Canadian midfielder Ali Ahmed earns coach Jesse Marsch's admiration for his smarts, as well as his skill

Soccer coaches have philosophies. Their players are their means to express them. 

When a coach finds a player who subscribes to the same faith, who represents the best of their shared belief system, they will attach to each other with a bond that surpasses loyalty. They become something closer to co-conspirators.

For Jesse Marsch, the head coach of Canada’s men’s soccer team, that player is Ali Ahmed.

“I would argue that Ali understands how we play better than anyone on the entire team, tactically and intellectually,” Marsch said before Friday’s friendly against Australia in Montreal. “I value Ali as a player maybe more than any coach he’s ever had, because he understands exactly what I need from players who play in his spot.”

Ahmed’s spot is on the left side of the pitch, where he’s employed as a high, forward-thinking midfielder — like Tajon Buchanan’s role on the right, if a little more workmanlike.

“Always on goal, always on goal, always on goal,” Ahmed said in an exclusive interview with CBC during his team’s trip to Romania and Wales last month. “I enjoy the style we’re playing. And I feel like I have the athletic ability and endurance required to play that style.”

Marsch favours a relentless, collective press. He has built a team of athletes, fast and physical, and trained them to run at their opposition, forcing rushed decisions and, hopefully, mistakes. Those mistakes lead to turnovers, which lead to chances, which lead to goals.

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The risk of a press — because every soccer philosophy has its counter — is exposure at the back. Playing high, and then failing to win possession, can leave defenders outnumbered, susceptible especially