Former Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch was defeated 2-0 by Argentina in his first competitive match in charge of Canada at the Copa America.
Marsch’s side were taking part in the curtain raiser for this summer’s tournament held in the United States, and could not have been tasked with a more difficult opponent.
Canada were coming up against both the Copa America and World Cup champions but certainly did not disgrace themselves, having actually gone into the break level, before second half goals from Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez.
This is the first match Canada have actually ever played in this tournament and so Marsch, back in his native homeland of the States, was making history in leading his new side out.
Until his appointment last month, Marsch had been out of a job ever since his sacking from Leeds in February 2023, with Canada’s press release certainly containing some interesting comments regarding his time at Elland Road.
Canadian media deliver verdict on Marsch tactics vs Argentina
In preparation for facing the world’s best international side, Marsch’s Canada faced friendlies against both Netherlands and France earlier this month.
Canada were also scoreless in both of those matches, but actually managed to pick up an impressive 0-0 draw away at the latter after a disappointing 4-0 defeat to Netherlands.
And despite being winless so far, the Canadian media have actually been very positive on the impact Marsch has had in his three matches.
Marsch has been praised for the tactics in which he implemented across both friendlies, marking their second half collapse against the Dutch down to simply running ‘out of gas’.
Writing after last night’s game, Canadian outlet SportsNet believe Marsch approached the game with Argentina perfectly from a tactical point of view, timing their ‘pressing actions to perfection’, and managing to keep Lionel Messi rather quiet.
They wrote: “The early signs under Marsch, a 50-year-old Wisconsin native and a former MLS coach of the year, are promising and offer hope for a team that had taken a backwards step since qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar…
“He took a similar approach [tactically] against Argentina [as against Netherlands and France], opting for a more pragmatic style that saw Canada time its pressing actions to perfection to create a number of chances on the counter attack, rather than returning to the high-intensity game that only worked for 45 minutes against the Dutch.
“Canada’s mid-defensive block thwarted Argentina for long stretches, forcing the South Americans to play around them, rather than trying to go through them.
“This ended up limiting Messi’s influence on the night – he had a hand in setting up both goals, but he had a relatively quiet first half and didn’t run roughshod through the Canadian defence like so many pundits expected.”
Marsch now set for big test of credentials vs Chile and Peru
During Marsch’s time in charge of Leeds, the most success he had was actually up against some of the Premier League’s stronger teams, where they did not have much possession.
After a summer of buying the players he wanted in his team, he oversaw wins against both Chelsea and Liverpool. However, it was the games against the lesser sides that let him down.
Marsch is clearly very good at coaching his side when it comes to out of possession, but Leeds’ problem was more in possession, when they weren’t winning the ball high up the pitch. His tactics are said to have left former owner Andrea Radrizzani confused.
Canada will come up against Chile and Peru in their two remaining group matches, both of whom they are considerably more evenly matched with than Argentina.
Marsch’s side are therefore likely to see much more of the ball, and it will be interesting to see if in the 15 months since his Leeds exit, if he has improved in that regard.