Some 24 hours after the unexpected yet not-undeserved sacking of Jose Mourinho, The Athletic spelled out exactly what Daniel Levy is looking for in his next Tottenham Hotspur manager.
A potential Spurs boss must 1) have the ability to turn talented youngsters into top-level stars, 2) be able to introduce a free-flowing, easy-on-the-eye approach after the retina-scraping pragmatistm of the Mourinho regime, and 3) foster a tight-knit team spirit behind the scenes.
Enter Jesse Marsch.
The Wisconsin-born 47-year-old might not boast the glowing reputation of a Julian Nagelsmann or the proven Premier League track record of a Brendan Rodgers or a Graham Potter. But, if Tottenham are looking for a coach who ticks every one of those aforementioned boxes, then look no further.
If the 2015 MLS Coach of the Year leaves Red Bull Salzburg this summer, he will go a living legend.
Salzburg are on the verge of a second consecutive Austrian Bundesliga title, 23 points clear of Rapid Wien.
But Marsch is no win-at-all-costs anti-Pep, he is a forward-thinking, attack-minded, thoroughly modern tactician. His Salzburg side win with a style, a panache and a sense of real joy and freedom; see that thrilling 4-3 Champions League defeat to Liverpool in late-2019.
In 88 games, Marsch’s Salzburg have scored 272 goals – an average of over three per game. 29 of those belong to Erling Haaland, the Dortmund superstar who was given his big break by Marsch at the Red Bull Arena.
“Jesse and I had a great relationship. We still talk on the phone sometimes. He was an amazing manager for me, and we had some great memories together,” Haaland told CBS of his former boss.
“I am lucky to have gotten to know him as a coach, but also as a person. He was very good with me. As you saw, I was very happy on and off the pitch in Salzburg. Even though it was just six months, it was a good time. He is an amazing guy.”
Haaland, of course, is not the only talented youngster who owes his rapid rise to the former New York Red Bulls boss. Dominik Szoboszlai and Hwang Hee Chan both followed Haaland to Germany in 2020 while Takumi Minamo joined Liverpool after finding the net for fun in Austria.
Patson Daka, the so-called ‘new Thierry Henry’, has scored 31 times in 36 games under Marsch this season and could yet join the American tactician at Tottenham.
The Daily Star reports today that Spurs have reached out to Marsch; a surefire sign that Daniel Levy is thinking outside the box after missing out on Nagelsmann and being snubbed by Rodgers. Marsch might not have been Tottenham’s number one choice but he appears to fit the role like a tailored Armani suit.
Developing young players? Tick. Playing a thrilling, free-flowing style of football? Tick and tick. Winning silverware? Well, his CV speaks for itself?
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