OverDrive - OverDrive - August 20, 2025 - Hour 1

Episode Date: August 20, 2025

Join Michael DiStefano and Frank Corrado for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss the Blue Jays' series defeat to the Pirates, Tommy Pham's massive game in the afternoon matchup, Eric Lauer's move to the bullpen, and the possibility of a six-man starting rotation on the team. Canada Men's National Soccer Team Head Coach Jesse Marsch joins to discuss the high optimism for the team, talent playing internationally and the culture of the squad leading up to the World Cup. 

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Faze Festchuk, which is not even remotely correct. I thought you were going to call me Fabian Zetterland for a second there. Fabian Zetterland to the Ottawa Senators. No, we got Frank Carrotto with us here. What's going on, pal. Yeah, not much. You know, we're back at it, back at it. It's been, I don't know, whatever we talked about yesterday.

We'll talk about it again today. Well, we did get a couple of Jay's games since we last got to speak. Max Scher, Dishing again last night, got a victory. Dude, he's on fire. He's pitching great ball right now. I'm telling you, man, Max Scherzer, I think he's pushing for that game one starter job. Rob Longley thought he had it yesterday. Well, the way that he's pitching right now, the way he pitched last night,

the way that he's been pitching over the course of the month of August, he just keeps on getting better and better. Like, you got up to it, like 100 pitches last night? And he's mowing people down too. He's, like, just got that scowl on his face. He is mad Max right now. You know what I love about him, though? Like, he still loves the game so much.

And he still be playing at 41 years old. He's made so much money throughout his career. He doesn't need to be playing anymore. But look how excited he's still getting. When he gets a big out to get out of an inning. Against the Pirates. Against the Pittsburgh Pirates. You know how pedestrians, something like that would feel for a guy like Max Scherzer

who struck out the best players in the game now for years and years at a high level? And still, it's like, but you know what that is, though? Passion. That's the, but that's what the J's have kind of cultivated, I think, this year. Yeah, and today's game. Yeah, today's game didn't go their way. That's, that's the best way that I would be able to describe that. Although Bassett pitched great.

They didn't get the road, which is significant because he's been a gas can on the road. He went like five and two third innings tonight or this afternoon. 10 strikeout for Chris Bassett. Yeah. That ball was moving. Yeah. The ball was moving. It's not necessarily about like,

speed and velocity for him. It's about picking his spot. Right. And he did a really good job of that. But the game was 2-1 in the first inning, and they could never get anything going after a George Springer home run. And insult to injury. Here we are yesterday. Talking about Tommy Fam and the bat flip

and going after Heinemann, and he's the one that drives in the runs. I know, right? Like, that's it. That's all you get. That's it. We're looking at it right now. The Pittsburgh Pirates, bottom of the first inning, they go up to one, and we see no more runs. The rest of game. And of course, of all people, it had to be Tommy

Fam, who I didn't even, I wasn't even sure if he was going to be in the lineup. Like if I was Pittsburgh, why would you put him in a situation? Now, Toronto did not elect to, to, to beat him in any stretch. They didn't hit him. It's over. It wasn't that egregious of a thing. Like, it's over. It's gone. Oh, clearly, but two days later. Fam got the best of him. And family, yeah, again, another hit later on the ball game. So two for four day drives in the game winning runs. The only runs that

Pittsburgh was able to muster up, but it was enough. It wasn't an overly fun ball game. No. Last night, much better, I would say. But something that is nice to see. A couple Springer-dingers, back-to-back games. Now I've seen George Springer go yard. So he's back in the lineup and looks like he's, you know, moving and shaking the right direction. And it's just a reminder when this team was grooving, you know, right before the All-Star break when they went on that 10-game heater, like he was a big part of that. He was a massive part of that. and with him healthy again, looks like he's finding his stride after missing just over a week there of action

after getting hit in the head with that ball. Seems like he's back to being the George Springer from a month ago. Yeah. And, you know, it always kind of has that feel with George Springer where he bangs the drum for the team, even though, you know, Vladdy's the leader, the best player, whatever you want to call it offensively, and Boba Shed has been very consistent,

especially with runners in scoring position. But it always kind of comes down to what's the, energy level on George Springer. How much is he contributing because he kind of bangs the drum for the team? You drop two games to the pirates in a three game series. It's not time to have like this big picture conversation on where the Js are at. The Jays are still in a really good spot. It happens. I would just say today wasn't their day, but you would like to see them win some more games on the road. Like that's been that's been one of the only issues. Like I guess unless they're playing the Rockies,

it's like you're 500, you're less than much less than 500. Yeah, it hasn't been great. Just why, like, I keep harping on this. Like, the Blue Jays, it's so imperative that they finish the season strong. It shouldn't just be about finishing atop of the AL East. They've got to finish the top of the American League

and have the route to the World Series roll through Toronto. Like, if they can end up with the best record of the American League by the end of the regular season, all of a sudden, you know that you have home field advantage all the way through and two gets the World Series. And depending on who you're going to play in the World Series, if it's, you know, the Brewers, that's a different story. They got the best record in baseball.

But, like, they're right there with the Dodgers. You know, like, they're right there with all the teams. 74 wins, man. Right? 74 wins. That's a big number. I think that's how many wins they had a year ago. And we still got a whole month to go in the season.

More, like, five weeks to go on the season. More wins than the Cubs. Impressive. More wins than the Phillies, the Mets. Like, you know, they're... So you finish strong, you can end up with homefield advantage. all the way through if they go on a deep run. But that's, that's, that is imperative.

I truly believe that the Blue Jays, not just the ALE East. That shouldn't be the goal. They should want to win the AAL, win the pennant, and then have home field advantage moving forward. Because there's, there's just something about the, the, the Rogers Center that gives them a different edge. It gives them, it's like the aura that, that is there from the crowd that, that's in attendance. It just gives them that edge that they need to power through. Lots of come from behind victories at home like we saw over the weekend. And the bats, the pitching, it's just a lot better at home.

And I don't know, like, playoff time, correct me if I'm wrong, but the dome, like the roof is kind of out of their hands, right? Like, they will tell them it's got to be closed. The league will tell them it's got to be closed. Is that the way it works? I can't recall. Regardless, look that up, Doogie. I can't remember how exactly that works, but I feel like that's been a thing in the past.

If it's not, or if it is, it doesn't matter. If it's closed, I feel like there is a little. bit of like a stadium kind of hockey vibe, maybe not a leaf game, although a leaf playoff game gets really rowdy. The noise stays in, right? It doesn't escape out into downtown Toronto. It's such a stupid thing to say, but I feel like it's somewhat relevant when it comes to when they're playing at home.

Dude, I was at a couple of those playoff games back in 2015, back in 2016. I've never been in a building that was so loud like it was back then. Were you at that? They were closed. No, I wish I was at that. bat flip game you're at bat flip game yeah that's that's tell me better what's your experience at the bat was the craziest sporting event i've ever experienced yeah it was wild yeah you can't and pneumonia yeah you can't even describe it because at one point there's fans littering the field

and then the the bat flip the home run happens you don't even see the best inning of blue jays baseball it's crazy for 30 on the seventh inning in that 100% it's it's completely wild but like listen that's not the environment every single time we've seen the blue jays play these wild card games and and lose them at home. It's been devastating. But, yeah, man, like, that's a, that's a serious advantage for them if they can find a way to make it happen. And now on Friday, they get Shane Bieber to see if he can get cooking the same way that

Max Scherzer has been cooking. Yeah, that'll be fun. Another little piece of Blue Jays news that came out today with the Shane Bieber, you know, expected to see him get reinstated onto the active roster on Friday. There'll be a corresponding move of some point, but it sounds like, Eric Lauer is going to be moved to the pen. So for weeks, we're having this conversation. Like, are they going to go to a six-man rotation?

Are they going to go to a five-man, kick someone out to the pen? It sounds like they're looking at a five-man rotation. Eric Lauer is the guy who loses out. And I got a problem with that. I was going to ask, who has more of a problem with this? Like, you or does Lauer have more of a problem? I mean, Lauer's the guy who's got more at stake. Obviously, Eric Lauer.

But what I mean by that is, could he not have seen this coming? like with the players and the name value of who is on the rotation. Did he not look at it and say, even though I have the second best ERA on the team since the All-Star break, I'm probably the odd man out here just based on who's ahead of me? I mean, he probably could have seen it coming and it being a possibility, but I think he's pitched well enough to a point where it shouldn't have been him. You know what I mean?

Like, I don't see why he should be punished because of the paycheck that he's bringing home, because he doesn't have the, because of the letters on the nameplate on the back. Because if you look at the numbers, I mean, you say to the All-Star break, but this guy's been pitching as well since June 1st. He has the best ERA among all starters on the Blue Jays, a 277-1 record. No other starter on the Jays has numbers like that since June 1st. That's a long stretch of this season. This guy's been pitching and pitching and doing his best,

working his ass off to prove that he can be in this rotation. He really saved this rotation. I mean, at the time he came in, no one knew what Eric Lauer was going to be, right? Max Scherzer was nowhere to be seen at the time, still had that dumb injury. Like, he settled the boat a little bit with this rotation. And then now that they bring in Shane Bieber and they're like, yeah, we got six guys. But I think the off day is, I think, what throws us into a bit of a flux because you don't want guys sitting out seven days now because he got that off day. So maybe it's temporary, I suppose, because they didn't say he's relegated to the bullpen entirely.

they said for now. It's very up in the air as to what that means. There's still a question mark on what Shane Bieber is going to be like with his longevity when he comes back. Sure, sure. There's still always going to be a question mark on Max Scherzer. So even though... I just still think that Eric Lauer deserves a chance to compete for a starting

spot in this rotation. Okay, let me ask you this though. Do you go to a six-man roster or do you try and find a way to shut down Jose Burrios for a bet? I mean, hey, hey, a little phantom I Elston, but that would have been the obvious answer is to do it to Barrios, but the thing

you run into there is, well, that's the guy that's going to be here the longest out of all these pitchers. Right. So, is that the right move for the long term? Yeah, that's a good question. That's a good question. But at the same time, like, he's got to be on board for that. And Jose Barrios has taken pride. Like, this guy

is a horse. He is the healthiest pitcher that the Blue Jays have had since he got here. I don't believe he's missed a single start. No, he's not missed a start. Since he's become a Toronto Blue Jays. So to sit here and tell him, okay, we're thinking about maybe, you know, your velocity's down a bit, you haven't had your stuff, you know, there could be something wrong, maybe your shoulders getting a little fatigued, let's shut you down for a week,

check you on the seven-day IL, and then come September 1st, when the rosters expand, we can have more guys in the mix anyway, and boom, you're in here, and we're rolling with a six-man rotation at that point. It could be a conversation that they could have had, but obviously, that's not one that the decision decided to go. I think that's a way tougher sell than Eric Lauer coming out of the Ben. Way tougher sell. You're talking about that conversation is like, well, now I question my long-term, whatever it is,

wanting to be here, what it's going to look like in the future as far as being a Toronto Blue Jay. Like, he's got an option at some point, right? A couple of years now, he'll have an option where he can opt out and leave. Yeah. But if his, I mean, if his numbers continue to dip. He's a ton of money. Yeah, for sure. You might not want to leave, though.

Yeah, that's the thing. But if the numbers dip over a long period of time, you'll have that conversation. Right. The Lauer thing is great. It's also a little bit of a vacuum compared to Jose Burrios, who has had his ups and downs here. But by all accounts, like, Burrios is, you know, not that Lauer isn't, but very well liked by everyone and an absolute workhorse, right? So I think if you're having the conversation with Lauer and Burrios, you're still, like,

it's still, it's more devastating to hear that if you're Burrios than if you're Lauer. Yeah. No, I completely agree, but I just, you know, I have to feel Lauer has deserved the opportunity to keep it rolling, right? Like he's been the best pitcher. And like I said, the Blue Jays still need to win ball games down the stretch. And Lauer gives you the much better option at this point up on the hill every fifth, sixth day than Jose Burrios or even Chris Bassett recently has had some up and down starts. Lauer has been the best pitcher in this starting rotation in terms of what he's been able to do. a due every five days of consistency since June 1st when he really came on and became a starter with this

group. So it's just a little slight problem to have. It is a good problem to have. If the Blue Jays had I don't know 50 wins, we wouldn't be talking about this and no one would care about it. No, absolutely not. Listen, they're still in a good spot. Yeah, that 50 wins. You've been looking at Alec Manoa

and maybe Fick getting him up to the majors. He had a nice start today, by the way, down in the minors. You're on four and a third, gave up one run, a couple hits. You strikeouts. If they weren't going to the playoffs, that would be the conversation today. It's all right. We're going to get a look at Manoa in September.

Now, like, I don't think Manoa's even factoring it in 2025. You shouldn't be. No. Really, really should not be. Like, there's no way that we're having this conversation where Eric Lauer can't make the rotation and Manoa should be in the mix. No, that conversation's long gone. But, yeah, it's a good problem to have, and we'll see how it kind of shakes out.

But again, they did not say this is permanent. It's what they're doing for now. What for now means... And there's still got to be a roster move for Beaver to come on board. Yeah, I'll be curious to see what that looks like. That's not going to be something consequential. I would have been... Well, if you're moving louder to the bullpen, you're probably going to move one of those arms.

So, like, you know, Nants, potentially, is he the guy? That's not moving the needle. Blue Hardy has some options. You could potentially move Mason Flew Hardy down at AAA. That's your guy. Hey, he's pitched very well. well out of the head. I mean, he had that staple moment in the L.A.

game. Again, Showy O'Tonnie comes in, you know, in the ninth inning. He's got bases loaded. Showy O'Tonnie won out and boom, gets him to strike out. It was a massive move by him. So, I mean, the thing with Blue Hardy is his numbers aren't great, but

he's pitched a lot better of late. But again, good problem to have. Like, on most teams, he probably is a guy you want in your bullpen, at least, you know, low leverage situations. For Toronto, it's in a situation where they just got a bunch of guys that they have the luxury to be able to move him out of the pen. The reality is right now for the Jay's is there could be a lot of internal change within this group because even if, you know, before

the trade deadline, you thought your one, two, three come playoff time was going to be some combination of Gosman, Burrios, and Bassett. Like, we could fast forward a few months and one of those guys is in your top three as far as who's starting playoff games. Think about that. Yeah? Like there's, how many other teams that are going to make the playoffs would be having that same conversation where two out of the three are going to switch from, you know, July to October? Not many. It's a crazy thing. But again, another sign of we used this term a lot last year and it never really happened and we goofed around like internal improvement. Yeah. In a way, You know, yeah, you bring in external pieces,

but it's like it's a weird internal improvement within the three months leading up to, you know, October baseball, which the Blue Jays are going to be playing. And it's, you know. That's what it was all about, right? If you get that internal improvement and then you supplement them with external improvement, that's how you build a ball club. Yeah.

That's like, that's pro sports. Like, you've got to draft and develop well. And then you bring in those guys who can bring it over the top. And that's what they decide to do. A couple gambles. Well, for sure, but hey, you know, you got to make some gambles sometimes if you want to win big, right? Riverboat gambling. That's what it's all about. The Blue Jays have to make gambles because it's tough for them to sign guys in the off season that don't have some kind of baggage, whether it's age or injury history. So they're taking chances on two guys with injury histories. And if everything goes well, it's like these guys are going to look like geniuses and both these guys are going to factor in, potentially, if everything goes well. Right. In the playoffs where the Blue Jays, you know, if everything goes the way it's planned, they're going to be playing meaningful games.

Absolutely, as they should be. And Doogie letting us know that MLB does not actually have discretion as to what happens with the dome. Well, that's a conspiracy theory then. That MLB tells them to shut it or keep it open? MLB or the TV, someone, I don't know. There was, I feel like there was buzz about years ago. You had heard that at some point somewhere about that.

Yeah. Well, according to Doogie, so unless Doogie's lying to us. Or maybe it's not like one-year bereaved. started and he preferred the dome a certain way, so they had to do it that way. Well, R.A. Dickie, back in the day, preferred it closed. So he could control, you know, the, the environment with the knuckleball, didn't sweat as much with the sun coming in. So you could control the environment.

I think pitchers prefer it closed for that reason. But, yeah, it doesn't sound like it's up to them. Like, I know Dickie, like, when he started, they closed the dome. Yeah. Like, he was like, yeah, let's close this thing up. give me the best opportunity to get some wins. And I mean, he was around during that time when they were a good baseball club back when they were making the playoffs. Jason Grilly was around also at that time.

He was a reliever for the Jays in 2016. He's actually going to join the show at 530 so he can get his thoughts on, you know, how he thinks the team's performing this year. If he sees any similarities from the group, what it's like to have to go to the bullpen. I'm sure he would have quite the comment to say about the whole Eric Lauer. situation. So we can get into that with Jason Greeley. Doug Armstrong, going to join us as well at 5 o'clock, the GM

of the Blues and the GM of Canada's Olympic hockey team. I had to chat with Dougie Armstrong. I got to ask him. First question, maybe not the first question, but one of the questions out of the shoot asked me about the goaltending. The fact that they only brought three goalies. And we had

the USA put out their development camp roster tomorrow or Olympic orientation camp roster yesterday and they're taking four goals. tenters. They brought an extra guy. And keep in mind, they left two really good ones on the table in Dustin Wolf and Thatcher Demko. Because the fourth guy they brought was Joey DeCord. Right. There's like Canada, if they thought they had done something wrong by not bringing Logan Thompson last time, they basically said, actually we didn't. We knew exactly what we were doing.

They're doubling down. And we just, we think that these are the three guys and don't even have the conversation with us about anyone else. You think that's going to be his answer? No, that won't be his answer. But I bet that's what you'd be thinking. Yeah, probably. No, I mean, you can't say that's what I'm thinking. But I mean, like, realistically, Bennington's going to be the guy

for Canada. He's going to be their one. I don't know, probably end up being the three guys. Realistically, San Montembow, Aden Hill. I mean, possibly Logan Thompson can get off to a great start in Washington and push his way onto the team. But sounds like they're pretty committed to those

three players. I'm curious where the young guys come into play with Team Canada, Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini. Do they have a realistic chance of making the team or is it just, we're bringing these guys to be around Crosby, McKinn, and McDavid, and be around

all the best Canadian players and be a part of the program and just see what it's like. You would think like for me McClint Celebrity probably has the better chance I would think. He's a guy. He's got more size than Badaard.

So he's somebody you can play up and down your lineup. He can play lower in the lineup, most likely. And you trust him a little more on the defensive end of things. Stronger player, for sure. So I would think Sellebrini will have an opportunity. But like, Badard's a very intriguing player this year. Like he's someone I can't wait to see what we've got in store for us in his

third year in the league. Yeah. The thing, the trust factor probably on Sellebrini, he's already become such a great 200-foot player. Right. And he's so young. He's really just getting started. And for him to be that responsible, that will bode well for a team like this, especially if he really kind of explodes offensively in the early goings of the season. Just not a lot of room down the middle of the ice.

Right. Like if guys like that are making this team, they're making it as wingers. And so you've got to see how that fits as well. But there's no like on ice sessions, I don't believe, at this camp, which I find to be quite interesting. Well, wasn't that an old Babcock thing where he brought them in? to do the ball hockey just so they could learn the systems and go on to the the ice or the whatever it is floor whatever it was that was an old babs thing probably just get guys together

like talk about what their no goals objectives systems all that all that stuff but i don't know guys play enough hockey man this is the thing that always drives me nuts um with with the nick suzuki conversation when it comes to this team because he hasn't gone over to play for the men's worlds right? And it's like, well, you got to go. You got to show that you're team Canada and that you're all in. Okay, that's fine. But if Nick Suzuki goes out

and gets hurt, the Montreal Canadians are torpedoed. Like, he is everything for that team. And as time goes on, not that he's going to be less for that team, it's just they're going to have more support around him. So they'll be better off. But, like,

you got 82 games. The guy's never missed a game. You got 82 two games to watch him play against Sasha Barkoff and Austin Matthews and Jack Eichael. You know, he's playing hard, you've watched it. You've watched it enough. Yeah, right? Let's call a spade a spade. You got your evaluation in. So I feel like

you don't necessarily have to bring these guys in and do, you know, put them through all the on ice stuff to do some flow drills and rip around on a power play. You'll watch it during the season. That's fair enough. Enough runway. Brandon Montour, who also will also was at the Worlds, who will also be vying for a spot-on team Canada, also going to join us at

630. So a loaded show, Stevie Johnson at 605, former Buffalo Bills wide receiver. That was in my heyday of watching the bills growing up, the fits magic, the Stevie Johnson, the Fred X era of the Buffalo Bills. So it'll be fun to kind of relive that magic to see what Stevie thinks about the bills moving forward. Obviously, it's a team that has Super Bowl aspirations. We'll see if Stevie Johnson thinks that if they can get over the hump this year. But on the other side Jesse Marsh, the manager

and head coach of the Canadian Men's National Soccer team is going to join us with the Canadian team taking on a couple of countries. It was two weeks from now, two friendly. So Jesse Marsh going to join us. That'll be next here on Overdrive, live on TSN 1050

on TSN2 and on YouTube. Overdrive continues on TSN 1050. 50 up on TSN 2 and on YouTube. We'll be joined a couple minutes here by Jesse Marsh, head coach of the Canadian men's national team. It's Mike DeStefano and Frank Corrado filling in for the regulars today. Canada got a couple of games coming up September 5th,

taking on Romania and then Wales on September 9th. So a little international friendly action for Canada. I'm getting pretty psyched for the World Cup. Like I've been watching on TSN, you know, like they got all these features coming out now about the Canadian team. we're just gear it up to it's coming quick it's been uh it's been quite the lead up and we're nowhere near it yet i know right like stevie caldwell's been picking like a team every week based on who's got bad performances good performances well power ranking yeah yeah they're

they're they're getting the power rankings going for sure and so the athletic came out with their um their confidence meter right for all the nchl front offices yeah what's your confidence meter for Jesse Marsh and Team Canada. When it comes to the World Cup? Yeah. Or just like just running a nice successful tournament. A successful program that leads into that tournament. I think

it should be pretty high. It should be. Yeah. Like I mean where soccer Canada is at right now, the way that they've developed a lot of players over the course of the last few years, I mean, they've got to be happy with themselves, right? They've got a number of players who've made them their way overseas playing at some high level

some high level football. as we should call it the duration of this interview, that's for sure. But like Jonathan David's playing on Juventus. That's a huge deal, major club. A major club, right? Like, you've got a lot of guys who have turned into

players. Alistair Johnson's playing overseas right now. Tony's playing in... Ishmael Coney. Yeah, you got promised David who's playing over there now. So you got a lot of guys. Every day on my email, I see something about Syria's soccer.

because NHL players are like teaming up with soccer players or Italian Syria because of the Olympics. Like there's this whole kind of like morphing of the two leading up to it. I think William Nielander is going to represent the Maple Leafs for it. Okay. So a little bit of, I don't know, cross-promotion branding happening between the two. Okay. I never thought I would see the day that.

Willie big soccer guy? I would assume. Big enough. I don't know. I would go Willie, right? But I would go hang out, like, I don't know. hang out Syria stuff. That would be kind of cool. That's true. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you get to go over to Italy and kind of hang out a little bit. Yeah. I think Marsh is chilling Italy right now.

He's a, yeah, he's an Italy guy. Yeah. I think he lives there, maybe. I would love to live in Italian. You got to get your citizenship. Do you have it? No, I don't, but like that's, that's a weird, an interesting thing about Italy, whereas if you have some sort of relative, like a direct relative that is of Italian descent, and is a citizen, and it's pretty easy to get it is it not? You could get it as well. I have it. Oh, you have it.

Yeah, it's, it's just like, why don't you play for Italy? Internationally. Well, you, first of all, the Olympics are this year and I'm retired. I don't play anymore. I think you could still get out there and play. No, not at that level.

You have to, if you're not like a true national, you have to play there for two seasons. Like, you have to live there for 18 months. So you would have to play in the Italian League, or they have three. They ever cross your mind? They have two or three teams

that play in the Austrian, like 100%. That was like the plan. Once you go over to Europe, play a couple of years in a higher league, and then you go over to Italy. You have some cappuccinos and play in Italy for a couple of years and then right off into the sunset after playing the Olympics. Yeah, it would have been nice. I've been out there a couple of times.

What would be incredible, it is on my bucket list is to watch like a city out football match, like go to Milan or something and see like Inter-Racie Milan play game. Go to Juvei. watch a Juventus game. And you've got to do an Italian cruise. Napoli. Oh, I've done that. Oh, you've done it. Oh, yeah. I've done that. I didn't know. I thought you were just strictly Caribbean. Now, no, no. I'll go out and it's a great way to explore the country because I've been able to go, I think there was a stop in Genoa, stop in Napoli, there's a stop in Chattaveccia.

Did you do a power rankings based on all the different places that you stopped? In Italy, specifically. Was that something that ever crossed your mind? That would have, that would have been good content for the show. Yeah, I probably could have. I probably could have. There's a lot of great spots in Italy. That's for sure. I'm sure the guy in the line right now could tell us a couple of good spots in Italy.

And I'll tell you what? He'll tell you this firsthand, no cappuccino in the afternoon. No, absolutely not. That's a big no-no in that country. Jesse Marsh, head coach of the Canadian men's national team. Joining us now on overdrides. How's it going, Jesse? Good, man.

You guys are talking a little Italy. Oh, yeah, we could spend some time talking about olive oil and coffee. Yeah, we could have a good time. Oh, absolutely. I mean, both of us are our fellow pizons. You know, we've both spent some time in Italy, and I know that you're down there right now. Like, what's it like?

Great. We just had a huge storm, which is a little unusual in the summer, but I live in Tuscany. Great, great area. Love it. I love it. You know, I actually, to speak to you guys, I had to leave dinner because dinner starts here at, like,

So I had to leave, like, after the Apperativo and come and just come back and say hi to you guys. So all good, man, but nice to talk to you guys. Can you put it into perspective, you know, if you're just like a casual soccer fan, you would know Juventus, but to have a Canadian player playing on that team, just kind of put that into perspective for us. And of course, we're talking about Jonathan David, who's now a member of Juventus. I mean, I always kind of describe that in Italy, every area. has their own like local teams right and and usually that's your team you root for but if you don't

like your local local team or if you're not close enough to one of those teams then your team is eventus and almost always your second team is eventus right so where i live here uh the the restaurant that i was at tonight if you walk 10 minutes down the road the all there's 70 year old men that hang out there all day long and they just sit and they smoke cigarettes and they drink coffee and And they talk about Juventus all day long, all the time. And I didn't know that they knew who I was or what my job is or anything like that. And when Jonathan signed for Juventus, I drove by one day and they, like, stopped the car in the middle of the street. And they were like, hey, like, tell us, you know, in Italian.

They're like, tell us about Jonathan David. Like, is he going to be good? Like, what? That's amazing. I said, don't worry. You will not be disappointed. You will not be disappointed. That's amazing to hear that they're just as jacked up as we are out in Italy.

about Jonathan David in Juventus, but he's not the only one that's made his way overseas. You know, I think it really speaks to the development, you know, of Canadian soccer players. There's a good number of them now over there. Like, how big is it for you guys as the men's national team to have, you know, the players, a lot of them, playing against some of the top tier talent around the world?

Yeah, there's no question. This is the best player pool in the history. of the Canadian national team. And the timing couldn't be better, obviously, with the World Cup around the corner. And, you know, it's a pleasure to watch these guys. They're all playing at big clubs. They're all being challenged in big ways,

which I think is a big part of, like, developing as a person and as a players, is them being put in environments that are very, very challenging and where the levels are very, very high. So they're gathering confidence. I think they're gathering in savviness and intelligence. and they understand now what world football really looks like

and what it requires to be successful on the biggest stages. All these things are clearly going to be massively helpful for us once we get to the next summer and once we get playing the World Cup at home. So Canada on the men's side is now ranked 28th in the world, and I'm sure you and your staff would love to take that ranking even higher. You know, how is the preparation going, you know, just under a year away from the World Cup

when it comes to, you know, anything or you're trying to implement with the group or evaluations, like how is that process, you know, this far out? Yeah, look, I think the FIFA ranking is, you know, it's a good thing and it's obviously something that gives the group confidence, but that's certainly not our end goal. Our end goal is all about how much can we prepare and understand what the games are going to look like,

and feel like when we play at home next summer. And so, you know, there's a lot of little things. We've been able to broaden our player pool. We have a lot younger players now, I think, that are developing into the national team, which I think is a very good development. And then, you know, in the end, where I'm at right now with this team is I think a lot of things are in place. And obviously, it's about levels and how much can we push the overall level at which we play.

But a big part is, is I'm challenging the big players in the team. team to understand what real leadership looks like, how to manage things on the pitch, how to be better communicators, more vocal, how to really take over the team, right? Because I say a lot of times, like, I'm an American coaching the Canadian national team. They're Canadians, not me, it's their team. I'm just here to help them be at their best. And the more that they can really understand what it is to be in the big moments, how to take things over, how to handle the toughest moments, then that will help us dictate exactly how successful we can be. So it's a pleasure.

They're in for it. They're up for it. They love it. They love playing for the Canadian national team. They're incredible patriotic and they understand how important this moment in time is. And it's really a pleasure to be their coach. With Jesse Marsh, head coach, the Canadian men's national team, I mean, Fonzie and David are clearly the two biggest names on the team.

But who else, you know, are you hoping or that you've seen develop over the course the last few years since we've seen them perform at the last World Cup? I have taken positive steps that you're excited for in 2026. Well, I think there's a lot of guys to talk about. But Stefan Astakio and Alistair Johnston, and by the way, Alistair just got stretched it off in his game with Celtic. And so he might have a hamstring injury. That might keep him out a couple of months. So we'll keep our fingers crossed on that. But certainly those two guys are major contributors to everything we do.

Kyle Laren's been a mainstay of the national team for so many years. There's been some good developments in some of the attacking midfield positions with guys like Ali Ahmed, Tation Buchanan, Jacob Schaulberg. The goalkeeper, I think, is a real battle between Dane St. Clair and Maxime Kropos. But I really think that one of the guys that's a big key to the overall development of the entire group, as Moyes-Bompito. And he's really a talented centerback. He had a great year at Nice last year.

And I just actually met with him about a week ago in Nice just to talk about how he's recovering from his injury and how he's developing. And I met with his club and talked about him there. And I just think he's a big key to how we play, to the way we play, to the confidence we have, to how we defend. Like, he's a big personality and a big player,

and I think he's going to be a massive contributor come next summer. In regards to Alfonso Davies, how is his injury rehab going and when do you expect him back playing with the national team? Yeah, we've been in contact and I think, you know, things are going well for him. And that doesn't surprise me because he's just such a physical specimen. And it was obviously devastating for all of us when he got injured, but he's about five, you know, five. months into his recovery now. He's starting to run on the pitch. He's feeling really good with everything that all the responses and all the measurements and all the scans have gone really well. Hopefully he'll be back in training in the next month, month and a half. And then we're kind of looking

forward to November as the time that he can be back with us and be back on the pitch with Byron as well. So the last time we saw you guys on the pitch, it was the loss to Guatemala and the penalty kicks at the Gold Cup. What did you learn about your team? uh that you could take and move forward into this uh upcoming duel of friendlies in a couple of weeks yeah we were i mean look we were massively disappointed by by the gold cup in general because we had big hopes um you know but i i also knew that the the the makeup of the team was that we were challenging more players to start to integrate themselves into the group and and And without some big leaders like Alfonso Davies, like Steph Vastakio, like Moise Bumboito,

like there was also the onus on others to start to step up and take things over. And a lot of them did. And, you know, we want to get a little bit of a strange double yellow card with Shaffelberg, which gave them a red and took them out of the game. And then, you know, we wind up going to penalties. And even in the penalty, it was like an entire match in itself because it was up and down. looked like we were up a gold and down a gold, up a gold and down a gold, and somehow we get knocked out. But I think still our understanding of who we are, our understanding of what

we want to become, our understanding of how to continue to develop more players into the national team continues to grow and develop. And I think in some ways, you know, it would have been great to win a cup and build confidence into the group in all ways about what we can achieve next summer, but it was also a little bit of a reality check for me. You know, I mean, to know that if we don't show up on any given day, you can get punished by anybody. So, look, that being said, you guys mentioned it, we're 28th in the world. In the last calendar year, we lost one match.

Like, this team is clearly still strong and in a good way, and we're very optimistic about everything and the possibilities of what we can become. But the key is to stay hungry, right? to really stay grounded and hungry in every moment to make sure that we can be at our best. So when it comes to being at your best, have you guys, like, or have you noticed that countries and teams, they look at Canada a little differently now? Like, it's like, they got a lot of skill, they got a lot of talent. Like, this is not just a throwaway game anymore.

These guys, they're for real. Is that part of it, like the changing perception from other countries? Yeah, I mean, I think that even when we've been talking about, the kind of friendlies that we can create, there's a lot more big countries that are interested in playing us now because they understand that the challenge is real. And, you know, I mean, that we don't even, I think we know that, you know, we don't even need the exterior motivation or confirmation that we're moving forward. We know that.

And the biggest expectations, as much as the country I think is going to light on fire next summer, and once the World Cup arrives, it's going to be so massive. The biggest expectations are the ones that we've put on ourselves. And we know we're a good team. We know it's going to require us to be at our best.

I like to say, like, you know, the U.S. national team, I think, is a team that I know well being an American, but that a lot of people in North America know. And I think that has been very successful in a lot of World Cups. And I believe total in the history of the World Cup that the U.S. only has seven wins.

Like, it is really hard to win at the World Cup. Every country in the world is putting all the amount of energy they have and trying to represent their country at the highest level. And games don't come cheaply, right? So we have to understand that the ability to be resilient, the ability to be at our best when it's difficult, the ability for us to handle really good opponents that are really well prepared with great players and great coaches.

Like, we have to understand that a lot of the X factor for what, we can achieve is being at home, being totally unified, and being totally clear with exactly who we are and what we want to be. I don't know if you get TSN out there in Tuscany, but our buddy, Stevie Caldwell here, our co-worker, has been doing a roster prediction, his starting 11, every single week. He's got players moving in and out. Have you been following this? Do you know what Stevie's got cooking?

I see some things here and there, you know, and like, I see Steve reacting to, some matches, some games that guys are having with their clubs, some comments that I'm making in the press. I could, I could, yeah, I think by just making one or two comments, I could alter Steve's starting lineup any time. But I think more than anything, I think it's great that the country is really alert, right, to the fact that this is going to be a really big deal. And all the attention that we can gather.

all the momentum. From the beginning, I've wanted to create a movement, right, and a movement about these players, because the country should be really proud of these guys. These are really talented players. These are really good people. They're really hardworking. They care about the right things. They're family people. They want to represent the country. Like, in all ways, this team just represents Canada in all the best ways. And we no doubt want to make everyone proud next summer. Jesse, we really appreciate you taking the time to do this, you know, leaving away, leaving your, what was on the dinner menu, by the way, tonight? Well, we have Tordali here, which is like a little meat in Luka. So I live in Tuscany and Luka, and near Pisa

and Luca, and they have like a meat ravioli with like a bolognaz, a ragu. And so I've gone to this local restaurant, I'd say like maybe 75 times, and I think 74 times I ordered Tordelli. Amazing. They know when I come in, a Tordelli and the local red wine and I'm good. I'm ready to go. And then a little grapah to wash it down, right? Maybe a little Dijistivo or a little grappa.

We won't tell anyone. Very much better. All right, Jesse, really appreciate the time. Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires, bonacieira, bonaciella, good sonata, grati, me,le. Ciao. Ciao.

Ciao, chao, chao. Jesse Marsh, head coach of the Canadian men's national team. Yeah, Stevie Caldwell is going to do a full breakdown of that interview and find out. And so I'm curious, the next time he does his starting 11, does that interview alter anything? Yeah, we'll see. Very well could. Yeah, I mean, he's got to do it every week, so anything can change it.

Yeah. You can't look the same every single week, can it? Well, no, I mean, I will, I can if it's looking the same. I guess. Could you imagine going up? It's like, what do you, what are you thinking about this week? any changes? Nope. All right. Moving on. Yeah. Probably got a fill

about five or six minutes. Probably got a couple minutes to go. But yeah, it sounds like Jesse's really excited about the group and how things are coming along as we lead up to 2026. Got me fired up for it. That's for sure. So yeah, a couple of friendlies for Canada in the coming weeks. They've got Romania

coming up on, I think, the second of September and then another one against Wales as well. So definitely we'll be tuning in to watch those matches. Doug Armstrong, still to join us in the 5 o'clock hour as well as Jason Grilly, Stevie Johnson, and Brandon Montour. Jam-packed show today. You listen to Overdrive on TSN 1050, TSN2, and on YouTube Live. Overdrive is brought to you by Fandul, bringing you

everything from the opening line to the final score. Mike DiStefano filling in for Brian Hayes, Frank Karato, in with me today. And we're down to the final four in the worst Toronto sports trades bracket the last quarter century and looks like Andrew Raycroft has moved on so we got Raycroft to the Leafs for Tuka Rask and then the Cadry trade that's going to be a tough one to decipher Razor and Cadry as a semi-final a semi-final matchup here I feel like that could have been a final matchup that should be the final it should be the other side of the bracket it's Falino, the Falino trade, and Vince Carter to the... That's Carter by Jersey Nets.

Don't even talk to me about Felino being worse than Vince Carter. I agree with you. I'm surprised. Carter's going through. It's the other one I'm surprised about. Yeah, Falino beat Grabner. Which also is kind of surprising. Well, the team wasn't really on the precipice of like doing anything when Grabner got to

the Leafs. It's more about who went the other one. 100% it's what you gave up right that's that's that's what it is when you look at that one but the right craft cadre one like which one which one's getting your vote i think i love razor i do like work with him yeah at times but i do think it's going to be that trade because it's just been such as like tarnish legacy trade for such a yeah for such a long time right and yeah they've gone such a long time without a goalie and it was tuka rask and it was justin pogey and they chose Pogi and Rask went on to, you know, put together an unbelievable career.

Yeah, it didn't turn out too, too well for the, for the Maple Leafs on that one. On the other side, the Jays traded for Jason Greeley back in the day. He was not on this list, but he'll be on overdrive next. TSM Plus is taking game day to a whole new level with NFL Red Zone. Absolutely incredible! Subscribe now for every touchdown from every game, every Sunday afternoon. Available on TSM Plus Unmistakably Canadian

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