Why Jonathan David is captaining Canada for first time at Gold Cup
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – At first, Jonathan David did as Jonathan David does, preferring to stay behind the scenes and insisting there were others better suited for the job of Canada captain in the Gold Cup.
But being reserved won't fly with Jesse Marsch, Canada's tell-it-like-it-is head coach. The American boss has spent the better part of his year with Canada trying to coax many players out of their shells. He wants the aggression they're showing more on the pitch in his pressing style to be matched by a more aggressive attitude off of it.
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And so when Marsch presented David with the opportunity to captain Canada for the first time with usual choices Alphonso Davies (ACL tear) and Stephen Eustáquio (Club World Cup with Porto) not currently with the team, Marsch wasn't taking no for an answer.
This summer David will step into the limelight. The in-demand, goal-scoring forward is on the verge of a high-profile free transfer out of Lille in France, with top European teams circling.
And this summer, it's also time for David, 25, to step into the limelight for Canada and wear the armband for the first time.
'It's an honor to be captain of your country,' David said. 'So of course, I enjoy it. So the conversation (with Marsch) was pretty simple. We got on a call and (Marsch) told me, 'I'm thinking of putting you captain.' At first, it was my maybe humble answer: I told him, 'I think there were a couple guys ahead of me.' But then we kept talking a little bit more and ultimately I was like, 'This is also a challenge for me to put myself a little more out there to help the team in different ways.' So I see it as a challenge and I'm ready for it.'
That challenge is making David seem like less of an awkward fit for the role.
David is soft-spoken at the best of times. His sly grin is among the qualities that make him easily likable to players and staff, but he will never be called the vocal alpha type.
'I'm the type that leads by example,' said David, who did wear the Lille armband four times in 49 appearances this season. 'I'm often a more chilled, laid-back guy that just loves to play, loves to work hard on the pitch. So I think people can feed off that. And so the challenge for me is about being more vocal, about saying more to the team and not being shy to speak my mind even if it's wrong. And also to be open to have those conversations with teammates and not to be afraid.'
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Boastful? That's not David, at least with the cameras rolling.
Consider how he addressed the notion that a deep and skilled Canada team enter the Gold Cup as favorites.
'For me I don't think we come in as favorites,' David said. 'I think to be favorites in a tournament then you have to be the one that has maybe won it the most times. Of course I know we have a strong team and we can challenge for sure to win it. To be favorites is something I wouldn't say personally, but I know that we can achieve it.'
So how will he fit in the role? Pressure exists for the Canadian men to win their first trophy since 2000 and enter next year's World Cup on a high.
There's no doubting his quality: He's Canada's all-time leading goal-scorer with 34 goals, having averaged .54 goals per game played (63) for Canada. His intelligent movement around the box and clinical finishing ability don't just make him Canada's best player at the Gold Cup – he might be the best player in the entire tournament.
And he's also at the Gold Cup when he doesn't necessarily have to be: David will technically be without a club in two weeks' time when his Lille contract expires. He is awaiting a career-altering transfer, and an injury at this juncture would be devastating.
But none of that matters. He's a star on his team and taking part in the tournament – something that can't be said for all of Canada's foes. His participation was an early sign of his leadership qualities.
'We tried to get as many of the guys (to participate in the Gold Cup) as possible to have a full squad,' David said. 'And to use these games, even if it's a tournament we want to win, as preparation to get better and to understand exactly what we need to do and where we need to be come next summer.'
As David answered questions, he did so in his usual polite, sometimes reticent but always thoughtful tone. It's that last adjective that matters to Canada's coaching staff.
Behind the scenes, Canada's coaching staff has been impressed by his soccer intelligence. Multiple coaches see his problem-solving ability on the pitch as the best they've ever observed.
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The missing piece is solving those problems in a more vocal manner.
A focus of Canada's first few days in Vancouver has been trying to coax more vocal leadership out of its talent. The team recognizes one of its shortcomings to date has been a lack of boastfulness on and off the field.
Yet Marsch has countered that approach by trying to convince this team that if it believes it can beat any team on the field, it has to portray that same swagger on the pitch. Marsch believes the best teams in the world aren't afraid to be confident.
By enlisting – and nearly forcing – one of the team's more reserved players as captain and making it necessary for him to come out of his shell, Marsch is hoping a tidal wave of swagger could follow from David's teammates.
'You don't hear him a ton,' Canada defender Richie Laryea said of David. 'But when he does speak, it travels far. So if he's saying something, you're like, 'OK, if he sees this, it's more than likely.' You know he's right.'
Making David captain is another step in Marsch's overhaul after taking over the job in May 2024. Under previous head coach John Herdman, the job of captain went to the team's more experienced, but not necessarily more talented, players: Atiba Hutchinson and Milan Borjan.
Marsch sees things differently. He's been quick to give the armband to the team's best players. Eustáquio was a natural choice early in Marsch's tenure, given his natural leadership qualities. But making Davies captain for the 2024 Copa América was an effort to make a change. Davies had never captained Bayern Munich in his time at the club beginning in 2019.
Marsch made it clear: Davies was going to be one of the faces of the team come the 2026 World Cup at home, and even if he, like David, hadn't ever been a vocal leader for Canada, it was time to act like it.
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'I know that he is up to the challenge of taking on a more expanded role with more responsibility,' Marsch said of Davies at the time.
Making David captain presents the same line of thinking. There are others who might feel like more natural fits, as David insinuated, such as Alistair Johnston and Cyle Larin. But Marsch is convinced. For Canada to change, and to become the aggressive-thinking and acting team he sees them becoming to contend at the 2026 World Cup, it must come from its talent at the top.
So far, it's resonating within a Canada side desperate to prove itself on a global stage.
'When he speaks I think a lot of people listen,' Laryea added. 'He's a good player, he's played at the highest level so when you get insight from players like that I think you have no choice but to listen.'
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