Jesse Marsch career, clubs, tactics, and record: Is he the right coach to guide Canada into Copa America 2024 knockouts?

Canada swooped in to sign American coach Jesse Marsch to lead Les Rouges into the 2024 Copa America, where they face a daunting challenge right from the beginning.

Drawn into the same group as defending Copa America and World Cup champions Argentina, Canada will contest the opening match of the tournament against the Albiceleste before attempting to secure knockout-stage qualification in games against Peru and Chile.

Whether or not they qualify for the knockouts or fall short, it seems Marsch will be tasked with the national-team job moving forward into the 2026 World Cup on home soil. It's a big task, but not one without significant upside as Canada have enjoyed strong growth in recent years, using an injection of quality young talent to secure passage to the 2022 World Cup, their first spot in the FIFA tournament in over 30 years.

The Sporting News details where Marsch's career has taken him up to this point, and what he can bring to Canada in the Copa America and beyond.

MORE: Canada's full Copa America roster for tournament in USA

Jesse Marsch career: Which clubs has he managed?

Hailing from the American state of Wisconsin, Jesse Marsch enjoyed a 17-year playing career in the United States, beginning with four years in college at Princeton from 1992-95 and culminating in three MLS Cup titles. His professional days started with D.C. United where his Princeton head coach Bob Bradley was now an assistant, but he was acquired just a year later by the Chicago Fire in the MLS expansion draft. He would make over 200 appearances in seven years before moving to Chivas USA for 2006 where he would again link up with Bradley, playing in over 100 games before retiring in 2009.

His managerial career began shortly thereafter, joining the U.S. national team as an assistant in 2010 where again he was brought in by Bradley, who had begun as USMNT head coach in late 2006. Just two years later he got his first head coaching job at MLS side Montreal Impact, but he would depart after just one season due to "differences in coaching philosophies."

Marsch would be out of management for three years until being hired by the New York Red Bulls, an appointment which would define his coaching career. He would spend three and a half seasons as RBNY boss, amassing the most wins of any coach in club history before departing to become an assistant at German side RB Leipzig, a club under the same Red Bull ownership group.

A year later, he would be unveiled as head coach of another Red Bull club, RB Salzburg in Austria, where he would take charge for two seasons, winning the Austrian league and cup double both times. He was brought back to Germany as head coach of RB Leipzig in 2021 to replace Julian Nagelsmann but lasted just half a season before it went awry, leading to a mutual termination of his contract in December.

Marsch would have another rocky stint as manager of Leeds United, appointed in February of 2022 but lasting just one calendar year. He was let go in early February of 2023 with the club sitting 17th in the Premier League table.

He would wait over a year before accepting his next appointment, beginning a broadcast career with CBS coverage in the United States. He was reportedly a candidate for the USMNT job before Gregg Berhalter was rehired in November of 2023, and would eventually sign on as head coach of the Canadian national team in May of 2024.

MORE: Why the 2024 Copa America could be the last chance for Gregg Berhalter to show UMSNT growth

Jesse Marsch tactics, style of play

As stated above, Marsch's hire into the Red Bull family with their MLS side in 2015 would define his coaching career. Red Bull clubs deploy a distinct style, which is pervasive throughout their global network and aligned with their coaching staff to allow for freedom of movement between clubs and leagues without much change.

All Red Bull clubs employ a midfield-heavy, high pressing style that is to the extreme, which Marsch has utilized at each of his stops, both within the Red Bull system as well as the likes of Leeds and Canada.

His tactical style is defined mostly by their out-of-possession approach, playing quite passively until the opponent falls into a pre-determined "trigger" at which point his teams spring their press high and hard. This begins with the forwards looking to push opposition defenders to play the ball out wide, at which point the wingers will push with intensity to win the ball immediately in a high area.

Unlike other counter-pressing coaches, however, Marsch prefers to overload the central areas of the pitch instead of out wide, and he asks his team to funnel the ball through the middle as they win it back. If they lose possession, he looks to spring an immediate counter-press before the opposition can then filter it back out wide.

This attempt to trap the opposition in areas high up the pitch comes with considerable risk, as if the opponent manages to play out of the pressure, or they break the midfield with long balls or switches, it leaves significant space for them to attack. It also requires a significant amount of high-intensity running, which can become tiresome as the match drags on.

Jesse Marsch a good fit for Canada, but not international soccer

The hire of Marsch at Canada, in a vacuum, is a very good fit for the players at his disposal, but in reality he will be working against a lot of external factors that could cause him to struggle, especially at the beginning with the upcoming Copa America.

Canada have a squad that has improved its level of talent immensely over the past decade but still struggles for depth. The stars in the squad like Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David fit Marsch's tactics extremely well. Davies is a natural wing-back who has improved his defensive capabilities in recent years but remains a pacey, attack-first player who is highly proficient in front of goal. His combinations with David and Cyle Larin, especially cutting inside to central areas, align with the way Marsch likes to attack.

Unfortunately, the depth within the Canada squad hasn't quite followed suit, which is understandable in the early stages of their growth cycle. His high-pressing style will tire his squad out as matches roll along — that's fine if you have players on the bench to replace those tired legs, but in this squad, the options are extremely limited.

His high-pressing, high-risk approach is also a potential disaster on the international stage. Because these coaches have precious little time with players, limited to just a few weeks a year in FIFA international windows, they often opt for simpler methods that don't always result in exciting, high-intensity matches. The best example of this is France in the 2018 World Cup, where Didier Deschamps was criticized heavily throughout the tournament for his drab style of play amidst an immensely talented attacking unit, all the way up until they won the trophy.

Amidst an international football universe that employs simple tactics that players can grasp quickly in their short time together, Marsch will have almost no time to implement his more complicated pressing system before the start of the Copa America, and Canada could be exposed as a result, especially in the second half of matches where accuracy becomes even more key amidst fatigue.

What happened to Jesse Marsch at Leeds?

Marsch was out of a job just a year into his Premier League managerial stint, which is simultaneously hard to argue and also hard to grasp.

When he departed in early February of 2023, Leeds sat 17th in the Premier League table, very much in the relegation battle. In a results-oriented business, Marsch simply didn't achieve the necessary benchmarks to remain in charge.

Yet at the same time, the dismissal felt extremely harsh as a number of mitigating factors indicated there could be a regression to the mean with more time. First off, young goalkeeper Illan Meslier had a truly horrific season, with Leeds sporting an astonishing -12.9 differential between expected goals against and actual goals conceded, second-worst in the league. Adding to that were a number of key injuries to important players within the squad, including vital defensive midfielder Tyler Adams, who was statistically the best pressing midfielder in the entire EPL and essential to Marsch's style of play.

Jesse Marsch gives an in-depth analysis on Leeds United's playing style and how it was performed and executed in training ⚽ pic.twitter.com/YCMtjNAYUP

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 19, 2024

Finally, the timing of the dismissal was baffling considering that Marsch had been in charge through the entirety of the January transfer window, even playing a major role in securing a loan deal for American midfielder Weston McKennie from Juventus plus a big-money acquisition of RB Salzburg defender Max Wober, with whom Marsch was familiar from his time in the Red Bull system. Then, just days after spending significant cash to add pieces that would fit Marsch's tactical system, they decided to part ways.

While it's hard to argue with the sacking of Marsch at Leeds on a surface level, a quick dive into the nuances of his position makes it a baffling decision, and one that unsurprisingly failed to keep Leeds afloat in the Premier League by the end of the season.

Jesse Marsch managerial statistics, win percentage

Marsch has won almost exactly half his matches across the five clubs in his coaching career. It began with a rocky start at Montreal, but his second MLS job provided significant improvement as his 75 wins with the New York Red Bulls remain the most of any coach in club history.

His next stop at RB Salzburg was even more fruitful, winning nearly two thirds of his matches with the Austrian club, including five Champions League victories between qualifying and the group stage. From there, however, the performances dipped as he saw two different stints with RB Leipzig and Leeds United cut short before his playing style could truly be grasped.