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The expression “working miracles” is oft-used cliche in sports. But in Jesse Marsch’s case, it might be apt.
To put it mildly, Canada Soccer was on the verge of financial collapse prior to the former Leeds, RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg’s arrival as coach in May 2024.
The organization was operating on deficits for three-straight years, $4 million in 2022, $3 million in 2023 and a projected $4 million this year. Canada’s financial turmoil escalated to the point that the men’s national team boycotted a scheduled exhibition in Vancouver against Panama in June 2022 and the women’s national team threatened to do the same at the SheBelievesCup prior to Canada threatening legal action.
Due to Canada’s ongoing financial struggles, MLS’s Canadian teams (Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto), along with private donors, had to collaborate to meet the financial commitment required to hire Marsch ahead of the 2024 Copa America.
So far, it appears to be money well spent.
Despite having less than a month to prepare for the Copa America, Marsch galvanized a team that wasn’t expected to get past the group stage and stunned the competition by taking it all the way to the semifinals. Now, ahead of two friendlies against the U.S. (Marsch’s nation of birth) and Mexico (a long-time rival of the U.S.) the 50-year-old is aiming to build on that success.
“Off the backside of Copa America and those performances, this is a perfect fixture list for us. If we want to be able to make progress and feel good about what we’ve done, then we’ve got to be able to continue to test ourselves,” Marsch told GOAL. “Clearly US and Mexico, over the last 25 years, have been the gold standard for the support is in the region…I think now there’s growing expectations within the team about what these games can look like. So it’ll be a big test for us, but we’re really excited.”
In a wide-ranging interview with GOAL, Marsch discussed going up against the U.S. for the first time as a national team manager, the reported hiring of Mauricio Pochettino for the USMNT coaching role, what his time in Europe meant to him, and what Canada needs to do to continue to grow as a program.
An emotional matchup against the U.S.
Marsch acknowledged that the “friendly” against the U.S. this Saturday in Kansas City isn’t a run-of-the mill encounter for him.
“I’ll be juiced on match day,” Marsch said. “I know a lot of players on the team [the U.S.]…I’ll be excited and I know our team will be too. This is big, for us as a country. We respect the U.S. a lot but we’re excited to test ourselves now.”
Representing America with pride as both a player and manager has always been a priority for Marsch. The Racine, Wisconsin native earned two caps with the U.S. senior national team, played 13 years in MLS, and served as an assistant coach under Bob Bradley during his tenure with U.S. Soccer.
Marsch had long been linked to the head coach position, but withdrew from consideration in 2023, openly criticizing U.S. Soccer’s selection process. The pleasantries about U.S. Soccer fade when Marsch discusses the team’s current coaching search.
Marsch admitted that the extended process to replace the fired Gregg Berhalter – it was reported more than three weeks ago that Mauricio Pochettino had agreed to take the USMNT role, but there still has been no official announcement – is a bit perplexing from the outside looking in.
“It’s been strange, right?” Marsch asked before adding, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen an appointment in world football, club or national team, where the speculation has been so deep, but the information about what’s actually happened has been such a mystery.
“I’ve checked almost every day over the past month, like “OK is he going to be the head coach [or not]?’ Because I’m trying to prepare a team [to face the U.S.] and not knowing what to expect. So, it’s been strange.”
Marsch has actually coached against Pochettino in Europe. His RB Leipzig side faced Pochettino’s star-studded Paris Saint-Germain in the 2021-22 Champions League group stage. Pochettino bested Marsch in their first encounter, 3-2, and the two sides drew 2-2 in the second match. Marsch assessed Pochettino’s traits as a manager based on those encounters.
“I don’t think he has a real style, other than he’s pragmatic in the way he coaches his teams to try to get the most out of his player personnel,” Marsch explained.
He added, “He’s someone who really tries to invest in his top players to get the best out of them. So, if he were to take over the U.S. team, then a big part of what he would do is trying to maximize the potential of guys like [Christian] Pulisic, [Tyler] Adams and [Weston] McKennie — those types of players. Which I think could be a good recipe for success for them.”
U.S. Soccer announced this week that Mikey Varas will coach the team on an interim basis for the team’s upcoming friendlies against Canada and New Zealand. Pochettino is reportedly working through an unpaid wages resolution with Premier League club Chelsea FC.
Navigating controversial drones situation
Canadian pride in its national team was at an all-time high after its unprecedented run to the Copa semis. It quickly dissipated at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Prior to the women’s soccer tournament kicking off, the Canadian women’s soccer team were found to be spying on New Zealand through drones piloted by two assistant coaches.
The punishment that followed was swift and severe. Two assistants were sent home. Canada’s women coach Beverly Priestman was barred from coaching for a year after initially volunteering to step away for Canada’s match against New Zealand. The team also suffered a six-point deduction and currently faces an ongoing investigation. It also opened the doors to other suspected uses of drones by Canada, with previous men’s team manager John Herdman being implicated in the matter.
Canada’s CEO Kevin Blue claimed that Marsch had no involvement in the scandal, saying the American-born coach learned about the scandal after the fact. Marsch declined to dive too deeply into details due to the ongoing investigation, but he insisted where he stood on the issue.
“All I know is,” Marsch said, before pausing. “I value the work, I value and respect opponents and I try to create a process that helps us be the best that we can be and use all the information we can to understand what the opponent is doing without crossing the lines, right?”
Marsch did also acknowledge that the practice is more pervasive that most would imagine.
“There are levels of things [like this] happening in the sport,” he said. “When we played in the Champions League, you go to the [opposing] stadium the night before… You know that pretty much the cameras are going to be on and probably someone from the [opposing] technical staff is watching training, right?”
Still, he understands the reputational damage caused to Canada Soccer by the scandal.
“I know that the country has been disappointed,” Marsch said. “We’re going to find a way to still get through this the right way and make sure we continue to push our program the right way.”