For any English soccer fan who may not know Jesse Marsch, the American manager has been managing in Europe since 2018, with thebiggest stop in his career being Red Bull Salzburg, where he won 4 titles, 2 leagues and 2 domestic cups.
Unfortunately, his marriage with the Red Bull family did not end well as his short stint as coach of RB Leipzig ended with the team not being able to find their footing under Marsch. Despite some good performances, key losses to direct rivals ended his time with a record of seven wins, four draws, and six losses.
Now he has a hard act to follow after Marcelo Bielsa was sacked from Leeds United. Bielsa transformed Leeds from an underachieving Championship side to a team that now dreams of bigger things. As the English media begins to learn about Marsch, his CV surely is indicative of a manager worthy of a club like Leeds United.
Jesse Marsch jokes about Ted Lasso
In his first press conference the American coach talked about where the club is at, what his philosophy is tactically and man management, and even spoke about his early family life. Then he touched on the stigma of American soccer coaches and the Ted Lasso effect.
“I think there’s probably a stigma. I’m not sure ‘Ted Lasso’ helped. I haven’t watched the show, but I get it,” Marsch said. “People hate hearing the word soccer — I’ve used the word football since I was a professional football player. More and more in the States we’re adapting to what the game here is, and our connection to what this league is and what the sport is in this country.”
Marsch finished by stating: “I can understand that they don’t think we [American coaches] have the experiences that can be created here in Europe. Frankly they’re right… I mean, it was the reason I came to Europe. It was the reason I learned German. It was the reason I tried to adapt to new culture, it is the fifth country I’ve coached football in. It takes me out of my comfort zone every time. It challenges me to grow every time, and to develop and learn new things. I’m very open to that and cognizant of the fact that I’m not perfect and I don’t want to be. All I can say is the only way I know how to do things is to go all-in and to give everything I have, to believe in who I am, to believe in the people that I work with and try to maximize what we are every day. And I find that if you do that then you can be incredibly surprised with the human spirit and what you can achieve.”
“So, that sounds like Ted Lasso, from what I’ve heard”, Marsch said jokingly. Before his time in Austria, Marsch had success in Major League Soccer coaching the New York Red Bulls to two Support Shields, equivalent of the best record and points during the regular season, he began his coaching career with CF Montréal in 2011, among his coaching highlights is that during his time with Salzburg he coached Erling Haaland.