OverDrive - Marsch on Canada Soccer's strong outlook, the players' mindset and the preparation for the World Cup

Episode Date: January 24, 2025

Canada's Men's National Team Head Coach Jesse Marsch joined OverDrive to discuss the experience as head coach of the team, players competing on international teams, building from the World Cup and the Copa America, the team's preparation for the 2026 World Cup, the mentality of the group in the tournaments and more.

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Let's go. New year, new you. New you. New you. Explore it all. Feel brand new. At iHeartRadio.ca and on the free iHeartRadio app. We got the Nations League semi-final coming up in LA in a couple of months in March. And we're just over 500 days away from the World Cup starting in 2026, which is going

to fly by, man. We're more than two years removed from the World Cup in Qatar. That's how quickly it flies by and Jesse Marsh, the head coach of the men's national team, he was doing the rounds here at TSN earlier today. He stopped in studio with me. I got the chance to catch up with him. Here's my chat with Jesse Marsh. Look who we have here, the head coach of the men's national team, Jesse March. Jesse, great to see you. Does it feel like Wisconsin out here for you? This weather in Toronto right now? Yes, it's very reminiscent of the winters in Wisconsin, except I always drove really bad cars

and the heater never worked. And so it's nicer now. What about like the idea of training? Because you guys have to be prepared. Obviously there's a lot of indoors, outdoors, but I can recall like CONCACAF and the buildup towards Qatar. Like there were some incredible outdoor games at BMO Field where the weather was absolutely absurd.

And Edmonton, right? And in Edmonton was ice. It was absolutely ice. I was in Europe at that time. I think I was in Germany and I watched that game. And like, yeah, you have to get up at like three in the morning to watch it. And I remember hearing that they were playing the Mexicans and then the US and in in Edmonton and right in the snow and I and and it was incredible was a great strategy It was I mean it obviously worked and it was it was an incredible buildup and CONCACAF went really well for Canada

And the reason you're in here for multiple different reasons, but we're almost 500 days away Yeah from the World Cup finally arriving and it's it's gonna be in, it'll be in Toronto, it's going to be in Vancouver. And obviously the weather will be beautiful at that point, undoubtedly. But the idea of building up towards it and the hype, like we're getting close, man. We're more than two years removed from Qatar, which is amazing. Like it's going to be here before you know it. What's it like as you get inside 500 days? Yeah, look, the biggest reminder I have is I've been on the job for like eight months

and it's gone like that. Right. Right. So we have to have a real urgency to what we do, how we work. A big part of it is obviously preparing the team. Right. And, and, but they're all with their clubs right now and they're, they're training and I give little reinforcements to them and I'm watching them play. But it's also doing some fundraising. We need to reinforce the CSA and the infrastructure of what we're creating. We need to create a more robust youth system. We need to align the sport in the country

and with the women's team. The women just hired a new coach, Casey Stoney, and we're really excited about her. So, you know, there's a lot of work to be done sort of behind the scenes that can make sure that we support the team in all the right ways. So we're prepared. Jesse Marsh with us. I'm curious about that.

The communication with players when they're with their club teams and like as a coach, I'm sure you're aware that you don't want to step on toes. You know, like I'm sure you're not giving tactical advice necessarily, but you're always thinking through the lens of the Canadian team. Take us through that process when you're watching the guys, scouting the guys, seeing them play in certain formations and systems and what have you, and trying to figure out how's that gonna work into my puzzle

once I get them with my team? Look, there's, in Europe, right, there's some guys that are performing at an incredibly high level right now. There's some guys that are struggling to establish themselves with the team. And you know, I'm checking in with them. I go to matches, you know, a lot. So I get to see them before or after the game.

Maybe we have coffee the next day and just talk about how things are going. Like one of the things people lose track of sometimes is these guys are still young, you know? And they're over in Europe. They're fighting every day. It's not easy. Maybe it's a different language, a different culture,

they're lonely. And so part of it is just like supporting them, you know, and being there. And when things are tough, saying, hey, you gotta keep going, like this isn't easy, and you gotta be up for the challenge, and this will make you better, this will make you stronger. So, and then there is still some part of encouraging,

look, this is what we think is going to be important for the national team. Make sure you're fit, make sure you're getting in the gym, make sure you're playing aggressively so that the adaptation when you come back with us is as smooth as possible. In terms of preparing again for the World Cup that will be in Toronto, be in Vancouver, be on Canadian soil, you know, like you just mentioned, the preparation that goes into tactics and the physical side of things and making sure you're in shape and and everything that comes with okay the whistles gone now you're within the

lines you're gonna go play. I don't think you're overly concerned about where their mentality will be at that point. No. But in terms of off the pitch and preparing for something that is so monumental for the country, how do you you know chip away at that preparation over the next 500 days that these guys are? Representing the country at home. Yeah, and it's gonna be unlike anything our country's ever seen before So like I said, I took the job about eight months ago and when I came into the job I really challenged them to I Said grow up, you know, and I didn't mean to insult them

I said grow up, you know, and I didn't mean to insult them But one of the things I said to them was that too many of them played professional soccer because they were good at it And it was fun And not enough a real pursuit of excellence, right? And and I talked about at the very first day we got together I talked about the vision toward 2026 which was two years away at that point And I said that we have to start the process. Now we have to commit to the physicality and the intelligence of what we want to be

and how we're going to commit to it on a day by day basis of when we're together, because we're not together all the time. And then through that, it's building the mentality to make sure that the belief system is so strong that it makes us feel unbeatable when those matches come. And so I can only say that they've responded incredibly well. And they see the reasons that I try to do the things

that I do with them, that I say the things, that I create really high demands for them because it's the only way for us to achieve the goals and the dreams that they have for what it means to play in a home World Cup. Right. And I would think, I think I can speak, you know, as a Canadian, like there's been somewhat of a disconnect, I would say, over the last 20 years prior to what happened, you know,

from 2019, 2020 through Concord Calf up to Qatar, where obviously it popped and they made it back to the World Cup. There was this really dark period for a good portion of my life. I'm born in the early 80s, so 86 when they made it, I don't remember that. Through the 90s and 2000s, it was like the national team is not on the radar, they're not going to win. And I think the best way to get the average Canadian on board is the ability to believe in the confidence of the group.

And I think what you did at Copa America really set the tone for a lot of that. The fact that you made it to the semis, the fact that you competed with Argentina, you almost had it in that third place match. The confidence within the group and the importance of that to exude throughout the rest of the country for everyone else to jump on board. Do you see that and how important is that? Yeah and let's even start with so the previous coach John Herdman had had helped the team win ConcaCaf to go to the 22 World Cup. Mm-hmm. Obviously the players were disappointed that they weren't able to get more out of that World Cup

but I think those experiences have equipped them with more to understand what the games are like and then when I came in and my experiences that I have in Europe and coaching the game at the high level and the mentality of What it takes to be successful against the best players and best teams I think together all these things the chemistry of what we've created now and then it has been created has meant that There's a better belief system. There's a better understanding. There's more expertise and experience for what these games require and The style of play that we've created is dynamic is about speed is about power And that accesses the true potential and qualities of these players and now you start to see truly how talented they are well when you look at

Copa America in that experience that first match against Argentina And they slow play you guys coming out in a half And I was watching it I was texting group chats with buddies and we're losing our minds get why aren't they out there? Yeah, who does this messy guy think he is? You know, what are they doing to us? We're playing we're prepared We're ready to go. Yeah, and you know, obviously those are tactics. They're better veteran tactics We know what Argentina is and what they represent on the international stage

and what they ended up doing in the tournament. But I'm curious if you saw a difference in the way Argentina approached Canada from game one of the group stage to that semi-final. Did you see anything different? Feel anything different? Yes, and we were also, I think, in that two and a half weeks in between those two matches,

we grew. They knew we were a good team. The coach said to me at the end of the first match when it was over and they beat us two nil, he said, you guys were physically too much for us. And I was like, we just lost. What do you mean? That doesn't make sense.

But I understood what he said because we played to our strengths and we used our speed and athleticism and power and we challenged them. And so, yeah, of course then when we got to the semi-final, I tell you, we were then tired. I hadn't made a lot of changes. Most of the games that we played went to the final whistle, which meant that I had to be a little bit more careful about the kinds of subs that I made. I didn't rotate enough because we were just starting the process with the team. But that was one of the things that we learned is in tournament play, we have to develop not just

the identity of what we're creating, but also the breadth and the width of the player pool. So that throughout tournament play, we can draw on more players and we can depend on more players which will allow us to be more fresh and more prepared for later stages in the tournament. Jesse Marsh with us head coach of the men's national team just over 500 days away from the World Cup and of course we will we will co-host with the Americans and with Mexico and the US Mexico Panama they're waiting for you at the Nations League right you got the semi-final against Mexico in a couple of months in LA how significant would that be for the growth of this program if you can find a way to win this? Yeah I think

our quietly internally we've had our eye on this for months. Why so? Because we didn't just want Copa America to be a one-off, you know We wanted we wanted to make sure that we use that as a platform for confidence and and belief in the team To continue to push and grow and develop You know since then we beat America in in the US for the first time in 67 years we've now achieved our highest FIFA ranking of all time at 31 and I think it set us up for a big challenge, right? To now see if all of the lessons that we've learned, all the progress that we've made, now to put it to test in a semi-final and a final, that if we get there would probably

require us beating both Mexico and the U.S. This is now in our region as big as it gets. So we know how difficult that will be, but we believe we can achieve that. Yeah, and in terms of the players that kind of represent your program, Alfonso Davies and Jonathan David, among others, and now that they've been with the program for a while, like you said, you've only been on the job for eight months, but you're familiar with their history and their come-up, so to speak, and what they did through CONCACAF into Qatar. How significant do you think that is, like a veteran presence, and now that these guys

have lived it, like you said, beaten the Americans in the US, highest FIFA ranking, been to a World Cup, now you're going into a Nations League where you guys are the top seed at this point going into the Final Four. Like how much of that success do you think might actually be about just them growing up, them getting that message you talked about when you arrived? You know, I've been very clear that this is a Canadian national team.

And I'm so impressed with the qualities of the men in the team, like their selflessness, their togetherness, their desire to achieve for the country and for the national team. And in there, I've also kind of talked about arrogance. You know, and I always say like, this is America's number one export. Mm-hmm.

You guys do own that. Yes. And so, but you know, arrogance isn't a bad thing. You know, in sports, you have to have self-belief and like creating this sense that we're not just underdogs anymore, but that we're good, we're talented, and we deserve to be here, and we deserve to win. And then backing it up with the work, the performances,

the details, the intelligence, this has been what the process has been. And so I feel like this has been a really good fit for me. I've been really, I'm really honored to be the Canadian national team coach. And I think it's a situation where, you know, it's a good fit for what the players need, for what I need. Our chemistry together is really strong. And I think we're really enjoying the process of the potential of what we can create. Right. And you speak of the, you know, the arrogance and the confidence. Does that, has that broken through CONCACAF yet?

Because again, I mentioned the previous decades where it was really just about, can we beat Jamaica? Can we beat Panama? Can we beat? And obviously you're always looking up to the Americans and Mexico. Now, you know, over the last three or four years, we've put our stake in the ground in terms of this continent and certainly CONCACAF, but how do you expand beyond that? Are you reluctant to do that? Do you look at Europe?

Do you look at South America and say, bring it on? Like what kind of approach do you have to that? Yeah, look, it's step by step. And this is an opportunity to prove as much to anyone, to ourselves, that we can be as good as we wanna be, right? But I can say this, that now the mentality in the team is that whoever we play from anywhere around the world, we're not afraid, and we believe on the day that we can win.

And that in itself, I think, is a big development within the team, within the culture of the sport and of the team. You know, even when we played Mexico back in September after we beat the US, you could see that Mexico feared our physicality, you know, and you could see that, that they knew they had to file, they had to be very combative. They couldn't let us get out into open space because they knew we were very dynamic. And I think even inside the team, there was disappointment, but there was a, that, that

we didn't dominate and beat Mexico the way we wanted to but I think they also could feel the sense that that this was a different kind of Mexico game than maybe what it's been like in the past. Jesse Marsh with the head coach of the national team in terms of friendlies like once you get past the nations league and you get closer to 2026, how do you balance that? Like how do you go about preparing that and how do you contact different countries around the world and say we'd like to do this and we'd like to do it here. I'm sure you'd like to get some on home soil, probably at BMO, maybe Roger's Place out in Vancouver if you can.

Prepare for the actual events because you know you're going to be playing there. You're right about all of it. We already have a real good start on some really good opponents. It is challenging because when everybody else is playing qualifiers, we don't need to qualify because we're the host nation. We have to find gaps in other team schedules and then invite them here and then create relationships.

So we'll be making announcements soon, but I can tell you that already from what it looks like, the docket of teams and challenges that we will have in 2025 is exciting and we're going to have some tough opponents. But again, I think it's a chance for us to test ourselves against some of the world's best teams. It's going to be amazing. And again, we're just over 500 days away, but it's going to happen quick.

And like 48 countries in there now, right? More groups and the expectations are going to be high based on merit because of the way you played yeah but also I'm I'm sure again we're still a ways away and if everyone's healthy and feeling good you got to be thinking we can get out of the group stage right you still don't know quite who you're gonna play us but why wouldn't you have that mentality look for the first thing is is to continue to the development of the team the continued the continued connection with the community. So this week I'm traveling from Halifax to Vancouver across the country and doing coaching symposiums,

meeting with spheres of influence in the sport and making sure that everybody feels a real strong connection to the movement that we're trying to create so that we have a true home field advantage, right? So when we say a home world cup, we want to make sure in those three matches at the, just at the start in that group phase action,

that we electrify the country, that the anticipation and the expectation for what team we're going to be, how we're going to perform, the excitement around our team is massive. That makes us feel unbeatable, right? Like this is a huge advantage and we have to make sure we take take advantage of it. And then, yeah, if we win the group we have then the potential to play also the next two home games in

Vancouver. Is that right? At home in Canada. So this, the motivation to not just get out of the group but to win the group to make sure that we stay at home and continue to push to go as far as we can. And you know, I've had questions all day today about what do you think about winning? I'm like, why would we go in the tournament and not say we're going to win the right? Exactly. Right? Like, so obviously I know we're a long shot, but this team is the belief is growing and we're going to go after it.

Can't wait for 500 days, just a bit more than 500 days away. We're looking forward to it. Enjoy the coast to coast. It days, just a bit more than 500 days away. We're looking forward to it. Enjoy the coast to coast. It's a big country, man. You know that. Beautiful weather right now. Oh, it's just stunning outside. You can't beat it.

It's so, so spectacular. He is Jesse Marsh, the head coach of the men's national team. Great seeing you, man. Thank you for doing this. All right, man. There he is, Jesse Marsh. Impressive guy. He is, man.

An impressive guy. And he's got belief and he's sending a message saying it's time to grow up here boys like let's get after it.