Landon Donovan Rips Jesse Marsch for “Unhelpful” Remarks Before Gold Cup originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Jesse Marsch is currently coaching the Canada Men’s National Team, but that hasn’t stopped Tim Howard from believing he’ll eventually become the manager of the U.S. Men’s National Team. Landon Donovan? He’s not on the same page.
In the most recent episodes of Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan & Tim Howard, the two former USMNT stars found themselves clashing again—this time over Canada’s loss to Guatemala in the Gold Cup and the manager quotes.
One of the main talking points was the team’s upcoming Gold Cup final against Mexico, after the U.S. beat Costa Rica in the quarterfinals and advanced through the semifinals. Meanwhile, Marsch’s Canada was eliminated by Guatemala, raising questions around the hype surrounding his name.
Howard still sees Marsch as a natural future fit for the U.S. job—even though the coach recently shut that door himself. Donovan, on the other hand, seems less convinced, especially after Marsch’s comments before the tournament.
“Before the tournament, he went out of his way — after a bunch of the U.S. players didn’t come into the tournament — and said that they didn’t want to be a part of the Gold Cup,” Donovan said. “And he said, ‘Well, not one guy called me and said, “Coach, I don’t know, it’s been a long year, maybe I don’t want to come into the Gold Cup.” Not one guy.’ So he goes out of his way to say, ‘We didn’t have anything close to that conversation.’”
Jesse Marsch before Canada’s first match at the Gold Cup vs. Jesse Marsch after Canada got eliminated to Guatemala at the Gold Cup 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/gU9rnFJowG
— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) June 29, 2025
Despite his criticism, Donovan did acknowledge the work Marsch has done so far
“The expectations on this team — a lot because of the good work Jesse’s done, but also because of all the crap he’s said publicly — were through the roof.”
While fans continue to speculate about future coaching changes—both for the USMNT and even clubs like Brentford reportedly looking at names like Mauricio Pochettino—Howard and Donovan remain split on what comes next. One thing’s clear: the USMNT’s coaching conversation is far from settled.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 4, 2025, where it first appeared.