New Canada men’s national team head coach Jesse Marsch has filled out his staff ahead of Copa America.
Many of the new additions at Canada Soccer have ties to Marsch established at some point through his 14-year coaching career: Pierre Barrieu (assistant coach, head of performance), Ewan Sharp (assistant coach, head analyst) and Franz Schiemer (set piece analyst, head of player development).
“This familiarity, combined with experienced coaches who know the Canadian national team landscape, provides us with the best and most efficient process to transform this team into a new era,” Marsch said.
Canada’s previous interim manager, Mauro Biello, will stay on staff as an assistant coach with a new role labelled “head of pro coaching integration.”
In his new role, Canada Soccer say Biello will not only be an assistant coach to Marsch but also serve as the liaison between the men’s national team and Canadian professional club coaches.
All of Canada’s coaches will join the team this week ahead of international friendlies against The Netherlands on June 6 and France on 9 June.
Barrieu has an extensive CV that includes two separate stints with the U.S. national team. Barrieu has been part of three World Cups (2002, 2006 and 2010) with the United States and also served as a fitness coach or director of high performance for a number of MLS clubs, including the New York Red Bulls, LA Galaxy and Toronto FC.
He has also worked for Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea City in similar roles.
Many will see Sharp’s recent stint at Leeds United and assume he is a longtime ally of Marsch, but there’s other experience he has that could benefit Canada. Before Leeds, Sharp was a first team assistant coach at Manchester United from 2021-22. He was brought into the club by then-manager Ralf Rangnick to lead in opposition analysis and match planning while also creating videos for the team and coaching staff for before, after and during matches.
Sharp has further experience as an assistant coach with both Lokomotiv Moscow and Toronto FC under Chris Armas, as well as with Marsch at the York Red Bulls from 2017-21.
With friendlies upcoming against two of the world’s best international sides in France and the Netherlands, preparation of any weakness – however small – Canada can exploit will be essential to trying to get a result. Sharp’s experience will undoubtedly play a role for Marsch and his team to do just that.
Schiemer was a longtime Austrian defender, with the majority of his time spent at Red Bull Salzburg. He earned 19 caps for the Austrian national team. After working his way up the Austrian soccer pyramid, he landed back at Red Bull Salzburg as Marsch’s assistant coach in 2019. Schiemer then joined Marsch again at Leeds in 2022. As with others on Marsch’s new staff for Canada, having an in-depth understanding of Marsch’s preferred style of play – influenced heavily by the Red Bull school of thought – should help Schiemer break down demands efficiently for Canadian defenders who don’t have experience in a pressing system.
Other coaches to make up the staff for the June window are familiar within Canadian soccer circles.
Paolo Ceccarelli will serve as goalkeeper coach. Ceccarelli has been a staple in Canadian soccer, having played for the men’s national team from 1989-95. He is the goalkeeper coach at Vaughan Soccer Club and has previously worked with the Canadian Under-20 team.
Joe Hamilton returns as video and data analyst, having worked for the men’s national team since 2021.
Finally, former men’s team assistant coach Paul Stalteri returns in a new position Canada Soccer is calling “Canadian coaching community representative.”
This new position will present rotating opportunities for Canadian coaches to become involved with national teams during select windows. Coaches can be chosen at the discretion of Canada’s senior national team coaches.
Canada begin Copa America on June 20 against Argentina.
GO DEEPER
Jesse Marsch’s first Canada squad announced
(Photo of Ewan Sharp: Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images)
