OverDrive - Caldwell on Canada Soccer's Gold Cup performance, Marsch cleared to coach and David's imperative role

Episode Date: June 24, 2025

TSN Soccer Analyst Steven Caldwell joined OverDrive to discuss Canada Soccer's performance at the Gold Cup, Jesse Marsch cleared to coach on the sideline and moving forward from the investigation, Jonathan David's ceiling on the team, the formation of the squad ahead of the World Cup and more.

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dreamed of. TSN Soccer Analyst Stephen Caldwell. How you doing Stephen? Doing well guys, how we doing? Doing alright man, it's warm up here, what's the weather like down in Houston? It's pretty warm in Houston, tell you that as well, a bit of a heatwave in Houston as well so it's going to be a hot night for the guys as it was on Saturday, it's not going to be easy conditions to play the type of football I think Canada excel in which is high paced and up and down so yeah I'll have to manage that a bit again tonight I feel. Yeah those are always interesting games man when you like and I guess that's

common in the World Cup like you I'm sure you played a lot of different games with a lot of different elements whether it's cool whether it's too hot like how would you expect Marsh because it's a pretty big match for them tonight like how would you expect him to to lay his line up and how does he distribute minutes tonight? Yeah, that's an interesting question, isn't it? Like how does he spread out the minutes here, because I think what he found in last summer's Copa America was that if he plays the same guys as you get to the latter stages, you

start to see that they're very tired and he sort of wants to make changes but you're not going to make changes in a quarter or a semi-final so I think he's tried to space it around this group stage, worked in the first game obviously didn't work so well in the second game we'll see what he does tonight, does he start to go towards his main 11 for the rest of this tournament or does he still kind of chop and change and try a few different partnerships knowing that he's highly likely to get through the group. El Salvador if they win by five goals I believe it is to to knock Canada out. So, you know, they're in the next round They're in the quarterfinals and I wonder if he still makes changes or he says okay

It's sort of knockout football now and he's gonna bed in his best team to play the remainder of the tournament Stevie does he have to be on his best behavior mind his P's and Q's or what the hell is going on with him? It's been a saga, isn't it? Oh, like what the hell, man? Yeah, he's been a bit of a soap opera guy, I have to say. I mean, Konki Kaaf in a lot of ways make these sort of weird and peculiar rules and style of doing things that's different for FIFA or UEFA or most governing bodies.

So I can see why a manager in an organization would get so frustrated with them, especially when you're not one of the top two in terms of Mexico and the USA. They clearly get favoritism through everything. And so I think because Canada is competing with them on the field, and they think of themselves as number one in CONCACAF, they feel that that should be reflected in some of the decisions that are made and they've felt a bit persecuted by that. So, you know, it's got a little bit childish.

I think it's wise of Canada Soccer to dial back a bit now and concentrate on the football, concentrate on the field, hopefully Konker Caffell can I take that stance as well. So I don't expect any more Shenanigans let's call it on the touch line but you just never know if there's a crazy decision and Jesse Marrs feels like he goes against his team. He's such a passionate character I wouldn't be surprised if he's if he's right in it again. He's one of the guys who's probably a bit like myself. It's hard to stay away from the conflict that sort of comes to you and you've got that attitude you sort of face it head on. With Stephen Caldwell, in terms of Marsh kind of like a guy who's

serving a suspension and the reviewing what might have been going on while he was doing that, and you mentioned the difference between CONCACAF and other you know ruling parties around the world are you of the impression that Caldwell you know has has been warned kind of across the board by maybe Canadian soccer and the CSA like watch yourself here even with what you just pointed out he can run hot he's a passionate guy loves his players wants to win like what what would a different looking Jesse Marsh you know appear like tonight I guess throughout the rest of this tournament that's the balance isn't it it's a hard balance to get because you don't want to lose who you are as a person and what your personality is because

that's sort of why you've been hired and why you've been successful, you know, he's been successful so far for Canada. So he's got to find that balance. And I think it's sort of take off the chip in the shoulder a little bit and start to realize that, you know, most of the decisions even themself out. That's what I think. I think when you've got a logical head on,

you go, well, we get some for us, we get some against us. You think of the penalty kick at Nations League where Cornelius got fouled by the Mexican defender. It should have been a penalty. It wasn't given. That's what led to the ban because he was furious heading into the USA game. But then you look at Saturday night where there was a whistle that came for the crowd

and it came off Saliba's hand. And Canada get the decision because the rest decides it's going to be a drop ball instead of what to the letter of the law should have been a penalty kick so you know it goes in ebbs and flows so I think that they should just sort of get on with it on the field and I don't think Jesse Marrs should change too much but you've got to make sure that you're within the laws and within the rules of the game so you know you can get carried away at times and you want to fight for your team. And these guys really love them, respect Jesse Marrs.

He's been that figurehead. He's been that real vocal voice for them in many levels. But I think it's time now to kind of try and dial that back a bit and sort of empower these guys to go out in the field and play and deliver for Canada. You know, once the whistle goes and you put them out there, it's up to them to get the job done. So he should focus, I think, on getting the game plan right and sort of setting up the best team and then letting them take care of the rest. Canada, El Salvador and TSN tonight, wrapping up the group stage of the Gold Cup here. We're chatting here with Stephen Caldwell.

Stevie's down there in Houston. And I've seen that TSN has posted a new episode of Park the Bus. Yourself and Kevin Kelvan are releasing all these new episodes. And there'll be a bunch of them leading up all the way to the World Cup that, again, starts in less than a year. And I'm seeing the title on today's episode that was released. And again, it's an hour long it's a great great chat great great view you gotta check it out youtube wherever it happens

to be where we download podcast is jonathan david a top ten striker in the world that is the the thumbnail of the conversation i'm sure you guys get into a lot of different things but i guess all all last back question i'll have you answer it uh... where does jonathan david rank for you around the world when it comes to a lot of different things but I guess I'll ask that question I'll have you answer it where does Jonathan David rank for you around the world when it comes to his striking ability? So I think there's a shortage of legitimate number nines in the world at the minute we've got a few obviously Holland springs to mind and you've got Ossie Maine who was good at

Napoli a few years back you've got Lewandowski who's aging a little bit you've got Ossi Mane who was good at Napoli a few years back. You've got Lewandowski who's aging a little bit. You've got Iczak at Newcastle. So there's five or six, I think, legitimately, kind of world-class number nines. And then you've got a whole bunch of other guys that are sort of figuring themselves out and where they fit. Joaquin Eij might be an example of that.

It's Sporting who has scored a lot of goals in the last few years, but he's in Portugal and he needs to take the step and is the step gonna be to that kind of bigger league and can he deliver there? And I think that's the position that Jonathan David's in. He needs to take the step and what level is that step? Is it Serie A, a lot of talk around Juventus and Napoli,

or is it Premier League and if he goes and scores, goes in? And I think he's legitimately in that conversation in the top 10 but at the minute I've got him in sort of top 25 and Kevin grills me on this in part of the bus because he he thinks he's a little bit higher but I just still think that in a lot of ways the jury's out on Jonathan David he's a top-class striker but is he top 10 in the world I say he's got to prove it at that next, he's a top class striker, but is he top 10 in the world? I think he's got to prove it at that next level. He's got to prove it at a higher club level,

and we'll have to see if he can take his game up a notch or two. So it's the age old debate. What he is is vitally important to Canada, and what he is is the biggest, most important player heading into next summer's World Cup, and certainly the leader in this gold cup is the captain and is the most high profile player there. So he does most of his talking on the pitch, he's a great guy, he's a quiet guy who works extremely hard and loves

his country so he'll go out there again and he'll do his best and he seems to you know keep away from the noise that guys like us create and this kind of question but I still think as he moves to this new club in the summer whatever that may be he's got a really heavy ground running and prove that he can go out that not sure to and and get among the how lindsey's acts and then when the skis or so a lot of the discussion leading up to the gold cup was uh... who's available for jesse marsh but also who's not available in alfonsa davies isn't

there's other prominent players that they weren't available for the tournament but this is a big big opportunity for guys to kind of put themselves you know in front of Marsh and possibly play themselves into a position where they're on the World Cup team and I know on Park the Bus and on other you know things you're doing with TSN between now and the World Cup next year there's going to be a lot of that discussion like we we got a pretty good idea I would think 70 80 percent of the roster but you know how much is still up for debate in your opinion and and are there any players that you can think of over the past couple of games leading into the match tonight leading into the

rest of this gold cup that you think are possibly playing themselves into the mix as we get closer to the World Cup? Yeah, I think as we try and build the profile in this team and highlight the sort of, let's call it 30, 32 guys that can legitimately sneak into this 26-man roster, we look at where is that depth and sort of what needs to happen in terms of a Jaden Nelson or an Ali Ahmed, a Zorhan Bassong as an example, guys that were probably on the outside, especially Nelson and Bassong in the last six months and they've came to the fore, they've done well in the

national team jersey, they're doing well at club level and we're starting to think, okay, they could make it and they could play legitimate minutes. And it's trying to find that consistency at the higher level that's hard for these guys. You know, you sort of have one good game and then there's a couple where you're maybe a little unsure. But I think that's what a springboard like a home world cup does for a player. It allows them to dream, it allows them to, you know,

find new levels of dedication, professionalism, whatever you want to call it and take their game to a new level. I think there's real opportunity there for four or five guys. Two guys that I'll say have stepped up in recent games between the early June Friendlies and the Canadian Shield and then the early Go Cup games are Nico Seguerre, who's been outstanding, Hajik Splitman has been outstanding at right fullback and has become a player that I think Jesse Marrs wants to try and find a place in the 11.

Now, I don't know if he's gonna be able to do that because you've got a lot of players vying for a position, but he's someone that, with Alistair Johnson being your sort of first choice right back, you're saying, can Nico Segar kick him off that place or can he find a place somewhere else in the team and can you adjust? So he's one that's pushing really hard and Saliba is pushing really hard as well who reporting from Matthew Shinetti just recently is just signing for Anderlecht, we know it's

coming, he's going to go play in Europe and play in Belgian football and he's been outstanding for Canada. He's a guy that for me could push alongside the Staccio, maybe replace Kony in that living as well. So two guys vying for the living definitely in the roster and then three or four guys that are fighting to make the 26 man roster and the hottest battle probably to finish it off is in that striker position. David's in it, David's playing and who's going to partner him? Is

it Larran? Is it Oliver Shea? Is it Jebison? Or is it promised David, who's probably in the hottest form and might just be the one that's going to get the biggest chance to show that he can knock Larran off that position and make it into starting 11. So there's loads of battles going on. We're going to find it more in the next two or three weeks and then the upcoming friendly games September, October, November, but I do think we're going to know for sure. We're going to debate this, it's going to be debated coast to coast all over the country all the way till Jesse announces his squad just before the World Cup next June. Stevie you just mentioned Shinetti and before we get you out of here he looks like a pretty clean- cut dude.

Can he hammer beers with you guys or does he kind of shy away from that? Shinetti keeps away from us. It's too much for him to try and hang with us. We tried it for a few hours and then he realizes that it's too much. We got sent to Vienna before Qatar and Shinetti felt like he needed a new liver when we got back. so that was unfortunate and I just advised them don't try and keep up Matthew just come for a couple and get yourself back for your beauty sleep.

Good looking guy needs his beauty sleep so you know some people, everyone's got their strengths you know what I mean oh Doug. Everyone's got a different motor. I know exactly what you, somebody wants to hang with the big boys and they get a rude awakening Stevie, a rude one All right, Stevie enjoy yourself down there and take it easy on our board man It'll be a fun one tonight. Enjoy the match. Here's guys. You know, but all right there is Stephen Caldwell You've heard them countless times.

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