Jesse Marsch will face his home nation on Tuesday when Canada meet the United States in Saint Paul, and the fixture has given the Canada head coach fresh reason to reflect on the two countries he straddles.
Speaking in Montreal, in a glass-panelled hotel mezzanine at the foot of Mount Royal, Marsch said that when this extended autumnal international window ends he will decamp to Italy, where the olive crop at his Tuscan villa is ready for reaping. The more consequential traffic is running the other way. As Canada’s relations with the noisiest neighbour to the south stretch and fray, prime minister Mark Carney is forging alliances with the EU so close that the bloc is apparently inventing new membership categories.
As an American residing in Europe who is also a Canadian leader with robust approval ratings, Marsch likes what he sees. “I’ve always thought Canada was a little bit more European than the US anyway. Right?” he said. “But certainly now there’s enough happening politically and economically that you would say, we’re looking much more like that. There’s talk of [Canada becoming an associate EU member] even actually happening. I like that aspect.”
He added: “There’s a uniqueness to Canada in terms of how truly multiethnic this country has become. You can see that Canada is not just a North American country any more, you know? That bodes well for our sport and for the makeup of our team, the makeup of our fans.”
Marsch’s own stock is high. He led Canada to historic highs at this summer’s World Cup, a last-16 exit, and has since extended his deal by four more years, leaving an overwhelming majority of Canadians happy to have him at the helm. Some of his sideline displays may have irked outsiders, especially in his homeland, but at home the mood is different, and he sees a good deal of himself in the prime minister.
“My impression is that first of all, he is a really smart guy, but a really normal guy,” Marsch said of Carney, who attended a number of Canada’s World Cup matches. “Sometimes you meet a US president, and you’re overwhelmed, maybe by their presence, the position itself. I’ve met Clinton, George Bush Sr, Obama, Trump, Biden. Oh, and Carter. Six in person. Carney, compared to all of them, the closest would be Obama. A real air of intelligence, but a real air of being a regular guy. I think that that’s perfect for this country and this moment.”
The two men have traded football loyalties as well as political notes. Marsch recalled joking with Carney about his support for Everton: “I said, ‘I appreciate that you don’t switch from Everton to Arsenal or Liverpool, like everybody else.’ There’s something so genuine about that. Could a president of the US ever be an Everton fan? No chance.”
Circumstances, as much as instinct, have pushed Marsch into a statesman’s role during the prolonged cooling between Canada and his home country. He has been defiant in the face of Donald Trump’s “51st state” barbs, then more deft; he finds it harder to disguise his disdain when the subject turns to the US Soccer Federation, which he said led him on with a job offer only to renege.
This window marks the start of the next phase of his Canada project. Marsch admits, with a chuckle, that the four years stretching ahead feel long, but the goals are immediate: a first trophy in 25 years, and cracking and consolidating inside the world’s top 24. Results so far have been solid. Canada beat Chile in Toronto and Peru 2-0 in Montreal on Saturday afternoon in games billed as The Homecoming. New caps were handed out, key players arrived thriving in new surroundings — none more so than Jonathan David at Atlético Madrid — and extended injury absences plus the awkward non-attendance of captain Alphonso Davies, who skipped the window to honeymoon, were overcome.
Tuesday’s match in Saint Paul will bring more American questions, and the Folarin Balogun affair felt tailor-made for a Marschian verdict. “Well, this is a deep conversation,” he said, leaning back. “We, as Americans, have been inundated with propaganda since we were young. We’re the No 1 country in the world, we deserve everything, we dominate everything, No 1 in every aspect of life. This is what we’ve been told. So, when things happen and we don’t feel like we’re in control of it … we feel like we deserve to be treated differently because we’re Americans. That is one of the things that infuriates the rest of the world about Americans. And Americans don’t know that if they don’t ever leave the country.
“So what I feel when the Balogun ruling happens is that would never happen in any other country in the world, and this is why everyone around the world hates America. That was proven to be so. The US had had a good World Cup, was doing well. All that switched in one moment. But do I think that that’s about corruption and unfairness? The problem is, football is inundated with this kind of stuff.”
Another World Cup leftover is the meme. Marsch’s gyrations on the touchline during the match against Qatar spawned a gif that has been used plenty in the Marsch family WhatsApp since. “I’ve had all kinds of people ask me what it was, was it a meat slicer?” he said. “I don’t know what I’m doing sometimes. As soon as I’ve done it, I’m like: ‘Why did I do that? I’m such an idiot.’”
He is not inclined to extend the same indulgence to Manchester City. Defeats to City in 2022-23 did not help the Leeds United side he managed when they missed safety by five points, and although that campaign is not among the “sham” seasons named in the damning verdict against City last week, Marsch is adamant the unfairness reached his time in England.
“I think Man City should be punished severely. I think they should have to go down, and by the way, everyone knew about it. Everyone knew,” said Marsch, who also pointed to Everton and Nottingham Forest later being deducted points for issues in the same season when Leeds were relegated below both.
“That summer [2022], us and Man City were the only teams that said we made money. For us, we did make money, because we sold Raphinha, we sold Kalvin Phillips [to City]. We had a lot left over from what we bought. At the time, we weren’t in a position financially to not save. Our ownership didn’t have deep pockets. Whereas when Man City says this, I was literally like, ‘Are you kidding me? Is this some kind of joke?’
“When they said they got Erling Haaland for £52m, it’s like: ‘Yeah, OK, sure!’ So, I knew there were inconsistencies in it, but what can you do? You just put your arms in the air and go, ‘This is football.’”