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Jesse Marsch appointed as new Leeds United manager

Jesse Marsch hasn’t had to wait long for another opportunity to prove himself as a manager in Europe’s top-five leagues, landing a high-profile position less than three months after his time as RB Leipzig came to an end.

Marsch was appointed as the new manager of Leeds United on Monday, one day after the club parted ways with Marcelo Bielsa. Marsch had been out of work since being fired as manager of RB Leipzig in December and now has a new challenge in front of him in England.

“We are delighted to welcome Jesse to the club and excited for him to lead us into this new chapter,” Leeds United Director of Football Victor Orta said in a club statement. “Jesse is someone we identified a number of years ago during his time at Red Bull Salzburg and we believe his philosophy and style of football aligns with that of the club and will suit the players very well.

“We have a long-term plan and firmly believe he can take Leeds United to the next level and are excited for what the future holds,” Orta added.

Marsch has coached in Europe since 2018, serving as an assistant coach at RB Leipzig before managerial stints with the Bundesliga club and Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg. The former U.S. men’s national team assistant coach won two Austrian Bundesliga titles during his time at Salzburg and also lifted two domestic cups.

The 48-year-old also coached in MLS, first with the Montreal Impact before a successful stint in charge of the New York Red Bulls, which he helped lead to Supporters’ Shield titles in 2015 and 2018.

“It’s something I’m really excited about, I know what a big club Leeds is, I know ex-players who have played here and I’ve watched this club from afar for many years and I’m really honored and excited to be here,” said Marsch.

“One of the things I love about this team right now is their commitment no matter how difficult the games have been, to play until the end, fight for each other, to never stop and to give everything to each other at every moment.”

Leeds United is sitting two points clear of the relegation zone in 16th place with 12 matches to play. Marsch’s first match in charge will come on Saturday against Leicester City.

Comments

  1. Its going to come down to how much time/rope Leeds is going to give him. Jessie isn’t a guy who’s going to be able to instantly fix all the issues with a snap of his fingers. If they do get Relegated and they keep him on, there’s a good chance he could get them back to the EPL the following season with the right signings….but are they willing to give him the time?

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  2. Tough task but he’s got to prove it the hard way. Bob inherited a truly wretched team, don’t forget that please. Leeds leaks goals becasue of the way they play, trying to attack with numbers to outscore opponents, up-back-thru across the board which means 3rd person runs which means if the ball turns over during that sequence there is a huge hole or two in your defensive shape. That’s what Marsch has to fix imo. Bielsa made the choice to stick to his philosophy against better teams, get forward and try and outscore teams, but Leeds does not have the quality to play that way and it showed in the results, and the finishing from opponents proved better than the finishing from his club.

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  3. LETS GOOOOO JESSE MARSCH!!!!
    Just being selected for the job (with all the possibilities in the world), is an honor in itself. Congratulations to you, and your family.
    And GOOD LUCK….with the number of holes in the Leeds defense (Tottenham 4 goals, Everton 3 goals, Man U 4 goals, Liverpool 6 goals in just their last 4 games!!!!!)….you are going to need it fam.

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  4. Regarding Bob:

    “He left with a 2–7–2 record, conceding 29 goals – the most goals conceded by any Premier League club in the same time period, with Swansea gaining only 8 (24.2%) out of a maximum 33 points available for the 11 game period – an average of 0.73 points per game”

    If he does that he’ll be fired and Leeds probably will be relegated.

    But we’ll see.

    If he keeps them up then they’ll by Brenden for him as a present for next season.
    They ought to try to buy Tyler too.

    Jesse is far more ready for this job than Bob was for Swansea but it’s going to be tough keeping them up.

    Jesse knew Orta from meeting him while Jesse was working at Salzburg and Orta was a journalist. Orta wrote an article identifying Jesse as one of several promising up and coming managers.

    Bielsa is a God in Leeds in particular and the football world in general so it’s never ideal to be the guy who follows people like that.

    Hard to say if he’s ready or not but he’s there and he’s a big boy so best of luck to him.

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    • How can you honestly say Marsch is more prepared to coach in the Premier League than Bob Bradley was. By what metric? Bradley was more successful in MLS, was a success in Sweden with a team that had a limited budget and couldn’t outspend the rest of the entire league like Salzburg does, had two stints at different national teams directing one to a WC and winning its group and brought the other to a playoff for a WC birth (which would have been its 3rd in its entire history) in another. He nearly brought Le Harve back to Ligue 1 for the first time in a decade, having only lost out through goal differential. Marsch has been fired from two of his four head coaching positions which includes the last one where he was relieved before the half way point by an employer that groomed him for the job. Ok,there was that time when Marsch’s team made it to the knockout round of CL. That seems to be what his reputation is being built on. Bob Bradley was way more prepared for the Swansea job.

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  5. Regarding Bob:

    “He left with a 2–7–2 record, conceding 29 goals – the most goals conceded by any Premier League club in the same time period, with Swansea gaining only 8 (24.2%) out of a maximum 33 points available for the 11 game period – an average of 0.73 points per game”

    If he does that he’ll be fired and Leeds probably will be relegated.

    But we’ll see.

    If he keeps them up then they’ll by Brenden for him as a present for next season.
    They ought to try to buy Tyler too.

    Jesse, given his training in the Red Bull way, is far more ready for this job than Bob was for Swansea but it’s going to be tough keeping them up.

    Jesse knew Orta from meeting him while Jesse was working at Salzburg and Orta was a journalist. That shows you the importance of making connections and why Americans who don’t work in Europe are at a slight disadvantage.

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    • @ vacqui, do you really need to post your same drivel 3 times on this same thread? geez dude, get the over yourself. once is enough, or should I post this response to your 3 posts 3 times?

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    • If he gives up 19 goals in 6 matches he likely won’t keep his job either. The financial penalty for being relegated will not give him a long leash.

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    • Regarding Bob:

      “He left with a 2–7–2 record, conceding 29 goals – the most goals conceded by any Premier League club in the same time period, with Swansea gaining only 8 (24.2%) out of a maximum 33 points available for the 11 game period – an average of 0.73 points per game”

      If he does that he’ll be fired and Leeds probably will be relegated.

      But we’ll see.

      If he keeps them up then they’ll by Brenden for him as a present for next season.
      They ought to try to buy Tyler too.

      Jesse, given his training in the Red Bull way, is far more ready for this job than Bob was for Swansea but it’s going to be tough keeping them up.

      Jesse knew Orta from meeting him while Jesse was working at Salzburg and Orta was a journalist. That shows you the importance of making connections and why Americans who don’t work in Europe are at a slight disadvantage.

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  6. On a positive note, he was considered for a premier league gig and got it. But…Good luck Jesse. Leeds is a fun but horribly unbalanced team built for and by Bielsa… An established, respectable manager who couldn’t make it work. I preemptively fear another US manager will be the scapegoat by summer while Bielsa rodes off to a 4 month vacation en route to another mid table job. Hate me… Now.

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  7. This is not an easy job for Marsch or anyone else. Despite the words, Leeds and Marsch don’t really have the same philosophy in their background. Leeds basically tried to play attacking soccer with little attention to the defense. Marsch’s teams have used defense to setup the offense, It will take getting a whole team to buy into a more defensive mindset for Leeds to find success.

    It will be a mjor coup for Marsch if he can accomplish that,

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  8. Jesse Marsch resume: Montreal – fired, NYRB – supporter shield, RB Salzburg – champions, knockout rounds CL, RB Leipzig – fired in less than half a season (from an employer that loved him!). This is what gets you a Premier League shot?! I must be missing something. His biggest success has been getting out of CL group. I know he’s suppose to be a Saint in the minds of the Berhalter Derrangement Syndrome crowd but he’s gonna get Bob Bradley’d right out of the Premiere League and be back in MLS as soon as RBNY dip in form. If he gets the players at Leeds behind him it will be the biggest victory of his career. I wish him the best and want him to succeed as much as I did for Bob. I hope I’m really wrong but dang this is one heck of a roll of the dice for Leeds.

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