a little bit better at pressing, and then finding ways that once we win balls to create more chances, more easy goals.

“There’s a lot of areas that we will look to slowly phase the team in a direction that's a little bit more toward the football that I think about.”

But there are challenges in doing that. Except for a brief stint as an assistant with the U.S. national men’s team, Marsch has spent his entire coaching career in the club game, where he worked with his teams on a daily basis and could monitor an individual player’s developments more intimately.

He won’t have that luxury with the Canadian men’s side because the very nature of the international game means he’ll get only four to five camps per year with his team, give or take.

He admits getting the team to buy in to his vision will take time, even though he doesn’t frame it in those exact words.

“I understand why people use the term ‘buy in,’ but I don't really use that term,” Marsch said. "It's about creating a belief system in the ways that we interact and talk, and the type of relationships that we have. And then, in the ability to execute a plan, a football plan, a tactical plan. I never really had those kinds of problems because if you're detailed, if you play to your strengths, if you put players in position to succeed and then they have a good connection with how they are paired with each other on the pitch, then I think that they're empowered by being there together.

“That takes time. And it's not the same as a club team, where you're really in it every day. So, the key will be for me to be very clear and concise with everything, from my messaging to the tactical instruction, to the way we train, and in every way making sure that things are very clear and very simple and digestible.”

Expanding the player pool is also a priority for Marsch. One of the major criticisms of the national team over the past year and half is that the squad is a bit long in the tooth, and that younger players have to be given more opportunities.

To be sure, the team is filled with exciting young prospects, many of whom are already playing at the highest levels of European club soccer and MLS. But some of the veterans, such as centre back Steven Vitória (37), goalkeeper Milan Borjan (36), and midfielders David Wotherspoon (34) and Mark-Anthony Kaye (29), have worn out their welcome.

Marsch will be looking to engage with some of Canada’s youngsters who are on the fringes of the national team and have had their path blocked by more experienced players.

“That's something that I've always enjoyed about coaching, is really challenging young players to be at their best. We’ll have a bigger group with us in Holland and in France for those 10 days, partly because I want to use that time to evaluate different players,” Marsch said.

“I've watched a lot of videos of different guys, and some of them I already know. But I wanted to look a little bit more in detail. And then we'll decide which players are the first group that we want to invest in and give them the chance to use this time to grow into the team.”

John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 20 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer.