Jesse Marsch’s Red Bull Salzburg side stunned Anfield in a thrilling Champions League clash against Liverpool this week.
During one of the most thrilling, topsy-turvy European clashes ever seen at Anfield, the Liverpool crowd witnessed a manager absolutely in his element.
A bundle of irrepressible energy, he mirrored the way his exciting, rampaging team played on the night and even sprinted down the touchline to celebrate with his players at the corner flag after their third goal under the lights.
But we’re not talking about Jurgen Klopp.
It’s not often Liverpool’s grinning, gurning German coach is overshadowed on the touchline but Jesse Marsch did exactly that on Wednesday. And his swashbuckling Salzburg team very nearly overshadowed Liverpool too, coming from three goals down on Merseyside only for Mo Salah to break Austrian hearts late on.
With rapid interplay, ferocious pressing and a whirling cyclone of young, technically gifted footballers, it is impossible not to be reminded of that Dortmund team who captured Europe’s hearts and catapulted Klopp, previously the hipster’s darling, into the footballing mainstream during the days of Robert Lewandowski, Jakub Blaszczykowski and co.
The Second coming of Klopp?
The statistics are arguably even more impressive than the style.
Since taking over from the much-admired Marco Rose at Salzburg, Marsch’s team have steamrollered all before them, scoring 40 goals in nine league games. In two Champions League matches, Salzburg have hit the net nine more times with Erling Braut Haaland, the prolific Norwegian teenager, the undoubted star of the show.
The first American ever to coach a team in the Champions League, Marsch has been very highly regarded across the Atlantic for some time, winning the MLS Manager of the Year award in 2015 during his time at New York Red Bulls. And if Salzburg continue to make football look fun on the continent, his stock is guaranteed to soar.
Who knows, perhaps we saw a future Liverpool manager sprinting down the touchline at Anfield this week.
Almost everyone, including Klopp and King Kenny himself, appear to be grooming Steven Gerrard for the Anfield hot seat. But if Liverpool want to maintain that thrilling style once the bearded, bespectacled German does eventually ride into the sunset, how about a coach who feels very much like the second coming of Klopp himself?
Marsch has already left Anfield in awe once.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
