They say Red Bull gives you wings. But Jesse Marsch flew too close to the sun at Leipzig, plummeting back down to earth, his reputation battered, bruised though far from broken.
Claims from The Telegraph that Leeds United have identified Marsch as their number one target should replace Marcelo Bielsa ride off into the West Yorkshire sunset are proof that, while things might not have gone to plan in Germany, the 48-year-old from Wisconsin is still a coach with plenty of admirers on both sides of the Atlantic.
But considering that Marsch was handed his P45 after just five months at Leipzig – losing more games (nine) than he’d win (eight) – Leeds dreading the prospect of life without Bielsa would be forgiven for having reservations about a man who left Leipzig, Champions League semi-finalists in 2020, 11th in the Bundesliga.
Though in Marsch’s defence, this Leeds squad looks far better suited to his style of play than the Leipzig one did.
Tacticians graduating from the feted Red Bull finishing school usually favour a Ralf Rangnick-inspired, high-pressing approach. And Marsch is no different.
The problem was that the man he succeeded at Leipzig, Julian Nagelsmann, created a team who could pass as well as press. Only Dortmund and Bayern Munich averaged more possession per game (57.3 per cent) than Nagelsmann’s Leipzig in 2020/21 (WhoScored).
Talented, technically-gifted footballers like Andre Silva, Dani Olmo and Dominik Szoboszlai were tailor-made for Nagelsmann. But not so much for Marsch.
Is Jesse Marsch the right man to replace Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds?
At Leeds, however, the 2015 MLS Coach of the Year would not face such opposition to his explosive, back-to-front-in-the-blink-of-an-eye blueprint.
Mateusz Klich, Kalvin Phillips, Patrick Bamford and Stuart Dallas blossomed in a similar style under Marcelo Bielsa.
Furthermore, Leeds’ talented crop of youngsters and rising stars – Joe Gelhardt, Crycensio Summerville, Dan James, Jack Harrison and Junior Firpo – should be able to maintain their progress under a coach who, at Salzburg, turned Szoboszlai, Takumi Minamino, Hwang Hee Chan and a certain Erling Haaland into players top clubs in top leagues were desperate to get their mitts on.
His Salzburg side won four trophies in two seasons, scoring a bucketload of goals along the way. They also went toe-to-toe with some of Europe’s best. Striking the fear of god into Liverpool like Bielsa’s Leeds at their rampaging best.
“Jesse and I had a great relationship,” Haaland told CBS of his former boss. “We still talk on the phone sometimes. He was an amazing manager for me, and we had some great memories together.
“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.”
If Marsch can build on the foundations laid down by Bielsa the Builder at Elland Road, he’ll quickly establish himself as an ‘amazing coach’ as well as an ‘amazing guy’.
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