Jesse Marsch has continued to blossom into one of the top coaches on the international soccer scene and was rewarded with a spot in a recent Top 20 list.
The International Federation of Football for History and Statistics (IFFHS) announced its top 20 list for the World’s best club coach of the 2011-20 decade. Marsch was named No. 19 on the list for his work with both the New York Red Bulls and Red Bull Salzburg.
Marsch, 47 led the Red Bulls to a Supporters’ Shield crown in 2015 in MLS while also being named the MLS Coach of the Year. He moved to Bundesliga side RB Leipzig where he served as an assistant coach before getting his first big break in Europe.
The former U.S. Men’s National Team player and assistant coach took over at Red Bull Salzburg in 2019 and immediately led the Bundesliga team to both the league and cup titles. He became the first American head coach to win a domestic double in Europe and also feature in the UEFA Champions League.
Marsch has won 64% of his matches in charge at Red Bull Salzburg and has kept the team in contention to repeat as league champions this season. The club also remains in the Austrian Cup and UEFA Europa League competitions heading into the Spring.
Atletico Madrid’s Diego Simeone won the award, beating out Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, and Jose Mourinho to the honor.
This is a well-deserved honor.
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Marsch played where Bradley was coach or assistant coach for over 8 years (PU, DC, Chicago, Chivas) and was his coaching assistant for the USMNT for 2+ years. He must have learned some things from Bradley and seems to have frown even more.
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I was most impressed with his year as an assistant at PU in 2016. He helped that team greatly and did not appear to try to overshadow head coach Barlow before Marsch moved on to the Red Bulls. Cameron Porter from PU led the NCAA in goals that year and he credited Marsch for his improvement during his senior year. Also, at RB Salzburg, Marsch did not seem to hurt Haaland who had a breakout (half) season under him.
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At Salzburg, he is managing a team that was strong before he arrived to become even better. A 69% winning record is a fantastic number for any professional soccer coach.
“grown”
The knock on Jesse has always been knock out competition. RBNY struggled in playoffs and didn’t really attempt any run in the Open Cup or in CL. He did win the Austrian Cup, but lost first knockout round of Europa League to a fairly average Frankfurt. You could also consider the match with Athletico as a knockout as the winner advanced to CL knockouts from group stage, they were certainly underdogs but at home.