Alphonso Davies is ready to step up as a leader for CanMNT under Jesse Marsch: "He challenged me... to get out of my comfort zone"

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It’s set to be one of the biggest stretches of games in CanMNT history. 

Arguably, other than their two appearances at the World Cup in 1986 and 2022, it’s hard to think of what else tops what awaits them this month, as they get set for a pair of friendlies against the Netherlands and France early in June, as well as the Copa América group stages against Argentina, Peru and Chile later in the month. 

Safe to say, it’s a big task for new head coach Jesse Marsch as he gets set for his first few games in charge of this Canadian team after his hiring last month. 

At the same time, while Marsch faces a big challenge as he tries to implement his style of play while navigating a tough fixture list, he knows that he doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel, either. As he mentioned in his first press conference as CanMNT coach, he has a player pool filled with the sort of profiles that should do well in his high-pressing, vertical ‘Red Bull’ system he is known for. 

"I like to play the game in transition, I like to be dynamic, I like to impose our will upon the opponent and in all phases of the game," Marsch said when he was hired. "And I think that this player pool has the athleticism, the intelligence and football quality, and that combination of intelligence and athleticism will provide us with an opportunity to be able to compete against the best teams in the world."

And there may be no better player to fit in this system than Alphonso Davies, whose status on this Canadian team is well known, sitting as one of its most important players. As Davies goes, so does this Canadian side, who often follow the lead of their talented 23-year-old, a reflection of what he’s accomplished since joining Bayern Munich in 2018, having blossomed into one of the best players in the world since.

What a GOLAZO here from Alphonso Davies, who has scored a MASSIVE goal for Bayern Munich to give them the lead in the 2nd leg of their #UCL SF vs Real Madrid

Against Davies's potential future club, what a way to open his #UCL account#CanMNTpic.twitter.com/g2WnNqMLpD

— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) May 8, 2024

Because of that, it’s been intriguing to see how Marsch would approach working with Davies. Certainly, it was expected that Davies could fit quite nicely in his new coach’s system, but how would their personalities gel? Could Marsch come in and challenge Davies to take another step for Canada, becoming a key leader on and off the pitch for this team? 

Especially after the last year, where Davies’s form dipped at times for Canada as he often took too much on his shoulders and tried to do too much on the pitch, it was an important talking point with Marsch’s hiring - could he get Davies to buy in?

From what it sounds like, the pair have gotten off to a great start, however. When asked this week about how it’s been to work with his new boss, Davies noted that his Marsch quickly challenged him on what he can bring to the team on the pitch and how he could operate off it, too, something he’s embraced. 

“Yeah. I'll start with on the pitch, he came in with a different idea of how we should play,” Davies explained. “Obviously if a different coach comes in and he has different ideas, that's a challenge in itself, but then he just challenged me to see how many sprints I can do in a game, and simplifying my game when I tuck in, but off the pitch, yeah, he challenged me.”

“He asked me questions, some difficult questions that I don’t think of every day, and it was a challenge with those questions, it put me in a position where I'm not really comfortable, but I know that’s a part of life, you have to go and rise to the occasion, and I’m definitely willing to do that and learn from him, and not just him, but from the boys on the team as well.”

And that last point is key. No doubt that Davies will need to be at his best on the pitch for Canada if they’re to win games this summer and going forward as they prepare to co-host the 2026 World Cup, making it intriguing to see Marsch challenge Davies to keep things simple and do what he does best out there. 

But while on-field performance will be his main priority, what he had to say about the leadership was just as interesting, too, and is also something to watch.

Having spent most of his CanMNT career up to this point as one of the younger players in this team (and he still is, sitting as the third-youngest player in Canada’s latest squad after Luc De Fougerolles and Ismaël Koné), he hasn’t had to assume much of a leadership role over the years. 

How Jesse Marsch has challenged Alphonso Davies, both on and off the pitch for the #CanMNT 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/PEn98k2VWG

— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 5, 2024

Especially with the presence of leaders such as Atiba Hutchinson, Milan Borjan and Steven Vitória, who often wore the captain’s armband the past few years, that’s taken some of the leadership responsibilities away from Davies, even as he quietly became one of the team’s most experienced players in that span. 

Now, however, it appears he’s ready to step up as a leader. He hinted at that in March, when he revealed that he asked interim head coach Mauro Biello to be considered as captain for Canada’s Copa América qualifier that camp, and he didn’t back down on that notion this week. 

And on the other side, Marsch is eager to see Davies step up and take that responsibility head-on, as well, finding a way to push and become a leader. It might not mean wearing the armband right away, even if Marsch asked Davies what that might mean to him, but it can be as simple as being more vocal, for example. 

Alphonso Davies opens his 23/24 account🔥

Quite the week for Davies, as after being dropped in midweek, he’s bounced back to earn a start today, scoring his 1st of the season with a right-foot banger

Nice to see as he’s been shooting more lately#CanMNTpic.twitter.com/n27OIfj5tX

— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) January 27, 2024

Those are just a few of the things that Marsch challenged him to look at this week, forcing Davies out of his comfort zone, and he’s welcomed that opportunity to do so, as he explained when asked. 

“The first time we met each other, he asked me two or three times: ‘What does it mean to be a Canadian?’. The first time, I told him my answer. But then he really asked me to sit down and think about it,” Davies continued. “And yeah, he asked questions like that, and then asked if he were to put me in a situation to wear the armband, how would I carry myself? Those aren’t questions that I get every day. I’ll bring my experience on the pitch and be more vocal, especially off the pitch, he told me about doing the team speeches, and I'm usually not the one that does the team speeches, I just say: ‘Let’s go boys’, but he challenged me in that way to get out of my comfort zone, for sure.

And for what it’s worth, Marsch seems pleased with how Davies has responded to the challenge on his end, too, as he had nothing but praise for how he’s stepped up this camp so far. 

“Yeah, I would speak more about Alphonso’s personality,” Marsch said of Davies. “Because we've been around each other and have played against each other a lot over the years, and after matches have always said hello, but now we've had a chance to be around each other more, to have good conversations about life, careers, the team and where we want to go, and I've been really impressed. He obviously has had some big experiences in his life and his career, and it all added up and means that he now has more to him than when I saw him in MLS or even over the last few years when I saw him at Bayern.”

“Moving forward with the National Team, what I’m challenging him to do now is to be a good leader, not just a great player, but be a good leader in this team, and be someone who takes care of the group and knows how to keep everyone on track. He’s always been a good leader by example, but it’s also about finding the right way to have the right kinds of conversations with players, both new and experienced, and he's done a good job of that.”

“I think you can see that he's excited about the future of this team and the possibilities, and I think he wants to be a big part of the leadership (group) moving into 2026.”

Because of that, look for Davies to embrace his new role going forward. 

Certainly, a lot will be made of where he ends up on the pitch, which looks to be as a winger for this camp when reading between the lines, as well as how he plays in that role, but it’ll be intriguing to see how he can step up and become a leader, too. 

There’s no doubt that his ability on both sides of the ball can be a key asset to this team, especially with how Marsch wants to play, but his leadership can also go a long way as this side looks to take that next step as a group. 

Alphonso Davies is finishing off his 23/24 season on a high note for Bayern Munich,
scoring in their season finale vs Hoffenheim with a tidy finish

He’s now got 3G/6A in 23/24, as he looks to enter the Copa América on a bit of a scoring run#CanMNT
pic.twitter.com/NpXqrc5nx4

— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) May 18, 2024

For a team that is still looking to prove that they can go up against top teams and win, they’ve got growth still to come in their ranks and the leadership of someone like Davies, who has played and thrived against top players in big games for Bayern, can be immensely valuable as they tackle the big games that await them this summer. 

Excited for this opportunity to take that next step under their new coach, they understand how important this next stretch is for them to do that, and it looks like Davies is eager to help lead the way as they get set to navigate it, starting with their friendly against the Netherlands on Saturday.

“Everyone's buzzing about these two games and the competitions that are coming up, the conversation in the locker room is that we’re all excited, but we know it's a big step for us,” Davies finished. “We know that we have to come out here and perform. This is the first time (for this group) that we're playing a European team outside of the World Cup, so we're going to see how we face off against them.”

“They're a great team, one of the best in Europe, and we’re going to see how we match up against them.”