'Coach has that chip on his shoulder' – Herculez Gomez praises Canada's Jesse Marsch for stronger team buy-in than Mauricio Pochettino’s USMNT

With the U.S. unable to field their strongest squad - several key players, including Christian Pulisic, withdrew from the Gold Cup - former USMNT striker Herculez Gomez drew a comparison to Jesse Marsch’s Canada. The Canadian manager subtly suggested he may have a more favorable situation than his CONCACAF rivals.

“There's been a certain dialogue with certain teams in the region about the Gold Cup and whether players want to come or not," he said. "I haven't had one discussion that's been like, 'Yeah, I'm not sure if I'm going to make it,'" Marsch told GOAL.

This consistency has allowed Marsch to build a cohesive tactical approach and team culture, something the USMNT has struggled to achieve amid ongoing availability challenges.

“That quote we just saw, this is Jesse Marsch if you know Jesse Marsch,” Gomez said on Futbol Americas. “And nobody should be surprised that Jesse Marsch speaks this way or that his team feels this way. Marsch has these players playing – and rightfully so – with a chip on their shoulder.

“Great work from [GOAL writer] Tom Hindle to get Jesse Marsch to talk about the U.S., even though he does not like talking about the U.S., nor does he mention the U.S. But you know who he’s going after, and I love it, and he’s right. His team, the Canadian men’s national team, have that chip on their shoulder because the coach has that chip on his shoulder."

Gomez pointed to the lack of attention the Reds get, outside of Marsch, as the reason why the group is motivated to contend at this year's Gold Cup.

“There is no player on that field who doesn’t feel like North America talks more about the Americans, North America talks more about Mexico, and there is no player on that team who feels like, the Americans or the Mexicans are more than the Canadian national team. And they want to go out and they want to fight for it," he said.

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The former MLS forward touched upon the fact that despite there being some issues with their futures, the Canadian players are still at the Gold Cup camp. He used star striker Jonathan David as an example as he left his club team Lille, and is currently a free-agent searching for his next move.

“Jonathan David is the middle of the most important transfer of his life, he doesn’t know where he’s going to go….he has no idea, but he’s at this camp,” Gomez further added. “If Alphonso Davies was fit enough, he would be at this camp and that’s the mentality they have, because that’s the mentality the coach has….Jesse Marsch, and you can see it in those words, you've got to have humility here, and you gotta come to work. This is a team that’s a dangerous team and will be a dangerous team in this competition [Gold Cup].”

The comments come at a critical juncture for both nations as they prepare for the 2026 World Cup, which they will co-host with Mexico. While the United States continues to struggle with consistent player availability and establishing a clear identity under Mauricio Pochettino, Canada has shown notable improvement since Marsch's appointment. That includes a third-place finish at the Nations League, beating the USMNT in the process in the third-place playoff.

With the U.S. losing their first pre-Gold Cup friendly, Marsch's comments only compound the pressure Pochettino faces.

Both national teams will continue their preparations for the 2025 Gold Cup, with Canada set to face the Ivory Coast on June 10 after a 4-2 win over Ukraine on June 7. The USMNT will prepare for their friendly against Switzerland on the same date after a 2-1 loss to Turkey on June 7.